2026-01-13: Anticipation
- Log: 2026-01-13 Anticipation
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Hibari Aoki
- Where: Yongen-Jaya, Tokyo
- OOC Date: January 13, 2026
- IC Date: September 09, 2012
- Summary: Ren and Hibari go out grocery shopping to prepare for the first official cooking lesson she's to give him. In return, he fulfills his end of their bargain and tells her about some good places to get food in Tokyo, and it ends with them agreeing to hit the beach with friends in Sumaru sometime before September fully cools down.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Sunday is a good day to get in the practice and lessons and so on that you can't fit in during the rest of the week during time. Ren and Hibari agreed to have her come by Leblanc to start in on their cooking lessons--non-curry cooking lessons, anyway, as Sojiro's finally started in on those after his return from his summer emergency.
They do still need to buy their own groceries for those lessons, though, and so once Hibari arrived at Leblanc, Ren came downstairs from watching saxophone lesson videos on their phone and mimicking the fingering on their new secondhand sax (So-young's connections turned out very well indeed for them; one of them had a sax they wanted to give away and agreed to sell it for extremely cheap) and invited her over to the supermarket just a little bit down the street.
It's a relatively spacious place. There's lots of fruits and vegetables on the stands just outside to tempt customers inside, and the inside is clean and well-lit--it is a local grocery store, after all. Ren's carrying the hand basket and looking around for ingredients. At least they don't need to pick up rice; that much, at least, the Boss will let them use.
"So, I'm interested in perfecting onigiri," they remark as the two walk around. "I know the basics--" who doesn't? "--but I want to learn how to make a really good onigiri. Something a restaurant might serve. Or a mom."
Those are two very different styles of cooking, but Ren's a beginner for a reason.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Sunday's a good day for all sorts of things, now that school's back in session. Hibari can make the trip on weekdays, sure, but it means they wouldn't have nearly as much time to do much. Better to take an afternoon for it.
She was surprised to hear that Ren was studying the saxophone, though. "I didn't know you were musically inclined," she'd said, with one of those smiles. She's not, particularly; her culture club of choice had been shodo, calligraphy. Though she's not that bad a vocalist, it wasn't something she went out of her way to practice these days either.
Hibari was actually quite pleased by the suggestion of a local grocery store. "You might not have some of the choices you'll only find at a big store," she says, "but you can often find some really good items at the smaller places. Plus, this is right nearby." The back streets of Yongen-jaya are pretty close, but she doesn't mind that kind of closeness as much as she thought she would, when she'd only lived in Inaba.
"Onigiri, huh...?" She smiles. "It's a good choice. Lots of options there, but it all comes down to the basics." Like a restaurant or a mom... Well, they're two different things but to Hibari they're closer than they might otherwise be. She learned home-style cooking, after all. And she assumes Ren doesn't need to make them in the larger quantities that you might if you were selling them...
"What kind of fillings do you like in them? Or were you looking to make, I suppose. Is it just for yourself, or...?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"It's something I just recently got into," Ren had replied, smiling slightly. "I thought it'd be cool to give it a try." Besides, the sax looks and sounds sexy. If they can learn to play it well, their aura-farming will reach the next level.
They're pleased, too, that Hibari likes the idea of the local supermarket. "They've got some good snacks there too, especially over the seasons. ...But that's not why we're going there," they admit, rubbing the back of their head.
Yongen-Jaya does have a different vibe compared to Inaba, but that's true of anywhere in Tokyo--even a residential suburb like this one. Ren likes it. The close streets feel cozy, not claustrophobic. Sometimes it feels like they were born to live in the city. Funny for someone who grew up in the countryside.
"Hmmm... Spicy tuna's a favorite," they muse. That's tuna mixed with spicy mayo. The spicier the better, really. "But I want to focus on them because a friend challenged me." They look over at Hibari. "His time's at a premium, so he eats a lot of conbini food, especially onigiri. I want to serve him something that makes him go, 'Wow, your onigiri's much better than the ones from the Triple Seven."
