2026-02-21: Hallway Monitor
- Log: 2026-02-21 Hallway Monitor
- Cast: Kanae Fuyuki, Shinichi Nagisa, J. Itsuki Hayashi, Ren Amamiya
- Where: Shujin Academy - Practice Building
- OOC Date: February 21, 2026
- IC Date: Saturday, September 29, 2012
- Summary: Kanae shows Itsuki around the school, and while doing so, they run into Shinichi--and the infamous delinquent, Ren. Ren opts to stand to one side and eavesdrop while Kanae, Shinichi, and Itsuki get to know each other, including bad run-ins with former teacher Kamoshida.
(|==================== Shujin Academy - Practice Building ====================|)
-==================================================== Tokyo/Aoyama-Itchome ====-
Shujin Academy's practice building hosts rooms for the school's various clubs,
but also boxes in the school's courtyard gardens, which are lovingly kept. There
are plenty of places in the courtyard to sit for students looking to eat lunch
outdoors or just enjoy the weather, and the walkways have roofs for when it
rains. The gymnasium is large and well-equipped; thick red curtains block off a
stage and podium in the back, so setting up folding chairs can convert it into
an auditorium as necessary.
The interior is both like and unlike the classrooms building: the floors are
still wooden but in a latticed design; the walls are still white and gray, but
with only a small strip of gray at the bottom; and the sliding classroom doors
still have windows, but long, narrow rectangular ones. Vending machines dot the
premises here and there, as do well-kept bathrooms.
The first floor in particular hosts the nurse's office, a surprisingly
comfortable room with green-tiled floors, potted ferns, medicine cabinets,
hospital-style beds behind pink curtains, bookshelves, and plush couches around
a tea table. One can seek counseling here from Dr. Maruki, the kind-hearted
temporary guidance counselor, for any reason.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
It's after clubs on Saturday, still early afternoon, and Shujin's skies are gray. ...Not metaphorically; there might be rain later. Kanae Fuyuki has an umbrella, just in case. She's in her gym uniform, having stayed back to practice with the Tennis Club. She even got in a few matches against some of the boys in her year this time, though she usually doesn't get the chance for terrible reasons.
"...So your swing's really good," she says to Itsuki. "Don't worry about what Isabeau was saying. I know you know, but she's just like that..."
She's walking with a boy! A Tennis Club member. She was curious, and... today's mixed meet was a good excuse to wonder at the fellow half-foreigner.
Not that she's brought that up yet.
But as they walk from the practice building, they might just run into Someone Else...
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
Just might.
It's in the covered breezeway that they might spy a guy finishing up his job, putting new trash bags in one of the only waste containers in school, near the vending machines.
"... Think that's the last thing on the list." He says to himself as he carries a roll of them to take back inside. As he hears chatter though, he turns around, and nods, "Oh hey Fuyuki-san. Just finished practice for the day?" He approaches, though hesitates half a step when he sees the half-foreigner boy.
He has a reputation for having a hair temper and a mean punch. And he'd rather not get on his bad side if Kanae's his girl.
"And you're... Itsuki-san right? I'm Shinichi Nagisa, a Second Year in 2-E. Nice to meet you. So did you join up with the Tennis Club or something? Sorry I kinda heard a little."
Just be polite, and you probably won't end up with your face caved in.
<Pose Tracker> J. Itsuki Hayashi has posed.
He's got an umbrella, too, tucked under one arm.
Itsuki, newly at Shujin as of this semester, listens to Kanae with what appears to be measured patience. Once she's finished, though, he shakes his head. Spreading his hands, he gestures as he talks. "Nah, I'm not worried. I know I've got it." He points at Kanae. "You saw me nail that shot right? It's just like what you said: she's like that." He shrugs, hands out, as if to say, what can you do.
It's not just because of the sport that their paths have converged.
In this school, there are a handful of people who are partially or wholly foreign, and even if they come from different walks of life or parts of the world...
...perhaps deep down, even Isabeau understands 'what it's like'.
Maybe. Itsuki can't be completely sure about that.
