2025-09-16: Someone Else's Apartment You're Crashing Confessional
- Log: Someone Else's Apartment You're Crashing Confessional
- Cast: Tatsuya Suou, Umie Akabane
- Where: Shiori Miyashiro's Apartment, Konan Ward
- OOC Date: September 16, 2025
- IC Date: July 12, 2012
- Summary: Umie wishes to speak to Tatsuya, so he meets her at the apartment of the lady he's crashing and speaks of dramatic, bold things.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Umie texted Tatsuya to meet up with him, and at this point... Tatsuya's given up on trying to brush Umie away. It's proven impossible. He's running into the hard limits of what he's able to do on his own, because he doesn't really have much social grace on his own, like with Tsubasa.
> Apartment 503
> Konan Lunar Palace
...?? Does Tatsuya own an apartment there? He shouldn't be able to rent on his own, being only 17. He would've had background checks that lead back to his parents. The missing child report would've been hit at some point. Curiouser and curiouser...
When Umie arrives, he buzzes her in through the intercom easy enough. It's a nice apartment, a more upscale kind that definitely is on this side of the century rather than the other -- and though Umie doesn't know, it's also close to where Maya-nee lives with her friend, Ulala Serizawa.
Tatsuya's already waiting by the door when she arrives. He's glancing around, like he expects to be spied on -- but once he's pleased it's quiet enough, he goes back into the apartment room.
Right now, he's only dressed in a black tanktop, with his Mark visibly showing since he hasn't bothered to wear his glove. He's wearing brown slacks, and his red motorcycle jacket's thrown on the couch. It's a surprisingly clean and orderly apartment, one that looks like it's only been lived in for about a year, bearing some indications that more than just Tatsuya lives here. Just judging from the amount of doors, there's two bedrooms, at least.
There's clothes draped all over... cosmetics scattered on the floor -- not all that many, but...
Just who is Tatsuya living with?
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Panting from a Mementos trip that's gone terribly wrong, Umie arrives into the normal, mundane world of _Sumaru City_, that is... one of the many stations. Grimacing as Badb's touch falls away from her, Umie, the very ordinary young woman who's just run a mile from shadow that proved to be tougher than she assumed it would be, collapses on an empty bench, her duffelbag hitting the space next to her with a light 'whump'.
Meanwhile, her phone, now exposed to the invisible rays of cellphone service towers, soon dings. Umie fumbles for the phone and pulls it out, and makes... a hushed, surprised sound.
Wait, Tatsuya has an apartment?
Wait, Tatsuya is texting her?!
_wait, what if this is a trap_.
Too late, Umie's already texting back.
> sorry, didn't have reception
> will text when I'm on Konan Ward
Later, Umie arrives at the apartment building, eyes wide at just how... *nice* it is. It's Tatsuya's voice on the intercom, but that could be faked too, with a recording, Umie assumes, but too late, she's going into the elevator still smelling like... whatever Mementos smells like to other people. Maybe blood? She takes a moment to fiddle with her hair, trying to make it not seem like she had just run for her life after making yet another unwise decision, but alas, the elevator doors are now opening.
"... Takkun." Tatsuya can see Umie immediately tense up when she sees his Mark out there in the open, despite it being outside a place that is, from what Umie assumes, is where he _lives_.
Her windbreaker has been stashed away into her duffelbag along with her small stash of loot and masks; all that was underneath was a tee that proudly proclaims A APPLE ADAY with a cartoon worm coming out of an apple, as well as a pair of shorts, with sneaker to match.
Following Tatsuya inside, Umie can't help but look around, red-brown eyes taking in the space. She'd know for a fact that someone his age couldn't get an apartment; she had to wait until the day of her 20th birthday before she could even try to. It's bigger than hers, much cleaner and orderly, but maybe because it's new? (Nevermind that, Umie's got messy within a few weeks.)
Two rooms, at least. Bedrooms? There's clothing around, and... cosmetics.
She... had the impression that Tatsuya didn't... particularly... swing that way, so to speak. It's not that she's ever directly *asked* him; the old her certainly would have balked at the idea of asking something that would imply that she was interested, and that her tutorship was all built on a lie.
