2025-10-28: Hometown, Out of Town
- Log: 2025-10-28 Hometown, Out of Town
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Hibari Aoki, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Cafe Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya, Tokyo
- OOC Date: October 28, 2025
- IC Date: August 02, 2012
- Summary: While cleaning up a presently-closed Leblanc, Ren is met with Hibari and Ichika, in the neighborhood for Leblanc's delicious curry. This is a shock for him, considering he used to know Hibari from their mutual hometown of Inaba...
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
One night at Ann's, one night at Yusuke's... That's two nights spent crashing at someone else's place. That's all Sojiro told Ren to do, technically speaking. Sure, he also said not to return to Leblanc, but he didn't clarify if he meant only for those two nights or for longer, and Sojiro has not responded to any of Ren's calls or texts. Once the second night has passed and this continues to be the case into the evening of the third day, Ren bids Yusuke thank you and good-bye, then takes Morgana and their things back to Yongen-Jaya to cautiously check out the place.
It looks normal enough on the outside, aside from a sign saying that there's been a 'sudden out of town emergency.' Ren tries their key in the lock; it opens up. They slip inside and inspect the place with Morgana's help. Nothing looks odd--no bad smells, nothing dangerous in sight or out of easy sight, nothing out of order upstairs either... Ren tries one last time to call Sojiro and naturally gets nothing.
So, after locking up from the inside, Ren and Morgana go to bed. Nothing strange happens.
~ * ~
In the early morning, Ren and Morgana get up again and check the place out again, just in case. Still no calls or messages from Sojiro. Still nothing particularly out of place. Ren makes a cup of coffee for themself, scrounges up what they can out of the fridge since there's no curry on the stove, and makes a passable breakfast for the two of them at one of the booths, Ren facing the door.
"It doesn't make any sense. The Chief doesn't strike me as someone so... irresponsible," Morgana remarks around his more-like-scrambled-eggs-than-an-omelet omelet. "Even if there is an emergency, why shut you out so completely?"
Ren makes a quiet noise and doesn't reply. The obvious answer is that Sojiro just doesn't care enough about them to bother communicating with them beyond the barest basics.
"...Well, for all we know, his phone might be out of battery, and he might not be in a position to recharge it," Morgana comments, seeing the look on their face. "All we can do now is be patient and wait for him to return."
"...Yeah. I guess so."
"Then since we're waiting anyway, how about we clean up in here? The Chief'll appreciate that!"
"You mean I clean up in here," Ren says wryly, but with a slight smile. "Sure. Why not?"
~ * ~
So it comes to pass that as noon starts to approach and people might poke their noses in for lunch, they'll instead see a) the aforementioned sign out front as well as the door sign flipped to CLOSED, and b) Ren mopping the floors. They cleaned up the bathroom first, because that's always the worst; then they dusted the lights and the nooks; then they sprayed and wiped down the tables and counters; and now, well, they're mopping. Morgana watches from the back of one of the booths, where he sits, tail flicking.
It's not a lot to talk about, and obviously just because there's someone cleaning inside doesn't mean the place is or can be open for business, but someone curious enough could at least knock on the door window to try to get their attention and ask what's up. Why not, right?
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Exams are over, and unlike some people, Hibari isn't travelling for vacation; there's no family she's going to be visiting, or sent to visit. Her father can't get away from work, so even though he's pleased with her exam placement (if still not entirely happy for other reasons) they won't be going anywhere else either.
Which means she can mostly do what she wants, and what she wants to do is...
"You know, I've heard about this place. It's a bit of a trip, all the way to Yongen-Jaya, but I want to go to Shibuya for shopping *anyway* and it's a lot closer to there. Want to come along, Ichika-chan?"
---
Shopping has not really yet happened yet, because it's still pretty early and Hibari is going to carry around clothes and other things for as short a period as she can get away with. She figured if they went early, they could pick up some coffee and *then* go shopping. It's the perfect plan.
She's been chatty the whole way down, but not about anything consequential, especially because they're out in public. Some last-minute school gossip, a chat about one of the stores that she wants to stop at and hasn't, a bit about music and also Ichika's trip to Iwatodai, where Hibari has never been despite proximity.
And *now* on top of that...
"The back alleys are always a little bit of a maze, aren't they?" Hibari may have gotten turned around once or twice on her attempt to find Leblanc, which she knows is here *somewhere* but has never been to. Still, she's found the right street eventually, and walks up to the door -
CLOSED, it says.
