2025-12-09: To Better Friends
- Log: To Better Friends
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya, ,Tokyo
- OOC Date: December 09, 2025
- IC Date: August 23, 2012
- Summary: On a day that ought to be pretty terrible for Ichika, she... isn't thinking about it yet! Instead, she goes to Leblanc to see Ren and Morgana, and the two of them get to know each other a little more over coffee.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It's been a couple days since The Phantoms secured their infiltration route to steal Eiji Kamiya's Treasure. In the same way, it's been a couple days since they battled Phoenix--and then inducted them and Ogre on the team--and a couple days since... well... Joker just had a really bad day of it.
Granted, a lot of days have been bad days for him since his arrest and conviction early in the year. But that one was particularly bad for a number of reasons.
There were some good things too, at least. That's what Ren tells themself when they crash and sleep through most of the next day. By the time they woke up, doing anything outside was a wash, so at Morgana's suggestion, they finally cracked in on their summer homework.
...the reminder was very necessary. Ren had fully forgotten about it. At least there's still a week 'til the end of vacation...
The day after /that/, it's more like business as usual. A workout in their room, followed by a cup of coffee and a modest breakfast of rice, pickled vegetables, and instant miso soup (one of these days Sojiro and/or Hibari will give them enough of a lesson that they can actually /cook/ something); and then... more of this damn homework. Morgana's suggestion again. They only got about a third to a fourth of the way through. The more they do now, the less they'll have to do later. Ren gets the logic, but they're not a fan.
At least it's an excuse to sit downstairs, where there is a fan and thus not quite as brain-meltingly hot as in their room. They're seated in a booth towards the back, Morgana on the table peering over their week, stewing over some history questions, underdressed in a black short-sleeved shirt and olive green cargo pants. Tomorrow's laundry day, but no need to overfill the laundry bag.
The store itself is closed, as it has been since nearly the start of summer vacation. The sign outside continues to say so. Ren has gotten used to pushing that to the back of their mind, though Tsubasa's mention of trouble going down in Yongen-Jaya and that concerned look Queen had shot them have been lurking at the back of their mind...
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogre has had a pretty good couple of days since; her resolve has left her tired but determined, and she's gotten the rest she needed. She helped Tsubasa; she saw her sister's concert. She walked Lance! And now...
She's wanting to talk to Ren, and not just' for her own benefit. She remembers they seemed troubled... Well, it might not be her business yet--she doesn't know them as well--but she still wants to talk. There's stuff to be determined, and... It's just a good idea.
Ichika's dressed in a layered tanktop and short skirt, along with sneakers and wristlets. She's in her usual makeup. And...
She knocks at the door on the stoor!!
"Hey," she says, waving.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren looks up, and Morgana turns around, when there's a knock at the door. The sign outside deters most people, but sometimes people knock anyway--generally either people who are too self-absorbed to pay attention to a sign, or regulars who are hoping on an update on when Sojiro might be back. Ren smiles to see that it's neither this time.
"Ah, it's Ichika!" Morgana says cheerfully. "Why don't you take a break, Ren? You've been working hard this morning!"
"Yeah," they agree, and set down their pencil to get up from the booth. They unlock the door and open it up for her a moment later, greeting her with a smile as they step back to let her in.
"Hey," they say. "How're you doing?"
How're you holding up? they might've said in different circumstances. Now they don't feel like they have to worry about her so much--a good thing for everyone.
"Good morning!" Morgana calls from the back, tail undulating. "What brings you by here today?"
...It might be weirder to see Morgana as a normal-ass-looking cat talking.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Breaktime! Ichika smiles back when Ren lets her in. "Hey," she says again. "I'm pretty good. Trip wasn't bad. I was thinking of stopping a few places in Tokyo while I'm here..."
In different circumstances, it would've been like that. But these are new! "But that's later."
She waves at Morgana, too. "Hey, Morgana." She'll get out of the way so he can re-lock the door, of course. "I wanted to talk about our plans..."
"But I also just wanted to come see you two," she admits. "I mean, if we're gonna do this stuff together, it'd be cool to be better friends, right?"