Now? ".... I thought you preferred..." At least she gets the question out, though her Guts score only gets her so far into it. "Not that there's anything wrong with it, either way!" She throws her hands up.
(Maybe he wears it, but that seems even further from the person he's been around her.)
Unfortunately, with being this direct means embarrassment, as Umie's cheeks begin to turn a faint red.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
"... you look like you've had a heavy workout," is Tatsuya's calm observation first of all, when he enters into the apartment proper and tosses some of the stuff aside to make room for the two of them. He's gone to the kitchen to prepare something, since Umie looks like she could use a nice, tall glass of water.
... I thought you preferred ...
Well, Umie's preferences on tall drinks of water aside, Tatsuya does raise an eyebrow.
"Oh. Do you prefer coffee or tea? I think there's some in the cupboard here."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
".... Mementos," Umie finally admits, when they get into the privacy of the apartment. "... Had a negotiation that went badly, but it's fine. It's experience."
'I thought you preferred....' Her voice cracks. ".... smaller apartments," she finally says.
God, Umie, you did it again. You just assumed that because it made you feel like you didn't have to worry over things that didn't even have anything to do with Tatsuya, but with _Syuusei_.
She may feel like she's grown since then, but how much has she, really?
He 'thinks there's'. Her brain can't stop itself from picking that up and using it as a clue.
"Tea'd be fine. Thanks."
She looks down. ".... This person you're living with... do they know? About what you're dealing with." They'd had to know at least about the Mark's existence, but it could be easily handwaved as being a tattoo, depending on the person.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
"... I don't like that place," Tatsuya frowns. "It wasn't around..." A pause, as he shakes his head, as he works on some tea. It's only tea out of a teabag, nothing fancy, but it'll have to do. As the kettle boils, Umie finishes that she thought he prefers smaller apartments.
"...? You're being strange, Tutor-sensei. I've never had to pick my own apartment before," Tatsuya replies, still completely having it whiff over his head.
But Umie asks about the person he's living with.
"... yeah. Shiori Miyashiro, a member of the Konan Police Department," Tatsuya answers just plainly enough. "Some things happened before the Principal was killed at Sevens... she's chasing the Old Maid down, just like I am." He comes over with the tea and just a glass of water, for him. There's a glum look on his face as he recalls some of the things Sudou told him about Shiori.
How her brother was killed in his place...
"You didn't think I'd just been living in the sewers or something, did you? I mean, sometimes..."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Yeah, it's new to me too," Umie says, not realizing what Tatsuya meant. "I've only known about the Dark Hour."
But then, her mind begs, how did he know not to kill that shadow in Mementos? (.... the same way she did, Umie immediately reasons back. Or by similar means.)
The way Umie turned that into a question about smaller apartments was not one of her better evasion tactics; but at least she can push through and leave it to the side. (Be better, Umie!!)
..... only it ricochets right back to hit her right in the gut. _A police officer_. Umie, you double *did it again*. "... Ah," Umie answers, hiding a grimace. "... So... like your..." Don't bring up his brother, Umie. "Yes."
Does Shiori have a persona? If Shiori was here, Umie'd be able to tell, unless she was able to disguise it.
The brief glum look on Tatsuya's face makes Umie want to ask another question, but unlike terrible assumptions on someone's choice in tall glasses of water, this one is much harder to pierce.
So instead, the gremlin in her springs on the last statement. "I mean, I *did* see you get out of one," she says, with a sideways grin, "so I had to assume..."
Wasn't it strange, how she was right where she needed to be?
Like she was meant to be there?
Just to make Tatsuya's life that much messier?
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
"Yeah," Tatsuya answers without awkwardness. "I know she knows my brother. That's not something I can do anything about. Cops will talk to each other." He looks surprisingly like he's made peace with that, at least. "I don't think she's talking to him, though, and she promised to not tell me about what I told her."
Shiori is, unfortunately, not here, because she's off probably telling Tatsuya's dad about rumours being real by showing off her shiny new G33 to convince him that there's a shop that's now selling real guns and ranting on about the strength of her "pocket rocket". Guns sure are sweet, Takkun.
"... they're convenient to get around without people tailing you," Tatsuya protests, somehow defensive about the sewers.
"Anyway. You said you wanted to talk to me."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'You said you wanted to talk to me.'