But she can hear someone inside, and see them occasionally, if not clearly. "I wonder if they just forgot to flip the sign. I certainly did a couple times when I was supposed to," Hibari admits, with a bit of a laugh. She hesitates a moment, but then knocks, rapping against the door loud enough to hear but not enough that you could call it pounding.
(If anyone - either Morgana or Ren - looks through the door window, it's a lot easier to see out than in, as Hibari is out in the sun and trying to look in to a darker room just means she mostly sees glare; it reveals a heavyset third-year student in a green wrap top and black wide-legged pants. Her hair has been dyed an ombre from her natural brown-black to a vivid red.)
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Totally," Ichika says. "The guy behind it actually showed up at a festival a while back?"
---
Coffee is a perfect plan, but... Unfortunately not one that'll work out. Ichika's willing to chat, though. A little school gossip is always fun; Ichika can mention that the Gekkoukan students are out in force in Iwatodai, and that things are settling in fine there. But...
"Yeah," Ichika agrees, unfamiliar with this area despite having been here at least once. Still, it says--
Hm.
"Oh hey," she says. "That's Amamiya-san."
Ichika is also there, tall enough to be seen easily through the door-glass. She's in black and green today, with her long hair down.
She gives a cool wave. It's cool because she only waves once, tilting her hand at the wrist.
Yeah. Cool.
"Heh. Guess we'll find out."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Tap-tap-tap, goes the door. Ren looks up from their task, wiping sweat from their brow--the ceiling fans above provide a breeze, but it's still a hot July day--and adjusting their non-prescription glasses. There's someone at the door--someone that looks familiar to Ren, despite the brightly dyed hair. They don't recognize her immediately (it's been a couple of years now), but they do recognize Ichika next to her, and give her a brief wave back.
They had to have seen the sign(s). Maybe they're just here to say hi. Ren shares a glance with Morgana, who keeps his mouth shut as he generally does in mixed company; then they approach the door, unlock it, and open it up with a jingle-jangle.
"Hey," they say, looking at Ichika first. "Sorry, the store's not open today; I'm just... cleaning..."
That's them trailing off as their gaze travels to Ichika's friend, and Ren realizes that she's familiar--as someone from their hometown. They stare at her for a horrified few seconds; then they shake their head slightly and assume a neutral demeanor, as they so often do. "I'm just cleaning up," they reiterate. "The Boss is out of town for a few days." They nod to the other sign on the outside. "I'm not sure when he's going to be back. Family emergency."
(This is more accurate than Ren realizes, who has no idea what the nature of Sojiro's emergency is, but figures "family" emergency sounds more impressive and more hand-wave-able than just "emergency.")
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
"Oh yeah? I missed that festival. Must have been busy." Hibari has no idea.
---
Hibari, honestly, looks pretty much the same aside from the dyed hair. She didn't change a whole lot in the last two years or so; maybe she's a tiny bit taller (it's hard to tell) but beyond that? Nope, still Hibari!
"Oh, you can tell? I feel like I'm looking into nothing but glare..." Hibari takes a step to the side so maybe she can block the daytime sun with her body and look through the window, but she's too late for it to make much of a difference; the door opens, and -
It takes Hibari a moment to place Ren, when they look so horrified to see her. The addition of glasses does a lot to change the look, honestly, along with everything else that comes along with a couple years. Plus, she's not expecting to see anyone she knows, but they look *so* familiar -
Oh, wait, Ichika just said their name. That answers that.
"Ren-kun?" Hibari doesn't even *try* to keep the surprise off her face. But there's no horror there. "What are *you* of all people doing here? In Tokyo! In a cafe! I don't even know which one I mean!" It's definitely the same Hibari; she either hasn't been in Sumaru long enough to lose a country accent or hasn't gone to any effort to reduce it, pick one. "Come on, I'm not going to bite..."
She glances over toward the other sign. Oops, she missed that - she probably would have noticed after a few moments had Ren not answered the door - but that explains why they're not open.
Did he head to Inaba, is something Hibari is momentarily curious enough about - but not enough to ask. "Hopefully it ends up not being a major emergency," she says, "or at least something that's solveable. But - seriously, when?"
