2025-10-05: Thunder and Quiet Agreements
- Log: Thunder and Quiet Agreements
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Ren Amamiya
- Where: Cafe Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya, Tokyo
- OOC Date: October 05, 2025
- IC Date: July 21, 2012
- Summary: Coming in to help Ren with studying for his finals, Umie falls easily into the tutor role until break time, which turns the topic to the recent fire in Aoba Park, as well as Akechi, the latter of which helps confirm each other's opinion of the Detective Prince.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
===EARLIER===
Arson in Aoba Park, a coverup. A scapegoat. A recovery from a concussion. Connections made, some of which may be grim. All of this led to a terrible discovery a few days ago, when Umie looked around the Cardboard Dragon and noticed a lack of students.
Her first thought, vocalized to So-young, was the realization that finals week is next week, and that Tatsuya Suou, due to being busy trying to deal the world possibly ending if he takes the wrong step, has likely not studied. The next thought was that she was going to ask Ren if he needed help.
Waiting until Ren makes his trip to pick up food, Umie strikes, using her leverage as 'the cashier, who is there' to wedge in an offer: if he's not already covered, she'd be more than willing to help him study.
===THIS MORNING===
Restlessness had struck again, like clockwork, last night.
Mementos is no place for one person to take on their own, but it's an invaluable resource. Unfortunately... accidents happen.
A bandage on her cheek wouldn't be too out of place. "Cooking accident," she tests, to the mirror, the black Mark on her right hand ever present as she applied it on.
... Umie does not have the space to cook properly. Ren'd possibly guess as much, given how *she* is buying meals from the Triple 7. "... An accident," she amends. Ren's seen how she bleeds.
===NOW===
It's a rainy day, which makes it a perfect backdrop for studying, Umie thinks. The yellow umbrella hovers in front of the entrance, then is placed down to let dry. The door opens, and Umie strolls in, patting down some wet hair, done up in a loose bun with the rest tamed back with a simple red hairband, with a tissue.
"Ahhh... it smells so good in here..." This happens to be Umie's first visit to Leblanc, and already, she's impressed. Adjusting the strap on the messenger bag on her right side, she unzips the white rain jacket, revealing a wine red tee and khaki shorts. As she takes off her jacket, the black thumbsleeves are also there, but by this point, there's never been a point where Ren (or Joker, for that matter) has seen her not wear them, even as June has given way to the heat of July. "I didn't know places like this still existed in Shibuya... I need to explore more."
If and when she sees Ren, she gives him slightly sideways grin, tucking a long strand of ash blonde hair behind her ear, "... You ready? Though I should order something first, if you don't mind."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Fortunately, even if Umie is blatantly meddling, Ren /does/ need help. They like to learn but they don't like studying--it's stifling, and school so often doesn't teach what they're interested in--and so while they've had one study session with Yusuke and Makoto, they've mostly been slacking off and/or distracted by other things. Like getting asked out by a cute girl they like. Or getting caught up in that arson in Aoba Park...
Either way, they agreed to have Umie come by after the half-day on Saturday to Leblanc to help them out. That was a few days ago. After that, Akechi came to pay them a visit at Leblanc, and their subsequent conversation has provided some much-needed motivation to make the most of their last-minute cramming...
The rain isn't so bad. It does help with studying. Sojiro may or may not be behind the bar, but Ren is definitely here, books and notebooks and pencils laid out before them on one of the tables. They're squinting down at one of their textbooks with furrowed eyebrows, idly ticking their pencil across their fingers with remarkable deftness; the ring of the doorbell gets them to look up.
"Hey, Akabane-san. Thanks for coming by," they say, waving her over. He's dressed in his summer uniform, i.e. Shujin's polo shirt and red plaid slacks, with his usual non-prescription glasses on. "Technically this is Yongen-Jaya, not Shibuya." They shrug. "But I'm new to Tokyo, too." They'd love to explore more too, honestly.
It is odd to him that she continues to wear long sleeves even in July. He doesn't pester her about it. Umie's fashion choices are none of their business. Their dark eyes do, however, flick towards the bandage on her cheek, then furrow with concern. However, he doesn't pester her about that either.
"Go for it. Everything here is good," they reply instead, nodding to the booth seat across from them. They themself have a cup of the house blend already, the cup steaming gently. (Ren let Umie press him into agreeing to "pay her back" with free curry/coffee. It's the least they can do, anyway.) On the TV towards the back of the cafe, the news is on, though the volume is low. Right now, they're the only customers around.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Of course." Umie grins. "I'm glad to help." ... Even if it was forced on Ren, in a way.
