Decision Made For Us | Private

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    Plot
    Koshiro Abe Kaname

    OOC: To kick things off I'm going to start with the lead-up to your and my character's first meeting.


    IC: "We have to leave soon, I hope you're almost ready," Saya yells up the staircase in Koshiro's apartment. He looks himself over in his bathroom's mirror one last time, running a towel over his face to dry off the last round of splashed water. To say the least, he isn't particularly excited about the situation that lays ahead for him. He loves his parents, he really does, but he also wishes that they could just keep out of his business, especially in matters like this. When his mother first brought up the idea of arranging a marriage for him, he was furious but kept himself reserved for the most part, voicing disagreement but it ultimately meant nothing. He knew exactly why his parents were forcing him into this situation, they weren't happy with the gender of his past romantic partners and thought this as a means to 'fix' him.


    "Where are we going?" He asks his mother in Japanese while descending the stairs to meet her, staring down at his feet the whole trip.


    "You're wearing that?" She comments, a disgusted expression upon her face. Koshiro looks down at himself again to see the nice jeans and plain black sweater he is wearing. He nods his head and makes his way to the front door and out to the car. Today he was going to meet his future wife.

    Mckenna Grace Lancaster

    ooc: I am so sorry, I got sick over the weekend and while I made some replies early this morning I accidentally missed this one. Sorry for the delay!!



    IC: McKenna looked out the plane window. She sighed as she realized they were landing in Japan here in just a few minutes. Her mother insisted that they move here. While it was also because both of her parents were offered jobs, it was because her mother was from here. While her name was American, her family was Japanese and her mother visited when she could. She often visited her friends Saya and Naruhode and their two kids. However, this wasn't the only reason they were coming here.


    Apparently, Saya and Naruhode weren't happy with the past relationships of their sons. Mostly the gender of the past relationships. So, they had spoken to Lilian and Jacob about an arranged marriage. While at first they were hesitant, they understood and they weren't exactly happy with McKenna's choices either. She had been dating the sort of "bad boys". Most of the time it wasn't even a real relationship but they talked and her parents hated it.


    The boxes had already been unpacked in their home. McKenna chose a floral dress that matched her pinkish white hair. She had dyed her brunette hair about two weeks prior in rebellion of this but of course her mother actually liked it. She was currently saving the money to get the funds to dye it blue or purple. She wasn't sure. She wanted to make her parents happy, even if she hated the idea of this.


    Upon arrival at the location where they would meet, McKenna felt her heart drop into her stomach. She didn't speak Japanese, at least not well. She knew the basics (greetings, goodbyes, and how to ask where the restroom was). She was nervous. Would Koshiro only know Japanese? She waited with her parents quietly. Lilian spotted Saya and Naruhode and smiled. "Ah! They're here. McKenna, straighten your posture. It's rude to slouch." She hissed. She waved at the two, smiling happily. McKenna scoffed, but none the less did as she was told.

    "It looks like they're here now," Saya said, looking to her son as she gestured over to her friends. Koshiro mentally rolled his eyes then followed suit to his parents who had begun to make their way over to them.


    It didn't take very long for his parents to start making conversation with the others, Lilian and Jacob he recalls them being named. At least he hopes that was correct.


    "Kon'nichiha, watashi wa Kaname Koshiro-san," He introduced himself first in Japanese to the others, instinctively slipping into his mother tongue despite knowing that the Lancasters were American. "I mean, Good afternoon, my name is Koshiro Kaname," he tried again, reminding himself to speak English this time. His problem wasn't so much that he didn't know English, his tutors had actually told him he was quite well-spoken considering it was a second tongue for him, it was just reminding himself to speak in a manner so different from what he was used to. After all, he lived in Japan and the widespread language was Japanese, speaking English was hardly necessary outside of practicums and business meetings his father made him sit in on with international clients.


    "Your name is McKenna, correct?" He asked the younger woman in the small crowd that had formed, focusing his attention on her. "Your family just recently moved here to Japan right? Have you ever been here before?"