But a new challenger has arrived--
"Oh, hey. You're..." He looks Shinichi up and down, as if sizing him up?? "...Nagisa-san. Hey," he says, offering his hand as if to shake before catching himself and pulling it back. Dammit, that's the second time in the last few weeks! "...Guess that makes you 'sempai', huh?" He smiles, then shrugs. "Yeah. I was in the club back in Gekkoukan. I'm pretty good," he says, pointing towards himself. "Are you thinking about joining? I didn't see you at practice, but..." He shrugs. It's not like he memorizes every single face, right?
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren has a lot of things they can potentially do after school; most of them involve leaving school immediately. Today, then, they linger after school in the library, studying, like the good, obedient student no one actually believes them to be.
They really did study, though. Or they tried, when they didn't distract themself staring off into space or ticking a pen deftly between their fingers. (Look, studying by yourself is boring, okay? At least Morgana was there in their bag to poke them along as needed.)
They've finished that up by now--checked out a book for personal reading--and leave to head out for a hang-out with friends out of town. As they descend the stairs and people head out from the practice building into the classroom building on their own way out, they hear a familiar voice...
They stop at the foot of the stairs to look up, expression carefully impassive, at Kanae. She's with a couple of guys. They don't recognize one of them, and Ren's been eavesdropping on conversations long enough to have a good feel of the other students. Another transfer student?
Of course, to Kanae, Itsuki, and Shinichi, it looks like this random frizzy-haired guy has stopped to stare at them. Morgana's keeping his head inside Ren's bag right now, too, so there isn't even a cat to defuse any potential tension...
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
He's very gesturey, isn't he? Kanae is more restrained. But then, she's a different kind of 'different'. "Heh. A little cocky, but a lot better than overly modest. Since I did see you nail it."
She's pleased, though; another confident team member is good, in a group that isn't always.
But next up...
"Yes," Kanae answers Shinichi. Then she looks between the two. Handshake... Hmmm.
5rIn any case, "No, he's not here for the Tennis Club, unless someone's convinced him to do it for them," she says, and she is... probably joking. "He's fine, though. A little overly nervous, I guess. You OK?"
then she spots Ren, and wonders if that isn't why Shinichi is nervous. "..."
She thinks it's ironic. The way he's listening. "Something wrong, Amamiya-san?" Kanae says archly.
..She's mostly just keeping them at arms' length; why would they want anything good to do with her after last time? Besides, the rumors still say...
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
Shinichi kinda gets caught in the moment where Itsuki is stepping forward to shake his hand. It's a half-step forward, then a moment of hesitation as Itsuki himself hesitates. Then he just kinda takes a small half-bow instead.
"Oh right, you're a first year! I completely forgot about that."
Given that it's the SECOND YEAR that had the reputation for the delinquent with a criminal record.
The question Itsuki asks though, really indicates he doesn't know his reputation which is fair for a transfer in the first year. "Oh nah. Haha. She's right. Tennis isn't really my thing, you know? Though I admire the people who play it sure."
There, just phrase it like that, it'll be fine. If he asks no follow up questions on what his sport is is, absolutely golden.
Speaking of Second Year Criminal Delinquents- Shinichi seems slightly taken aback when he sees one at the foot of the stairs stair-ing at him.
He glances towards Kanae like 'You're really gonna call out to him?' before swallowing, "Uh, hey."
Now that she's done it, if he doesn't, then it'll just be rude right?
<Pose Tracker> J. Itsuki Hayashi has posed.
"Well, it's the truth," he says, spreading his hands. "It's a sin to lie, you know."
But here's Shinichi, and--
"Yup. I'm new, too. Nice to meet you, sempai."
Itsuki's a transfer student, but not that transfer student, that's for sure. Him? Punch out someone? haha nah
"Huh? The nervous type?" He looks his senior up and down, folding his arms over his chest and propping his hand against his chin. "Hmm... I think I see what you mean, Kanae-san." he really should be using sempai here too, honestly, but, well, maybe kanae is more inclined to forgive him this lapse
"A nice kind of guy, but a little bit..." of a pushover, he doesn't say, because while lying is a sin, sometimes telling the truth isn't so hot, either. "So, what are you into? Literature club?"
But they're being watched, aren't they.
He indicates towards Ren with a jerk of his head. "Who's that guy," he whispers to Kanae, not exactly meeting her eyes. And as she addresses them, he has picked up on a certain certain feeling from her, and from Shinichi, and...
