2025-09-26: Tea And Hope
- Log: Tea And Hope
- Cast: Ichika Kawase, Maya Amano
- Where: Aoba Park, Aoba Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: September 26, 2025
- IC Date: Mon, July 16, 2012
- Summary: Ichika asks Maya if she can come and talk, and as they do, a few subjects she hadn't counted on come up...
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
This Monday, Ichika actually went to school! And after school, she left, because she had places to be. Specifically those places involved...
> Amano-san are you free today?
This was her text message, and if allowed to call, Ichika would mention that she'd like to talk to her--about personal stuff this time, if that was OK.
Ichika was willing to go to Aoba this time, and made her way to the Park where she arranged to meet Maya. She's not in uniform anymore, having had occasion to stop and change, and is instead in a skull tanktop and green skirt with boots, along with a couple of bangles on her wrists and some heavy earrings. Her hair remains bleached.
She's sitting for now on a bench, waiting, looking down at her phone on this cloudy day.
She's a little nervous... Maya said she'd talk if Ichika wanted, but is it really OK to bug her with personal stuff?
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"I-chi-ka-chan!"
Ichika is so preoccupied with her phone that Maya was able to sneak up on her and settle the cold, wet butt of a bottle of Cyclone Tea against Ichika's forehead.
It's only there for a moment before Maya hands it over properly to Ichika. "I picked up one for me on the way. I thought you might like one, too."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
SNEAKY!! Ichika makes a squeal of COLD and surprise that is distinctly un-sukeban-like, and stares up at--
"Amano-san!" She laughs at herself a moment later. "You really got me," she says. She accepts it with both hands, looks down at it, and opens it up. "Thanks, I was kind of thirsty."
"You wanna sit with me?" she offers. There's plenty of space!
"Um," she starts, "How's it going? I didn't take you from anything too important, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Nope," Maya says with the shake of her head. "The print deadline was last week so I have plenty of time before our next issue." Maya was taking it easy (easier?) for now.
Maya uncaps her own drink and sits next to Ichika. "What's going on? It must have been pretty important for you to text me like that."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Great," Ichika says, and relaxes visibly. She's still a little shy about taking up Maya's time; after all, the older woman is so... cool. "I guess since it only comes out every so often you have a while."
She smiles briefly--but only briefly. "Well..."
"Kinda, yeah," she says. "I'm pretty sure I did the right thing, but..."
"I broke up with my boyfriend," Ichika explains. "The one I told you about? ...He's a good guy, a really good guy. Like, cares about his mom, looks out for his gang, all that stuff."
"But..."
"He wanted to get a lot more serious than I'm ready for. I'm just thinking about maybe settling with one guy instead of a few different ones at once, and... it's not really fair to him to lead him on when I'm not ready for what he wants..."
"So that's kinda where I am."
She makes a point of drinking her tea.
All channels have been gagged.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya hums to herself at Ichika's explanation. "Well, it sounds like you made the right choice. There's a lot of people who don't give a lot of thought to what they want. And there are others that do and tell themselves they're willing to compromise, even though they might not really want to. You know what you want and what he wants aren't compatible right now. Rather than negotiating those boundaries and possibly hurting him or yourself, you cut it off."
Maya takes a sip of her tea. It's so hot today; tea was a great choice. "I think that's a pretty mature decision!"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Maya seems to agree with her at least. "Thanks," Ichika says. "I don't... want to compromise on that stuff anymore. I did that in a relationship a while back. And it went really badly. ...Like, really badly."
She nods, after a moment. "Yeah... I think it's not fair to him to just keep hooking up when what he really wants is someone he might marry. I can't do that yet. ...One day, it'd be nice. But... that one I mentioned just now, we almost did. And I'm still kind of spooked about the idea."
"...And... I think I did hurt him, but... He said he appreciated my honesty, and that I never told him I'd commit anyway. I still felt bad."
"...Do you have a boyfriend or anything, Amano-san? I mean, I know you work a lot, so maybe not."
She can't imagine Maya couldn't get one if she wanted one, so clearly that's the only question.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"No, not right now." Maya seems unbothered by being single, though there were plenty of women her age who were upset at just the mere prospect of living the solo life. "I went to a Konkatsu with a friend from work recently, but didn't find anyone I liked." Not that Maya was actively searching; she just went with her friend because she didn't want to go alone.
"I think it'd take a lot more than one Konkatsu event for me to know that I like someone enough to date them." Maya recaps her drink. "Dating really isn't important to me right now, so I wouldn't say yes to anyone who I didn't think was a sure win."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika brightens a little. "Oh, yeah?" she asks. "That's cool."
More than that... Ichika nods thoughtfully. "That makes sense, yeah. You'd want to be sure before you invested the energy, right?" It at least is sensible, though, "...It's pretty important to me, though. My approach is more... I'll give a guy a chance, but I'll only stick with it if I find something to like, you know?"
"...But," she admits, "Some of it is just that I don't... like being alone. Having someone there makes me feel better."
A pause. "...Not that it always does," she admits with a sigh. "Like, we were still in bed talking when midnight hit and then I had to wait a whole hour for him to wake up, and--"
Wait. Dark Hour. "...From... being asleep, not from... turning into anything, or something... obviously."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Oh, you mean the Dark Hour?" Maya asks nonchalantly as she sets her drink down on the bench next to her. "The last time I was out with friends that late, we were at karaoke. None of the machines were working, so it was pretty awkward until I decided to start singing anyway." Who needed a karaoke machine to sing? "My voice was so hoarse afterwards that everyone started asking if I was sick afterwards."
