2025-07-30: Gamer Pool
- Log: Gamer Pool
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Hazuki Nakao
- Where: Penguin Sniper, Kichijoji, Tokyo
- OOC Date: July 30, 2025
- IC Date: June 18, 2012
- Summary: It's like regular pool, but there's a gamer involved.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ah, Sunday--the rare full day off for students in Japan. (Well, some schools get Saturday fully off too--but not the ones in this area.) The fair in Yongen-Jaya was fun, at least after Akechi stopped trying to force him to interact with cops, and however much it was plain impossible to find a sushi-selling stand, but it also served as a reminder to Ren of... well, various things. He's already got a plan and a date set up with his friends to handle business, so there's that, but that day has yet to come, so in the meantime he needs to prepare.
One way in which he's chosen to prepare is by going to Penguin Sniper to play pool.
It's a bit awkward. He didn't have a chance to invite anyone with him today either, so his only companion is his cat, whose black-and-white face pokes out of his shoulder bag to watch. (Also awkward: the fact that he's dressed in the same street clothes as yesterday, i.e. open-chested white button-up, black undershirt, jeans, wristwatch and shoes. When Ren was exiled to Tokyo, he had only one bag of luggage, which was sent on ahead of him. He doesn't have a lot of spare outfits. He at least has plenty of spare socks and underwear, so it's not completely gross, but it's not like an onlooker could tell that.) It kind of feels like a waste to pay for a pool table and only have himself to play against, but...
Well, the book that's open on one of the corners of the pool table says it all: he's a beginner, and he's practicing. Ren reads over a page, then sets up a shot--adjusts his position according to how Akechi had adjusted him--thrusts the cue forward--
Crack. The cue ball rolls forward to knock into two different balls. One of them makes it to the pocket, and that's one point for him; the other bounces off the corner and rolls back, knocking into a couple other balls and changing up the layout of the board. Again.
He sighs faintly as he stands up straight, cue in one hand as he looks over the table. "I'm still having trouble getting the right amount of strength..."
"You're trying too hard," Morgana comments--though he'd only sound like a meowing cat to any non-Persona Users in the area. "You need to be smooth, measured, and controlled--just like a proper Phantom Thief." He pauses, ears flicking. Neither of them say it, but isn't it funny that this thing that Akechi invited Ren to do in the first place loops back into being a better thief?
Ren leans over the table again, though to referencing the next passage in his book on how to play pool rather than to make his next move. That'll come soon enough, at least, because: "I'll at least finish what I started."
...Once again, to onlookers, it just looks like this weirdo is talking to his cat while playing a group game solo.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki has never played pool. However, someone told her about the Penguin Sniper, a cool hangout spot to PLAY GAMES, and she went there!
After getting lost finding Kichijoji, but, you know. That's how it is as a foreigner. She's paid for her ticket, but as she's going in, she's a little confused.
She wants to try darts, or maybe pool, so she has her phone out, five dozen wiki tabs open to research how to play both. She can probably do Not Totally Awfully just from this, the wicked powers of the Goddess of Tricks, but she won't become a good or even decent player from wiki searches alone.
Nobody is familiar! Not that she has friends anyway...
Except for one person she recognizes, practicing pool by himself. He's not a friend at all; she doesn't really know him, but they met! Close enough, right?!
Ren Amamiya, the criminal of Shujin Academy. She knows his rep, but meeting him at the fair showed her he might not be that bad... he's friends with a detective! He's being rehabilitated!
And that is why, after less than a second to steel her nerves, Hazuki Nakao is approaching Ren (and his cat!!! OH MY GOSH THEY LET PETS IN HERE?!) to say hi.
"Amamiya-san!" She remembered this time, as she looks over him, pocketing her phone. Same clothes... her thoughts wander. He must not go shopping for clothes like she would... or maybe the laundry broke so he had to wear the same thing... or maybe this is just what criminals do...
"I love your cat," she says awkwardly with that English accent to her Japanese, looking down at Morgana. "They're very <chic>." English, once more. "...it means fashionable." Wait, that beats the point of using an English word!
"... are you practicing alone?" she asks, not pitying but understanding the energy of not having people to play with. There's Nakata-kun, sure, but he's been Weird lately... she's so lonely.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
That's how it went for Ren too. He at least had a map pin texted to him, so he didn't get too lost, but he did have some trouble.
He doesn't expect to be approached--he's not in uniform and he's well away from either Yongen-Jaya or Shujin Academy, so there's no reason for anyone to recognize him, and most other people here have their own friends they're hanging out with--so when someone calls him by name, he looks up, eyes wide behind his non-prescription glasses.
