2025-09-28: A New Lead
- Log: 2025-09-28 A New Lead
- Cast: Jun Kashihara, Maya Amano, Umie Akabane
- Where: Aoba Way - Aoba Ward - Sumaru City
- OOC Date: September 28, 2025
- IC Date: Tuesday, July 17, 2012
- Summary: While searching for clues on where to find Tatsuya Suou, Jun and Maya happen to meet at internet cafe Double Slash, and find each other awfully familiar (for what are of course totally mundane reasons). The more they talk, the more they realize they have mutual interests in the people in their lives, and the more they try to dig into them. Featuring: texts from Umie!
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
It's after classes on Tuesday, July 17. Emboldened by a lucky morning, Jun Kashihara has been looking all over Sumaru City for sign of a certain birthday boy. First, he asked around his fellow Kasugayama students; then he called his father to check if Tatsuya had by some miracle attended classes today; after that, he went to Sumaru TV to look in on his mother and also ask around if anyone has seen anyone of Tatsuya's description around lately.
It's a fruitless search so far, but Jun hasn't given up yet. After a chat with, and a knowing smile from, his mother, he's bid her goodbye for today (though they'll see each other later when Junko finishes up filming and comes home to cook dinner for the family) and continued on his search.
There's an art exhibit featured in Aoba Park right now. Although it sounds fascinating, Jun doesn't head in there. One glance told him the crowds were significant, and not only does Jun not really like big, thick crowds, it seems to him like Tatsuya would try to avoid those too. He thus eschews the place.
It's hard to think of where to go next, though. As Jun walks down the street from Sumaru TV, past Kismet Publishing, towards Aoba Way, he considers the possibility of dropping into Double Slash for some online searching--and maybe a bite to eat.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya steps out of Kismet Publishing just as Jun is on the verge of passing it. It's afternoon and she needs and after-lunch, before-work-ends pick-me-up. Work has been particularly brutal today (thanks, Editor-in-Chief Mizuno!). Maya has earned herself a little treat.
As Maya makes her way to Double Slash, she notices that the figure in front of her seems to be headed in the same direction. Even weirder, the back of his head looks familiar. How can the back of someone's head alone look familiar? Maya feels a weird, tingly sense of deja vu and tries to ignore it. It seems to be happening more lately; she never used to be hit with moments of deja vu until recently.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
As Jun approaches Double Slash, he feels like... he might be getting followed. A discreet look over his shoulder shows no one who looks threatening, so he keeps going. It might just be lingering paranoia after the attack on Kasugayama.
Once he's inside, he picks one of the computers and sets his school briefcase down next to it. He is himself in his summer uniform, of course--teal slacks and a white button-up shirt with black buttons--and he goes to put in an order for a drink and a snack with the listless boy manning the front. There's a girl here who's crazy about Wang Long fortunes, and Jun might ask if she has a fortune for how to find Tatsuya... but first he'll return to his chosen station with a milk tea and a double sandwich.
Glancing at the door every so often, Jun opens a browser and sips on his tea. There was no one threatening out there, but he had an odd feeling when he saw one woman in particular... like maybe he knows her from somewhere. He's been having odd flashes of deja vu lately himself...
...just like with Tatsuya, actually. Is it a coincidence?
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
...they are headed to the same place, Maya realizes once Jun opens the door to Double Slash. Is it a coincidence? Well, at least Maya will be able to get a look at his face now.
She steps in shortly after him, the bell on the door ringing behind her. She hovers near the threshold for a moment, eyes scanning the room. And then she catches sight of him. There! At a computer. And that feeling of deja vu is even more pronounced than before.
Like a woman on a mission, Maya approaches him and presses the palms of her hand down on a free patch of table. "Maya Amano with Coolest Magazine," she says with a smile. "Do I know you from somewhere?" Was he maybe featured in one of their magazines? Maybe she had done an interview for him for their teen fashion review roundup?
