Janurary 18th, 2011

Outsize of Houzuki Manor

As quickly as she could, Pearl crept across the large front porch of Houzuki manor, towards the car waiting at the bottom of the steps. She made it to the staircase, then down it, she was a step from the open side door when—

"And where do you think you're going?" Father's stern voice echoed from the top of the steps, freezing Pearl where she stood.

Fuck. "I'm going downtown?" She more asked than answered, her conviction wavering under his intense gaze.

"Is that so?" His hands folded over his chest as he looked down on her. "Contract negotiations with the Andrean family begin in an hour."

The silence between them was suffocating. Pearl scrambled internally for any words to say, but nothing she could come up with was better than silence here.

"It's an opportunity to strengthen your connections. You'll need them in your future."

Pearl grit her teeth. "Thank you, father, but I'll have to miss this meeting."

Horrible seconds passed as he looked down at her. It wasn't hard to see that there was clearly more that he wanted to say, but thankfully he schooled himself. "Alright." He said, before turning away and walking towards the front door.

A sickly relief flooded Pearl's system as she likewise turned and climbed into the waiting car, pulling the door shut behind her. Waves of guilt fought to overpower the giddy feeling in her core, creating an entirely unpleasant ride of emotions that she hated every single time Father caught her before she left.

"Where to, Young Miss?" Fergus politely asked from the driver's seat.

The words weighed heavy on her tongue for a few moments, before she swallowed her hesitation, and answered. "Downtown." She hadn't been lying earlier, she was going downtown, she just didn't intend to stay there the whole time.

The car lurched slightly as Fergus put it into drive. "Very well." Pearl stared out the window as they drove, watching the meticulously manicured lines of trees and flowers give way to much more dull foliage on the side of the highway.

She was 14 now, and had been for about two months. That had brought with it a slew of changes she was still struggling to get used to. Most prominently, was her current employment status, or the lack thereof. The Houzuki Corporation was, by technical definition, a family owned business, so up to this point Pearl had been legally able to work for them while underaged. When she turned 14, that law no longer applied, but Pearl could have been officially hired as a legitimate employee, so there was effectively no difference, sans maybe an afternoon of paperwork.

However, Pearl had chosen not to take the position her father offered. The result was that she could no longer conduct any business for the Houzuki Corporation in any capacity. Her family had not taken her decision well. Father was very clearly not pleased with her choices. He cornered her regularly to try and get her to change her mind, or get her to sit in on meetings still. Mother was seemingly more understanding, but still not exactly pleased with her choice either.

Just a year. Pearl told herself. I'm just going to take a year away from it all. I'm 14, I've still got time to pull things together afterwards. I just want a break. She didn't want to experience the same burnout that Marie had. Pearl still hadn't seen her friend since that day, and she didn't want the same thing to happen to her.

She couldn't exactly fault her parents for reacting poorly, though. As far as Pearl knew, she was the first person in the Houzuki family to outright reject the employment contract, as temporary as that rejection was going to be.

Regardless of what her parents thought, Pearl had bought herself one year. Just a single, solitary year to take some time off, and do the things that interested her. It was with that determination, she set herself a bit taller in the car's backseat, and prepared for her day in the city.

September 29, 2011

The Back Alleys of downtown Inkopolis

Over the past months, Pearl had gotten a lot better at navigating the crowds on the fringes of the commercial district. Her small stature was both a blessing and a curse in cases like this. It made it quite easy to simply slide past people, but just as often those same people plowed into her because they didn't notice her.

It was just after one such bump that she pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head, trying her hardest to avoid drawing any more attention to herself. The guy already disappeared into the crowd, barely bothering to give her a dismissive apology before vanishing. Pearl swallowed her frustration and marched on.

Out here, it was mostly locals. They were far enough from all the attractions, and big name stores from downtown that there wasn't hardly a reason for any tourists to come out here. That meant that anything she did to stick out would be remembered, and she'd already made one scene in her time here, it was best not to make another. Turns out that people didn't tend to react well when "an 'entitled rich bitch' was trying to rub elbows with all the 'poor fuckers' out here" as she'd been so kindly informed by a man three times her height and age.

In a lot of ways, she was glad for the interaction. It was nonviolent, it was quick, and it taught her a LOT in a very short amount of time. Namely, that walking around the backstreets of the city wearing clothes worth more than some people make in a year and flaunting the ignorance that brings is a very, very bad idea. Since that day, she'd gotten a lot better at keeping herself discrete, though she felt it was still pretty damn obvious she didn't quite fit in with everyone else.

Often she'd come out here just to wander, see the sights and be around people. Today though, she had a specific goal in mind, but she'd have to be fast if she wanted to make it on time. Her Father had stopped her on her way out again and that had eaten half an hour on its own. Add that to the fact that she had to hike all the way out here from the edge of downtown each and every time she wanted to visit, and it didn't leave much wiggle room for her to make it on time. With a hurry in her step, she wound her way around the people on the sidewalks, with her eyes locked on her destination in the distance: The Anchor's Shore. It was an old, beat-to-shit restaurant that'd been standing for at least 80 years and been through nearly half as many owners.

