2026-02-16: Izakaya Catch-Up
- Log: Izakaya Catch-Up
- Cast: Hyousuke Suzuki, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Kameya Alley
- OOC Date: 2026-02-16
- IC Date: Wed, Sep 26 2012
- Summary: Hyousuke and Ichika meet to catch up on all that's happened over the past few days. Though Hyousuke has only grim news to share, it does not shake their focus, and they remain determined to save Jun.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Cleaning the rest of the classroom had taken Hyousuke longer than he might have liked. Part of it was simple disdain for the task - it was hardly the most engaging thing in the world, and he couldn't shake the feeling that the lecture he'd get if he didn't do it properly would be a hell of a lot worse than simply taking a few more minutes to make sure that the room was at least reasonably clean by Kasu's standards. However, the larger part of it was him simply being distracted.
He moved as if on autopilot. Each movement was little more than some motion repeated through muscle memory. Every step he took lacked purpose, made only because there was nothing in his path to stop him. Even his gaze lacked any kind of focus, remaining glassy and empty until he bumped into a desk harshly enough to bring him back to the waking world. Eventually, he sighed, and decided that the classroom was clean enough that the teacher wouldn't raise too much of a fuss. He had better things to do than trying to pry chewed gum from between some tiles.
> meet you at the izakaya?
> gonna get some ramen
He wasn't sure if Ichika was with Tsubasa, or how much she knew about the exhibition now that they'd left the classroom. However, he couldn't let the day end without at least extending the invitation to her. She needed to know what had happened with the man that had tried to kill Tsubasa. She deserved to know that their friend had been taken before his very eyes. And he, after everything that had happened, and what state his own body had been left in after the fight, could have used some comfort food.
So it was that, whether she responded or not, he took a seat at the izakaya. Nobody questioned the exhausted look in his eyes, or the sluggish manner in which his aching body moved, and that was just how he liked it. It was just him, a piping-hot cup of tea to one side, and a steaming bowl of banana ramen to the front. It was a familiar combination, and one that others might have thought he should be getting tired of, but ease began to creep into his expression as soon as he dug in. For the moment, at least, he could find some measure of comfort.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika had her own stuff keeping her busy today; some of that was working on her plans for a school paper. But when Hyousuke messaged her, it was a good reason to take off and get something to eat--
Because she was worried about him, too.
> Sounds good. I'll be there soon.
Now, Ichika walks into the Izakaya, nodding stoically to Ma'am as she makes her way in in the hours that teenagers are more welcome. he looks around and spots--
"Hey," ichika says, sliding into the booth. She looks him over, and then says, "Good to see you."
"...Sorry about before," she says. "Like I said, some stuff came up... But I can explain, now."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke did not give her an immediate response. Not because he was disinclined to, but because she had caught him with a mouthful of ramen, and even he had enough grace to keep from speaking while he was eating. However, he did make an effort to swallow it down quicker, and acknowledged her presence with a slow nod.
"Tsubasa-san told me what happened." He said, putting the chopsticks down for a moment. Even his voice seemed tired - like every word he spoke needed some great effort, and every movement drained what energy his rest had given him back. "But they didn't tell me much."
He poked at the ramen, more out of a need to find something for his hands to do than any need to eat it, and continued speaking.
"But I know it must've been... Fuck, I don't know." He didn't have the words for how harrowing an experience it must have been, but hoped that at least his tone would get the sentiment across. "So if you don't want to go through it now, I get it." Lord knew he had his own secrets, and skeletons in his own closet.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika can wait. Ramen going everywhere is widely agreed to be a bad thing.
But Hyousuke explains... Hm. "I see," she says. "Then you know the basics, anyway."
Ichika nods. "Yeah," she syas. "It sucked a lot. Still wish I could've found a way to do both; that asshole ninja gave us even more problems..."
Go through it or not...
"Well, I dunno what they told you, so long story short: they were kidnapped. We managed to get them back, but we had to work quick, and we had to work quiet. Still got our asses kicked by the other guy... But the important part is, we got them out."
"But I knew what you were trying to do was important, too. So I'd like to hear about it. Obviously you're still standing, though..." She looks him ovr, "You look like hell," she admits.
For her part, Ichika looks fine--if Hyousuke looks really closely she's got some makeup covering up for fatigue, but that's about it.
Tsubasa Seki has arrived from The Rooster Inn.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke gave no verbal response during her explanation. Even when it was abridged, and even when it was the second time he'd heard it, it was no less harrowing to process. His friend had been kidnapped. They'd been missing - stolen from - and he'd not even known it had happened. He'd not been asked to lift a finger in aid, he'd not been asked to call in any favours, he'd not even been told until he'd asked Tsubasa about it. Callused fingers grew taut around the chopsticks, the skin on his knuckles growing pale, and it did not stop when she asked him how he was.