"Nakao-san," he says, standing up straight. (He remembered her name this time! Well... learned it this time.) He smiles a little as she compliments his cat. "Thanks."
Morgana preens, proudly displaying his apparently chic yellow collar. "Now this is a lady with a sharp eye!"
"Shhh," Ren hushes him gently. To Hazuki, that'd just sound like a bunch of meowing. Morgana sulks a bit, but he does quiet down; he understands the score.
"I only just recently started playing," Ren adds to Hazuki. Which is an explanation for the practice, but not the being alone...
...Well, maybe someone with his reputation doesn't need an explanation for being alone. (All his friends had other plans already, as it turns out.)
"What about you?" he wonders, dark eyes flicking past and around her to take in her own lack of companionship. He's gracious enough to add, "Here to meet someone?"
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki knows that cool vibe from anywhere, Ren. You can't escape her.
As Morgana meows and quiets down, she smiles at him, the most genuine the gloomy girl has smiled in a while, before looking back up to Ren.
"I haven't played before, but I looked it up, so I should be able to adapt." There's a glint in her eye, and the fact she constantly wears compression gloves shows she's probably some form of gamer. "Is it... better to practice alone?" she asks, trying to figure out how to say it but not quite placing the word for 'effective' fast enough.
Though, his own question about here to meet someone... "No, they were all... busy." She smoothly tries to gloss over 'actually I don't have friends because I'm the weirdo new girl'. "It's a day off, so I thought I'd get out of the arcade for once and see what else the city has to offer."
She glances to his book, nodding once as she takes in the name of it. "Does that help? I just used the English wiki."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren likewise watches Hazuki as she too smiles at Morgana. He barely knows her, but she seems a lot more cheerful now than she did yesterday. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, of course, but it is something he notices--along with that glint in her eye and her compression gloves.
He shrugs. "Better than not practicing at all," he replies. It's not why he's doing it alone, so whether it's better alone or with friends, he doesn't really know. He can't imagine it would be, but his book didn't touch on that; it just assumed he'd be playing against someone else. Which... makes sense, given the nature of the game.
"Oh. Same here," he replies. (He at least does have friends who were busy, but that's not any better for Hazuki... Especially with that slight pause. She was alone yesterday too. Is there something going on with her and her friends right now?)
He follows her gaze to his book; he picks it up and offers it to her if she wants to take a closer look. "It's been helping so far. I understand the rules a lot better now that it's explained them to me," he replies. He's been to the arcade on Central Street before, or at least passed by it... Has he seen her there before? He thinks he has, now that he mulls on it. She always seemed busy. And she seems all right--at least, she's approaching /him/, so she's clearly given/giving him a chance--and she's also here alone, so...
"You wanna play a game?" he offers, tilting his head towards the table. "If we're both newbies, we ought to be on... more or less equal footing." More equal than it was with him and Akechi, anyway. "I promise I won't do a break ace on you," he adds straight-faced, thinking back to their match.
...He might need to explain what a break ace is, but still.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"That's fair... better practice than not playing," Hazuki agrees. She takes the book as it's handed to her, trying to deflect from the part about BUSY FRIENDS by not replying to that. It's fine, conversation moved on, right?
She commits the book's name and author to memory. If she likes the game, she might as well buy a copy. After taking a brief moment, she hands it back. "Thank you."
And then, Ren offers to play a game! What is his motive?! ...to play a game, probably, honestly. And he actually seems pretty nice... maybe everyone's wrong about him? After all, assault isn't always a crime of a horrible person. Maybe he was forced into it by his peers, or joined a youth gang and got out, or something, and he has to live with those consequences for the rest of his life.
She doesn't know for sure. He could also just be a bored punk. But... she's always preferred to show compassion, so as long as he's being nice, she'll give him a chance.
"Sure...!" she says, trying to hide her enthusiasm to be invited to *something*. She moves closer to the table, smiling very lightly. "I assume that's like the equivalent of playing a boss character and destroying your opponent's morale in round 1?"
She's clearly a fighting game nerd. Run, Ren.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Sure. Ren won't press someone to talk about something they don't want to discuss. He's got plenty of that himself. For now, he waits for her to look the book over, then nods amiably when she hands it back. "No problem."
He sets it down next to his bag, in between that and the back of the chair on which it's placed. It won't fall over or squish Morgana that way. His motivations for inviting Hazuki to join him for a game? Well... she won't know if she doesn't ask, and she doesn't, but it's fine. He's got nothing bad in mind. Plus, for all that she tries to hide it, she does seem happy to be invited. He gives her a faint smile back and moves to fetch the balls.