Pearl squeezed her way past a couple arguing near the doorway to make her way inside. The inside was just about as unimpressive as the outside implied. It was a long, rectangular room with booths on the walls, and tables in the middle. A small bar pushed against the kitchen at the back, and a modest stage at the front for a live band, with a group currently setting up for a show. There was a decent crowd inside, maybe two-thirds full at a glance.

"Welcome to the Anchor's Shore," an expressly bored teenager dully greeted her as she stepped inside. "Just you?"

"...Yes." Pearl agreed, trying to keep her profile down.

"Follow me." The server didn't even bother to look at her as he grabbed a menu and a bundle of silverware and walked her to a table near the back of the room.

"Could I get a seat near the stage?" Pearl asked. That's why she was here, after all, it'd be a waste to get this close only to miss most of it.

"Yeah, sure." He unceremoniously picked a table two steps from where he was standing to set her stuff at. "Your server will be with you in a moment."

Pearl frowned, but kept her head down. "Thanks."

"Uh huh." The server walked off, back to the front of the restaurant where he dropped back onto the little stool he sat on.

She waited until he wasn't looking, which took all of maybe three seconds, before grabbing the silverware and menu and walking herself a few tables closer. She sat down and turned her attention to the stage, where the four people worked to set up their equipment. Two inklings, an octoling, and a mackerel, all made up to hell, with piercings aplenty and all sporting canvas jackets. They made for a the most generic depiction of a punk that one could envision. Pearl could not be more thrilled to see them.

All things considered, The Oysters' Gems were a pretty generic group. There was a reason they were playing in random restaurants in the city, after all, but it was obvious that they had a blast with the whole process. It was that comradery, in addition to the vocal skills of the octoling guy, that really caught her attention. Seriously, he could scream in a way that enraptured Pearl's mind. The way he was able to just let the emotions rip their way from his lungs was something she doubted she'd ever get sick of.

After a bit of confusion due to her tablehopping, Pearl placed an order for something random as she watched the group soundcheck. The singer ran through a series of vocal warmups that Pearl tried her hardest to commit to memory. Then finally, right as she got her food, they launched into their first song, and Pearl was enamored.

April 13th, 2012

The Aquarium: a small cafe near the start of Inkopolis' business district

"Keep up Pearl, we've not got long to get there." Father called back over his shoulder.

"The meeting isn't for another 20 minutes!" She shot back, not bothering to hide the flatness in her voice.

It was clear Father wasn't exactly pleased with her blasé response in how his shoulders hiked slightly, but he stayed silent and kept his eyes forward.

It was all because she broke her promise. She'd reassured her family, and herself, time and time again that "it's just for one year. I just need a break for one year." However, when the year came to an end, she couldn't make herself go back. The first meeting she sat in on left her feeling so restless and agitated that she walked out not even halfway into it.

This was supposed to be an easy victory for the two of them. Pearl and her father were meeting the clients at a cafe in the business district. It was a change of location, outside of the stuffy office towers and dim conference rooms, while still retaining that semi-professionalism that business thrived on. A pleasant, neutral location that appealed to both of them. All she wanted was to extend an olive branch to her father, to find some peace, or at least a middle ground for them to occupy. Her decisions were obviously weighing heavily on him, and even if the whole thing was driving her crazy... she didn't want him to feel like that.

But, despite her wants and good intentions, Pearl was finding it nightmarishly difficult to not just walk away. Agreeing to this was a mistake.

They found their way to the cafe, where they took their seats and prepared for the meeting. As they sat, waiting, Pearl could feel every. single. second. that ticked past, each one making her more restless. In times past, she and her father would pass the time with knowledge checks, logic problems, or simple conversation. Now, though, the tension between them was so thick it could trip a passing waiter.

Finally, after Pearl burned three years off her lifespan to hold still, the representatives walked into the building. It almost felt like she was being possessed, as her back straightened and a polite smile found its way onto her face. Despite her less than positive feelings on the matters at hand, Pearl had been trained very well.

"Gentlemen, hello! Glad you could make it!" Father lightly greeted, standing to shake hands with the representatives as they approached. "We appreciate you humoring us. The weather's so pleasant this time of year, and the office can get a bit drab at times."

Pearl stayed still, polite smile shining, while the pleasantries swapped back and forth. She didn't hear a word they said. She'd tune back in when her father said her name next.

"Right this way. This is my daughter, Pearl."

For a one horrible second, silence hung in the air. A part of her wanted to scream. She wanted to launch out of the chair and break the windows. She wanted to escape, she didn't want to be here, to do this.