Umie blinks, and rubs the back of her neck. Ah. She had thought Tatsuya was texting her because he had something to say, but in reality, he was finally following up on the many, many times she had asked *him*.
But what? That the Mark is going to kill them somehow, possibly, someday? About all the things she's learned? That she'll answer any question he asks her?
Umie reaches for the tea, "Hey, Takkun--"
Except the questions that would imply that his tutor-senpai's a liar and a murderer? But then, it'd be no different than the way it was before, wouldn't it? You're still the same coward you were back then.
"..tch!" Umie immediately abandons the question as a small portion of the tea spills over the lip of the cup, the liquid distractingly hot as it drips onto a bare leg. "..."
She continues to sip. "... the tea is good," she says instead, with an shaky emptiness suddenly registering behind it.
It *is* what she needed, though, as she seems to settle down after drinking some down, and wiping the liquid on her leg with napkin.
There's another topic that's much easier to go to instead: the Old Maid.
"... I've been meaning to tell you: it was a few weeks ago, but I was targetted by the Old Maid. He said some weird things during that... managed to get away thanks to some Persona users that noticed something was off." It's the truth. She's not a liar.
"... Something about how 'he' was wrong, and that I was nothing like him-- that is, the Old Maid himself," she clarifies. "He also sent a note, before he came. Like he was hoping for another reaction. And before he was about to finish me off, he mentioned how he hoped I'd be better in some 'other' timeline." She's misremembered: he said, specifically 'the real timeline'.
She leans in, her gaze direct on Tatsuya's face, as her hand gently deposits the tea on the coffeetable.
"It's the same kind of shit the NWO believes in-- the cult part. That this world's impure, and that a new, purer world needs to be created." Anger glints in Umie's eyes at this angle, and she continues, "It makes sense-- that I'd be too 'impure' for his d--" Dad's world.
She can't reveal who it is, can she? Tatsuya might just rocket right out of here and try to end things himself. "... for this... other world they want."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
The disturbance does catch Tatsuya's eye. He, perhaps, knows more about what it is that haunts her mind. But he can't see into her mind, regardless, or the ways in which Nyarlathotep cultivates his own personal brand of chaos inside each of his subjects' minds.
She topic-switches, and he relents. Umie says she was targetted by the Old Maid, and that topic makes him frown. He gets up again, to face the balcony and pull the curtains shut, like he's still paranoid someone might be out there lipreading.
But Umie explains how she's like the Old Maid himself...
...
And that he'd hoped she's be better in some 'other' timeline.
The world's impure. A new, purer world needs to be created. "A World without Sin," Tatsuya murmurs.
He turns and faces Umie, kneeling down before her. "Akabane-san. Whether or not such a thing exists... the fact is that if this 'other' world comes to be, I'm certain it'll be at the expense of 'this' one. The Old Maid, the NWO... they're all obsessed about discarding what's in front of them in favour of some 'ideal' version of the world."
Man, I don't even have to do the heavy lifting.
Tatsuya frowns a little deeper, sighing.
"It's no good... I, too, have been trying to act like I shouldn't interact with 'this' world. But it caught up to me too. I had to stop someone who was convinced I was working with the Joker Killer. They were spreading rumours about it, I had to stop them. And I was no good with my words."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Try as Umie might, she can't conceal the signs from someone who's been dealing with similar tactics from the Crawling Chaos. Whether the voices be persistant or sparse, there's limitless roles and faces the entity could wear in order to achieve his goals. And why not, when he is a part of humanity?
You can pull all the curtains closed, but you can't escape the you that's in the room with you.
Tatsuya's comment draws a cold sweat; she had made sure her tutoring job never crossed paths with her parents, who were, admittedly, seemingly normal outside of the confides of the NWO's walls.
He's kneeling in front of her in the time that she spent lost in that thought.
"I know." Umie gives Tatsuya a long, pained look. She should be able to be direct with him, right? He's the only one who has the Mark, but like her, he's not trying to help the NWO. But for how long, has it been like this, for him? He has so much more fire than she ever did.