He gives her another surprised look at her assumption, though. "Uh, yeah, basically," he replies. Gamer found...................... Well, he'll survive. He likes video games too. "So, there's a lot of different ways to play pool, but when it comes to a break ace, that's something you can do in nine-ball." He holds up the ball in question, marked with the number 9. "In nine-ball, you win by sinking this ball. You're supposed to sink every other ball first before you can go after this one. If you sink it too early, you lose. But there's an exception to that." He sets down the diamond-shaped rack and starts setting the other balls within. "Normally, you sink the balls in numerical order. If you do a trick shot, though, you can do it out of order, including with the nine-ball. Doing it that way means you can win early."
He leans back. All of the balls are arranged and set up for a new game--including the nine ball, at the very center of the triangular arrangement. "The opening move in pool is called a break, or a break shot." He taps the white cue ball. "That's when you hit this ball into all the other balls with your cue." He gestures accordingly. "If you do a trick shot and sink the nine-ball during the break, that's a break ace."
In other words, it's possible to win this game without letting your opponent even have a chance to play.
"You'd have to be a real asshole to do that to someone who's never even played before," he adds, a certain stoniness entering his expression.
But it soon passes, and he looks over at Hazuki. "You want to give the break a try, or d'you want to watch me do it first?"
Morgana, meanwhile, nods sagely at Ren's explanation of both a break ace and the rules of nine-ball in general. He's still got a ways to go, but he'll be able to do his own tutorials yet!
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki listens to Ren's explanation carefully. She seems to be absorbing it, at least, instead of just absently listening. "Numerical... I saw that, yeah." She did read up, so she's able to fill in any blanks he doesn't share for sake of brevity.
She grabs a cuestick, though she nods to him. "I'll let you show me, Amamiya-san. Will let me understand how to hold the stick better, too."
A pause.
"Wow. I can't imagine there's many people who'd do that... some people can be real jerks, huh?"
She does not say that she sandbags in fighting games. That is basically the same thing. Look! It was a one-time thing (that turned into a many-time thing, blame people giving you cool nicknames).
Hazuki will watch keenly once Ren begins. A fighting gamer is always noticing every little perceptible thing on a fast-moving screen, so she does better by watching than by attempting based off writing.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren nods. Not that he's experienced enough at this game to show anyone how it's done, but he's at least more experienced than someone who's only read up on the rules. It makes sense for him to go first and, well, show her how it's done.
He also has Akechi's "tips" for how to hold the cue, so that puts him over most beginners too.
He quirks a slight, lopsided smile at her. "They sure can," he agrees. ...He does not know about her sandbagging, and so cannot give her a Look over her comment.
He bends over the table with cue stick in hand. His feet are not too far apart; his left knee is slightly bent; his legs are not locked, but his elbow is; and most importantly, his arm is parallel to the floor, drawing a line with the cue from his elbow to his wrist that's like an arrow towards the white cue ball.
Ren remembers Akechi's touch as he adjusted him--takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly--and glides the cue forward between the splay of his fingers.
Crack. The racked diamond of balls break, sent in all directions. There's not enough force to send the nine-ball much of anywhere, but the three-ball lands in the far pocket. Ren smiles, pleased with himself, and straightens as he looks back at Hazuki.
"Okay--I sank a ball, so I get to try again. I have to sink the one-ball. If I miss, or if I hit the wrong ball, it's your turn. Let's not worry about trick shots and play it straight this first round--get used to the basics." He rubs the back of his neck. "We're also supposed to call the pocket we're going to sink the ball into... but we can skip that for the first game if you want."
Once she's confirmed what she wants to do either way, Ren will take another shot at the one-ball. Called or not, this one he'll just miss sinking thanks to not putting enough power behind his shot. First too much, then not enough... It's going to be tough to figure out the proper balance.
"Your turn," he says, stepping back to give Hazuki room.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki nods as Ren shoots. Her eyes scan rapidly, from the crack to how the balls move. It's in 3D instead of 2D, so she's having to adjust how she takes in the data, and it'll be harder to quickly pick it up like she would a new video game, but she's clearly pretty smart.
"Let's do it without, I'll add that in the future if I end up liking it...!" Better to just practice getting balls into holes than to try and play a perfect game.
Ren misses his second shot, and Hazuki nods as he lets her move forward. Her positional on the stick is pretty good, mimicking him keenly. But the power and force isn't something she has yet. Soft or hard?
