2026-02-15: Ichika Phones a Friend
- Log: Ichika Phones a Friend
- Cast: Tsubasa Seki, Ichika Kawase, Hibari Aoki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Shuyo Hayama
- Where: Third-Floor Apartment, Kasugayama
- OOC Date: 2026-02-15
- IC Date: Wed, Sep 26 2012
- Summary: Tsubasa's feeling real down after their kidnapping... so Ichika gets some things together and asks some of their friends over to visit! Watching a games show together turns into a more personal conversation, with some surprising details of past clubs surfacing; Hibari shares her ambitions for the future, and it gets Tsubasa talking about theirs a little, too. Yusuke appreciates art in all its forms, while Ichika's too nervous to sit down. Lance gets a hotdog! AND treats!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
When Ichika came over, this afternoon, she had a brilliant idea -- two brilliant ideas, really.
The first was getting Tsubasa out of bed and out into the loungeroom; the second was to call up a couple of their friends and ask them if they wanted to come hang out, too.
Thusly have they gathered here in Shuyo and Tsubasa's apartment, which is, by all accounts, really very nice -- a swank 2LDK, which means it has a lounge-and-dining area and a kitchen, plus two bedrooms!! ... Shuyo's dad is a lawyer, you see. It means that there's room by the couch to pull up a couple extra chairs and hang out.
There's a six-pack of soda on the coffee table, because, like, obviously. Teenagers.
The television, too, is nice and big; it's playing a game show, right now. There's a dog bed beside the couch, and on the other side, an end-table; there's also a table for eating behind that ensemble, but mostly, that just contributes the chairs which have been stolen over here.
Tsubasa's still in their Kasugayama boys' uniform; the bottom half has been unbuttoned, tied around their waist in girl-gang style. They're wearing a blond wig, today; there are opaque dressings on their limbs to cover those healing slices, too. (Going to the clinic to get those sorted took them out of school for the first half of the day; they were dead to the world for the second half of school.)
They look like a truck just hit them, but being fair, multiple trucks just did.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika has many good ideas. These are but two!
She reached out to people, arranged for sodas, and made sure there were chairs. It's not her apartment, but she's familiar enough with it and Shuyo didn't mind her taking charge. (She's been here often enough to see both of them anyway).
DOG BED is here, and Ichika happens to be standing behind the couch--or rather, leaning on the couch, still in her Kasugayama uniform, which means bare midriff and ankle-length skirt in cyan. She's behind Tsubasa. "Oh, this one--uhhhhh no I don't know the answer."
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Hibari wasn't as badly hurt as Tsubasa was, but she was pretty out of it for the first half of the next day, too - she felt like she hadn't gotten enough sleep (even though she, too, had slept like a rock), probably because she'd skipped out and stayed up into the Dark Hour one night and then fought the next.
Fortunately (?) since her excuse for skipping part of school was illness, people at school had just assumed that she hadn't fully recovered. Maybe there are advantages to being more or less well-behaved?
Of course, the only way that's showing NOW is that she didn't cook for the meet-up. Sorry, Tsubasa (and other hungry teenagers)! She brought some snacks though. She just, you know, bought them. With money. They're on the table with the soda. Even Lance got one! She brought a tiny bag of freeze-dried cod cubes.
(Those are treats, though. Tsubasa decides when Lance gets those.)
Hibari took one of the chairs, half to avoid third-wheeling and half because it lets her stretch her leg out a little bit. She really wanted to make sure Tsubasa (and Ichika, and... everyone else) was doing okay. And unlike the others, she actually has an idea of the answer:
"About four million, I think?" That's how many vending machines are in Japan... more or less. Hibari's actually wrong... she's a little low, it's four and a half.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
It's been an excruciating handful of days for Tsubasa, and Yusuke is concerned about his friend's well-being. When Ichika reached out to suggest the team hang out, he was quick to reply in the affirmative.
And so: "Remarkable," he says, as the answer comes up on the game show, before looking to Hibari from the chair he's perched in. "I would not have come anywhere near as close to the answer as you did." Meanwhile, the unlucky contestants who did not correctly answer are now subjected to a slapstick gauntlet filled with stuffed boxing gloves and swinging punching bags.