    Just as she thought, he must've not spoken English. She bit her lip nervously. She pondered, should she respond in Japanese? No, she wouldn't understand him. Though as she thought more, he spoke again, in English. Her slight panicked expression dropped into more of a relaxed one. She looked up to the male. "Yes, that would be correct." She nodded her head slightly. "We did just move here. While it was a business opportunity for both my parents, they obviously wanted.. this to happen while we moved." She paused. "I believe I was about the age of six the last time I was here, visiting I guess your family with my mother."


    She sighed. "Cut to the chase. We both know why we are here, assuming you feel the same as I do, I hate the decision they've made. However, I'd do anything to please my parents. If this is what they want, fine. But don't expect me to be so willing." She crossed her arms. "Anyway, Koshiro.." She glanced at his eyes, then to the crowd around them, then back to him. "Tell me about yourself. Wait, hang on." She hummed. "You must be a musician. You specialize in either guitar or piano. The way you-" "McKenna, that's enough. I told you, enough with that nonsense." Her mother scolded. She sighed. "My apologizes. She watches too many crime shows, thinks she's a detective." She spoke in Japanese.

    "You looked a bit nervous there for a moment," he observed. "You were afraid I wouldn't know how to speak English weren't you? That you'd be set to marry someone you didn't even share a language with," Koshiro continued, smiling slightly although it seemed out of place. "No need to worry about that, I am fluent in English, I just don't speak it that often outside of conference rooms."


    "To be honest I'm not too pleased with this either but I'm in the same position as you, don't want to disappoint my parents," He agreed with her earlier statement. "The worst thing is that I know my parents are doing this because I've dated men in the past and they think that you'll 'fix me'," he moved a bit closer to McKenna and lowered his volume to not be overheard.


    "Actually I am a musician, I play both piano and guitar. To be honest I do prefer the piano but that's not usually viewed as 'manly' and 'cool'," he replied to her observation. "How did you come to this conclusion?" He asked, pressing her to continue despite her mother shutting her down.


    "It's fine, I'm actually quite curious and there's nothing wrong with observing and coming to conclusions and inquiring about them," he turned his attention to McKenna's mother who had spoken up, transitioning to Japanese.

    "Yes, I was nervous for that. I am not fluent in Japanese, I only know a few basic phrases in Japanese." She shrugged her shoulders. "You think I would know more with my mother being from here." She sighed. She listened to him closely. He had dated males before? Was he homosexual? No, maybe pansexual? She simply thought about it for a few short moments, only to vanish the thought.


    "I understand that." She added after he mentioned his parents thought she would 'fix' him. "My parents are the same, however my dating history is almost zero. I've only ever spoken with possible boyfriends. However, my parents never liked any of the men I spoke with." She shrugged her shoulders. "Usually there were stereotyped as the 'bad boy' sort, if you will."


    McKenna tensed ever so slightly when he moved a bit closer so he could speak and it not be overheard. "I was right?" She asked for a moment before shaking her head. "You have markings on your fingers, indicating where you have played guitar for a while. Also, your fingers are very defined, in muscle I mean. So it's either you jerk off too much, or I could stereotype you as a piano player. I was hoping for the piano playing." She smiled. Lilian sighed. "You don't have to stick up for her, she does that too often." She responded in Japanese.

    "I don't blame you for not knowing much of the language. You grew up in America your whole life, Japanese isn't really spoken there," He commented, understanding her position.


    "And for the record, I'm not a homosexual. I'm pansexual, and I care more about someone's personality than anything else. I've only ever seem to hit it off with other men. It's not that I find women unattractive, I just haven't met one I liked like that yet," Koshiro clarified, not wanting that to be misconstrued. Surely even a half functioning marriage wouldn't be attainable if one member of the party thought the other to be such a way.


    "Bad boy sort? How did your parents come to that if they'd never even met these prospective partners?" He questioned, hushing his tone a bit. "I myself can't say I'm into the bad boy trope but to each their own I guess," he muttered to himself in Japanese.


    "Yeah, you were right," he reaffirmed his early confirmation. "Yeah I had a feeling it was the callouses, you kind of have to develop them to play guitar very well," Koshiro continued on. He was a bit taken aback with how openly she talked about such matters as self pleasure but he found himself chuckling at her attitudes. Not afraid of bringing up traditionally taboo subjects and discussing them so non-challantly, he had a feeling they'd both get along quite well. "I can't say I take part in that activity very often. I've been playing piano classically since I was 6. That shows, doesn't it?"