"... My parents joined when I was about ten or so," she says, with a hollow croak to her words. Yes, it was ten. And it was after she turned eleven that she--
That sigh, that frown. Umie presses herself further on the edge of the couch cushion. "... As far as I'm concerned... this is the only world there is, because it's the one I'm in. Hearing that shit, all the time growing up... who cares about a better world, when this one's the one we're in?!"
She leans back, disliking the anger that projected in her voice in that moment, but also, because of how Tatsuya talks. 'I shouldn't interact with 'this' world'?
".... Is that why you said what you did, in the basement of Kasugayama High? To Mishina-san and..." The young man with the gentle smile-- She closes her eyes, roughly diverting herself from that railway of though. "The person you were holding."
It fills her with initiative. Purpose.
"... Let me talk to them. I might be able to help. To the person spreading the rumors, as well as anyone else you're trying to help." She leans forward on her seat to accommodate the way Tatsuya kneels in front of her; these are heavy secrets to tell, but they're ones they can finally say, if not fully.
... Including the ones where Umie..... "After all, on the rumor bit... I kind of... messed up. The rumor about Seven Sisters? I tried hooking it into the Triple 7. You know, because sevens being lucky, right?" ... screwed up. She clears her throat. "... There's... a young guy, about your age, who got concerned when he saw me reading the Joker Killer's note--" No, no, Umie, don't make it just about Ren! _Just say you fucked up_.
"... I think I... screwed up the emblem rumor?" You know, the one Tatsuya's been using to protect many people he cares about. "I think it still works! Just... not as well."
She really *is* Marked.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Umie gives Tatsuya a pained look. He can't guess at her pain; he doesn't want to assume anything about how it is for others. It only gives him more pain when he does. "It doesn't end at the New World Order... but you already knew that, right?" he murmurs. Her parents joined when she was ten... she's been ensnared for that long?
"But it doesn't mean they aren't a large problem. The New World Order is the way they exert power on the physical reality that neither you or I can ignore, Akabane-san."
Umie expresses her discontent at hearing all the rhetoric and propaganda, about the world without sin, about the better world. This is the only world there is, after all. Who cares about a better world...?
"... yeah," Tatsuya sounds really sad for a moment. That constricted, devastated look is back, as she expresses anger against those who'd want a better world when this is the one they live in. "I'm so sorry, Akabane-san. It's because I wanted..."
He lets that linger. He shakes her head, harrowingly sighing as Umie, coincidentally, locks in on Mishina and Kashihara at this point. Umie's struck dead center and he looks like he's had the winds taken out of his sails.
"I don't know them. Why would I know them? They're..." Tatsuya's tied himself into a logistics nightmare. He can't deny that. Umie saw that. "... they can't know. We shouldn't remember each other. We can't."
This is a disaster. He steps towards the windows again, even shaded with the curtains drawn as they are, like it's going to protect him from how tangled his words have been.
... Let me talk to them. I might be able to help.
Where he feels lost, though, Umie's found purpose and initiative. ... he's already shared with Miyashiro. Is it okay to trust Akabane with this, when he knows she's been ensnared by him, too? But it's clear that Nyarlathotep's power is far reaching, far more than an average person or Persona.
"... okay. I talked to Tsubasa Seki, who seemed convinced I was--" Tatsuya frowns. "They misinterpreted the Joker Persona having my face. I had to do some... drastic things to get them to remember. Shinjiro told me to be gentle too, tch... I'm no good at this. That's why--"
That's why Maya-nee used to do it for him? Get real. She's not here anymore. She's not supposed to know you now, remember? This is the consequence of not engaging with reality, Tatsuya Suou. The more you try to convince yourself you're a ghost that should disappear, while paradoxically and hypocritically inhabiting a body that you so flagrantly stole from its rightful owner, the worse you make everything.
"And also..."
That distant, ghostly look is back.
"Akabane-san. I'm going to tell you something I shouldn't... but you said you wanted to help."
All right. If Umie's going to be courageous about it, perhaps he needs to as well.
"Jun Kashihara is a very important person to me... maybe the most important person in my life. But... that was 'then'. And this is 'now'. He doesn't remember who I am, and he needs to continue to not remember who I am... to not draw closer. You saw how spirited the Old Maid was about making him 'remember', in the basement of Kasugayama High. All I can tell you is that if he remembers... there'll be extremely disastrous consequences."