Tsubasa is not the only one who looks like they were hit by traffic; Yusuke too looks worn out by their fight in the warehouse, enough that the comical violence on the television fails to elicit much of a laugh from him; he turns to consider the destinies of the snacks Hibari brought.
First to fall will be the popcorn.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa, for their part, is fine with Ichika manhandling the apartment as she likes; Shuyo's stepped out to grab something for dinner, since Hibari wasn't up to cooking and he reckons they should at least feed people. He's probably just going to get, like, hotdogs or something, though.
Also, Lance totally got a treat. She's a GOOD DOG.
"Fuck if I know," is what they have to say, on a timer delay, about the vending machines. "But a million's, like, a lot. We got, what... four a 'em in school?" They're guessing, of course, that there's one on each floor. They sure don't remember. "So if ya reckon that's th' same for all th' big buildins', then..." They flop back, against the couch. "... nah. Can't be arsed."
Tsubasa were you gearing up to manually guesstimate the amount of vending machines in Tokyo by building density.
And so, the answer comes up... four and a half million!!!
"Huh," Tsubasa grunts, straightening up a bit to look at the TV. "Pre' close."
They lean forward, to grab a pack of strawberry sticks, shoving one in their mouth before lifting the opened pack up over their shoulder for Ichika.
"It's cool, man," Tsubasa says to Yusuke, then. "They oughta ask shit 'bout art. You'd be all over that." He looks like roadkill, too...
Ugh, but they can just keep talking about the game show, right??? That's normal. That's cool. Emotions are not cool or normal.
So the contestant gets through asking another question -- how many cats live on cat island?! (That's Aoshima, folks, not Tashirojima.)
"Uh... hey," Tsubasa interrupts proceedings, then.
Pause to feel like an idiot for calling all that attention to themself, and -- "... thanks," they settle on, looking aside as they crunch that stick. "Woulda been fucked without you guys."
Tsubasa, you could be estimating cat density right now, and you chose to be EMOTIONALLY OPEN and ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRUCK?! (That's about the tenor of their thoughts, but, like, everyone knows they're not great at this.)
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Snacks! Ichika likes snacks, but at the moment she's just standing around, because she has some excess energy and anxiety about what all's been happening. It's fine, though. Super fine.
"That's a lot of vending machines," Ichika comments to Hibari. She doesn't really appreciate the slapstick that much at the moment. She's glad Yusuke made it too, though.
And--
"Tsubasa..."
Emotions. She leans down a little further, sets her hands on Tsubasa's shoulders. "It's OK," she settles. "We care about you. ...We want good stuff for you."
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
"There's also the ones outside," Hibari points out; there's plenty outside convenience stores, or near buildings where there's a lot of foot traffic, or the ones with water bottles at isolated bus stops (less common in Tokyo or Sumaru, where there's barely any such thing as an isolated bus stop, but Hibari is from Inaba). "Or the ones in hotels, or train stations, or michi no eki..." Those are roadside stations, again mostly outside the big cities.
"...I honestly never tried to do the math. I just read it somewhere. And I don't know about the cats."
There are a lot of questions Hibari wants to ask. Of everybody - how Tsubasa's doing after what must have been a horrible time, how's Ichika holding up (she recognizes that nervous energy), or just about Yusuke... but she's restrained herself, aside from occasionally bouncing that leg she had stretched out.
Though then Tsubasa brings it up, which seems to be the signal for her.
Hibari straightens up, planting that foot flat on the floor so she stops fidgeting - Hibari usually fidgets with her hands but she left her balls in her coat, they don't fit so well in her jeans pockets.
"I told you then I wasn't going to LEAVE you!" Hibari hadn't managed to chase the ninja down that night, and she still considers it a failure on her part. Her lips purse slightly, then she tries to relax. "So, you're welcome. We'll try not to make a habit of needing to do it," she says, with a slight smile. She's not - quite - teasing. But gently.