A beat. Then Ren shakes their head a bit. "...Unfortunately, he doesn't really care that much about food, so he doesn't have any favorites--at least, none that he'll tell me about." They look up, eyes thoughtful. "Maybe I could merge Leblanc's curry with onigiri... Are curry onigiri a thing?"
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
The sax *does* look and sound sexy. You need the right kind of outfit to pull it off right, but Hibari can definitely see Ren dressed up to match the part. They can probably manage the right kind of vibe. That kind of look goes over well.
"Oh yeah? What kind of snacks?" Hibari is more curious than intending to buy any - because as mentioned, it's not what they're here for. But if Ren is going to bring it up, she's going to ask! "We've got a couple interesting little stores out in Konan, but nothing quite like this - Hirasaka's got more interesting ones."
Hibari, too, has found that she quite likes city living. It suits her in a way that she didn't realize Inaba *didn't* until she stopped living in it. Oh, there's a few things about it she misses, of course; of course there is, she lived in a small town all her life until a couple years ago. Konan, of course, is a little more spread-out than Yongen-jaya, though - what with the beach and all - which may affect her opinion.
Spicy tuna. Hibari notes that for later use for her own purposes - she's good at remembering people's preferences these days, but she left when Ren was younger and she doesn't know how their tastes have changed. Sometimes they seem like a very different person than they used to...
...and it's for a friend who eats konbini food a lot. "Hmm," she says, thoughtfully. "Well, I think we can do that much. It'll take a bit of practice to get everything right; getting things to stick together without a mold, which also means making the rice just right, and getting the filling taste and proportions. But that's a pretty solid goal."
"It's just a shame he didn't tell you what kinds he likes... but the good part about onigiri is that once you've learned to make them it's a lot faster to learn how to make different fillings," Hibari says, brightly. "Some are a little harder than others, of course. I like kakuni and that takes a bit more work than, say, umeboshi or even tuna." Kakuni is a braised pork belly piece.
Is there a such thing as curry onigiri? "There sure is!" Hibari considers Ren for a moment. "Honestly you can put pretty much anything in there you like. But I really have to try that curry if you keep saying it's as good as it is.... With curry onigiri it can be a little harder to get it to hold together right. It may take a couple tries to get the right consistency for the fillings."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Let's see, there's the spring fruit pack, which was really nice when I first got here. They stopped selling that as the end of May. Then they just started putting out the Moon Dango for autumn back on the first. For more general snacks, they've got a seaweed cracker I like, and some shrimp nuts that tastes more like peanut butter than shrimp. Still pretty good, though."
If there's anything that Ren would prefer about Konan to Yongen-Jaya, it'd certainly be the beach. They weren't a big beach person growing up--if you grow up in Inaba, obviously you're about the mountains--but it's precisely because of that that they'd like to visit the beach more often. Too bad summer's already passed... but then, it's still fairly warm out. Maybe they'll get a chance yet.
"Knowing him, I bet he eats a lot of egg sandos too... Those are really popular. But he requested onigiri," Ren replies. (Ah, so that's why.) Their expression turns thoughtful as she lists her own preference. "Umeboshi is a classic, but kakuni sounds really good. I'm guessing you fry that up first? You could probably make a whole picnic lunch basket full if you get a good sale on pork belly. That'd be good to share with friends," they conclude, this time thinking of Ryuji and Ann.%T
Umeboshi will at least be easy enough to find here, as will pork belly--but the braising sauce might be harder to find. They might need to make it from scratch, depending on the ingredients. Wouldn't that be a surprise, though?
"It is," they say of Leblanc's curry, smiling slightly. "I'm sure we can get you some before you go." So the trick is the consistency... That makes sense. Ren nods thoughtfully. "I'm up for the challenge," they say firmly.
They have to be if they want to impress him.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
"I suppose it is autumn already," Hibari says, with a bit of a sigh. She didn't get quite the relaxed summer that she was hoping for, at least not the entire time...
...well, because of Ogre-related activities. But she can't say that to Ren. They wouldn't know anything about that, would they?