"Fucker got away." Was the first thing he said. There was no mention of him looking awful - though the fact that he did not attempt to hide his exhaustion around her might have, in and of itself, been a telling sign. "He showed up at the exhibition with another one of those paintings, but this one was stronger. I think he said he was trying to 'mark' people with it, but we beat him bad enough that he - or the painting, I don't fucking know - didn't have enough power left to do it." There was a great drawing in of breath, lingering and shaking between them as he tried to brace himself for what was to come. He looked down, his arms growing tense as he tried to find the words and the will to speak. Yet, even when he did manage to say something, it was in a voice that was as weak as it was furious.
"He tried to take someone with him through the painting before he left, but Kashihara-san, he..." There was a long, quiet, pause, occupied only the the slight clink of wood upon ceramic as he gripped the chopsticks harder. "...He took their place. The Joker Killer, he- he took Kashihara-san...!"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
So, he got away. "Mmn." Ichika's not surprised by that part, anyway; Ichika knows how tough the Joker Killer is. "Paintings..." Ichika frowns at that. It's weird stuff. But, either way, Hyousuke braces himself and--
"..."
Jun's gone. "Took him," she repeats. "...Tch. Sounds like him, too. Being 'noble'..."
"Well, do we have any leads about where they went?" she asks. "We're obviously going to have to get him back."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"Nothing. Not a goddamn thing." Hyousuke made no attempt to hide the bitterness in his voice. He looked Ichika in the eye as he said it - he *wanted* her to know what he felt. For once, there was no mask, no veneer, nothing. Just him. "And I'm not resting until I find something. I'm checking something out tonight with Uchida-san, and I'm gonna make some calls to see if anyone spotted something I missed. But we *will* find him." Conviction - firm as stone and unrelenting as a storm - wove its way through every word he spoke.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika appreciates that; she wants to know how Hyousuke feels, wants to understand him. So he seems to feel...
"All right," she says. "I'll start looking into it, too. I know some people who tend to get all the best rumors, so I'll ask them about it." Checking it out with Uchida... So, the private eye. "Sounds like you've got the best person you could be going with, though."
She nods. "We will. We don't leave our friends like that. I'm in, too." She could make a joke... but she doesn't.
"Still, if you actually managed to foil his plan... that's a start."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Tempted as he was to emulate Tsubasa and make a joke about ninjas, he had the good sense to show some restraint. After all, nobody liked a joke thief.
"If we learn anything, you and Tsubasa are gonna be the first to know." He said. There's gotta be something we're missing here. Something connecting them, some kinda place that the Killer'd want to take him, but I've got nothing." He sighed, shook his head, and discarded any doubt. There was no time for it now. Not when a friend was in danger. "We're not done yet. Not until Kashihara-san's safe. I'm not gonna lose him - not again."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Cool," Ichika says. "I care about him, too. ...I'm worried," she admits. "But if he wanted him dead, there'd have been no reason to take him instead of just killing him. So I think we've got hope." She pauses. Something connecting them... "Uchida-san might be able to figure that out," she offers. "But there's definitelys omething."
"Right. No giving up. We have to find him, and we have to be ready to take him back when we do."
Lose him again...
"...Rough though," Ichika says. "Losing somebody like that. I get it, you know. ...I think..."
"I think the trick is to remember it's their fault--not yours. They're the one who did wrong."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
It was their fault, not his.
The same thing he'd told Tsubasa in the Palace.
Were the situation not so dire, Hyousuke might have been tempted to smirk at the irony of his own advice being turned back on him. He still found it a little amusing, but not quite enough to change the look he wore, nor instil any ease into his mannerisms. He did nod slowly again, however, taking a moment to acknowledge Ichika's advice before responding.
"Thanks." He said eventually. "I'll... keep it in mind. For later. We've got work to do now - I've got no time to sit around and feel sorry for myself."
ignoring the pain was perhaps not the best way of dealing with it. But, at the very least, he had a goal. He had a focus, and he had drive. Enough, perhaps, to trample any gnawing thoughts underfoot, and keep him focussed on the task at hand.
"Those fuckers are gonna pay for messing with our friends. The Killer, those ninjas... We'll show 'em all."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Right," Ichika agrees. "Just like you don'thave time to beat yourself up too much, right?" That's what she's really hoping to get at for him. But... Well.
"We will," Ichika agrees. "Just..."
She considers. Then she shakes her head. "Nah, nevermind. We totally will. We're gonna get our friends back, and keep them safe. That's what matters."
But Ma'am grabs her attention--"Oh, sec," Ichika says, and gets up to get her own banana ramen.
...At least they can work together on this one.