"I suppose I should introduce myself more properly," she says to Yusuke. "You know I'm Hibari, and one of Ichika's friends... it's nice to meet you. And, um... thank you for your help, too." Tsubasa received it, but Hibari asked for it. Even if she didn't know everybody who she was asking at the time.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
"You haven't been with us that long, but you'd do the same for any one of us," Yusuke points out, as Tsubasa offers thanks for the rescue. "Knowing you were in trouble - I couldn't just do nothing." And the same is true for the rest of the Phantoms, no doubt.
Hibari addresses him then, and in turn he nods to her. "Yusuke Kitagawa. I'm on the art track at Gekkoukan. Nice to meet you, too."
He takes a kernel of popcorn from the scoop in his hand and chews on it for a moment, before swallowing. "As I said - we couldn't simply leave a friend in peril."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Good memory," Tsubasa concludes, of Hibari's trivia brain.
But... is Ichika super fine? Tsubasa's worried about her, too. When her hands come to rest on their shoulders, they lift a hand up to squeeze one of them, too.
Hibari exclaims her intentions, fiercely, and Tsubasa blinks, but doesn't look away. They nod, firmly, to her. "... yeah. Ain't wantin' to do that shit again."
Their steely blue gaze shifts to Yusuke, then. (It's lighter than his; a little more sky blue.) "That's right. This shit happened to you guys, I'd be real pissed." Hey Yusuke, remember when they got a note from Eiji, BATTERED DOWN HIS COGNITIVE DOORS and charged straight in screaming for his blood the whole way, only to try and find out what colour the Thieves blood was instead?!
... let's hope Tsubasa never has to lead a rescue operation, step one would be a wrecking ball. They're putting the 'smash' in 'smash and grab'!
"But I knew you were comin' for me. 'Cuz you said," they nod to Hibari, again. "And 'cuz Ichika promised."
Weirdly, they haven't actually let go of her hand.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
The ones outside, in hotels... Hmm. "Cool," Ichika says to Hibari, agreeing about the super trivia brain.
Hibari though--hibari exclaims it. Ichika smiles at her. "Yeah," she says. "You should've seen how hard she worked, too."
Yusuke is right. Ichika nods along to him too. "Think about the world as it 'should be', not how it 'is', Right??" she says to Yusuke, remembering that conversation. "...I want a world where we all look out for each other. That's the one I'll work for."
Ichika is super fine, and curls her fingers under Tsubasa's.
"I couldn't have done it without everyone else," she admits. "...At least, not actually gotten you out. But we did."
Smash...
Is it weird?
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
How it should be, not how it is... Hibari nods in agreement, without consciously meaning to.
"You didn't have to tell them ALL of that," Hibari says when Ichika brings up how hard she'd worked, slightly flustered. Is she embarrassed by Tsubasa's thanks?
...maybe a little. Her cheeks are a little red. She rarely gets thanked quite this way, because of something only she could have done... if anything, people (not the gang, but people in general) tend to take advantage of her, or assume she'll be take care of things, because she's dependable in just that way.
It's nice. But it's a little embarrassing in public... or, if not public, in front of other people.
Which is why she takes a moment to respond to Yusuke, instead, about something dear to her heart and *not* work-related. "Art track, huh? I've done a little bit of visual - I'm in shodo club." So, calligraphy. "Or, I was... I'm not at Kasu." Does Kasu have cultural clubs?
She continues a moment later, explaining, "I'm a cook, though - I mean, I've kind of wanted to go pro in that field. I know a lot of people think it's not art, but I think it's pretty closely related! It's still a way to express yourself." Though, for Hibari, *sharing* the food is just as important, and she's not sure how that is analogous to something more durable that can be shared with many people.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
"Exactly," Yusuke replies to Ichika with a firm nod as she calls back to their first conversation, before looking to Tsubasa. "You would," he agrees, approvingly. "And you'd raise hell about it."
Hibari says that she thinks cooking is a kind of art, and he turns back to her, leaning forward a little in his chair. "Oh, absolutely - the plate is essentially a canvas that you decorate with the meal, and there are any number of ways to express your preferences and skill in the field - the use of specific ingredients, the flavour profile combinations..." Uh-oh. He's clearly Activated.
"Shodo is also an excellent discipline, though it's much more about technical exaction than personal expression of course. The brush handling techniques are very useful, though, I've studied some of them myself."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Went all out, huh," Tsubasa wonders, craning their neck up to look at Ichika before looking to Hibari again. "Cool." They leave it at 'cool,' because they can see she's getting embarrassed... but they do appreciate her.