She must have heard about the criminal student at Shujin, as a rumourmonger. And indeed she has - and knows another. But she doesn't get information from Inaba hardly ever - the only person she speaks to there regularly is her mother - but there was gossip, wasn't there? Her mother 'doesn't like to tell tales', so her gossip is never the most interesting, and her news abbreviated at best, but...
Her eyes narrow, in thought more than suspicion; she taps her fingers against her hip before she realizes she's doing it and then stops. She glances up toward Ichika, instead. "You should have said - wait, no, you wouldn't know, of course..." How would Ichika know she knew this random cafe worker?
And knew of.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika can tell! "Yeah," she says. Because she is getting more than glare! "Oh..." Ichika listens. He's cleaning. And then, of course, Ren stares at Hibari like she's made of knives or something. But they're just cleaning up. Hm. "Oh, you... know each other?" she wonders, looking between the two of them. It looks tense. Ichika's not really sure it's the good kind of tense, and she lieks both of them, so...
"Hope he's OK," Ichika says of the Boss, but then, "Hm..."
She thinks about it.
"Didn't know you knew each other," Ichika says.
"...So," she says, "You want to hang out when you're done, or you want some help, or do you want us to kick rocks?"
Ichika looks to Ren on this one, then to Hibari. "It's cool whatever way."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It isn't really because of Hibari herself that Ren looks at her like that--it's because of where they know her from. But neither Hibari nor Ichika would know that, and when Ren sees them reacting to their reaction, both Hibari's surprise to see them and Ichika cottoning on to their discomfort, their face flushes a bit and they rub the back of their head.
"Uh, sorry. Yeah, hi. It's been a while, Hibari-senpai." They look in between her and Ichika. They, in turn, don't know about Hibari being a rumormonger--certainly they don't know about her being a Persona User--and when she makes her offer, they hesitate, then shrug a bit. Hibari doesn't seem (at first) like she's heard the gossip, so...
"You guys can come in and hang out if you want. I just won't be serving you anything," they reply, stepping back to let them in. "Watch where you step. The floor's wet further back."
Which at least means they can pick a booth closer to the storefront. Once they do, Ren grabs the mop and resumes their work.
"Anyway, I transferred out here for school. Just for the year," Ren tells Hibari. This is completely and fully true. "The guy who runs this place is a friend of a friend of my parents', so I'm living in the attic here while I'm studying." They pause. "Sorry for the weird look earlier. I wasn't expecting to see anyone from Inaba here, either."
Which might still be strange to Hibari. Ren is, after all, the mayor's son; he shouldn't have any reason to look so upset to see someone from their hometown. He isn't standing as straight as he used to either--though then again, he only started getting good posture after he started ice skating under a professional coach--and he sure doesn't smile as much either. Even after recognizing them, there's something... remote about his demeanor. Closed off. Is two years really that much time?
To Ichika, they merely explain, "We're from the same hometown. You might've heard about it from her." They glance back at Hibari. "You moved away... one and a half, two years ago now? With your dad."
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Very few people know about her being a Persona-user, because Hibari keeps *that* tightly under wraps; the only person she has actually told, in person, she's standing right next to. That she's a rumourmonger who knows about things like Persona-users (and other things) is much less of a secret, but, well...
At least Ren knows that she always liked to talk to people, and listen. That not only isn't a secret, it's one of the things people always remember about her... she likes hearing gossip. Maybe Sumaru being far enough away from Shujin means it doesn't hit her as reliably?
"That's a shame, I was looking forward to it," Hibari says, a little sadly, though the smile takes any sting out of it. "I'm kidding. If you're just watching over it, it wouldn't be right to ask anyway."
She does enter, though - and immediately fixates on Morgana of all things. "Hi cat," she says, with all apparent sincerity. With a glance at Ren: "What's his name? Or her." Either she suspects something unusual about the very unusual feline... or she just really likes cats.
(It's the second. She was never allowed to take care of one because her father's allergic.)
"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting to run into *you*. Of all the people I didn't think would be leaving Inaba any time soon..." She gives Ren another long, thoughtful look. Thanks, mom, for *not* passing along any useful information...
"She certainly knows I'm from Inaba," Hibari says, with a laugh. "No point in hiding it. I *sound* like I'm from the country no matter what I do. I don't think I ever mentioned you, though. I didn't know you'd left... well, I might have heard something," she adds, which may sound more ominous than she intends. "So we haven't seen each other in years, Ichika-chan. It's not like we were ever classmates, since I'm a year ahead of him, but everybody knew him, at least a little bit. Or of him." (Sorry, Ren, you're still a him to her.)
