2025-06-29: Rain Leaves a Trail
- Log: Rain Leaves a Trail
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Ren Amamiya
- Where: Triple Seven, Shibuya
- OOC Date: June 29, 2025
- IC Date: June 02, 2012
- Summary: Just two ordinary people, meeting for the first time on at an ordinary part time job. A spring rain will leave footsteps, so take care to cover your tracks.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
The Triple Seven: one of many kombini-type store chains that dot the streets of Tokyo. Umie stands at the cash register on her first day here, and, so far, nothing bad has happened. Her outfit is still crisp and free of stains, even when she had to clean up a spill on aisle 3, and the morning co-workers seem pleasant enough.
... Not that she was *expecting* it to be bad; but yesterday's last minute placement for her former co-worker has left things on a particularly sour note. Thankfully, any arm scrapes she received were covered by her sleeves, as they do now. (She swears, she will never eat kombini fried chicken again, if she can help it, though that may only last a month before she breaks her personal oath.)
Maybe, that means this is her lucky day.
After a stressful early morning start, a warm afternoon June rain has wet the pavement outside, turning it dark. A rumble of thunder, pleasant and echoing, heralds a period of peace and quiet. School's let out, however; she's been warned that leads to a rush of students.
Also, something about someone coming in for their shift? She was distracted from that when she had to find the barcode for some ramen.
Well, a high school student can't be any worse than someone asking her to get into a mascot costume.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
The convenient thing about this conbini, for Ren, is that it's right off Shibuya Station on Central Street. That's where he makes his transfer to Yongen-Jaya, where he lives, so it's very easy for him to come from school, come in for an afternoon shift, and then go home. It's a good time to do some part-timing, too, with the rainstorm outside. He hurries inside out of the rain, goes into the back room to clock in and change into his work clothes, discreetly lets the not-a-cat out of his bag (but in a literal rather than metaphorical way), and soon heads to the register, clad in the Triple Seven uniform.
He's pretty new here too. Since he's a student, he doesn't have consistently scheduled hours; the upside to that is that he can just come in whenever, and the downside is that he's not guaranteed a shift every day he might happen to come by. But that's okay by Ren. He's got a lot going on.
His timing is good, at least. Soon after the manager sets him at the register, a group of students starts surging in. The manager might well set Umie with him too, to make sure the customers are served with timely smiles; they're about to be busy with a bunch of other things.
Ren, for his part, is mostly watching the students coming in, chatting, and browsing. There's some tension in his shoulders, but he's paying attention to the customers, at least. Of course, that means he's not paying attention to his coworkers, at least for the moment...
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Timely. Quiet. Manageable.
Already, Ren has surpassed Umie's low bar.
The tight shoulders fail to register in Umie's eyes; the idea that something may be weighing on Ren's mind is far beyond her as the high school rush happens. Triple Seven may be a new chain to her, but when it came down to it, it's not too different from the Satomi Tadashi.
In fact, it's similar enough that Umie keeps slipping up on her answers as the rush continues; an item that should be in aisle 2 she remembers as aisle 5, the medicines are in aisle 3 further down from where her memory mistakingly recalls them. She keeps up on the other parts, however, trying to angle around the taller, quiet young man as she takes over as the 'social' one of the two.
Still, she studies Ren inbetween the rare lulls as they weather the assault of consumerism and traffic; umbrellas flick rain into the air and loafers leave muddy marks in the aisles that'll need to be mopped up later.
Not but yet.
As the last of the rush leaves, Umie breathes a sigh. ".... Not bad, not bad. Walked in out of the rain, dealt with the rush, and more." She angles her chin to look up towards him, and grins. "Name's Umie Akabane. I suppose we'll be seeing more of each other for a while."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It's fine by Ren that Umie doesn't notice and therefore doesn't ask about it. They're both working right now, anyway.
They both do their best, even if their best isn't perfect; Ren makes some mistakes canceling rung-up items when a customer or two decided to put things away at the last second, and there's a few complaints about how slow he is. Still, he remains diligent and keeps plugging away, so he manages to work his way through the tide without more than idle grumbling and definitely no one from school showing up to hassle him. It helps that Umie's here to help with the rush, though she doesn't seem to have much more experience than him.
When the rush is gone and there's naught but wet footprints to remember them by, Ren breathes out a low, slow sigh. His coworker does the same and smiles at him. He gives her a small smile back.
"Ren Amamiya," he replies by way of self-introduction. He gives her a bit of a bow. "It's nice to be working with you, Akabane-san. I'm just a student, but I'll be picking up afternoon shifts when I can." When he straightens, he gives her a curious look. "How long have you been working here?"
He doesn't *think* it's been that long for her, but she talks like it has been, so maybe he's misreading her?
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
It's always annoying, when your best isn't enough.
The fact that Ren seems to be in the same boat, more or less, helps that feeling die down.
"Same here." Umie bows back. "A student, eh? Same school as the black and red plaid uniforms the students were wearing, or different?"
He's been listening closely as well. She answers, with a wry grin. "My first day, actually. But I worked in another chain in Sumaru City before coming here. That's why I kept messing up, earlier." She rubs her neck and sighs. "It'll take me a while to get used to where everything is, but I'm a quick learner. You?"