'Technically this is Yongen-Jaya, not Shibuya.' Umie makes a soft 'urk' sound. Not a great look when your tutor is already making mistakes, she thinks to herself. "I think that means you get one point."
There's furrow of concern, and Umie feels ready to offer her 'excuse', when it passes.
She lets the rain make the excuses instead, settling into a booth. "Is... school treating you okay?" She makes the question neutral; Ren never seemed much for volunteering anything about himself, but after hearing how Kaneshiro targetted schools--
--but he's been taken care of, she reminds herself. "... Being new, and all." she amends.
The free curry and coffee gives Umie the chance to slip out a notebook and a pen; further books lie within, but those are for her own use. Umie's eyes dance up to the news, taking note, before flicking back down, pushing any thoughts aside. The coffee and the curry help as well; Umie's shoulders lower and she lets out a sigh. "I may need to have seconds, later," she murmurs. "But I'm paying for those."
Setting the dishes aside, she gestures to the table, when Ren seems to be ready. "Shall we begin? I warn you," she teases, "I have to uphold my honor as a Sevens graduate. I won't leave until I'm confident you're ready."
.....
All previous playfullness was shoved aside as the goal was set. It starts off slow, with Umie trying to assess where Ren is at, where to push, where to give him some slack. "... Hm. Let's turn this question around," she says, deep in thought as she begins writing on her notepad. "Break it down into its components."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
At least Ren isn't getting tested on local geography. That class, they might do quite well in. They smile at her 'urk' all the same; it's funny.
Not asked and not answered. That's only fair. They aren't certain how to respond to the question she does ask until she specifies; then he shrugs. "It's fine. I've made good friends." And they still have a reputation of being The Criminal Delinquent, but aside from that surge after they showed up to school after getting beaten up by the Black Mask, it hasn't been too bad. People are mostly content to avoid him, and Ren can deal with that particular form of bullying.
"Fair," they say, of her insisting she pay for her second helpings. They're sure the Boss appreciates that too. Once she's fed and they've finished their coffee, they get down to brass tacks. Is Sevens that elite a school? ...Well, it must be, if that's where Akechi attends. They frown at the reminder of their rival; that helps get them to focus, especially when Umie prompts them to break down a math question.
They nod once and start doing so. It's algebra--not one of their better subjects--but checking in between that and their notes (which may have been copied from Makoto's when she came by to help with a study session), they manage to do it and even do it fairly well.
"How's that?" they ask, looking at her.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Good." Umie seems satisfied enough by the answer, as well as none the wiser over Ren's reputation. "It's hard, starting from zero in a new school."
Somehow, mentioning Seven Sisters seems to have lit a fire underneath Ren. .... Akechi, maybe?
No, that's a distraction.
A slow grin spreads on her lips as Ren figures it out. "<Perfect>." Algebra, thankfully, is one of Umie's better subjects. "I've found it's easier to think of each problem like its own puzzle. You're given some of the answers, but then, you have to figure out what the question even is."
It goes on to the next problem, and the next, Umie pushing Ren just enough, head perched on an upturned palm.
".... eh?"
That is, until *she's* the one that makes the mistake. "... Ngh... Let me check something..." Umie flips out her phone, the red charm swaying as Umie taps in a few words. "... Mmn. Yeah, you're right, here." She scribbles on her notebook. "Let's rewind back to here." Red brown eyes focus on the paper. "See here? Your work senpai screwed up. She *should've* done this instead." She gives Ren a small grin, seeming to take some delight in being able to point out a 'victory', even if it was at her own expense.
".... Two points for Amamiya-kun." She was keeping score?!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren smiles back. "A puzzle, huh..." They like that, actually. It doesn't work for every problem they get presented on exams and homework, but they definitely like solving puzzles better than following a structured curriculum.
Maybe they should use cognitive psience on themself and try to change their perception of schoolwork to make it easier. (Is that how cog-psi works? They don't know, but it can't hurt.)
The two of them move on through the math problems. Thinking of them as puzzles to solve does help, Ren finds--up until there's a snag on one of them... on Umie's side.
"I could be wrong," they say cautiously as they watch her look up the answer on her phone. When it turns out they're right, though, they grin, and even laugh a little when she takes her mistake on the chin and shows them what she did wrong. They nod, noting the mistake. It does seem tricky... They almost messed up there too. It's a good reminder to not take one's own knowledge for granted. (Now, if Umie had doubled down on being right, Ren would be having a very different reaction right now--but she's not, and so both of them are better off for it.)