"An'... workin' for it, huh..." It's not actually that weird, the way Tsubasa's hanging onto Ichika, but it is notable; they're known as quite resistant to touch, in their gang, and really don't give off an approachable aura out of it either.
"... still wouldn't count ya out," is what they point out, finally, when Ichika admits that saving them was a team effort. "But havin' everyone else is shit you're real good at. Like, with th' gang an' shit, too." Teamwork is part of Ichika's personal power base, according to Tsubasa.
"Pre' much," they add, to Yusuke. "I'm good at that." Raising Hell, that is.
The art of cooking...! "Picked up a couple things," Tsubasa says, in the wake of Yusuke's excitement, "but I ain't no cook. Hibari-chan's a fuckin' wizard, tho'."
Cuss High... doesn't have much in the way of clubs, though Tsubasa hears many things about Ichika's efforts. "Shodo's cool," they affirm, again, of Hibari's club. Yusuke, of course, has a lot of thoughts on calligraphy, but Tsubasa just shakes their head. "Taggin' ain't like that... eh, guess I used to be in Debate Club, tho'. Back when I was at Shujin." They pause just long enough for that bombshell to drop, before they add: "... junior treasurer for th' Student Council, too."
WHO IS THIS GUY
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I totally did," Ichika answers Hibari with a grin. But she doesn't embarrass Hibari further. She leaves it at that, and keeps Tsubasa's hand for herself. Tsubasa still wouldn't count her out.... and Ichika smiles. "...People didn't always appreciate that," she admits. "But it's how I like to operate. Probably why my Persona heals..."
Something like that, anyway.
But shodo! And--Well, Ichika's working on a cultural club at Kasu, in hopes that it'll last after she leaves. But still. "Yeah, I'm a good cook, but Hibari-chan's incredible. I just expect to cook for my family--she can bring all kinds of people together."
And Yusuke... mentions raising hell, which makes Ichika grin again. "They sure would."
She looks between Yusuke and Hibari thoughtfully as Yusuke activates. But then...
Ichika knew this stuff--but hearing this stuff aloud surprises even Ichika. She squeezes Tsubasa's shoulder with her other hand. "Whoa," Ichika says. "I mean, debate I buy," she says, since Tsubasa is SMOOTH AS HELL, "But you were student council???"
treasurer tracks, at least. Even Ichika didn't know this stuff.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Hibari mostly did shodo at her previous schools, before... well. Before. Ren actually knew she did it, though it would surprise her not at all if they'd forgotten it - they weren't that close back then and it's been a long time. But at Akiyama she wasn't even there that long, and she just hadn't felt like it when she first got to Kasugayama.
Maybe that's a story for a different time.
Raising hell... that's something Hibari has never been great at. But Tsubasa *definitely* is, and she nods in agreement with that.
Yusuke's attention falls on Hibari - and this she's perfectly willing to match. "Exactly!" she says, with a broad smile. "You can say a lot with what you make, and how you serve it... and to who. It's a way to connect with people, planning a meal for someone or with someone and then making it real."
"I'd like to go professional," Hibari admits. "I've actually already got restaurant experience - my family had one back before I moved to Sumaru," she explains, for Yusuke's benefit. "A little shokudo. I think I could manage a commis position once I graduate..."
Ichika knows what that is because Hibari told her this hope before; it's a junior assistant in a larger kitchen, a position usually given to apprentices. Other people might not; the word is French and Hibari pronounces it more or less correctly, but she doesn't translate it. (And can't. It doesn't actually mean anything but junior chef these days.)
She grins at Ichika and Tsubasa. "I'm pretty good," she acknowledges. "I've been in the kitchen since I was tall enough to reach the counters, really. But I'm not a master and there's a lot of things I *don't* know. That's why I want to learn... but on the job, if I can."
A pause as Tsubasa finishes explaining. You went to Shujin? she thinks to herself, because Tsubasa hasn't admitted as much to her before; at Kasu it's common to *not* ask about people's histories, and even though Hibari is nosy she often stays out of that particular topic. But what she *says* is: "Student council?"