Maya grins impishly.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika is hoping that her totally smooth delivery was good enough, but instead, Maya just goes for the Dark Hour mention. "!" Ichika doesn't quite say, visibly surprised and thrown off her game as Maya lays it out. ...Maybe because she's so off-guard, she laughs anyway. "Wow, that's really cool," she says. "I guess you don't need the machines..."
"Um, yeah, actually. The Dark Hour. I try not to be out at midnight too much anymore, but when you stay over somewhere it's kinda hard to make sure you'll be asleep at the right time to miss it..."
"So you know about that stuff?" she asks. "Wow..."
"But I guess a good reporter should know that stuff, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"I don't know if I would have found out about it if it didn't happen to me first," she says, clasping her hand together in front of one knee to give her arms a little stretch. "A lot of Persona-users are pretty secretive about it. They probably don't think anyone would believe them if they told them." At least that's what Maya suspected.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I was coming home from a rough night," Ichika explains, "And it just... happened. I really freaked out," she sighs. "But I don't remember the first one that well, other than that."
She drinks more of her tea, then caps it. "Yeah, I totally wouldn't believe it if I didn't already know."
"Does that mean you have a Persona-then?" she wonders. "I've met a few adults with them. ...I tend not to talk about it much," she admits, "Since it's all... secret, hush hush stuff."
And notably, Ichika doesn't have the Resonance effects of a typical Persona-user either.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Yeah, but you'll never guess her name." Maya shoots Ichika another impish grin.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika goes :O for a moment, her mouth opening and then closing again. "...Wait," she says. "Uhhhhhh."
"...Yeah, I got nothing. Is her name special?"
Ichika totally can't guess it!!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Maia." Maya looks pretty amused when she reveals it. "Not very original, but I like the name at least!"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"What??" Ichika laughs at that. "Really? Whoa. LIke, she's not just... you, is she?" Pause. "I mean I guess they're all 'you', kinda, but like, I mean, you don't just summon a big Amano-san, right?"
She imagines that for a moment
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya laughs at that. "No. But Maia is really pretty. If you show me yours, I'll show you mine sometime!"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"That's cool," Ichika answers. "I'd love to see her. But obviously yeah, not a great time..."
She considers. Hers is technically a secret, but she trusts Maya. "Sure," she says. "I'll show you sometime, too. Mine's really cool, she's a big ogre type, but she's also really pretty..."
"I guess I'm best at healing? But she can really smash stuff, too."
A pause. "...Not that I'm strong enough to do everything I want to yet," she admits. "But I'll get there. I have to try, anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"That's a pretty handy skill! Every time there's Personas or Shadows involved, someone's bound to get hurt. Can I give you a call the next time I need some healing?" Maya asks, grinning.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Yeah," Ichika agrees. "Happens a lot. That sounds good, though. Just call me up, and I'll come help."
She smiles at that. Something she's good at, that she can do!!"oh, but..."
"..Maybe... call me after next week," she sighs. "Finals are coming up..."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"You studying hard?" Maya asks. "I always waited until the last minute and crammed the night before."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"...Kinda," Ichika says, and then laughs. "Wow, really? I feel better then. I'm trying, but I'm really not any good at it. If I do OK, it's because Kashihara-kun's been tutoring me."
A totally unfamiliar name, of course.
"I'm trying to get a little better since... I'm trying to get into a career now, you know?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya brightens at Ichika's admission. "So you finally figured out what you want to do?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Yeah," Ichika answers. "I mean, something might happen by then, or whatever, but..."
"I think I want to try to be a reporter," she says. "Like we talked about."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Somehow, that makes Maya smile even larger. "That's great!" she says, clapping her hands together. "You'll have to let me read the first article you write. I'm just a reporter, I am editor too!"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Maya seems to think she can do it!! But then, she did have Ichika practice her Reporter's instincts before...
"For sure!" Ichika answers. "...Wow, really?" she asks. "Then I guess I better make it a good one!"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Do they have a newspaper club at Kasugayama?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I don't think so," Ichika says. "But then, I just kind of assume we don't have any clubs besides the Student Council. My gang meets in the old greenhouse, but there's no Gardening Club to use it."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Maybe you could start one next year." Maya's not even sure if it's possible to start a new club midway through the year. No one tried it at her school -- at least not that she knew of. "Do you think anyone else at your school would be interested?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh, I graduate at the end of this year," Ichika says. "I mean, theoretically. I'm a third year."
But, anyone else...? "Hm. Maybe, though. And if nothing else, the Boss's girlfriend is on the club at Sevens..."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya winces sympathetically. "Third year was the hardest for me. I spent too much time studying for the entrance exams. I wish Ulala and I could have gone out more." It was probably even tougher if you were a Persona-user. Though maybe you could use the Dark Hour to get in an extra hour of study time.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
The hardest. Ichika's shoulders sink a little. "Yeah," she says. "I'm gonna try for those, but I have no idea if I'll do OK..."
She's pretty worried about it. "Is Ulala a friend of yours?" she wonders next. "...I want to get out some more, too, though. There's this other guy I've been hanging out with..."
Ichika still has boys on the brain, but it might just be to distract herself from entrance exams, this time.