"But yes, that's about right. Not two years, yet, but getting there. I live up in Sumaru." True, though she's leaving out 'and I go to Kasugayama now' because she certainly didn't the first year she was there. "With school out it was a shopping day, though, and I'd heard good things about Leblanc, so... here I am!"
It is perhaps no surprise at all that Hibari Aoki decided to try a coffee and curry cafe on a whim.
"In the attic, though?" She looks up, thoughtfully. Maybe this place used to be an old house, she thinks, or has an apartment overhead like the Cardboard Dragon. "Must keep you busy! Even *I* never lived in the shokudo."
Her immediate read of Ren is that he's withdrawn, a little bit, for reasons she isn't sure. Surely not that he just had his vacation day interrupted. She'd be happy with someone dropping by while she was cleaning, at least to chat - especially someone she hadn't seen in a while. And while Ren is perhaps not quite as outgoing as she is (understatement?) if he didn't want them here, he could have just said he was too busy instead of inviting them in.
So she's not quite sure where she sits with him, right now... Maybe he's just worried about that family emergency.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Sure," Ichika says. "That's fine. I don't need anything." As to being served, she's fine without; Ichika is just going to walk on in, carefully. But then, "Yeah."
Oh, a cat. Ichika remembers the cat's weird scream before... Eh, it's probably fine.
"Oh," Ichika says. Transferred out here from... Inaba? "Small world, I guess. I met the Boss at a festival where he brought coffee and curry."
Neither of them was expecting the other...
"It's cool," Ichika says to Hibari. "Your accent's fine." Pause. "You didn't that I remember, but whatever, right? I didn't mention him to you, either."
But... hmmm. "Famous guy, huh?" she wonders, but she doesn't actually ask why. She has a feeling Ren isn't exactly eager to make their past known.
"Attic..." Hmm.
"...Hey, cat," she greets Morgana belatedly too, and then looks to Ren again. "It's cool if you want to focus on where you are now," Ichika says. "I usually do."
"...I'm out in Iwatodai these days. With my parents. Tsubasa-kun, too."
She thinks about asking after a friend of Ren's, but decides not to yet.
She is busy trying to defuse some of the awkwardness in the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
No doubt that's the reason Ren looked so panicked to see her at first--if there's anyone who'd have heard the gossip despite having moved away years ago, surely it'd be Hibari. But it doesn't seem to be the case, and they always got along well enough before--sure, they weren't in the same year, but Ren did used to come around to eat at Katsuo Shokudo every so often, either with family or friends, and he generally had a smile for her back then--so... they don't want to just slam the door in her and Ichika's faces either.
"Yeah. I'm learning how to make the curry and coffee here, but I can only reliably make the coffee so far. Curry's a lot more complex, it turns out," Ren replies, managing to muster up a small smile back now. "If you want the real deal, you're just gonna have to wait. It's worth it, though."
That smile fades when Hibari says she didn't think they'd leave Inaba anytime soon. She probably doesn't mean anything by it--she's probably just talking about how they're the mayor's kid--but considering they were skating with a goal of competing globally, to the point where they'd learned how to talk without a similar county accent, it can't help but sting. They look away and shrug. That about covers her comment on their living situation, too--and her and Ichika's on them being famous. A sort of broad, non-committal 'I guess.'
Especially with that 'I might have heard something.' Whatever it is, they don't want to hear about it. They figure they've already heard it before anyway.
"Sounds nice," they say neutrally of her living in Sumaru now. "I've been by a few times. Interesting city." In a whole lot of ways--but Ren naturally doesn't go into that, any more than Hibari or Ichika would. They glance at Ichika, then nod. "For that same festival, actually. You must've come by while I was away from the stand." Though apparently she's in Iwatodai more now. Ren's gaze softens a little, something the two might spot as they turn and draw that mop under another booth. "That's cool. I was just over there for a couple of days seeing friends. Is Tsubasa-kun doing okay?"
Focusing on where they are now, huh... "Yeah."
They spend a lot of time not thinking of Inaba, so the sudden visceral reminder was unpleasant, to say the least. But again, that's not Hibari's fault. They glance over at her again, then add tentatively, "If you two want--I still need to finish mopping these floors, but if you're still hanging out when I'm done, I can make you two a cuppa."