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun does have a beautiful face, and his beauty is something he specifically inherited from his famous mother, so he's used to people doing double takes at him or wanting a better look at him. That in and of itself isn't strange to him. But that woman who gave him that strange sense of deja vu is the one who stops in and looks around and approaches...
"Ah!" he utters when she introduces herself, though. He does recognize her, though he's not sure how she might know him. "I'm not sure," he replies. "But I know you know a classmate of mine--Ichika Kawase is her name. She did a bit of modeling for you." Jun smiles at Maya. "She thinks highly of you, in fact."
He read that magazine she featured in, in fact. Is that where he saw Maya? It's odd to think that the writer of an article might have their face pictured, but where else would he know Maya's face from? He does feel instantly comfortable around her, though, so Jun doesn't worry about it too much.
"As for you... my name is Jun Kashihara. My mother is the actress Junko Kurosu. I was just by Sumaru TV to pay her a visit," he adds. "So that's probably how you know me."
He pauses in consideration. A reporter who's in touch with kids these days... "Do you mind if I ask you an odd question?" he adds. "Have you ever interviewed anyone or done any research of Seven Sisters High School?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"I think pretty highly of Ichika-chan, too!" Maya says, beaming. She's rather fond of her. Maybe if her position improves at Kismat Publishing, she'll be able to help her get an internship once she's in college.
But that's in the future! She needs to focus on the here and now!
Jun's explanation sounds reasonable enough, but there's something about this sense of deja vu that makes her feel like she knows him. Not just saw him. She once again tries to push the feelings aside, but it feels dangerously close to what she felt during her first encounter with Deja vu Boy.
"Of course," Maya says cheerily. "As Coolest's ace reporter, I need to know the ins-and-outs of teen living!"
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
That's right. Before Maya can help others, first she needs to help herself--overcome Editor-in-Chief Mizuno's hatred of her...
It's a reasonable explanation. At least, it's reasonable enough that Jun is willing to buy into it. There is still that niggling feeling, but he's been having that about a lot of things and people lately.
Even so, it doesn't hurt to ask, does it? It's got nothing to do with any sense of deja vu. It's just a sensible question.
"I'm glad to hear it," Jun replies, both of that and of Ichika. "Do you happen to know someone named Tatsuya Suou-kun? He's a popular boy over at Seven Sisters High School, but he hasn't been attending lately. I've been looking for him, but I don't know where he stays... I don't suppose you've heard anything around, Amano-san?"
It's a long shot, certainly--but somehow, Jun gets the feeling like if anyone would know, this reporter would.
Like she should know. Like both of them should.
Jun shakes his head a little to try to clear the cobwebs from it. Focus, he scolds himself silently.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Suou?" Maya echoes, surprised. "I know a Katsuya Suou!" Was this Tatsuya maybe a relative of his?
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"Katsuya?" Jun echoes in return. "No, I'm looking for a Tatsuya... But the names are awfully similar. I wonder if they're related..."
Great minds think alike, apparently!
"What does this Katsuya-san look like?" Jun adds. So Maya has a point of reference, he adds himself, "Tatsuya Suou-kun is tall, with intense eyes and short brown hair in a pageboy haircut. He's kind, but distant. The last time I saw him, he was wearing red motorcycle leathers with a black X in the chest, but they were awfully beat up, so he's probably replaced them by now..."
But he may have replaced them with something similar-looking--who knows?
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"You don't have any photos of Tatsuya-kun?" Come to think of it. "Wait, I think I got a picture of Katsuya-san when we were at Peacock Silk together." Maya rummages through her bag for her phone, Mr. Bun-Bun swinging on his strap side-to-side with every jostle. Once she pulls it out, she quickly swipes through her gallery and pulls up a photo. She pinches her fingers together on the screen, then out to magnify the image. Katsuya's in the background and the picture is in profile view, but it's the best that Maya has at the moment.
Obviously this has to change! They need an official Team Whoop-Ass team photo! Maya makes a mental note to rectify this wrong on the double!
Maya hands her phone over to Jun. "Here, does he look like your Tatsuya-kun?"