Somebody's as surprised as anyone.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
Yusuke nods eagerly as Hibari continues to elaborate. "I'm more of a traditional artist myself, but I am fascinated by how we - humans - seek other ways of creating beauty. It's impressive that you're already thinking of a career - perhaps you'd agree to show me some of your process, sometime?"
Please don't misunderstand, Ichika, this is strictly professional.
(Please do misunderstand, it will be really funny)
Yusuke may have picked up through context about some of Tsubasa's conversations with the other Phantoms that they used to go to Shujin, but the revelation that they also had enough of a head for mathematics to be student council treasurere in their first year surprises and impresses him, too.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"They oughta," Tsubasa insists, head tilted up comically to address Ichika-standing-behind-the-couch again, when Ichika says that people didn't always appreciate her. "Like, fuck," they add, looking back right-ways-around to the others. "If it were my call I'd still be lyin' in bed listenin' to th' doom ticker. It was Ichika who dragged me out here an' dug out th' cans an' grabbed th' chairs an' called ya."
A light pause, and they add: "... glad ya did."
They listen to Hibari's accounts about cooking, though Ichika will note that they squeeze her hand when she mentions why she likes cooking. "Uh." Their free hand lifts, pointer finger raised. "Uh... commie position?"
That's right, Tsubasa, she's going to seize the means of food production. Four legs good IN A STEW POT!
(Tsubasa, for the record, speaks French about as well as they speak English, which is to say not at all.)
"You could totally pull it off," they insist, waving off their ignorance of a word. (It's a weird feeling for them; they're usually the one teaching other people new words. ... does that have anything to do with debate club?!) "You're already so good, man. Kitchen fuckin' needs you."
They look at Yusuke, then. They pause, thoughtfully, looking back to Hibari.
"Yeah," they conclude, a beat later.
"You gotta feed that guy, man."
Yusuke you are a STICK.
"Hibari-chan's always been ahead a us there, tho', I reckon," Tsubasa goes on. "Ain't been 'til I started helpin' out Uchida-san at th' Kuzunoha Detective Agency that I started thinkin' maybe I could hack it as a detective, too. Like... she reckons I'm good at shit?" And that's weird, according to their tone. "Have to wait a few years to get me licence, tho'... got convicted a few years back, you gotta have a clean rap for like, five years to get one a them things now. Might seem weird t' think 'bout that when I'm heistin' shit... but knowin' how it works'll mean it's easier to slip, yeah?" They say to set a thief to catch a thief; how about setting a detective to catch a detective?
That's the future, but Tsubasa doesn't tend to talk much about their past, either. (Tsubasa doesn't tend to talk much in general, but of their past, particularly so.) Ichika and Hibari are both shocked...! And Tsubasa...
... Tsubasa actually cracks a grin, chuckling. "Heh. Don't look it, eh. Yeah... me an' Makoto-chan were both there in middle school," which explains how she knows them. "Kept at it when we transitioned to high school, but..." They gesture, loosely, with their free hand. (One may note they are trying to avoid shrugging, given how Ichika's kind of draped over the back of them right now.) "... anyway. Ain't give much air time to that shit these days, but yeah, I was real straight-laced once-upon."
Why they'd keep it off the air is probably pretty obvious on scrutiny: in a place like Kasugayama, learning that Tsubasa was a goody-two-shoes teacher cop would earn them a one-way trip to the asskicking dimension with no way out.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
A meal... Ichika smiles at that to Hibari, because she feels the same about food. It's why she supports Hibari so much, in part; she's thoroughly a Home Cook, but--
Still! Also she may totally misunderstand, they certainly would look good together. But don't worry; Ichika probably won't ship too hard... yet. Instead, Tsubasa insists that they should appreciate her, and Ichika smiles. "You just needed a push," she assures Tsubasa. "I'm glad I could give it to you."
Commie position!! For once, ichika gets to explain a word to Tsubs! "That's like, a junior assistant in a big kitchen; it's like an apprentice."
Ichika'd like to see Yusuke's process too, though. And--"True," Ichika agrees, about feeding that guy.