    "What kind of a man would I be if I didn't stick up for my wife to be while she's being berated, by her own mother for such an asinine reason, one that sparked from mere curiosity?" He questioned rather harshly himself, back to speaking Japanese with his words directed to the elder Lancaster.

    McKenna was glad he clarified his sexuality. She smirked slightly. "So, the jerking off could be a part of it as well? I mean, since you've only ever hit it off with men." She shrugged. She glanced to her mother, frowning. She always demeaned her daughter, as if she was ashamed of her sometimes. It was probably because McKenna wanted to do something in Forensics or the police, or be a profiler just like the characters in her favorite TV show, Criminal Minds.


    She looked up, "They have taken my phone and read the messages from the males I've spoken with. Usually it's the same sort of stuff. Either it be, 'Come do drugs with me', 'Send me a pic', stuff in that nature." She shrugged. "I was just searching for my type I suppose. While I found those men attractive, I suppose I never ended up falling for them in that way once I got to know them." She shrugged again.


    "Well, I guess I take back my comment earlier if you say you don't partake in the activity, however, that doesn't mean you aren't lying. However, you don't seem like one to lie unless you have to." She hummed slightly. "Yes, playing piano does show. I used to play, but I haven't played since a young age. Kind of rebellion against my mother I suppose..?" She shrugged. "She wanted me to learn every instrument possible, find the one I liked most."


    She kinda gulped when the two began to speak in Japanese, since she didn't understand it. She gulped. "Momma stop." She tried to protest. Lilan frowned. "I told her stop, she should respect that." She responded to Koshiro before ignoring him and returning her conversation with Sayu. McKenna sighed. "I'm sorry about her."

    "Those definitely don't seem like healthy activities to participate in," he commented when she mentioned doing drugs or sending photos he only assumed were meant to be lewd in nature. "That is a bit irrational for your parents to automatically assume the worst of you and not just believe you were ignorant to those pieces of information. As of now I can't say I know a whole lot about your character but I can say you certainly don't seem like the type who would spark conversation with individuals you knew would pressure you for photos explicit in nature or press for you to consume illicit substances in their company," Koshiro went on a bit of a tangent. While not exactly the same, he related to having the worst assumed of him by his parents. While his parents never thought him to be a pick-up artist for drug addicts, they did quickly jump to the radical conclusion that he would be spending all night every night in gay nightclubs in Shibuya and get with bad crowds in that respect. To be honest though, he was too reserved for that kind of behavior.


    "That seems like a logical action, dip your toes into a bunch of different pools and see which ones you like the most. I took that approach to some degree, having tried violin and the trumpet alongside piano and guitar but never really took a liking to those two. It's probably because piano and guitar are more universal and since I'm a songwriter, they're easier to work with with that end goal in mind," Koshiro hopped onto the other train of thought that was running. "That's too bad you gave it up to spite your mother, but while you did practice, did you enjoy it?"


    Koshiro rolled his eyes. "It's a shame your mom treats you the way she does," he muttered just loud enough for McKenna to hear him. "Can't say I'll be happy to call her my mother-in-law, for I fear she'll start discussing me in a tone similar to how she mentions you."

    "I wasn't asking for them to ask me those things. So, you are correct in the sense that I am not the type to spark those conversations." McKenna added. "I just kinda found them. The were attractive and I guess they found me attractive too? Don't see why." She shrugged her shoulders slightly. She now implied she had insecurities, which was true. "I honestly stopped responding once they asked for things like that." She sighed.


    "Of course I enjoyed it. I used to love playing the piano. I got into trouble for playing late at night." She shrugged. "I honestly don't remember how to play." She bit her lip. That wasn't true. She remembered how to play, she just didn't want her mother finding out. She looked to Koshiro. "Wait.. songwriter? You'll play one of your originals for me? Won't you?" She smiled a bit. "Honestly I thought I would.. despise you. I mean, I can't say I am happy about what we are being forced to do.. but from what I've seen in the brief time we've been talking.. i don't hate you like I thought I might."