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"No..." Jun says softly, color rising in his cheeks for some mysterious reason. His eye(s) are naturally drawn to Mr. Bun-Bun as the toy swings, but he looks back towards Maya and her phone as she holds it out. It takes a moment of hard looking, considering it's not a very good photo, but--
"He does. He looks older, but there's definitely a resemblance," Jun observes. "Maybe Suou-kun is a brother, or a cousin?"
He looks awfully serious, though. ...Well, so does Tatsuya... Similar personalities? But if Tatsuya has been skipping school lately... Jun touches a hand to his chin in troubled thought, recalling what else Akechi told him.
"Um... This might be a personal question you don't know the answer to, but... does this Katsuya-san have any kind of ill connection with the one they call the Joker Killer?" he wonders.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"We're actually investigating him together with a few other people. Does your Tatsuya-kun have anything to do with the Joker Killer?" Was this going to be a new lead?!
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Maya confirms it--not just a connection, but that they're investigating him together. Far from being reassured, Jun looks stricken. Then if that's case... Not that he thought Akechi was lying to him--certainly not--but now it's beyond a shadow of a doubt.
"I... believe so," Jun says cautiously, uncovered eye sliding away. "I don't know all the details, but... a classmate of his told me... mmm. Maybe I shouldn't pass on hearsay." He looks Maya in the eye again. "What I can say for certain is that the attack on Kasugayama High School wasn't at the hands of some random gang, but by the Joker Killer. I know because I was caught up in it. My memories are admittedly blurry, but a friend and a teacher of mine both confirmed it."
He takes a deep breath; lets it out slowly. "...And Suou-kun saved me at the end," he adds softly, gaze going tender. "Today's his birthday. I wanted to give him a present to thank him again..." He gives her a rueful smile. "But it sounds like you don't know how to find him any more than I do. Unless your Katsuya-san is related to him after all?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Jun looks so down that Maya can't help but want to help him! "Don't worry, Maya Amano is on the case!" She gives him a little salute. "Let's think positive!"
Maya's fingers move seamlessly across the screen as she composes a message; with a flourish she hits send.
"Okay!" she pronounces. "All we need now is to wait for Katsuya-san's reply!"
Maya stares down at her screen expectantly.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
'Let's think positive!' Maya says, and it's such a bright and earnest phrase that Jun can't help but smile, partially reassured. He nods once and watches as she sends a text. As she says, all they need now is to wait for his reply.
...
...
...
...
Their milk tea is getting warm...
"Ah, Amano-san," Jun speaks up, "maybe we could try an internet search while we're waiting?" He'll pull his sandwich and tea to one side, then scoots over so she can sit with him. "I don't dabble with it much personally, but there's social media websites and platforms, and Suou-kun is popular at his school."
Would it be simpler to go to Sevens and question people directly? Yes. Did Jun try that already? Yes. Did he have a bad time? Yes. He would rather use the internet.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya is on the verge of spamming Katsuya's cell with texts to grab his attention, but before she can, Jun makes space for her at the table. She sits down next to him, thinking.
"Do you know what characters he uses to spell his name? I know how Katsuya-san spells 'Suou'."
She sets her phone down on the table between them so that Jun can see Katsuya's full name on the top of the screen, above the text messages (and selfies) Maya's sent him.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"Yes, actually. My father teaches at Seven Sisters, so I was able to stop by and find out a while ago," Jun replies. He looks down at Maya's phone and nods once. "That's the way his 'Suou' is written too. There's no doubt about it; they must be related."
Katsuya is thus spared from a barrage of texts. Jun leans in and types a search for 'Tatsuya Suou' and then 'Seven Sisters High School.' Click enter, and...
There's some info online about him. Not too much, because it's 2012, but enough to confirm... that yes, he's a student at Seven Sisters. Not very helpful, considering Jun already knew that. But it turns out they have a website. Searching it finds...! Not much information besides that. It doesn't seem like Tatsuya's in any clubs either. No social media presence either.
It's like he's a ghost. But that can't be, right? He's here and alive, in this world.