But Tsubasa... Hmmm. "Ohhh, so that's how you know her..." She's nodding about that. "I can see it. You're really smart, so you had to have studied sometime."
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
"If you're interested - sure!" Hibari doesn't mind a spectator when she works. She's used to open kitchens and it's how she learned some of the basics - hanging around and being interested when other people cooked. If Yusuke wants to, why not?
Hibari has pretty much the opposite build as Yusuke - she's on the heavy side but clearly comfortable with it. She is not a stick. She also likes finding what people like and making it, so she *is* likely to feed him, regardless of Tsubasa suggesting it or not.
"Oh, yeah, it's a learning position," she agrees with Ichika. "They do a lot of work, but it's a good place to master the basics, and it's a good place to get some extra time with experts, when you get pulled onto a new task. There's culinary school too but a lot of chefs spend some time in the kitchen first..." Hibari already has some experience, but even so.
"I know I've been thinking about it for a while," Hibari admits. "But, well - I mean, when I grew up everyone assumed I'd take over the restaurant. And that ended up not happening," because it's closed, "but it's not something I'd *mind* doing... I don't think I could open one now or anything. But maybe, years down the line, once I know some more... I'd need someone to handle the money part for me, though."
Hibari isn't great at that part. Nor is her father, honestly. It was always the hardest part...
But then she points out, "I didn't know you knew her before," about Makoto. Well, she wouldn't - they haven't really been properly introduced. "I knew Ren-kun a long time ago - and it was a big surprise to see him here, but not a bad one."
Hibari thinks for a moment, then stands up. "I'm feeling a bit better now," she says, and she is. "Thanks for the invite! I think it really helped." Is she leaving??
(No. She's just getting a soda. She's allowed.)
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubs?!
They'd surely be in danger if they heard that thought; instead, they just turn their head to smile up to her. Which means she gets to see their realisation when she educates them on the word! "Oh, yeah? Huh. A lotta words for bein' a cook, ain't there..." They at least know a fair amount of cooking words, thanks to Hibari. But it's really a whole 'nother language, man!
They listen with interest, though, as Hibari shares more details of the kitchen. "Like a cookin' intern... gettin' to talk with people who know shit is big." They tilt their head, listening to her details of her past, too. "Yeah, man, go for it," they nod. "Money's hard, yeah... but if you figure out spreadsheets an' shit it's easier to get ya head around."
They don't offer to teach her, though. Tsubasa's never really been one to tutor others, despite the smarts Ichika speaks of; they'd do it for you, but not with you. They always just said, when someone asked, 'you don't want that'...
... but what they really don't want are all the memories of kicking Makoto's ass so she wouldn't make them look bad in front of their father.
(They just insist they can't be arsed, of course.)
"You did, huh?" They ask, when Hibari mentions Ren. "Cool. Yeah, back then, we were tight... jus' couldn't face her after me face got like this." Their voice drops, a little, as they explain: "Me father said I better not drag her down... so."
And Ichika might find some striking similarities, there -- to how he assumed that they were inviting her into a life of crime when he picked them up from lockup, all those months ago.
As Hibari's getting a soda, though, the door opens--!! And in comes Lance, BOOFING happily, as Shuyo slides on in, carrying shopping bags. "Hey," he calls, to the party people. "I got hotdogs... and more!!"
Tsubasa tilts around on the couch, looking over to them. "Uh... hey," they advance, a touch hesitantly. "Hibari-chan, you wanna have a look how I cook those things up? Ain't sure if I'm missin' somethin'... an' I been workin' on that shit so me wife ain't gotta do it all herself." And why are they looking at Ichika, as they pick themself up off of the couch, gingerly or otherwise?
Probably for normal reasons.
In the end, Yusuke gets to observe the art of Hibari's instruction, Ichika gets to appreciate Tsubasa trying to learn a new skill for her sake, Hibari gets to share her precious cooking tips, Shuyo gets to brag about finding a sick-ass sale to restock half their fridge, Lance gets a(n unseasoned) hotdog to call her very own...
... and Tsubasa gets to enjoy their friends' support after their very bad no good kidnapping.
Maybe sometimes -- you know, occasionally -- they can have good things, just like Ichika said.