Instead, she politely reached forward to shake their hands. "Pleasure to meet you both." She said with a smile.

October 1st, 2012

Someone's garrage

Pearl cringed at having her name called out like that, but forced a smile and turned to her bandmate. "Yeah?"

"Calm it the fuck down! If you break my windows, YOU'RE gonna be the one to fix them, got it?" Chardin glared at her, his displeasure at her even being here obvious in his eyes.

"Right." She gave him a thumbs up. "I'll tone it down!" Exactly... how, though? Do I just... not scream? But that's kind of the whole thing here, I don't know. Shit, I guess I'll just... shout?

"Oookay!" Grace, the band's drummer called out. "Let's try it from the top then!" She raised her drumsticks, counting them in as Chardin readied his guitar and Beros positioned his bass. Pearl sucked in another breath, and prepared to shout her part.

Of course, the entire practice was a disaster. The drum's tempo was inconsistent, the lead guitar and bass were fighting for the spotlight, one of them was even detuned, but nothing could compare to the biggest fuckup of the bunch. In a bid to stay quieter, Pearl tried to keep things at a reasonable level, but metal screaming didn't really pair well with volume control, so she ended up completely fumbling her lines when her throat scratched itself wrong and dried out. She'd even made a horrible choking-gurgling noise by accident in her bid to recover.

Things wound down sloppily, with each member resigning themselves to the utter failure of a performance.

Chardin was the first to recover, angerly stomping over to Pearl with a new fire in his eyes. "Mother of the tides do you not know how to be just... not fucking scream EVERYTHING?" He threw his hands in the air and aimlessly wandered backwards.

Pearl could only keep her eyes on the ground. Cod damn it.

"Alright." Grace gracelessly cut through the silence, dropping her drumsticks as she stood up. "Pearl, I don't think this is going to work."

Pearl knew it was coming, but a part of her had hoped beyond reason that it wouldn't. "Yeah." She didn't wait for another word, simply turning towards the unlocked side door, and trudging her way outside.

"Grace, I fucking told you she was a mistake from the beginning." Chardin made no effort to dampen his voice, either not knowing, or not caring that Pearl would be able to hear it through the flimsy garage door.

"I know babe. I thought that maybe she'd—"

"Well you were fucking WRONG. Now we've wasted two weeks! Two fucking weeks..."

Pearl finally got far enough away that she couldn't hear his words anymore. She walked out of the neighborhood, down the edge of the commercial district, and all the way back downtown, where Fergus was waiting for her. She'd even managed to keep the tears of frustration from flowing until she closed the car door.

February 28th, 2013

Houzuki Manor

Luckily, she knew these hallways quite well, so anytime she heard approaching footsteps, she was able to duck into a side room to avoid them. She'd long gotten over the delightfully bitter mix of irony that was the sheer size of the manor and the fact that she was sneaking through her own home, but it was her only real option if she wanted to do anything she wanted to. *I've had enough Business 101 lectures, thank you. Honestly, Father probably had this built in the far wing on purpose, just to screw with me.

Twenty minutes and 3 close encounters later, and Pearl managed to seclude herself in the sound-proof studio on the edge of the house. This little room had become something of her sanctuary in recent months. Nestled in among several instruments, audio equipment, and a recording booth, was a dresser loaded with her punk clothes. Beside it, piled on the floor, was a mound of turf gear. She'd been all but laughed out of the room the first time she mentioned she'd never played turf before, and she was determined to never let that happen again. Unfortunately, despite having the best weapons money could buy, there was no making up for a lack of skill.

She might enjoy the occasional sprint, but brushes were far too much. Rollers were similarly a problem, though that was more of an issue of weight than anything else. She didn't have the patience to hold a charger steady, or the aim to reliably hoist a shooter in front of her either. At best, she was making use of a slosher, and even then she was barely getting actual use out of it as much as she was wantonly splashing ink vaguely in front of her. Still, that had been good enough play that she'd managed to net two consecutive wins, so that's what she ended up sticking with. Not like I'll be doing much fighting anyway, so it's not like it matters.

For now, she was out here to avoid Father and his entourage of investors that he desperately wanted her to sit in with. To that end, she picked up the nearest bass guitar, sat herself down on the couch, and pulled out her phone to rewatch that tutorial video.

Pearl stared down the neck of the bass guitar for two hours, giving all the focus she had. Moving her hand up and down the neck was a very foreign motion, and getting it to the right place required far more precision than she was used to giving things. She tried again and again, giving her all to play the same simple rhythm as the guy in the tutorial, an eel named Neil, but she just couldn't get her fingers to cooperate with her.

At one point, she nearly threw the damn thing on the floor. Her hand clenched around the neck as tears welled in her eyes, but she caught herself. I WON'T be kicked out of another band for not doing enough. Not again! Not again... When she composed herself, she sat back down, and restarted the video.