His movements speak of some experience, so he couldn't be new in the same fashion she is.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It is, but in fairness to both of them, they haven't really had very much training so far. What *is* the manager doing? (Probably running the books in the back room, or some other job that no one but they can do... At least, that's what Ren hopes. He'd be mad if they were just dicking around while he and Umie were doing all the hard work.)
"Same school," Ren confirms. He doesn't name the school, but if she knows the uniform, maybe she knows the school already.
She confirms this is her first day, but she's not without experience in this line of work. His eyes widen slightly behind his glasses, but he nods once. So he *had* read her correctly, and going both ways. That's kind of reassuring.
"This is maybe my third shift or so," he replies. "They gave me some training on my first day, but after that..." He rubs the back of his neck. "I'll get used to it soon enough."
He glances at her long sleeves, though he doesn't read into them. It's rainy and thus somewhat chilly today; it makes sense that someone might layer up a bit, even if the general weather has gotten hotter.
Instead, he wonders, "Are you going to be working here full-time, then?" He's genuinely not sure how that works. She at least looks like an adult...?
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
What the manage does not know will not hurt anyone~, at least, as far as Umie is concerned, for right now... though they'll undoubtedly be out sooner or later to direct them. She already notes the floors, the merchandise, the ruffled magazines.... She'll wait until someone directs her, no need to display her perfectionist tendencies just yet.
"... Ah. don't tell me." Umie had only overheard it in passing; it feels good to know at least a little about it. "... Syujin, right?"
Unfortunately, she misheard.
Ren's reaction to being correct, this time, is noticed by Umie, who chuckles softly. "With a sharp eye like that, you'll be fine. Third shift, huh..."
Those 'sharp eyes' notice Umie's sleeves; her posture shifts slightly as she connects what he's looking to.
Better not to call attention to it, she thinks, when there's many logical reasons for a petite girl to be wearing sleeves.
"They're still fitting me into the schedule. Might be doing nights, but... not looking forward to that again. I got a few other part-time gigs elsewhere, but..." She gestures vaguely. "This may work out better."
Ren guessed correctly again, it seems.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren is good at reading people... most of the time. He picks up on Umie's discomfort in the way she shifts when she notices his line of sight, but that isn't cause to read anything into it either. Maybe she just doesn't like getting stared at. He looks back up at her face.
"Shujin," he corrects her--a long U rather than a short U. (Never mind the romanization has a short U either way.)
He smiles a little as she picks up on his observation. "You seem pretty sharp too," he replies. The smile fades as she continues. Night shifts, huh... "That must be rough."
Good thing he's still a student. There's no way the manager would try to give him a night shift, and he'd be obligated to refuse even if they tried. He doesn't have to deal with trying to work through the Dark Hour... Though there's plenty of mundane reasons why someone wouldn't want to do that either.
"Do you live nearby? Or go to college nearby?" he wonders. If she's got a lot of part-time jobs but a full-time job here would be better... those are the two options that seem likeliest to him. She looks like an adult, but not that much of an adult.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Shujin," Umie repeats back. "Got it."
Ren compliments Umie back, and she fights back a pleased smile, attempting to pass it off as a simple half-grin. "Yeah. I may have to pick up some, but hopefully it won't be a regular deal."
As far as she can tell, there's no demons in Tokyo. Just the human sort.
And the shadows. Umie's not sure if that's good or bad, to deal with just one and not have the other to sometimes help in the process.
As a matter of fact, she's looking at the doors, eyeing the displays around it. Electricity is off, but she could probably lock the doors if they don't forget how to show her. She's never figured out if shadows operate by sight or by just *knowing* someone is there; would blocking their sight work?
Eh, it's not as if it was a constant danger.
"Hm?" She looks back to Ren. "Oh, I got a place in Shibuya for now. Just moved." College.
".... No," she neatly answers, ignoring the flip in her stomach as she does so. "What about you?" There's nothing to suggest that Ren is anything but a local, as far as Umie could casually notice.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren simply nods back. Hopefully not, for her sake.
As she eyes the doors, he turns his gaze in that direction too. Lots of people passing by, but no one coming in at the moment. His gaze shifts down to the still wet and muddy floor...
She confirms a move, denies college. What about him?
"Excuse me," he says, scooting out from behind the check-out counter. He's new at this job, but Umie is even newer, and he remembers where the supply closet is. "Be right back with a mop," he adds, so she doesn't think he just randomly decided to ditch her.
Even if he is technically absolutely ditching her question.
He'll be back a moment later, at least, and starts getting to work on cleaning up. "Sorry," he adds to Umie as he does. "But I was just thinking, we really gotta clean this up before the next customers arrive."
A good distraction for both of them, maybe.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
It seems they're both playing the same game. Ren dodges her question, moving onto the normal task of... doing his job.
She opens her mouth, but closes it.
And a second later, she grins, seeming to sense a common thread between the two of them, even if Ren's side of things is even more undefined than hers.
She was being nosy anyway. She's not that far removed from being a teenager herself; privacy is a need that anyone can appreciate.
"... Right. I completely didn't notice," she lies, and follows after. "Between the two of us we'll get it done before the next batch arrives."
... Hopefully the cleaning supplies aren't stored on the high shelf like they were at her last job, but if Ren's around, she won't have to worry too much about that.