"I keep thinking it should still be summer, but then I remember we're back in class, and it's going to just get cooler from now on." It's still fairly warm, as Ren notes, but it's only a matter of time. "The beach is already starting to get fewer people on it," she notes, as if to urge them to think about it if they want to go. And she didn't even mean to!
Shrimp nuts that taste like peanut butter... "Must be heavy on the nut," she says, with a slight smile. "They sound pretty good though. Maybe I *will* bring dango back with me. But that's for later." She's not going to carry it around now.
Kakuni sounds really good... "Nope, just simmered," she says. "It takes hours though, so I don't make it very often - even though it doesn't take a lot of attention when it's going. It's like Chinese twice-cooked pork - you simmer it, then take the pork out to braise it in a sauce. The sauce is *really* easy to make, too. Then traditionally you put a little bit of karashi on it at the end. But we probably don't want to do that today just for the time," she adds. "I just brought it up since it's my favourite."
"So, umeboshi, and we can find ingredients one of the fish ones. If you like spicy tuna, why not? Tuna's a classic for a reason!" Hibari dusts her hands against her hips, absently - planning done! "Plus, maybe he'll like it too. It's better than an egg sando." Hibari doesn't... dislike egg. Rather the opposite. But she's never really been big on egg sando.
"Sounds like you really want to impress him," she says, smiling slightly - she picked up on that determination. She seems thoughtful again as she looks at Ren for a few long moments before she makes a guess: "Someone you go to school with?"
If it was a girl Ren had brought up, Hibari may have made a different guess as to why they wanted to impress their friend, but, well... she doesn't know *that* much about that side of Ren. She's still thinking of them as 'him', after all. So it's not her first guess.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Don't worry, Hibari. Ren didn't get a relaxed summer either, even totally discounting Ogre-related activities.
"The beach, huh... That'd be nice to visit while the weather's still mostly warm," Ren muses, indeed tempted by the mention. "I didn't have time during the summer. Too much part-timing." They made a good chunk of money, though, which is nice. One can earn money in Mementos and other supernatural spaces, sure, but Ren makes sure to use that money strictly for supplying the team. (It gets expensive fast...)
"Ebi-Piina was the brand, I think," Ren replies. "They might have it around here, but we shouldn't be picking up snacks right now anyway." They've got actual cooking to do!
Simmered for hours... Ren muses that might be good to put on before bed and take off early in the morning, depending on just how many hours are required. They get up early most days for coffee and a work-out anyway. "We can save it for a more advanced lesson, then." They quirk a small smile. "Something to look forward to."
"We'll have to do plain tuna too. My cat's nuts about tuna, so he'll want some. If I don't share, he'll never let me hear the end of it," they add good-naturedly. It might end up being literally plain tuna, but a little extra leaves room for error anyway. It's fine. Still, better than egg sando, huh... "We can try a few different fillings; I want to experiment anyway." (Ren, weren't you going to master the basics first?) "That's just what came to mind first. We can see what other fish they've got on sale right now."
They don't reply when Hibari observes they want to impress this guy. The way they rub the back of their neck a little says it all. "No. He's... a rival. A friendly one," they decide on. "But we're pretty close."
In fairness to Hibari, Ren is not one to share personal details that often anyway. Something they learned over time...
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
It is the curse of youth. It's always more complicated than adults remember it being.
"Ebisu Beach is pretty full in the summer and then it dies out *fast* when summer's over," Hibari says, "so it's pretty clear if you actually want to come up. But I'd do it pretty soon or it'll be a little cold. Maybe you should visit *me* next time - I mean, I'm not *right* on the beach, but it's close enough to walk to! Bring some friends, maybe; I'll show you the places the locals go." She doesn't know anyone he knows (Ichika doesn't count). Maybe it'd be nice to meet some of his friends.
Especially... "I'd like to meet Sakamoto-san," she says. "...I know Ichika-chan's out with him." And she knows he knows Ren, though that's as far as her knowledge goes. "And it's not like I go to Shujin to meet him myself."