Jun takes a moment to drink and have a bite of his sandwich, though, with a quick, "Excuse me." That might remind Maya of why she came to Double Slash originally, too.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
The milk tea is good here. Jun takes a deeper sip after he's swallowed his bite, then tries again.
"A little bit," he says when Maya returns. "There's an unofficial forum among Sevens students, and here--" He moves the point to circle a conversation on the screen. "There's a conversation about his delinquency. They seem to admire him for it."
Indeed, there's talk about how he's always getting into trouble, how he never shows up to class anymore, gushing about he does whatever he wants and doesn't care about what others think, and concerns that he might get held back or, worse, expelled.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya hmmms, then take a sip of her tea. "Do you know any other delinquents at Sevens? Maybe we can find some friends of his!"
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"Not personally. My father might know more about that, but he's not his homeroom teacher," Jun muses. "I mentioned I spoke to a classmate of his before, but..." He sighs, guilt prickling his heart as he looks away. Akechi had given him the Sevens emblem off his own breast to protect him--had warned him quite clearly against getting involved with Tatsuya again. Maybe this is selfish after all. Maybe he's being childish...
"I'm sorry, I'm getting you caught up in my own personal problems," he says, looking back at her. "It sounds like it's not irrelevant to your interests either, but still."
Despite everything, though, he smiles. Let's think positive. "I had a very lucky morning, though. Maybe all I need to do is walk around town, and I'll run into him by chance."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
The same tea she had the other day...
The other day...
"Wait! I just remembered something!"
Maya slams her hands down on the table so hard that the computer and both of their teas shake. "Akabane-san!"
Maya snatches her phone and frantically starts typing without any further explanation.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Maya gets a text back stating, "yeah".
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Then, a quick text of 'DIFFERENT TATSUYA'. No one's buying it, Umie.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun watches, nonplussed, as Maya has some kind of epiphany, yells the name of someone he doesn't know, and shoots off a quick text. Jun looks from her down to the phone, and the temptation is there to peek over her shoulder... but ultimately, Jun is too polite to do so. (He might if Maya refused to show him, but he doesn't expect she'll do that. He's willing to wait for her to show him on her own time, because he reasonably expects it won't be that long. He'll be annoyed if Maya betrays those expectations, though...)
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Katsuya-san has a brother named Tatsuya!" Maya blurts out. "If we can get Akabane-san or Katsuya-san to let us know where he is, we should be able to deliver your gift!"
Maya shoots off another text to Umie, ignoring her second text entirely. 'It's his birthday, today, right? A friend of his has a gift he needs to deliver! Can you help? Katsuya-san's not responding to his texts right now!'
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
A text comes back, after a moment of typing: "sry, busy. no, don't know. meet me later and I'll pass it on."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"Ah, so this Akabane-san knows him?" Jun says, sitting up straight with hope in his eyes. "That's wonderful! Please let me know what they say."
He watches Maya text, waiting again for the answer--though it's a little harder to be patient this time. He takes another bite of his sandwich, carefully and delicately covering his mouth as he chews, then following it up with another quick sip.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Sorry, busy, no, don't know. Meet me later and I'll pass it on," Maya reads slowly from her screen. "That sounds like a 'yes, later!' to me." Maya rummages through her bag again and pulls out a business card and hands it over to Jun.
"Here's my card! I've got to get back to work--" Maya's work day wasn't over quite yet. "--but if you text me, I'll let you know as soon as I hear back something more definitive from Akabane-san!"
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
It's a puzzling response--until one considers what Tatsuya is wrapped up in. Jun wonders if this Akabane is also wrapped up in it. Maya might not get a response, in that case...
No, no--think positive, right? Jun accepts Maya's business card with two hands and a grateful smile. "Thank you very much, Amano-san. I'll keep on searching on my end, just in case." He needs to look up some research materials for finals studying anyway, and he may as well do that while he's here.
It'll get interrupted later by the sound of police sirens going by and the smell of smoke, even from here... But by then, Maya will already be gone.