She goes soft. Nothing sinks, but it's clear she has the basics of shooting down. It's not a great shot at all... but for an absolute beginner taking her first shot? Not bad.
"You're a good teacher for beginning... I think my hands are at the right place, so it's all a question of figuring out how to use this thing properly."
She moves to let Ren go next. "So, what made you interested in billiards? It seems you've definitely got a reason to keep playing, if you're practicing on your own."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren nods once at Hazuki's response. Learning to do trick shots is something he's interested in, but getting the fundamentals down first is important. More importantly, he's just playing a game for fun with a girl he barely knows.
Though she's got him mimicked pretty well. Her opening shot doesn't have enough force, but it goes in the right direction. She could sure do worse.
"Thanks. I'm just telling you what I read, though," he replies. There's still a skill in being able to clearly convey the information one has learned--that's why teachers are a major profession--but he doesn't think of it that way, clearly. He doesn't feel confident enough to correct her hands (though as far as he can tell, she is indeed holding them right), and he wouldn't want to try it even if he did.
He inspects the pool table--where the one ball is, where the cue ball is, which pockets he might be able to sink the former into. "It looks cool," he replies. He intends on leaving it at that, but then Hazuki points out he must have a reason to want to play to practice on his own.
"...There's someone I want to beat," he admits. He lines up his shot; crack, and in it goes. He breathes out a sigh of relief and moves on to the next ball. "Someone who's crazy good."
He misses the next ball--or rather, he hits it, but it banks off a corner and knocks away without falling into the pocket. Frustrating, but... not in a bad way.
He looks up at her. He doesn't intend on asking her about her friends or lack thereof, but... "What about you? Or were you here for the darts?" Those he hasn't tried, yet.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"That's still teaching!" Hazuki insists, but only for a moment. As he says it's cool, she squints, but his followup makes more sense.
"Oh... I hope you can beat him! You're pretty good to," she says, mostly if not entirely true and partially kind sentiment. She doesn't know what 'pretty good' looks like, of course, but it's good to her! "...is that where you learned what a break ace is?"
Though, as it becomes her turn, she goes again as he asks his question. "Oh, I just wanted to check this place out. I just moved to Japan at the beginning of the school year. I mostly hang out at the arcades because they're familiar, but learning new cool hangout spots is my thing. I knew everywhere... hip in London." There's a certain hint of gloom to this, as if her reasons for moving aren't entirely happy, but her memories are clearly fond.
"Tokyo's so different, though! There's barely any rain so far!"
As she shoots, she finally gets a hit! Increasing her power a little helped, but she flubs it entirely on the next, once she takes her second shot. She almost, barely, knocks the wrong ball in a hole, grimacing as it skids near the edge. Luckily, it doesn't quite sink.
"...oops?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren gives a little shrug when Hazuki insists it's still teaching. He isn't going to argue with her on the matter. He still doesn't think it counts, but her position isn't wrong, either.
Likewise, it's nice of her to say that he's pretty good too, but he knows she's either saying that or she just doesn't know better. Maybe a little bit of both. He doesn't hold it against her, either way.
"Sure is," he replies, deadpan. Maybe Hazuki has a better idea that the asshole who'd do a break ace on a newbie is not just a general concept...
He listens as she describes her situation. So she is in fact a transfer student... Not that he'd doubted Akechi's deduction. He'd noticed her offering to tip, too, something that isn't really done in Japan. She does seem kind of gloomy about it, but that could just be homesickness. If there's an unhappier reason than that... he isn't going to pry.
"London, huh... I've never been, but I'd love to go sometime," he says instead. "I'm new to the area too--" something everyone at school knows because he's the infamous criminal transfer student, "--so if you find any other cool local spots, please let me know."
He gives her a nervous little smile when she says that Japan (well, Tokyo, but still), currently in its rainy season, has had 'barely any rain so far,' though. J-just how rainy is London...?
He watches her next shot. It didn't go well, but it too could be worse. "It's okay. We're both learning," he reassures her. And so the game continues, both of them learning and improving as they go... though perhaps they've got more to chat about as they play.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"Well, I hope you win. Get revenge!" Hazuki says with a mild laugh. She's having fun!
But as he mentions London, she nods. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. Don't listen to what people say about the food... there's a lot of cross-culture restaurants that are incredible." A pause. "I will! You're pretty cool, Amamiya-san."
As they play, Hazuki will lose - Ren's practiced more than she has. But she somewhat loosens up over it, having fun, and she'll definitely look into the game in the future.
Sadly, Ren has also opened himself up to pestering at school. Which, you know, might make Hazuki seem like a weirdo... but people already think she is, don't they?