She laughs, then. "Right, your cat! Morgana, right? It'd definitely be best to *not* give him the spicy kind, I think it upsets cat stomachs." Hibari doesn't have a cat, so none of her experience is first-hand and she doesn't know a lot about having one anyhow. "I'm sure he'd appreciate having a little bit of the plain stuff, though!" Fish seems like it would be a good cat treat.
(It makes an okay treat if it's the kind not packed in oil, though not a meal, but even that's okay; Morgana isn't really a cat.)
"Experimenting with fillings is fine. Umeboshi in particular's about as easy as it gets! That'll be about learning to make and shape the rice," Hibari says, "and that's going to be similar no matter what you put in it."
But, a rival...
"Oh *ho*!" She brightens, the smile reaching her eyes. "He must be if you're going out of your way for this. Though, learning to cook is its own reward, anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"I'll have to talk to my friends about it. Now that school's started, I don't think we'll all be able to go, but if at least some of us can..." Ren crooks a smile at Hibari. "We'll have to take you up on that offer. I barely know Tokyo reasonably well at this point; Sumaru's mostly a mystery to me.
"By the way, that was our deal, right? You teach me to cook and I'll tell you about the gourmet hot spots here in Tokyo. In spirit of our trip here, I'll let you in on another supermarket--a foreign goods one, over in Kichijoji. They've got a lot of interesting exotic goods, like caramel popcorn and cereal." Ren is a little joking. "But that neighborhood's got a ton of great little shops, like a meat bun place that's nearly always got a long line--it's usually less crowded on Sundays, so I'd go then. There's also a cafe down the road and around the corner from there called Gigi. They've got good desserts. Very picturesque."
But... Hibari wants to meet more of their friends, huh? Their friend groups have overlapped pretty thoroughly at this point... "Ryuji? Yeah. He and Ichika are really happy together," they remark. "I'll ask around if anyone's got time to hit the beach one of these weekends and let you know how it shakes out."
Morgana definitely doesn't like spicy foods, though it bothers his tongue more than it bothers his stomach. Ren smiles anyway. "Right," they say, and then a little later, "Agreed." A good thing for Morgana that he's not a cat, too, or else he couldn't have his beloved hot-milk-cooled-to-room-temperature, either.
They nod as Hibari continues on about the rice balls. It makes sense that the rice would be the most important part of rice balls. But then she pounces on something they said, and they rub the back of their neck again as they move into another aisle. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want to learn to cook because of him. I need to learn that for my own sake," Ren protests mildly. Sojiro had implied he might have another 'emergency' in the future, after all. "He's just the one who gave me a specific goal to work towards."
And who doesn't love onigiri anyway? They weren't fronting when they said it'd be good to make for a picnic lunch for all their friends. Speaking of which--they're just walking up on some furikake bottles. There's another fine ingredient for onigiri. Ren looks over them and picks a fairly simple, standard nori-based one, then grabs some seaweed sheets a little further down the aisle from there. Into the basket they go.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
"Sumaru is..."
Hibari actually stops to consider how to put this, frowning as she looks at nothing in particular (actually some spices, but never mind).
"It's got a different vibe than Tokyo," she decides. "It's not quite as close as Yongen-jaya is but it's got more going on than the countryside, especially in some districts. Konan's a little quieter off the main season, but Aoba or something is closer to Tokyo. Just... still different. Less urgent. You know, I've never tried to put it in words before," she admits, a little apologetically.
As for Tokyo's districts... "Kichijoji, huh? I've never been down there at all. Sounds like I'll make a trip. When I've got my bag," she adds, because if she's going to stop at a grocery she's going to have something to carry it back in if she has anything to say about it. "Those are definitely fair trades."
She'll have to get him shaping the rice just right for that one.
"I know," Hibari agrees. "I mean, I don't know him, but I see *her*, and you can tell. Some of her boyfriends - I mean, her more recent boyfriends... I'm not saying they were bad for her." Eiji she would. The others, not so much. "But they also didn't put her in as good a mood as she's been in lately. You can really tell he's good for her." And Tsubasa, too, though Hibari isn't *quite* sure how much Ren knows about that situation.
