2025-06-30: The Cafe Cat Compels Customers to Chat
- Log: The Cafe Cat Compels Customers to Chat
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Minako Arisato, Minato Arisato
- Where: Leblanc Cafe, Yongen Jaya
- OOC Date: 2025-06-30
- IC Date: Sunday, June 03 2012
- Summary: The Arisatos visit Leblanc Cafe, where Ren is covering on his own. Morgana becomes the star of the show, and Ren gets a positive review to pass on to Sojiro.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Cafe Leblanc is not a busy restaurant even at the best of times. Nonetheless, someone has to be behind the counter during business hours. Right now, that's Ren. Sojiro isn't here at the moment--Ren did not press on what he's doing instead of running the restaurant; maybe he's just taking a day off--but the curry is on the pot and Ren has at least a workable understanding of how to make coffee at this point. He's not nearly as good at Sojiro, so any regulars who come in this Sunday noontime will be disappointed.
Disappointed enough to leave entirely and come back another day? Ren isn't sure. None of the regulars have come by yet today. It's been pretty dead overall. Fortunately, there's books on the countertop, and he's grabbed one to read while he waits. Who's going to tell him to stop? Morgana?
...Morgana is chilling on top of the fridge at present, so that's a no. He yawns, once, and settles his head back down as he flicks his tail. He grumbled earlier, but he acknowledged that they're not in a position to refuse a direct 'request' from Sojiro when it comes to manning the restaurant.
The sign outside is at least definitely set to 'OPEN,' so someone could come by. They just... haven't, yet.
Ren turns a page. His eyes behind his thick-rimmed glasses are fixed; his apron is pristine.
There's also a TV that could be on, but right now it's not. Ren would rather read.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako told her brother that she wanted to go to Leblanc, because she wanted to try the curry. It's one of those impulsive decisions that is not uncommon in life with the Arisato twins. Well, in life with Minako. She looks at him, before they enter.
"It looked good, at the festival!" she says. "I just didn't get a chance to try it."
Then, she opens the door. That makes the bell over the door ring -- and Minako looks about, before her eyes settle on Ren. She blinks at him -- then she smiles, lifting a hand in a wave.
"Hi there," she says, cheerfully as she enters. She smiles; it's said in a warm way, not a critical or cruel tone. "Room for two more today?"
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
"It was busy," Minato agrees, plainly, of their opportunities (or lack thereof) at the festival. He made sure to make time for curry, because Minako wanted to go.
Well, he likes curry, too. But the curry is secondary to his thoughts on his current mission.
Ding, ding...
"Yeah," Minato says, and he might seem to be supporting Minako's kindly overtures, but he's really just reflecting on the fact that there really is room for two more in this extremely empty cafe.
(He's not saying it to be a jerk, though. He's actually a little surprised no one's here... that surprise doesn't really register in his dull tone, though.)
He steps inside, and lifts a hand in a loose wave. "Yo. Part-timer?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
The bell above the door jingles; Ren stands up straight and looks over at the two teenagers who've just entered the restaurant. Morgana lifts his head to take a curious look at the two. He doesn't hop down to escape upstairs, even though Sojiro told Ren not to let the cat in the restaurant proper during work hours; he kind of......... forgot.
In fairness, Ren has also forgotten in this particular moment. He slips his book under the counter, using a piece of scrap paper as a bookmark, and offers the Arisatos a customer service smile. "Welcome," he says.
Room for two more?
Ren turns a long look around at the empty restaurant. He looks back at Minako, a hint of a smile on his otherwise now deadpan face. "It'll be tight, but I'll make it work, just for you," he jokes. He didn't spot either of them at the festival--it was a very big and busy event, and they never had chance to cross paths--but still, they both have good vibes, so he doesn't think they'll get annoyed.
He nods once to Minato in confirmation: he is indeed a part-timer. "Sit anywhere you like, counter or booth," he adds, now playing it straight--just in case. "What can I get you two?"
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako glances, sideways, at her brother. She shoots him another of those smiles. Gratitude that he came along on this little errand -- not that it's much of an errand -- and then she looks back at Ren.
When he makes a joke back, that gets the red-haired girl to grin. "You're the best," she says, before she takes a seat at the counter, across from him. She puts her bag on the floor -- leaving plenty of space.
"I saw your booth at the festival," she says. Then, she adds: "I heard the curry and coffee are great. Any recommendations, though?"