"...Sorry if that's kinda forward. I'm used to bulling through since Kasu High."
Ichika resists the urge to pet Morgana. It would be undignified for both of them. Probably.
"Anyway, how's it going with you?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Morgana is... sometimes okay with petting. It's easier coming from people who don't realize he's a person; then he's being sneaky and taking advantage of his cursed form to ingratiate himself to the unsuspecting and potentially learn something new! Those who do... ...again. It's a sometimes thing. And he'll put up with it more readily from some (coughAnncough) more than others (coughRyujicough).
In short, it's just as well that Ichika doesn't try to pet him. It is a struggle every day for Ren, let them tell you.
Ren shuts and re-locks the door once Ichika's inside. They've been keeping Leblanc clean, so it's nice and shiny inside, with a fresh pine scent; the ceiling fans keep the place relatively cool (but it's still summer so not that cool).
"You're fine," Ren reassures her. "I agree." They head back to the booth where they'd been at and nod Ichika to sit opposite them. "I'm not doing much right now--just working on summer homework. I kind of... forgot about it 'til yesterday," they admit.
"I reminded them," Morgana boasts, setting a proud paw on his chest. "What would you ever do without me, Ren?"
They give him a lopsided smile of agreement. Then they look back at Ichika. "Anyway, I'm taking a break right now, so... anything you wanna talk about? I can treat you to a cup of coffee if you want, too."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Sometimes!! but probably not today.
It is nice in here, though. Ichika nods along. "Cool." She slides into the booth, taking a seat. "Ah, brutal," she says. "I've been doing mine because I've got a guy tutoring me... So I'm kinda accountable to him, too. I kinda... Well, I'm kinda thinking of trying to get into university? It's a long-shot, but even if I can't, trying might land me an internship at a newspaper or something..."
But a laugh. "So you got your own buddy to hold you to it, huh?" she asks. "Cool, Morgana."
But a break. "Hmmm..."
What does she want to talk about? Well, "Coffee'd be great!" she starts with, because it's not so hard for Ichika to get sidetracked.
"I guess though... I wanna talk about you! I wanna get to know you some. I'd say you could ask me stuff too, and you can, but... I guess you kinda already saw the grim parts."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Mmm... It does feel easier to do schoolwork if you've got someone else involved in it," Ren admits. "I really scrambled at the last minute for finals, but I ended up doing all right because I did a lot of group studies and tutoring sessions."
They look at her thoughtfully when she brings up university and interning at a newspaper. "You want to be a journalist? That's cool. I know a couple I could put you in touch with if you want." (Ichika already knows one of them, but it's okay.)
"That's right! I'm this guy's mentor, after all! I can't let him slack off!" Morgana boasts again. "I watch over all his studying and training, and I'm teaching him all the tricks I know!"
"Yup," Ren says with a fond smile. "I've gotten pretty good at making thieves' tools thanks to him."
"Myahaha~! It helps to have a student with such deft fingers, too!"
Ren chuckles a little, then looks over at Ichika. She says yes to coffee, so they get back up and start in on that. It'll be the house blend; that's their go-to coffee, too. What can they say? When it comes to curry and coffee, Sojiro really knows his stuff.
"I'd like to know more than the grim parts," they reply as they fetch a clean carafe and filter and put on some water to boil. "What's something good that's happened to you lately?"
And they do want to know, but it's also classic Ren deflection. They don't even realize they're doing it. It's just what they do.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh, cool. Yeah, I worked my ass off and managed to do OK... If I'd set it to the last minute I wouldn't have been able to get it."
Journalism! "Yeah," Ichika says. "I mean... I'm gonna get married eventually, and I might or might not keep working, but given everything... I want something I can do, you know? I don't want to get stuck if it goes wrong. And it's something I'm into. I met this cool reporter a while back who turned me no to the idea. Gotta work on my 'instincts' now."
Mentor! "Oh, yeah?" she asks Morgana. "That's cool. I don't have the knack; I rely on Tsubasa-kun for B&E. I just carry the stuff."