He shrivels into himself, wishing his leather jacket was on. "The same goes for Eikichi Mishina, Death Boss of Kasu High too." Except the part where he's the 'most important person his life', maybe. But he's still up there.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Tsubasa Seki? "--Neon-san?" ... is Umie's response. "... Damn it. they're getting sucked into all of this." ..... 'drastic things'?
Umie gives Tatsuya a long, thoughtful look, a hand perched at her chin. ".... You showed them your persona, didn't you." At least she's not being critical about it! "I'll see what I can do. I feel I owe them, besides." Her lips purse. No, explaining would touch on something else she rather not get into.
This is about Tatsuya, right now, besides. Umie knows that look in his eyes, even if she's never had the chance to really see it in her own.
She leans forward, placing her hand on Tatsuya's shoulder. "Keep going. 'Don't listen to 'Him, right? I'm here right now."
It's easier to be courageous for someone else, rather than just yourself.
Umie listens to Tatsuya, her hand returning to his shoulder if that look seems to return.
Jun Kashihara; what sort of relationship they 'had', or why there's a 'then' and a 'now'...
Whatever questions Umie's mind wants to ask are overshadowed by her heart, wanting to give someone who knows what it's like to see the Mark in the mirror what it's like to have a little bit of hope, as well.
"Then I'll keep an eye on him." Her eyes angle down, thoughtful, as she tries to think of a story. "I'll need to think of a plausible cover story in case he gets suspicious. I doubt I can just say 'you sent me'." She frowns, looking up. "Or would that... work, you think? Mishina-san's in the same school as him, and we're still here, so..." But is that what she's supposed to think? Damn it!
"Okay, Whatever it is, I'll do what I can. I might even have a plan. I already know Mishina-san from some stuff before. He's already gotten himself involved in things; he's not that bad a fighter, it turns out." She settles back into her couch. "I actually chatted with him recently to confirm a few things about what happened that night, but I told him to stop at a certain point..." She gives one of those wry half-grins. "For my sake. After all, after Strega's navigator messed everything up... who's to say it messed with our perception? Better not to think about those things~" (She can't remember what she actually told Mishina.)
"I'll tell him to give me a ring if anything happens at Kasugayama High." And outside of that?
She'll think of something. She always does, even if they're nearly as successful as she'd wish they were.
If Umie's hand is still there, she finally releases Tatsuya's shoulder, and settles back into the couch, scooting over to provide a comfortable distance for Tatsuya to inhabit. "You can't keep kneeling like that, you know. Miyashiro-san's going to come in and get the wrong idea, Tak-kun."
... No, not even Tatsuya is safe from the occasional comment.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Wow, Umie got it in one.
"... they attacked me. I had to convince them what they saw wasn't the truth, and the only tool I had on hand was to force them to experience being around a Persona again, because it was a Persona that made them interpret things incorrectly," Tatsuya tries to reason and sound reasonably like he's a smart person and not a hapless teenager that's making it worse. Umie owes them...? He's not sure what the reason is, but he's not gonna pry.
But Tatsuya can see that Umie's trying her hardest too. To put on a brave face. To be an adult for a kid who's messed up...
That just angers him so much more. Everyone's trying their hardest. He was the only one who was throwing a tantrum and backing away from his promise. Maya-nee. Yukki. Eikichi. Ginko... Jun...
A plausible cover story... Tatsuya's not certain. But his attention is drawn when Umie reveals that Eikichi's already involved in things. "No... damnit... he has a Persona already?"
Should he... not? What's the issue if he does awaken to one?
There's a slow pause, as Umie tells him that he can't keep kneeling like that. Tatsuya blinks a few times. "Why?" He does get up, but the look of confusion on his face is probably incredibly precious. No, this precious boy doesn't know what it means to go down on someone.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"I mean, it's a fair reason to go that route. I could see where I would have done the same thing, if I was in your shoes." Umie tilts her head. "It's not like you could attack them back; it would have reenforced their belief, and with your Persona's power, it could have gone badly. If they've already been exposed to a Persona, what's the harm in doing that again?" She trails off, examining the thought over. "And it would have shocked them enough to stop, so..." She shrugs. "If it works, it works." Tatsuya, whether you like it or not, Umie has seen the logic in your decision. (... What *would* she have done, if she was in Tatsuya's shoes?)