    "That's fair enough, I've had my fair share of encounters that turned that way. The most you can do is just stop engaging with them after they throw the door open and reveal the skeletons in their closets," Koshiro said, relating to the circumstance McKenna had found herself in in the past.


    "What do you mean you don't see why?" He inquired, picking up on that oh so subtle put down. "I can see what people would find attractive about you. First of all you have a very nice smile," he complimented her, trying to fish for other characteristics but falling short. Of course there are other qualities men would typically find attractive but he felt mentioning those would be not only superficial but also very sexualizing and overall not the tone he was aiming for.


    "Not to sound rude but I'm calling your bluff," he commented, not believing that she'd simply forgotten how to play for a second. Sure, some songs she had memorized at one point or another may have faded from memory, but the overall ability of playing disappearing? "Yeah, I'm a songwriter, or at least I try to be," he moved on, not dwelling on the other topic for very long. "I'd be happy to play an original of mine for you sometime. They're all in Japanese though so I don't know how much of it you'd understand though," he replied tilting his gaze down and smiling a bit sheepishly.


    "I understand where you're coming from, and it seems mostly like misdirected anger, but I can't blame you for doing that," he stated. "I can't say that I thought I'd hate you but I did dread the seemingly likely possibility that we would have nothing in common and exchanged words would ooze with awkwardness. I do hate this situation we've been forced into much like you do as well, but I will certainly try to make sure my anger doesn't get misdirected towards you, as that will only make our circumstances worse. Plus, if we're going to be expected to coexist together in such a manner, it would be quite a mistake for me to anger you on our first meeting."


    "So, other than piano, are there any other things that you enjoy? Any other hobbies, beloved foods, anything really?"

    McKenna shrugged. "I don't have a flat stomach. I usually wear loose clothing in the stomach area mostly to hide that. My thighs don't have a gap. My hair isn't perfect. I have.." She paused. "I have self harm marks on my thighs.. I have stretch marks on my thighs." She blushed slightly when she said she had a nice smile. "That's probably the only thing good about me. I should cover up with makeup but then I'd look like a clown." She shrugged her shoulders again.


    "Shh.. don't say that out loud. I don't want my mother knowing." She pleaded quietly. She sighed softly when he said they were in Japanese. "I guess I'll have to learn some more.." She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I probably should learn more of the language if I'm going to live here.." She thought about it. "Yea, that seems rational.. right? Though, my future husband is fluent so I have a translator.." She smirked slightly. "But.. maybe you could teach me?" She shrugged.


    "I suppose I shouldn't have expected to hate you.. I just didn't want to accept the idea of being in an arranged marriage." She shrugged. "hobbies, foods? Oh my that's a lot." She hummed. "First off, I am allergic to strawberries. While it's unheard of, I am triggered by the scent and the ingestion of. I react anywhere from hives to my throat swelling. It's really unheard of, and honestly no doctor I've gone to has been able to diagnose why." She hummed. "I like sushi.. is that stereotypical of me?" She shrugged. "Besides that.. I enjoy Italian dishes.. if that helps." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I read a lot.. I'd rather be reading than most activities.." She hummed. "As my mother mentioned, I like crime shows. Specifically Criminal Minds.."

    Hearing her talk about how uncomfortable she was with herself, wearing her insecurities on her sleeve even if just for this small instance in time made Koshiro frown, saddened that she felt this way.


    "Suffice to say, I'm a person who cares much more about the qualities of a person's soul rather than the skin it takes refuge in. After all, a person can lather on makeup to make themselves look visually appealing but eating makeup in any amount will never make a person truly beautiful inside," he stated. "I know it sounds so cliché, but it's a cliché for a reason, honestly."


    "My apologies," he said in a hushed tone, it fading him for a moment that that was a piece of information she didn't want her mother to catch wind of. "I'd be more than happy to teach you some Japanese. While becoming fluent would take a lot of dedication and many years, I can certainly help you enough to navigate around without much trouble and carry on a breadth of conversations. I will say though, in the major cities in Japan most everyone knows some English. Conversations take a bit longer and words are a bit jumbled but if you have a question about where something is and need directions, people can usually help."