Ichika smiles at their interplay. But then, coffee; it's good! She's had Sojiro's coffee, and if Ren does it anything like him...
"Hmmm.."
"Well," she says, "I had a nice date with Ryuji-kun," she says. "Maybe next time we'll go somewhere other than that bench," she laughs, "But still, it was nice. And my sister had a concert. She's got a band and stuff."
It's easy enough to go with the conversation for now; if he wants to start with her, that's fine.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Yeah... Same. One of the people who tutored me even made math click for me. I think of it like a puzzle now, and it's actually kind of fun that way." Ren pauses when Ichika asserts she'll get married eventually, but opts not to comment. Honestly, good for her if that's what she wants. It means Eiji didn't turn her off the idea for life.
"Here's the names and numbers of the two I know," Ren says instead, fetching their phone and tearing off a piece of paper from their notebook. One is Maya Amano; the other is Ichiko Ohya. "If you know a 'cool reporter' already, I've got a feeling you might know one of them already." After all, Maya was quite up-front with Ren about being a Persona User, even though she didn't know they're one too.
They give her another thoughtful look. "Yeah? You do trend more towards support in the Metaverse too. I guess that tracks."
Coffee is brewed. The store is filled with a pleasant aroma. Their coffee isn't quite as good as Boss's, but it's still very good. They serve themself a cup too, and Morgana a saucer of milk. (Another saucer. Morgana likes his milk made hot and then cooled to room temperature, so there's some left over from the pot Ren used to do so earlier.) Ren serves them all up and sits back down.
They smile at Ichika's description. "That sounds really nice. I'm glad you and Ryuji have hit it off. He's a good guy." He could be kind of desperate and overbearing when it came to girls he wanted to date--but that part of him has dropped off now that he's found himself a girlfriend. That's what happens when you go from insecure to secure. "That's cool," they add of Ichika's sister's band and concert. "Does she have any CDs in stores or anything? Maybe I'll pick one up for my girlfriend."
...Ah!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh, wow. That'd be nice." Math clicking. "I rely on Tsubasa-kun for that, too..." Ichika notices the pause, but she smiles through it. It's still something she wants, even if... Well. Eiji was awful.
"Oh, cool, that's Amano-san's," she says, recognizing the answer. "She's the cool reporter I mentioned. I don't know the other one... I'll have to talk to her." Maya said that to Ichika, too. And even knows about Ichika. She doesn't think to mention it at the moment.
Support! "Yeah... I guess it's because I want to keep people alive, or whatever. If I wanna psychoanalyze it's because I want to make sure nobody loses somebody like I have. ...Dunno, though. It might just be that it's random."
Mmmmm, coffee. Ichika accepts. "This smells great," she says, and settles.
"Me, too," Ichika says. "He is! He's not... my usual kind of guy," she admits. "I tend to go for the ones with more... experience, you know? But I want something a little more 'real', I guess, instead of just hookups and friends. And he's great for that. He's really 'real'. And super sincere. ...And kinda fun to tease a little," she admits, "But only a little. I like him when he's confident."
"Not in stores, she's still a little underground like that. But they got a site, so I'll give you that." She grabs some paper, too! Writes it down."
"But," she says then, "I heard the magic word! You got a girlfriend?" she wonders. "If you're up for it, I'd love to hear about her."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"I had a feeling that might be who you meant. She is cool," Ren replies, nodding to Ichika about the topic of Maya. "I haven't hit her up for information in a while--it's a little dangerous for me to be too direct with her--but Ohya-san isn't a Persona User, so you don't need to watch your step as much around her." Their lips twist into a wry smile. "Just don't get fooled by her happy-go-lucky drunken exterior. She's sharp."
"It's definitely not random," Morgana says with the confidence of someone who has built their identity around knowing this one specific topic. "Just like how the costume you transform into is a reflection of what you envision as a rebel, your Persona and the attacks they've got reflect how you most want to enact your rebellion! Ren's Persona marks him as the quintessential phantom thief--and mine marks me as the quintessential gentleman! If you think the kind of moves you've got reflect how you don't want anyone else to lose anyone like you did..." His kitty eyes soften. "Well, you're the one saying it. There must be something to it."