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Welcome, Ren says.
But Minato
has noticed
the cat.
Lo, does he venture inside, standing by the counter as he stares at Morgana on the fridge. A moment passes. Minako sits down. Another moment passes.
Minato remembers to be a normal fucking human and stop staring at the cute cat.
Sitting down beside his sister, he drops his bag down, too, with a light thud as it's lowered to the ground. "Cool," he says, picking up his own thread of conversation where he left it off. (He saw Ren nodding, even though Ren is not, in fact, a cute little cat.) "I work at Chagall sometimes. Different vibe."
Beat.
"This is cool, too."
Beat.
"I like your cat."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Minako's grin and praise get her more of a smile mirrored back. It's not an outright grin too, but it's a more relaxed expression this time. Comprehension dawns when she adds that they saw the booth at the festival, and he nods once. He'd spent most of the festival hunting down sweets at Sojiro's request, so he can't know for sure, but... she says she 'heard' that. Meaning she didn't actually get a chance to try for herself. That explains why she's here.
"Normally they're both great. Right now it's just me making the coffee, and I'm still learning," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "But the Boss made today's batches of curry, so I can guarantee the flavor. There's chicken, beef, and vegetarian. As for the coffee, if you don't mind an amateur making it, a lot of our customers like the house blend."
That's a tiny bit of a lie. The house blend is well-liked, but Ren isn't recommending it because of that. He's recommending it because he has not yet memorized all the intricacies of different types of coffee and you can't go wrong with the house blend.
Meanwhile, Morgana is staring right back at Minato. For a grown cat, his eyes are shockingly blue. (For a grown human...) He flicks his ears a little. Eventually, Minato joins his sister at the counter, and Morgana licks a paw in triumph. Of course someone as amazing as him could win a simple staring contest.
(Morgana, what did you think that moment just now was about...?)
"Is that a coffee shop?" Ren wonders. A simple nod. "Thanks." And then--
'I like your cat.'
Now no longer distracted by Minako, Ren shoots a look Morgana's way. Morgana, too, gives him an alarmed look. Looks like they both remembered. "Oh--he's actually... not supposed to be down here during business hours," he says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But if you two don't mind..." He lowers his voice. "And if you can keep it quiet..."
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako, unlike her brother, isn't quite as observant. When Minato mentions a cat, she blinks -- she looks up and spots Morgana -- and then, as if on cue, she says: "Awwwww."
She does a little wave at Morgana, before she looks back to Ren. She doesn't quite linger the way her brother does, though.
"I think I'll go with chicken," Minako says, with a smile. "And I'll definitely take the house blend. I'll put my faith in your, barista-kun!" She winks.
Then, she looks up at Morgana. She doesn't even have to think about this.
"Don't worry," she says. "Your secret and his are safe with us. Right, Minato-kun?"
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Minato loses his staring contest with grace. Does he even realise he was having one...?
He nods, gravely, when Minako says 'awww'. That's a cute cat. The twins have spoken.
"Same for me," Minato agrees with his sister, when she puts in her order. He notices that Ren suggests the 'standard' cup when he just mentioned he was still learning the ropes, but he doesn't point it out.
But Ren asks them to keep it quiet, because it's technically a cat crime. Minako assures him that his secret is safe, and passes that assurance to Minato's court.
Lo, Minato silently lifts two fingers, pressed together, to his lips.
He moves them across them.
He makes a motion as if tossing something to the side once his fingers have traversed his face.
His lips... are sealed.
Is this the start of the Arisato's life of crime?!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Less than five minutes and already Ren's being a bad influence. Just like everyone at school assumed!
At Minako's 'awwww,' Morgana all but preens. A gentleman appreciates the compliments of a lady! When both twins agree to keep mum, he stands, stretches, and hops down to the floor with a 'ba-tump.' A moment later, he's hopped up to the stool next to Minako, at whom he simply stares, cutely. Compliment me more!, those baby blues seem to say.
But he doesn't actually speak. That would be silly, right? A talking cat.
He does outright grin at Minato miming his mouth shut. It's charming. So is Ren's smile; it's not as wicked as it theoretically could be, but there is a sparkle of mischief there.
"Thanks," he says simply. "Two house blends and two chicken curries, coming right up."