    He chuckled a bit when she asked about the stereotypical nature of her love of sushi. "Well, you are in Japan now so you're in luck to try some of the best sushi you've likely ever had. Sometime I'll have to bring you to the little shop that serves the best that I've personally ever had," he commented, his smile growing a bit larger and no longer in the 'sheepish' territory. "Italian food is really good, cheese ravioli is a favorite. Can't say there are many Italian restaurants in the area, that's something that will have to be prepared in your own kitchen."


    "I don't think I've ever heard of the show 'Criminal Minds', but I also don't watch much television, let alone fare from different countries. I tend to prefer the interactive experiences that come from video games, but even so the most time I have clocked into a single title would be 30 hours. Haven't completed anything I can't play on a mobile device in awhile."

    McKenna smiled a little bit when he tried to cheer her up. "Well, its good to know you won't put me down." She admitted. "I'm glad that I can openly talk to you. That's kinda nice.." She hummed. She glanced to her parents, she wondered what they had in mind. "I don't typically wear makeup, just because I am afraid of looking like a clown." She shrugged her shoulders.


    "You're fine, I just don't want my mother to know." She muttered. "I mean if I need to I'll say it in English but.. I really wanna learn Japanese. Especially if I am going to stay here.." She shrugged. "I mean, I don't see us going to America anytime soon." She bit her lip. She fiddled her thumbs together, running them in circles around each other.


    "Aww, that would be really sweet. I'd like that." She smiled. She hummed softly. "Now you kinda got me excited for sushi." She giggled slightly. "Cheese ravioli? You're kidding.. that's one of my favorites too. I can cook it sometime if you'd like.. I can make it from scratch. I took several cooking classes in school.."


    "It's basically a TV show that shows what the FBI Profilers do. The cases are based off real cases, but the names are changed I'm sure. Of course it's not following actual FBI agents either." She shrugged. "Video games huh? What kind? Are you more into those shooting games or are you into narrative games?" She hummed slightly.


    "Koshiro, my mother didn't really tell me about how we were going about this." She admitted. "Did.. yours?" She asked quietly. "All I was told, I was going to meet you today. That was it. My mother didn't explain how we were going to see each other. Are we staying with our parents until the marriage? Have they found a place for us..? How are we doing this?" She rambled for a second. "I'm a little.. anxious I must admit.."

    "I don't know if we'd find ourselves in America either, and if we do it would likely be involved with business dealings with my father's software company, one that I'm expected to inherit sometime in these next few years," He commented, agreeing with her statement.


    "That would be amazing! I've never had homemade cheese ravioli before, it sounds like it would be great and I'd love to try it sometime," he smiled when McKenna said she knew how to make this delicacy, at least in his mind, herself. "That's also really cool that you got to take some cooking classes. The only things I know how to make are various soups and rice balls and that's because my mother taught me."


    "That sounds like it would be an interesting show, although I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the crime drama," Koshiro replied. "I don't really like shooters, they're all filled with violence and the stories are lackluster, I do like rpgs and more narrative based games though, like the mainstay Final Fantasy series. Ace Attorney is also really fun, but that's more like a puzzle game that I only played because one of my friends told me I could get it on my phone. Do you play any video games?"


    "From what my parents told me it seems like you'll be staying at my apartment? At least that's what I've gleaned from it," He answered her question as best as he could. "I think the idea was getting used to living together? That kind of made sense to me. It's a space much larger than I needed it for originally though so the only shared spaces can be the kitchen and the living room, you'll have your own bedroom and bathroom," he continued on, starting to stammer a bit later in the phrasing. To be honest, the statement felt kind of weird. He never thought he'd be inviting someone to live with him for awhile, let alone the first day he knew the person but alas this was the situation he found himself in. "If you would wish to return to your own house though and meet up at a subway terminal or what have you, I can bring that up as an alternative."

    "You've never had home.." Her voice trailed and she shook her head. "That's gonna change." She smiled. "Yeah, it was one of the optional classes I could take. I enjoy cooking really, I could spend all day doing it." She hummed softly for a moment, glancing around at all the other girls. She bit her lip before returning her focus to Koshiro.