Morgana, for his part, stares with those intensely blue eyes at Hibari and Ichika when they each greet him. Stritches are not necessarily invited, but they won't be denied, either. Morgana is not a cat, but he does have some cat-like mannerisms for good or ill, and scritches feel nice. His tail rises and undulates, and he looks at Ren expectantly. Come on, introduce him!
Ren breathes something close to a laugh seeing this. "His name's Morgana," they tell Hibari. (It's fine, they also go by hehim and sheher. Any pronouns are fine for them, really.) There is definitely something weird with their vibe, but they aren't offering to tell. "He's a gentleman, so he won't scratch or bite."
Morgana nods the tiniest yet the most satisfied bit at this. An introduction well done!
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Specifically, Hibari expected Ren to go to college or university outside Inaba... but finish high school at Yasogami. Why wouldn't he?
Unfortunately, this means she is becoming curious, and when Hibari gets curious, she gets nosy. Not so much that she's going to run off right now and ask around, but enough that she's probably going to do so later.
And curious enough she's willing to hang around, too. "I wouldn't mind that," she says, about the coffee. "Though I should probably stop standing in your way, huh." She is not quite the sort of person to volunteer to help mop (anyway, there's almost certainly only one good mop, and Ren has it) so the best thing she can do is not make it worse.
"Curry can definitely be complex," she also agrees. As the cook, she'd know. Sure, she can't make it Leblanc-style, but she does know how it is done. "It's not hellaciously complicated like some of those gourmet recipes I've seen but there's a lot more that goes into it than people think about, mostly."
As for the question: "Tsubasa-kun's doing better, at least." It sounds like Ren knows Tsubasa a bit too, but Hibari doesn't know how much Ren knows about their entire situation - he didn't ask if they were back, only how they were doing - and it's not up to her to spill the beans, this time.
So she answers Ichika instead as she steps toward Morgana's booth: "I don't mind the accent, it just sticks out. And - well, he's just one year behind me, so it's not like I *never* met him. The town's not that big. It's part of the reason I don't mind being out here these days... And I don't think I would have brought him up, unless I knew he was around! I thought he was still out in the country."
Is she... covering for Ren? The answer is yes, but for a different reason than might be expected - she's misread the situation, but in a way that works for him. She remembers even back in the day that people said he was a little headstrong for the mayor's son, choosing to do his own thing. Maybe the pressure got to him... or maybe he just likes not being associated with someone important. Either way, she's decided to keep the secret.
(This may change later, once she actually asks some questions of people she knows, and puts together *exactly* what she's heard with the right people. But that's for later. She has her own reasons to not really focus on Shujin much, most of the time.)
And as for Morgana...
Hibari does indeed offer her hand at first, and provided Morgana doesn't shy away from it, does indeed try to pet him. For all that she has never kept a cat, she does know how to treat one. "He is a little gentleman," Hibari agrees.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Cool," Ichika says to Ren. "It's nice that you're learning this stuff." She seems genuinely appreciative. "I'll wait. ...I mean, not today, obviously. But you know, in general."
Sumaru is nice! Well, no. Sumaru is a hellscape. But there are many nice people, places, and things in Sumaru. "It's very interesting," Ichika agrees. "Oh, yeah? Must've," she says. "I was kinda busy. I had a boyfriend there..." Pause. "Well, ex-," she clarifies. "And my sister."
Ichika does notice that. She smiles. "Yeah, I like it out there well enough. I'm kinda scary for the Gekkoukan kids, though." A beat, "Yeah, Tsubasa-kun's OK. They got to make up their exams and stuff."
Ichika charges on ahead! Opsec is for losers!
One year behind... Hmm. "That's fine," Ichika says. "But that'd be great--Love coffee. And his is really good, so if you learned from him..."
Morgana, though. Ichika considers. "Oh, a gentleman?" Ichika inquires of Morgana. "I could do with some more gentlemen in my life. I mostly just meet guys."
She won't crowd him, but she does smile at him.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Why wouldn't he, indeed?
It is a reasonable assumption. But, well... Ren's not explaining and Hibari's not pushing, so it'll just have to stay where it is, each of them mutually misunderstanding the other. They do look up and give her a bit of a wondering look when she doesn't actually explain why they would be well-known around town... They don't know why she's doing that, but they are quietly grateful for it all the same--just as they're glad for Ichika not talking about their record, either. Maybe they'll talk about it after they leave, but... Ren can't do anything about what people say about them when they're not there.