Ren nods, both at that and at Ichika complimenting Ryuji. Morgana looks more dubious... but he holds his tongue. As low as his opinion of Ryuji is sometimes, Morgana will agree in a heartbeat that he's leagues better than Eiji. If he's helping Ichika heal... so much the better.
"I get it," Ren says, of 'realness.' "That's definitely the Ryuji experience." They accept the scrap of paper with Ririka's band's website, look at it briefly, and then set it in their notebook like a bookmark.
Ichika latches onto the word 'girfriend.' Ren rubs the back of their neck, cheeks turning a bit pink as they smile. "Yeah. Her name's Minako Arisato. She goes to school in Port Island, actually. We met when she and her brother came by for coffee, and we just started hanging out more and more until... it felt right. We started dating after finals. She's cute and a lot of fun, and she's a big music fan."
Thus the ask about Polychord's CDs!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh, cool. Then you know Amano-san is." Pause. "Hmm... Good to know." About Ohya, that is.
Morgana, though, can explain something Ichika never knew. She listens with interest, looking right at his cat eyes. "Hmm... I guess that's right, then. It's just a feeling I have, right? It's happened more than once." A beat, "But that's cool. A real phantom thief... You do have the style for it." She grins. "And you are a gentleman. You're pretty good at healing too, I remember."
Morgana is spared a glare today!
"Cool, then he's not just like that around me," she says. "...Not that I expected it, but you know."
But girlfriend! And girlfriend enough for pink cheeks! "Oh, yeah?" she asks. "...Wait, that brother wasn't Minato-kun, was it?" she wonders. "Small world..."
It felt right. She smiles more widely. "That's great," Ichika says. "I'm happy for you both. Not that I know her, but that doesn't stop me, right? I hope things go good for both of you."
SHe doesn't pry for any other details. Instead, "How about you? You into music? It's not my super thing but there's a lot of bands and singers I like. I just don't breathe it like my sister does."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Yup. She told me to my face. I was surprised--and impressed. There's not a lot of adults who'll shoot straight with teenagers like us," Ren replies. "I was suspicious of her at first, but now I think she's someone I could trust." A pause. "Not with my Phantom Thief identity, though. ...Speaking of which, how many people know you're 'Ogre'? Likewise Seki-kun as 'Phoenix'? We'll have to be careful about that now that you're both on the team."
In a house somewhere in the neighborhood, a long-haired young girl's ears are twitching...
Ren's smile broadens when Ichika comments they have the style for it. "Thanks. I really like how my costume looks. It's mysterious and debonair--a magician turned thief." Like a certain other phantom thief with a detective love interest...
"A phantom thief relies on their cunning! You've got a lot more options if you can heal yourself," Morgana says, basking in Ichika's praise. "It helps with keeping my protégées in shape, too, of course!"
Ren gives a sympathetic nod. Yeah... after Hajime--after Eiji--after Akechi--it's worth being cautious of if a guy acts consistently or not.
But then Minato comes up, and Ren blinks in surprise. "Yeah. You know him?" They huff a faint laugh as they give her a small half-smile. "No kidding." Their eyes soften. "Thanks." They haven't seen her in a bit--there was her club trip, and now she's working on her volleyball sports training--so they miss her, but... no point in being a downer.
"Same. It's not my 'super' thing, but I enjoy listening to it. I'm more into books. I watch movies and play video games too, though. You know, normal teen stuff. Actually--you remember that day we hung out at the Underground Mall? I ran into Seki-kun at the movie theatre in the area earlier that day. We were watching Worst Detective." They chuckle. "Funny stuff."
They pause, though, and consider Ichika. "...Though, speaking of... I've been calling you Kawase-san up until now. Do you want me to stick to that? For me, you can call me Ren if you want."