He'll get to work on the coffee first. It's harder, traditionally drinks go first anyway, and it'll only take a moment to get the curry out since he just needs to set the rice and curry on a plate. He fetches the container of the house blend, portioning out two cups' worth of beans, and gets to work on grinding them with slow, careful rotations. He may still be learning, but he's clearly applying what he's learned so far well. Could he go faster? Sure. But he'd like to do this well, and it's not like there's a line.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minato putting his finger over his lips like that gets a laugh out of Minako. But, after all, they've had years to learn each other's sense of humor. And what can get a laugh out of them. But, she is rather quickly distracted. Because next to her is a cat.
She looks at those blue eyes -- really, they are quite striking -- and then reaches a hand out. Slowly, just in case. She scratches behind his ears, if Morgana lets her.
Then, she looks up at Ren. She considers, for a second, as he starts preparing the coffee. He seems to be taking it seriously, she thinks. That prompts a smile.
"How long have you been working here?" she asks.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
The cat... approaches!
The cat approaches Minako.
"I'm jealous," Minato says, though his tone of voice doesn't change a whit from a moment prior. Apparently he sounds the same jealous as he does when he's friendly.
Or maybe he's just one of those guys who doesn't emote much.
... he still hopes that Minako is successful at booping the cat, though. He doesn't try to touch the cat himself, of course, because the cat has approached Minako.
He nods, to Ren, when he grins. There's not as much mischief in his eyes, but that's just because there isn't much there at all. How mysterious...
Luckily, he has someone here to be effusive for him. Minato outsourced all his emotions to his sister, evidently. And while Minako reaches out to Ren...
"Hi," Minato says, to the cat, leaning forward a little to look past Minako. "I'm Minato. Minato Arisato. Nice to meet you."
Beat.
"What's his name?"
Obviously he's asking Ren that. Cats can't talk!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Morgana waits patiently. He likes to pretend he's not one for skritches, but let's face facts: ya boi loves skritches. He makes happy kitty noises as Minako scratches behind his ears. Happy kitty noises that sound oddly like 'myahaha.' It's probably nothing.
Minato's respect of his boundaries is... probably appreciated? Maybe?
Who knows what a cat might be thinking?
Ren watches this exchange with a more muted but no less sincere smile than before. When Minato declares deadpan that he's jealous, he shoots him a sympathetic look. ...Too bad Minato is leaning in to get a better look at Morgana by now.
"Just a month or two now," he tells Minako. No need to go into the details. The coffee grinds are starting to release a truly wonderful perfume... To Minato, he says, "Morgana."
Is it just Minato, or does Morgana seem pleased that he introduced himself? In fact, he takes a moment as if to consider... and then offers his head for pets. As a reward for someone so well-mannered!
Equally well-mannered: Morgana himself. He could talk to Ren about the twins right in front of them, but that would be rude. He'll hold his tongue for now, like a gentleman!
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
She keeps scratching behind his ears -- though there is a laugh from Minako at the noise that Morgana makes. "He's a talkative one, huh?"
She glances sideways at her brother as he leans forward, around her, and showers Morgana with attention. (At least, for Minato.)
She pulls her hand away -- giving Minato a chance, perhaps.
She looks at Ren, then she smiles. "That's a good name for a cat!" she says. "And two months! So around the time the semester started," she says. She considers, then she offers: "Minako Arisato. We're twins."
She probably should introduce herself to the human, too, she decides.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
"He sounds happy," Minato decides. How can a meow be happy? Very easily. Just ask anyone who has ever spent time with a cat.
Tragically, Ren's sympathy is lost to the fact that he brought a cat to the party and now the cat is the most popular party guest. This has never happened before in the history of creation.
Still, a few months...
"You got a job when class started?" Minato fills in the gaps, alongside his sister. See? He can also be curious about the human!
The cat is definitely more of a star, though. "Hey, Morgana-chan," Minato says, with a serious nod. His consideration for cats is rewarded... with the opportunity to scritch kitty's ears, too.
Minato's face lightens up. He doesn't quite smile, but, like, Minako at least can tell he's over the moon as he reaches out to scritch-scritch-scritch.
"We transferred to Gekkoukan this year," Minato adds, on the heels of Minako. "I was at Shujin before that. And Minako-chan just moved here. We saw Mini-Le-Blanc at the festival, but we didn't get the time to visit. So we're checking it out now. Nice place."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
The grinds are ready. Ren pours them in the appropriate spot on the coffee-maker, an elegant work of fine spun glass, and... pauses as he remembers he should've heated up the water first.
Oops.