Probably more than none, if he's as close to Ryuji as they sound. "So yeah. Invite him, and a couple other friends - whoever can make it up, since like you said, school's in the way now. We'll find a weekend before it gets too cold."
Hmm, she thinks: "Well, like I said, it's a good goal. But you're right, you should learn for your own sake. So we'll get you this. I've got a couple ideas for other things to teach - but that's for later. And it sounds like you've got curry down pat," she adds. "Honestly, having a specialty dish isn't a bad idea. It impresses the girls," she half-teases, "but it also means you're prepared if you have to host people or something."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
'A different vibe' is one way of putting it. Ren's spent enough time in Sumaru (mostly just Hirasaka Ward, thanks to the Cardboard Dragon) to know about how rumors come true there, and that sure would change the vibe. They keep that though to themself as they nod. It's the same sort of delicate phrasing they'd use with someone they thought wasn't awakened either.
"It's okay. I bet I'll get it if I hang out there enough. I've really only been to Hirasaka so far," Ren replies, voicing one of their thoughts. "Tokyo's like that too, with how different its wards can be, so maybe it's more similar than I think.
They smile, pleased that she likes the information they gave her. It's a bit more than a single restaurant, but they could hardly tell her about just one place when it comes to Kichijoji.
That smile fades a bit when the topic turns to Ichika and her various boyfriends she's dated. Yeah. He knows all about Eiji. But if Ichika's been happier lately because of Ryuji... It's not just him, in fairness. Eiji's change of heart would contribute to that, as would her relationship with Tsubasa. But it still counts. "Glad to hear it. Ryuji's been really happy too, so it goes both ways."
Hopefully they'll find a weekend before it's too cold. Time gets away from you so quickly, and they're already past the first weekend of September. For now, Ren gives a firm nod. If it doesn't work out, it won't be for lack of trying.
"I wouldn't say down pat. I only just started on that. But the Boss has been working so long on perfecting his recipe, I've got a solid start there," they reply. They chuckle at her teasing; mastering Leblanc's curry probably would impress Minako, considering how much she likes it too. "Yeah. I've got a specialty drink, at least." The coffee, they mean--which she's drunk already, when she and Ichika came by some time ago and Ren treated them both. "But yeah. I look forward to learning more."
It is fun to make delicious things for the people you love. Ren's already full of anticipation at the notion.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
The rumours are definitely part of the vibe - and Hibari, as a Rumourmonger herself, is particularly aware of what she says and how she says it, these days. Even if she poses as a rumourmonger who's aware of the supernatural but not involved personally, it's not something she's going to throw out at Ren, who as far as she knows is involved in precisely none of it and isn't going to have the same blase response to hearing about a demon as some Sumaru natives might.
"I think that's part of the fun of it," she says, after a moment's longer thought. "It's like having more than one city in the city, if that makes sense... every ward, every neighborhood, has its own thing going on. They *feel* different even if they're all part of Sumaru, or Tokyo. United, but different."
Ren knows more about Eiji than Hibari knows - or is willing to tell them; she doesn't bring him up at all. But even Ichika's other boyfriends. They weren't wrong for her, like Eiji was... but they don't seem to have been as right for her as Ryuji is either. Or Tsubasa. "Well, I'm not surprised," Hibari says, with a bit of a sly smile. "Ichika's an easy person to like. Even if she's a bit thorny if you don't know her..."
Thorn Boss and all.
"And a specialty drink's a good start. But don't worry. We'll have you actually cooking in no time." Hibari means it. Maybe she's fired up now too? Especially because she agrees with Ren, out loud: "Cooking's a gift you can share with people and enjoy with them, and cooking *for* someone's a good way to connect with them. I know, I know, it sounds a little corny, but I mean it!"
Ren's heard that before. Though it probably won't occur to them where.
"So let's get these ingredients," she says, "and I'll show you how to get the rice just right so you can mold it around the fillings. Simple fillings, this time; we can get more creative later!"
Now she really is energized...