    "I'll be watching it a lot.. like I mentioned it's my favorite. I'm finishing up season fourteen. Season fifteen will be the final. Honestly, I am not ready for it to air. I've grown up with that show if that makes sense." She smiled. "Video games? I play a few.." She shrugged. "My favorite is an old PS2 game. Not exactly Final Fantasy, but it's called Dark Cloud. It originally released from Japan and came to America about a year later." She smiled. "But here lately I've recently discovered the Persona games.. also I played Detroit: Become Human.." She shrugged. "Obviously I myself like narratives.." She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.


    "Your place.. got it." She shook her head. "No, if that's what our parents have decided then so be it. I won't ask for anything different." She bit her lip. "You.. do keep your apartment clean correct?" She asked. "I'm not a total neat freak, but messes aren't.. my thing." She shrugged. "Other than that I'm not to picky. You don't have anything strawberry at your apartment do you? Oh if you do you must get rid it.."

    "I totally get it, while that's never happened with tv shows I've definitely gotten attached to long running manga series," he related to her confession. "I've heard of 'Dark Cloud' but haven't played it myself, perhaps I should sometime though, I do have the proper console set up in my apartment. As well as an original PlayStation, and a PS3, and a PS4," Koshiro started to ramble a bit. Some would say he has a bit of a video game addiction but he would merely retort that while some people watch television, he prefers video games. "I'm very familiar with the Persona series, I've played all of them and cannot pick a favorite between 3, 4, and 5. I love them all for different reasons," he started to fanboy at the mere mention of one of his favorite game franchises. "I'm going to be honest and say that I played the version of Persona 3 available on the PlayStation Portable just so I could play as the female protagonist and date the male characters. But that was mostly because they were far better developed than their female counterparts. Which Persona games have you played?"


    The more he talked with McKenna, the more at ease he felt. They had something in common, a very large thing in common, a love of video games. They even had similar tastes and share some favorite franchises, so this relationship, whatever it may end up being in the end, will at least be friendly.


    "Don't worry, my apartment isn't messy, it hardly even looks lived in to be frank," he replied to that question. "And don't worry, the only strawberry thing in the area is a piece of art that depicts a strawberry, which shouldn't be, hopefully won't pose any problems."

    "At least you've heard of it.." She smiled. "Oh, you've got to play it. I ended up bringing my PS2 and PS4.. it's at my parents home.. I do own a copy of Dark Cloud.. I can bring it with me if you'd like." She smiled. She blushed a bit. It was odd, knowing someone who knew all the things she enjoyed. It was kinda great actually. She was glad it was him though, because she was going to be stuck with him for a while.


    She looked up. "I guess I kinda understand why my parents instructed I only unpack the necessities.." She bit her lip. "And.. why they were loading boxes into the trunk of the.." She gulped. She felt her anxiety kinda kick in. She had a crystal on a chain around her neck. She reached for it, beginning to slide it back and forth on the chain nervously.


    It was then her mother approached them. "Okay, enough chit chat.." She waved her hand. "Obviously you two like each other, that's good enough for us," She smiled. "McKenna, you'll be staying with him, effective now." She smiled. "Your stuff is in the car, we will bring it to his apartment." She frowned, noticing her state. She sighed. "Now is not a time for you to start acting all anxious.." She frowned. Jacob approached her. "Dear, be easy on her.. this is a lot for a young girl." He smiled gently at McKenna, who slightly calmed down when her father spoke.

    "If it wouldn't be an inconvenience to get it that would be great! If it would be though I can always look for a copy and buy it, I'm afraid it would likely be in Japanese though," Koshiro said. "I can offer translations though, and consider it a learning opportunity."


    "Are you okay?" He asked her, noticing her starting to choke up a bit when she talked about her packed up belongings. He noticed the pendant that she had begun to fiddle with it. "That's a very pretty necklace."


    "If it helps any, tonight we can have whatever for dinner you would like and we can do whatever you want as well, play whatever video games you'd like. While most of the ones I have are in Japanese, some are American copies with English voices."


    (ooc; sorry for the short post, seems like a skip to somewhere or something will be in order soon.)