Morgana is a weird cat thing, so he of course just calls people by their given names.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"True," Ichika agrees about adults. Not that many. "Cool," she says. But as to identity, "Not many. Even my sister doesn't know. But Hibari-chan--Hibari Aoki, from my gang--she knows. And Myunghon Yeo, though they'll pretend not to. And Hyousuke Suzuki, a guy at my school--it just sort of happened that way." Pause. "For Phoenix... you'd have to ask them. But not many, I'm sure."
Twitch twitch!
She grins. "Yeah!" she answers. "It's cool like that."
But cunning! Ichika likes that. And well, Morgana is confident, and that doesn't grate on Ichika so far. "Of course."
But Minato. "I, ah..." She laughs. "I was trying to blow off steam during finals and I ended up making out with him for a couple hours. We're friends. This was back then, though. Obviously I don't plan a repeat performance anytime soon." But it's nice, that they have her.
Still, "Right. Oh, yeah, books?" she wonders. "That's cool." Normal teen stuff. But--remember...? "Ahahah. Yeah, they told me a little about that one," she says. "I'm into magazines and stuff myself--I really like the fashion stuff. It's kinda... a way to connect with people, you know? People my age. But my big thing I guess is being around people. When I got out of that with Eiji... First it was nature that helped me heal, but then it was going to parties and stuff, meeting people."
But speaking of? "Oh, Ichika's fine," Ichika answers. "Ren-kun cool? You don't have to be formal with me either if it is."
Ichika would do the same if she were a weird cat thing, probably.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"I know her. The two of you came by Leblanc a while back," Ren reminds her of Hibari. Nothing to be done about a guy with whom it 'just happened that way,' though they do make note of Hyousuke's name and nod accordingly. But... so Myunghon knows, huh. They set a hand on their mouth and consider this. "...We can work with that," they decide. They trust them--not enough to unmask, at least not yet--but they don't think they'll try to entrap The Phantoms or anything via Ichika. Thinking on it further, it seems likely to them that they also know Tsubasa's Persona-User identity, but they'll have to ask them about that directly, as Ichika says. "You probably should avoid mentioning you've joined the team to any of them, though. For now."
Ichika calls their costume cool. Ren smiles, pleased. They're not immune to praise either, even if they don't soak it in like Morgana does.
Ren's eyebrows shoot up when Ichika admits she made out with Minato once. Not that long ago, even! "Uh. Wow," they utter, before breaking into a laugh. "I'll keep it to myself."
"Yeah. Cardboard Dragon's got some great selections, and Yeo-san's been really accommodating about getting books sent over to a local store for me to pick up. I got some new ones recently, but I haven't had the time to read them." Between Eiji's Palace, part-timing, and various other stressors... They shake their head a little. They do give her a thoughtful look as she goes into her own interests. "Have you had a chance to talk to Ann much yet? She's a part-time model, you know. It's just a side gig for her, but still."
Their dark eyes soften. "Yeah... I like being around people, too. I like listening to them talk about their interests and experiences. Everyone's so different--it's just fascinating to me." And Ichika's got a story that's wilder than most, though of course Ren wouldn't put it like that. "Nature? Like hiking and stuff? Maybe I should introduce you to Minako after all--she loves that stuff too." They grin. "And she's very much a people person."
Ren also enjoys nature and hikes--but honestly, if they're going to do that, they'd rather do that with their girlfriend. No offense to Ichika. Maybe sometime in the future, they can hang out in a park somewhere.
Ren nods to 'Ren-kun.' "Ichika, then." They crook a smile at her. "We're partners in crime now. No point in being formal at all."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh yeah! And she knew you kinda." Ichika remembers that now. But if they can work with that, then that's good enough for her for the moment. As long as she's not going to be a problem... Well, "Sounds cool. I don't need to mention that."
Ichika smiles back. She likes making people feel good--but it's not empty flattering, either. She doesn't like blowing smoke.
She laughs back. "Yeah, I used to hook up with a lot of guys," she admits. "It got me through a lot. But I want to buckle down, now. Ryuji-kun's cool with my past. That's what counts." So's Tsubasa... but that's kind of extra-complicated, so she saves it for now. They've talked about what to call each other, but it's a different bridge to share something so important to her that /didn't/ come out in the Palace.