"Hey, I'm winning," they joke, dark eyes sparkling. "How many points until I get a prize?"
They'll continue on with the problems regardless. Some of them are harder than others, but with Umie's help, they manage to get through all of them.
"I think I understand algebra a lot better now. It really is just about internalizing the formulas and then applying them, huh?" they remark. "I'm more about words than numbers, but this isn't so bad, actually." It might help that algebra is just math with letters.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Nothing is truly unsolvable; it's just a matter of time and effort," she says offhandedly. "Just like every lock is just a barrier with a cheat called a 'key'."
Umie, no, please do not say that to Ren.
"Hm, no." There's few things Umie hates more than being shown as being bad at something...
... One of them happens to be letting a problem go unsolved. It was a lesson she had to learn, early on.
"Besides, mistakes are a great way to learn," Umie adds, mentally adding, 'as well as the place to make them.'
The twinkle in Ren's eyes is answered with a cheeky grin from Umie, her own eyelids crinkling. "It depends," she says. "And I can still catch up, you know..."
Something in the young woman seems to relax now, as they move onto the next subject. "Yeah. It looks daunting, but when you figure out it's just a bunch of answers and questions... it gets easier. Each is a lock, and you have to pick it open."
She pauses, pressing down on the end of her pen once or twice. "... In theory," she says, placing a quiet finger to her lips.
Sudden thunder rolls in the background. It would have been the perfect place to punctuate her point, but Umie, still fiddling the pen in one hand, manages to unintentionally flick it in a random direction instead.
"... I'll find that pen later," she says as she searches in her bag for another, her smug moment redefined. "Or do you want to take a break? That was a lot of work already; you're really prepared."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Every lock is a barrier with a cheat called a 'key'... Ren hums thoughtfully. Well said, they think. It's too bad she's saying that to Ren Amamiya instead of Joker, because it's a great quote for a phantom thief. They'll have to keep that in mind too.
"They are," they agree of mistakes. They don't consider coming to that woman's aid against that drunk creep a mistake--but they sure as hell could have been more circumspect about it and helped her in a way that hadn't gotten either of them in trouble. That's a lesson they wish they hadn't had to get their whole life ruined to learn.
But that's in the unchangeable past, and right now they're working on making sure their future isn't completely bleak. "In theory," they echo with mild humor. Thunder rolls; they glance out the storefront windows. "But even great and powerful work senpais mess up sometimes, huh?"
Flick. Umie's pen goes flying. Ren moves to offer their own pen by flipping it up and over, without smacking it off in a random direction, but she's got it covered.
"For math, maybe. There's still a lot of other subjects, like Japanese, English, classic lit, history, social studies..." Ren rubs their temples. "And I've kind of been... slacking off on studying this week. I had one session with friends the other day, but..." Again, even that was cut with other, non-scholastic concerns. Even the rain's reminding them of Minako...
"...I can't say I'm anti-breaks, though," Ren admits. "You need to take one too."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'Keep that up and you'll have more people being suspicious of you~'
It's fine; Umie is confident of it.
If something flickers on Ren's face as he thinks of his own 'mistake', Umie pauses, before nodding as he comes back to her. She winks. "I hope it doesn't tarnish my image," she says. "I'm supposed to be perfect in all ways, or I'll bring dishonor down on all of Seven Sisters. They make you swear to that when you graduate." (She may be lying.)
When Ren begins to rub their temples, listing each subject, Umie smugly settles back into her seat. "I've got nowhere I need to be. Did all my errands this morning."
But maybe it'd be good to pace herself.
"Let's take one, then," Umie says, her eyes drifting from Ren's face to the TV report quietly going on in the background.
"...." Her eyebrows furrow, seeing the scrolling text along the bottom. No new news, but nothing good, either.
"... Did you hear about what happened, in Sumaru City? At Aoba Park." Her gaze goes back to Ren.
He may be a handy bellweather of how people are perceiving the news, and what Maya may be up against. WIth luck, he may be clueless it even happened.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Honestly, it's okay. Ren already knows Umie is a Persona User, and a shady but well-meant one besides. They're willing to pretend to not notice when she says suspicious things like that.
"Oh yeah? Sounds rough," they say mildly as she winks and jokes. "Well, they've got Akechi there now, and he's running enough of a 'perfect image' for ten graduating classes, so I'm sure you're fine." ...Is that meant to imply that Akechi's anything but underneath? That's up to Umie to decide.