So he carefully lifts up the filter, grinds and all, and sets that to one side so he can get the water and pour it in to boil. That'll take another couple of minutes.
"Around then, yeah," Ren confirms, looking over at Minako. He quirks a slight smile at Morgana, who seems deeply pleased with these showers of compliments and attention and truly heavenly skritches. Yes, these twins are aces in his book. 'Morgana-chan' aside. He'll let it slide this time.
Minato seems very happy about it too, Ren observes; he might not smile, but there is an air to his face that's lighter than before. But while Minako makes a general observation about when he started working, Minato is a bit more pointed. "Around then, yeah," he repeats.
Hm.
A touch of surprise widens Ren's dark eyes as Minako says they're twins. "Huh," he utters. Fraternal, obviously, but he wouldn't have expected it. They seem very different, even for fraternal twins. "Nice meeting you both," he says instead. "I'm Ren. Ren Amamiya."
It's Minato who actually offers more information, something else Ren didn't expect. He listens with interest. He used to be at Shujin, huh... "You missed a bullet," he muses--though, reflecting on it further privately, he kind of actually didn't. Kamoshida was still teacher last year, too.
"Glad you like it here. The decor is relaxing," he says. It's a nice place to live, if you don't mind dusty attics. (Ren doesn't. At least, he prefers it to the prospect of living on the streets.) "I'm glad you both decided to come by. It's been really boring here today," he continues, rubbing the back of his neck. "The Boss is out right now, obviously, so it's just been Morgana and me here. You're the first customers of the day, actually."
The water begins to boil. Ren gets to work on getting those coffee grinds and their filter back in. (He was supposed to boil the water first, then set up the grinds, right? He's not thinking of tea, right...?)
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako doesn't catch that he forgot to boil the water -- but while she works at Chagall sometimes, her cooking skills leave something to be desired. They tend to put her on register or helping at tables unless they're desperate. She looks back at Ren.
Is that a dodge? It might be a dodge.
Minako gets dodges. She does a lot of dodges, herself. So she stays quiet on the topic, and then she brightens up a bit at the introduction. And the reaction -- they get that a lot.
"We match, see?" Minako says. She motions to her red hair -- then her brother's blue. "The way black and white match."
Contrasts, in other words.
She tilts her head. "Really?" she asks. "Well--I'm glad we came, too. It smells great! Waiting for customers does seem kind of boring, though. Can you read or anything til someone comes in, Amamiya-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Minato doesn't say anything about the water; he's still learning. It's cool. It's easy to say that Minato was so distracted by the cat, he didn't even notice him putting the filter to one side.
(He noticed.)
And, indeed, they match. He points at his blue hair, and then Minako's red, demonstratively. Wait, no -- is he pointing at their hair, or at their matching MP3 players? Old-school ones, the kinds which are just a stick which you shove an AAA battery into.
"Nice to meet you, Amamiya-san," Minato nods, to him. A bullet... "... yeah, the Academy was weird. I wanted to join Track and Field, but there was only one sports club that mattered, really. I wasn't feeling it." The vibes were bad. The vibes were so bad. "Kept my head down."
Luckily, a lot of the other vibes went over Minato's head entirely -- like how people at Shujin were obsessed with his last name.
Still... it's a boring place, huh?
"There's books," he points out, to Minako, nodding to them. "And a TV." He looks to it, as it plays something political which no teenager has ever or will ever care about. He pauses. "Well," he amends, "there's books."
Minato pauses, and then pulls out a notebook, scribbling out a note.
'Dear Boss,
Amemiya-san took good care of us while you were gone.
Love,
New Customers.'
"I'll leave that here for him," he decides, putting it on the table.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It would be nice to have Sojiro around to confer with him about how it's supposed to be done. He is not around. Ren will make do.
He does chuckle a bit at Minako's asserting that they match--as a pair of contrasts. "I like that." Matching like black and white... Yes, he likes that a lot. "You two do have a red oni-blue oni sort of vibe going on," he adds. Even their MP3 players match, as Minato helpfully points out.
Minako asks if he can read. He nods over to the small sideways stack of books to his lefttheir right. "I was reading just before you two came in, actually," he admits. He reaches under the counter and pulls out what he'd been reading: Wise Men's Words, by (author redacted). He just picked it up in the bookstore on Central Street a couple days ago, after he got jumped by a reporter. (Well, that's an unkind way of putting it. Maya was nice, even if Ren is wary of her.)