...... oh. She'd... probably do something similar, wouldn't she.
Tatsuya's thoughts are closed off to Umie, but there's something about him in the next moment that causes her to lean foward from her slouched position, attentive.
Oh. Maybe it was... just paranoia.
"Persona game. Woke up a few years ago." Umie crosses her arms. "Maybe whatever it is doesn't have to do with their Personas? I don't know how the game's supposed to work." She lightly taps on her right wrist to indicate why. "Also, tell me if there's anyone else you want me to check in on." Maya Amano is already on her mind, so.
Them looking up, Umie sees that innocent, innocent look in Tatsuya's face, Damn... it...
With lightning speed, those hands go up to place themselves on either side of his face to smush it, as she laughs, openly.
Such joy from Umie, however, cannot be tolerated for long.
Settling back onto the couch, Umie considers, red-brown gaze glinting with deadly curiosity. "... By the way, Takkun. Your Persona... you got yours when you got your Mark, right? Like I did."
Or... would he? He told her, it wasn't like hers.
But how, and why, did his Mark happen?
A faint whisper in her mind was all she needed.
"... It was because of me, wasn't it. That you got your Mark." It's like the gravity present in the room has doubled. "... Someone like you... wouldn't get a Mark the same way people like me would."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Umie tells them that their approach was far, but Tatsuya doesn't appear to be convinced. Exposing someone to the supernatural only tends to result in tragedy. That was part of why, likely, This Side was predicated on not awakening to a Persona... at least, that's the way Tatsuya has to embrace it. That Eikichi already awoke to one feels like a transgression.
It's a step in cognitively accepting other worlds.
But then--
"... I know you're probably already looking into Amano-san and the team of Persona-Users around her, which includes my brother--"
smooosh
"HEY"
Tatsuya bristles and flails, folding his arms and turning around. "I'm not a kid...! Stop treating me like one." Umie settles back, though, but... his Persona -- did he get his when he got his Mark? She gets serious again, so he does stop with the pouting, putting his hands in his pants pockets.
... it was because of Umie.
"..."
He shakes his head.
"No. If anything... it was probably the other way around. No, I know it is. ... it's because I didn't believe. I was weak..." He sighs again and shrivels for a moment into himself. "He and I go further back than all this, Akabane-san, and... he'll stop at nothing to leave more tragedy in his wake. That's why the only sure defence is to not be noticed by him, and people like us can only really ensnare others into his whims. That was why I tried so hard to not get anyone involved, even you."
He starts towards the door, grabbing his jacket and glove. "... I've got to go out again. There's something I need to investigate still."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Ghhhh! It's just making it worse!
Umie laughs; it's probably the most light-hearted sound she's made since coming here. She pulls back with a gremlin smile as he turns around. "You're always so cool and serious, but when you make faces like that, I can't help myself!" (is this.... cute aggression...?)
But it never lasts.
Every bit of happiness has to be re-contextuallized to be something else, every bit if normalcy.
Tatsuya's timeline is off; she was Marked before she had even met him. Yet, with this talk of 'then' and 'now', and timelines...
She's still not sure if she understands it; but she understands one thing, as she sees Tatsuya's self seem to shrivel back into his shadow:
"If you were really that weak, 'He' wouldn't be trying to convince you of it, Takkun."
Umie gives Tatsuya a small, closed mouth grin, remembering the way his silhouette emerged from his burning motorcycle. Weak...
He's anything but. Yet, just like she shrinks away from the worn wounds in her own heart, that likely is where his lie, no matter what reasons there are.
"... We'll talk some more, at another time. Thank you for the tea. And for the advice. I'm not sure if I believe you on this timeline of yours, but I believe that those people are important to you. I'll do whatever I can, and I'll keep my eyes open."
She stands up, hefting to dufflebag onto her shoulder. "We'll keep an eye on each other." Her smile grows cocky, as she steps right by him, and out the door, shooting an open mouth grin over her shoulder. "I may need your help later with something, by the way. It'll involve ninjas and getting back at someone who attacked Aragaki-kun. Look forward to it." With that, she walks off, taking the stairs.
Umie didn't want to have to have that awkward silence in the elevator ride down.