They nod when Umie agrees to a break, then turns with her to watch the news on TV. It's not especially interesting right now, but it's good to be informed. No 'new' news as Umie observes, though. They glance at her when she brings up the arsons in a roundabout way.
"...Yeah, I heard about it," they reply, choosing not to bring up the fact that they were there. Akechi already took some liberties with that, even with Ren having a counter ready. It was fine, more or less, but... "Why d'you ask?"
Umie doesn't--or shouldn't--already know or suspect their secret identity. They'd like to know her motives for asking before saying anything more.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Ren mentions Akechi, and Umie laughs. "... Hey, I wasn't going to mention him if you weren't." She wiggles her next pen between two fingers. "Even as a freshman, he was like that... though I only really met him recently, believe it or not."
Whether Ren pursues that or (wisely?) stays away from all mentions of Akechi, Umie moves onto the next.
Ren has heard about it; whatever suspicion Umie has is reserved for the news, not him specifically.
In fact, Umie seems to pause a moment, deliberating what she should reveal on her end.
".... I was there," she admits, when he asks. "But the news isn't reporting what I saw."
She needs to be careful, but this may be a good lesson on its own: not everything you see on the news is what happened.
Or would it be? Does Ren really need all that? He's a high schooler.
She can't risk creating another Tatsuya Suou, as dissimilar as Ren may be.
"I'm not saying this in a conspiracy sort of way," she allows, folding her arms. "It just bugs me, is all."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"... But I *did* hit mu head." And she's trying to march it back, already. "So maybe," she backtracks, "it was just all--" No, Umie, do *not* say 'in your head', like it's a setup for a pun. She clears her throat with a shrug, her bracelet's bell chiming with the movement. "Anyway."
Akechi would make a joke here about how she's a dangerous woman, she thinks. No, she's just too busy dragging people into matters that they don't need to worry about.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Did you know him as a freshman?" Ren instantly wonders--but no, she clarifies that she only met him recently. "Ah. But were you two in school at the same time?" She doesn't seem that much older, so she could have still known him by reputation. And... if she's saying he was like that as a freshman too, that's probably all she did know. That's disappointing. But... "What kind of people did he hang out with? Do you know?"
She probably doesn't, but it can't hurt to ask, right? ...right?
Ren frowns when Umie admits that she was there on the arson site--and that the news isn't reporting the incident correctly. Ren knew all that already, but why is Umie bringing it up...? "It'd bug me too," they reply, because that's a true thing they can say. They did spot her there at the time, though there was so much going on that that's all they could do, but...
"Really? Are you okay?" Ren's eyes go to the bandage on Umie's cheek. "Is that when..."
(It isn't, but it's a logical conclusion to make.)
"It must have you worried," they add, their own concern apparent. "If the news isn't reporting that correctly, who knows what else isn't getting reported right?" It's a big problem, to say the least, and while they already knew about it, Umie bringing it up reminds them of the issue all the more. Maybe they need to lean even more on Amano and Ohya for their information going forward...
It's tempting to ask if she knows what's going on with Tsubasa right now--but no. If they're going to do that, they'd be better off reaching out to Ichika.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Ren asks, and Umie, realizing he may be as curious about Akechi as she is, can't even tease him about it.
'But were you two in school at the same time?' Umie nods. "... Yeah. It was senior year for me. That, and being occupied with my own things, meant I mostly heard *of* him." She was just a normal, boring high school student, who kept all her activities to the Dark Hour.
.... Being a coward, in other words, she would call it.
"I'm not sure if he really even hung out with other people," she notes, her gaze drifting to her notes. "Never dated. Not sure if he really could, even if he wanted to." She gives Ren a smirk, noting, "Believe me, one of my friends would've let me know if he ever did. Not sure if it was true back then or not, but he pretty much became one of two of the most popular boys in school on image alone." The smirk doesn't last, as her words continue.
Umie's reasons for bringing it up, for better or worse, are ones she's still holding to her chest, unable to commit while at the same time, attempting to seek for some answer Ren seems to have already given her.
While she saw Joker (and noted something about a cat, a persona? Her memory is muddled), it was much the same for her. They had people they had to support. It's only affirmed her image of the Phantom Thieves as wanting to do good.
'Is that when...' Umie shakes her head. "No, this was something else," she admits with a smirk, tapping on the bandage. "I'm fine, though."