As far as Tsubasa goes, though, Ren huffs a little breath, brow softening with relief. It sounds like they both know Tsubasa, given Hibari's response and Ichika's follow-up. "That's good. I'm glad for them. Scary stuff, what they went through." Well, at least Hibari has a better idea of what Ren does and doesn't know about them now?
Ren doesn't mind that neither of them offer to help. Ichika technically already offered, and Ren turned her down--and as Hibari observes, there's only one mop anyway. Also, they're guests, and he both lives and works here. It's just appropriate that they do it themself. They nod at Hibari's comment on curry's complexity. "All those spices," they agree. "I know those convenient roux blocks exist, but that's not how the Boss does it here." They nod to Ichika amiably--it seems like they're relaxing more as the conversation proceeds. "Yeah. The curry and coffee here are both worth knowing how to make."
So Ichika had a boyfriend in Iwatodai, huh... Sounds like her sister and the rest of her family is a bigger draw, but that's just another funny little coincidence. More importantly, they laugh at Ichika's comment on gentlemen vs. guys--one of those jokes that's funny because of how dire it is, not that they know her specific circumstances.
"I'll do my best to be a gentleman too, then, Kawase-san. One more for that side of the scales," they joke back. They dip the mop in the bucket as they bring it back from under one of the booths--and leave it there to head back behind the counter. A gentleman wouldn't make ladies wait for coffee, after all. "House blend all right?"
Morgana accepts Hibari's pets with a raised chin and purrs! However, he does not get grabby, either with claws or headbutts, so if Ichika prefers to keep her hands to herself, that's just fine. He is a little gentleman, thank you very much.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Hibari catches the look from Ren and returns it with a nod of her own - maybe she'll bring it up, but only privately. (Also, she has continued to scritch Morgana if he's stuck around, somewhat absent-mindedly.)
But rest assured Hibari will hear about the record eventually. Whether she gets it from Ichika, or simply asks a couple questions about Ren from other people, it's not exactly the sort of thing that's secret (even though it is supposed to be). Only the facts that Hibari did not know to ask about it and also avoids Shujin (and Shujin-related gossip, to an extent) has saved Ren so far.
That's the other downside of having Hibari around. She's nosy. Even if she is polite about it; smiling and friendly but also she just likes to *know*. Which means their next meeting might be a little more awkward than the first.
But that's a problem for later.
For now, Ren has given Hibari a little bit of information there, too: "Oh, for sure," she agrees. "It's not their fault, no matter what you've heard. But they're all right now. Though exams are going to suck. They're bad enough when you take them with everyone else. Taking them while they're watching just you... brr." And this is from someone who generally does reasonably well on exams. She missed top ten (and wasn't expecting to make it) but she did fine, only helped a little in the rankings by the fact that not all of Kasugayama's students really care about it.
Roux blocks exist, but the Boss doesn't use them. Hibari actually smiles at that. "That's good," she says. "Home cooking is always better. I'll be sure to come back when he's in. For now I'll at least have the coffee to try." She's trusting you, Ren! Trusting you to make a good cup...! "House blend is fine, since I assume that's what you'd recommend anyway."
'I could do with some more gentlemen in my life...' Hibari smiles at Ren's response. "See, you're already leagues ahead of some people," she laughs. "Though I remember you were always pretty good at it. I guess some things don't change, huh, Ren-kun?"
Hibari isn't so close she really SHOULD talk to him like that, but, well... she's always been friendly. And it's nice to meet someone who knows her but doesn't know *her* recent history.
If only she knew...
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Yeah," Ichika agrees. "Scary stuff is right." And even more, lately. But with Ren relaxing a little, Ichika relaxes a little too. "Yeah. Maybe somebody'll be happy you learned how sometime." She seems pleased at that idea, though. But--
Brr is right on exams. Ichika got the middle this time, because of Jun's tutoring and the fact taht she worked hard to make good on it. But then, "House blend's good with me too."
Ichika smiles at Ren's response. "Cool, Amamiya-san. I think the it suits you anyway. You've got a kind of... refined way about you."
She'll take her turn to pet Morgana, too, a few scritches at his face in the moment. She smiles again, this time at Morgana.
"Mmm, coffee...."