"Oh, awesome." Books and Yeo-san... "They really like their books."
Ann! "Yeah! A little, anyway. After one of her shoots, we went shopping together. It was sort of happenstance that we ended up hanging out, but it was really nice. ...To be honest, all of you I've met were really cool, even before I knew you were the Phantoms."
But people... "Yeah!" Ichika agrees. "Everybody has their own world." But, "Yeah, I love that stuff. I try to hike a lot. I'm actually hoping to get a van so I can pile stuff in that instead of having to take it on the train with me to get to trails..." But Minako likes it? "Awesome. I definitely want to meet her."
No offense taken! Ichika thinks hikes and camping are ideal for romance, actually. Unsupervised time alone...
"Right. So we are."
"...I'm glad to be doing this for 'justice', instead of just because I don't have anything better to try, like some of our old crimes at Kasu. It... feels good."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren meant Myunghon--but after meeting with Hibari again, she's probably not going to be a problem either. She loves collecting gossip, but she doesn't tend to spread it... from what they remember, anyway. But if Ichika trusted her with knowing she's Ogre when even her own sister doesn't know, that speaks in her favor. "Yup. We're from the same country town." Ren shrugs a bit. "Anyway, don't tell anyone new."
"Right," Morgana pipes up. "What Akechi said about how we lose our masking protection the more people know who we are... Maybe he was lying about that part and maybe he wasn't, but no point in risking it. A proper phantom thief keeps their identity a secret anyway!"
Ren frowns at the mention of Akechi... but Morgana's right, so they say nothing. Instead, they nod thoughtfully when Ichika says she used to hook up with random guys a lot. They'd always assumed that was a stereotype, but... So it's based in reality. "Glad to hear it," they say. Not that they thought Ichika would be dishonest about it if she's so open about it with them, but it's good that she and Ryuji are honest with each other.
And if they don't know about how Tsubasa figures into their relationship, well, that's not really Ren's business anyway.
Myunghon does like books! You'd have to in order to open a bookstore. ...and card games store, but still. Ren smiles to hear that Ichika and Ann have indeed hung out in a fashion-related way. "Likewise," they say.
Ichika and a van, huh? "That'd be cool. Makoto has a motorcycle license, but it'd be really handy to have someone around who can drive an actual car." They laugh a little. "I've only ever driven in video games... and Mementos, obviously. Anyway, whenever we get a chance, I'll introduce you to Minako sometime."
...At least Ren's told one of their friends about Minako now?
They smile, too, as Ichika speaks of Justice. "Yeah. We might be the dregs of society in some people's eyes, but we've got a purpose most will never know." Their dark eyes turn fierce. "I'm glad you reached out to us. Thanks to you and Seki-kun, we'll be able to blow a conspiracy wide open and save a lot of people who've been suffering. We'll take our Justice to the next level this way."
Ren doesn't do this for the accolades, content to remain in the shadows--but that doesn't mean they don't enjoy them.
"Speaking of which--you haven't gotten an airsoft gun for the Metaverse yet, right? I know a place right off Central Street--if you've got time, let's head there after this and pick up something for you."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh, yeah." Same country town. Well, that's nice. "I won't." She pauses. "...I always figured if my identity doesn't come out the same way everybody's does, there was a reason for it, and I might as well hang onto it. Besides, if my sister knew what I was up to, she might have trouble. Or get in trouble."
A phantom thief... Hmm! That means Ichika's doing it right! She brightens, but doesn't mention Akechi any further.
"Yeah," she says.
SHe'll tell them eventually! Once she figures out what to call them, maybe. The important part is Ryuji's cool with it.
"I finally got my license recently," she says, "So I'm looking forward to it." A laugh. "Yeah, I feel like knowing how to drive 'safely' would be a detriment in Mementos..." She smiles. "Cool, I'd like that."
At least one!!
"Yeah," she agrees. She sees that fierceness--and shares it, ironclad cefrtain in what she's doing. "Glad to be part of it," she says.
"I'm in all the way." She considers their question a beat and says, "You know, I haven't. I've got the time. Let's go!"