Ren says something more, that draws Umie's attention to his face, as she studies it for a moment.
Thankfully, there's no trace of suspicion apparent in her eyes, only...
A spark, and a nod, as she seems to relax. "... Yeah. There's a reporter who is assembling evidence. I've been trying to figure out what I can, but there's only so much I can do." WIth a sigh, she leans her head back on one palm. "It could be to make sure the public doesn't panick, but if someone gets blamed for something they didn't do, that goes out the window."
She's at least careful on the details; Ren doesn't need to know *who* was at fault. "It's a shot in the dark, but if you hear of any students at Shujin who may've been there..." She digs into her purse now, drawing out a card. "Don't be fooled by the title. She's actually pretty feisty."
... Of course, the business card belongs to Maya Amano. "Have them contact her."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
So Umie was a senior when Akechi was a freshman... That nails down her age for Ren. They knew she was 'around college age, but not attending college,' but that's still an age range. Unfortunately, it sounds like it doesn't actually change much in terms of what she knows about him.
It's enough for her to confirm things Akechi's told or implied to Ren, at least. Never dated... and probably didn't really have any friends. That makes sense. He was still just freshly minted as a detective, if Ren has his timeline right, which means crafting the proper image would've been extra important back then. No time for socializing as a normal person when he was busy trying to establish he was someone worth admiring.
Umie smirks about it, but what she says--that Akechi became one of the most popular boys at school based solely on his image--is incredibly depressing. The only way he could maintain that image is by never letting anyone close enough to see the real him. Ren stares off into the distance of the storm rumbling outside Leblanc's windows to reflect on that for a moment.
Yeah. It's all consistent.
They shake their head a little bit and focus back in on her. "Hmm... If you say so," they reply of her injury. If it's just a scratch... She stares at them, and they reflexively keep their expression neutral, even though they weren't trying to be cute about anything. The narrowing of their eyes ruins it when Umie mentions someone getting blamed for something they didn't do--but they heard about that part as well. It's part of why they're worried about Tsubasa... especially since they haven't been able to get in touch. They've still got options if they really need to find them, so they've remained calm, but still...
For now, Ren accepts the business card and glances down at it. It is, of course, one of Maya's business cards. "...Thanks for the tip," they say deadpan, and tuck the card away.
"That's enough of a break for now. Is it okay if we get back into it?" they ask, reaching for their textbooks. "I'm pretty good at classic lit and I've got a close friend who's great at English, so either history or social studies is the next one to cover for me. Oh, or science." They almost forgot about that one...
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
It doesn't help how Umie looks and acts, being in that nebulous range of 'young adult'.
Ren looks at the distant storm.
"I take it, you noticed it too." The smirk that was there is no longer, when Ren looks back. Her hands are folded in front of her on the table, making one aspect of her outfit clear; while the sleeves she wears could go further up, they always stop near her elbow, symmetrical enough to be views as a fashion statement. "I'm sure he has his reasons, but to me, it feels incredibly... lonely, looking back on it."
Umie had friends, at least, even if she drew a curtain between the self she presented at school and the self that continually lockpicked or slipped her way out of her house each Dark Hour.
She lets the silence stand; to say more feels intrusive.
When Ren narrows his eyes, it feels like a natural extension of him worrying about that person, nameless though they may be, just as he had about Umie. "There's people looking into it," she says, almost as an attempt to reassure him. 'It's fine', she nearly says, but stops herself. 'It's fine' feels like a great way to make someone feel like they're being shut out, or looked down upon for speaking up, she thinks.
... That's not a trait Umie wants to discourage in someone else.
The flatness of Ren's response draws a snort from Umie, as she misreads his expression completely. "Yeah, let's get back to business."
History, hm. "... Let's do history," Umie decides. "Science... eh. We'll figure that one out. Not a great field to be making mistakes in... unless you're the one learning from the unfortunate person's notes."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"...Yeah." Ren already thought that Akechi must be a very lonely person, and although their view was revised on what that meant about how he feels about them, it remains overall their impression. Umie agreeing fully independently of that... only underscores it.
The two of them are quiet for a time. Only the sounds of the rain wash over them.
Then Umie reassures them that there's people on the case. Ren focuses on her and nods once. That is reassuring--especially since she doesn't follow up with a hollow platitude like 'It's fine.'
"Fortunately, finals don't include lab experiments," Ren says dryly as they pick up their pencil to resume the study session.
Then they pause.
"......I'm pretty sure they don't."
Next week is going to be a horror show if they do and no one told them...