He does laugh a little when Minato looks at the TV, then dismisses the TV. Who wants to hear about politics, anyway? ...But Ren's smile fully fades when Minato mentions he was looking to join the track and field team. "...It disbanded partway through the year anyway, from what I hear," he says quietly. "Just as well you didn't join, I guess."
He wonders if Minato heard about the track team's ace getting his leg broken.
He decides not to ask.
At least Minato scribbles and sets down a note praising him. That brings a bit of Ren's smile back. "Thanks," he says. "Maybe I'll get a raise," he jokes. (It's funny because he doesn't get paid. Not that either twin would know that.)
The coffee looks to be nearly done percolating, so Ren takes a moment to make up for the time he wasted forgetting to do stuff and fetches a pair of plates. A couple scoops each of fresh rice from the rice cooker, a heaping ladle each of chicken curry... He sets the plates down in front of the twins. "Enjoy."
That's just when the coffee machine chirps, letting him know they're ready. At least he got that timing down. Ren will prepare a pair of cups as they dig in.
Morgana, meanwhile, has hopped down from the chairs and is sauntering for the stairs in the back, just past the unisex bathroom. He'll continue to hang out, just a little bit out of sight--in case any more customers come in.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Thanks," Minako says. "We do have that sort of vibe, don't we?"
She looks at the book he shows them -- and peers at the cover, before she nods. "Never read that one... seems like it might be cool, though. I should see if I can find a copy."
Minako glances at Minato -- and there's a hint of a frown. She talked to him about Shujin Academy, when he was there. She never went herself, though. There's a sympathetic look. Someone else, she might pat them on the back; with her brother, she knows that isn't always the right thing to do for him.
She frowns more as Ren says the track and field team there disbanded. "That's awful."
She cracks a smile at Minato's note, though -- and when the plate comes, she smiles brighter. She takes her chopsticks, and then with a satisfying crack of separating them, she digs in. And it's not a moment later that she exclaims:
"Mm!"
Her chopsticks are set down -- and she has her cup of coffee, taking a sip. She actually considers for a moment -- then she looks at Ren, and smiles. "These are both great. The coffee really goes with the curry. And you did a good job--so did Boss!"
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
"Yeah," Minato agrees, and doesn't speak on how much he heard about the Track and Field team in the process. Instead, and partially for Minako's benefit, he says, "... I heard the volleyball coach went to prison pretty recently. He wasn't cool... but I never knew he was doing all that stuff. Well, glad he can't do any more harm. I heard from someone I used to go to class with that these 'Phantom Thieves' got him to confess, there were pictures all up and down the halls calling him out... dunno what's up with that, but if they made the Academy less weird, it's pretty good."
Minato, of course, has no idea who Ren is. It's just a normal thing to bring up, when talking about how Shujin is weird, because everyone knows why Shujin was weird.
He doesn't linger too long on Kamoshida, though, who was, as stated, super weird. Instead, he nods, gravely, looking to his heartfelt note. "Good luck." As a part-timer himself, he knows the elation of getting a raise.
He completely misses that Ren doesn't get paid, obviously.
And then -- curry!! And coffee!! "Hey," Minato says, as he takes a sip. "This is good." And then, the curry...
"This is really good."
Sorry, Ren. Second place isn't that bad.
Minato offers no more conversation as he transforms into a hoover designed to annihilate a plate of food.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"I picked it up at the bookstore on Central Street, over in Shibuya. You could probably swing by and buy it for yourself in between transfers," Ren says. He sets it back under the counter and pours and serves the coffees. As he does, he wonders, "If you both like to read, do you either of you know of any place I could find old, maybe out-of-print books?" (He hasn't discovered Book Town over in Chiyoda yet.)
Minako says it's awful. Ren looks away; light reflects off his glasses, hiding his eyes from view. "Yeah. It was." He leans back, slipping his hands into his pockets. "But it won't happen again," he adds firmly.
Minato explains why, even. Ren smiles at him as he describes what he's heard. It's satisfying to hear their deeds making the rounds--knowing that a former student of Shujin feels good about it too.
It's also good to see both of them enjoying their food and drink. ...Maybe the food moreso than the drink, but Ren's still satisfied with that, too. "Thanks. Glad to hear it," he replies.
Whatever news he gets about old-fashioned book stores, possibly all the way over in Iwatodai, they'll have a pleasant lunchtime to share together.