...
...and so Itsuki unfolds his arms, grins at Ren and flashes them a thumbs-up. "Ficar de boa, right?" In other words, 'relax', if more in the sense of the phrase than the literal translation.
Then he pauses. Wait, how do you say that in Japanese? "Er-- stay good!" he says, which sure is a literal way of going at it. "...I mean, relax," he appends a moment later, his linguistic struggles actually starting to annoy even him.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren didn't really think any of them would acknowledge their presence. Most Shujin students cope with Ren by pretending they're not there. That's also a form of bullying, especially in Japan, but they honestly don't mind it. (Well, they do mind it. But getting ignored is way easier to deal with than other, more blatant forms of bullying, so they'll take it. At least this way they can just do their own thing.)
More specifically, they really didn't think Kanae would acknowledge their presence, after how their last run-in went. Certainly the Japanese boy with her--Ren does recognize Shinichi, though they don't know his name--doesn't seem thrilled about it, even if he does follow her lead. The new kid is more direct, though at least he's friendly about it with that grin and thumbs-up and that... What did he just say? Ren's eyebrows furrow with confusion. Fortunately, Itsuki translates himself a moment later, with some difficulty.
Ren's eyes flick from him to Shinichi and finally back to Kanae.
Is something wrong?
Well, yes.
But they understand that's not what Kanae is actually asking. She's not asking anything at all; she's telling them to get lost.
They look away and shrug, pushing the straps of their bag further up their shoulder as they dips their hands deeper into their pockets. Without a word, they move to walk away, further down the hall.
...but they don't actually outright leave. They just move far enough away to remain in earshot, then lean on the wall and start checking their texts as a cover while they eavesdrop.
They really should actually leave, but they're morbidly curious... You know what they say about that and cats, and Ren is very much feline in nature. Just look at their bag companion. (Actually, don't. Ren would rather not get in trouble.)
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Is it?" Kanae wonders. A sin... "Hmmm."
But, tenis isn't his thing, even if he admires them. That's nice. She 'hmms' at Itsuki's address. "Just -san, huh? Aah, Isabeau's given us a bad name..."
She's needling a little, but it's for fun. Besides; Shinichi is kind of a pushover, and Kanae's inclined to needle at that, too. Even if she does like him well enough.
Shinichi looks to Kanae, and maybe she's being generous. ...Not really, though. She's not actually asking him what's wrong. that is true.
Itsuki's question gets an answer eventually. "They say he's a delinquent with a criminal record," she says. She seems to muse on it for a moment, and shakes her head. "But he keeps to himself, either way. Maybe that's better."
Does she feel bad for them? Well... maybe. But not bad enough to invite him over.
"...Whatever, if he's not going to come over, then I don't want to talk about him."
'Stay good'. Kanae would roll her eyes, but...
"Hard adjusting, huh?" She says instead. "It's rough when you know something in one language but not the other. Makes you feel kinda dumb, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
"Good to meet you too." Before he shrugs his shoulders, and Itsuki might note his build is still pretty athletic, and given how tall he is, he sure doesn't have anything to be nervous about right?
If only the world were so easy.
He rubs the back of his neck, "I mean what's a guy to say to that kinda thing?" He says to the exchange on him being the nervous type. "I won't say you're wrong."
He then turns to Itsuki, "Nah not in any clubs at all right now. I'm busy with volunteer work after school."
"Aha... ha..." There's a weak chuckle from him at Kanae's needling Isabeau's given them a bad name. "... It's not like that, though I admit I had a run in with her."
More than just a run in.
Maybe it becomes more clear to Kanae reasons why he could be nervous. Given that he's interacting with the Tennis Club, who they're a part of.
As Ren walks away, he exhales softly, then turns to Kanae and speaks in a voice that Ren can definitely hear. "That might be for the best?" He shrugs, "Yeah. He hasn't done anything I've heard about since he transferred in-" Except piss off Kamoshida but he's for some reason not mentioning that, "-but I don't want any trouble if I can help it."
He's got problems enough without inviting more into his life. Which is funny because Kanae might note he almost does invite additional problems.
<Pose Tracker> J. Itsuki Hayashi has posed.
"Huh? Do you want 'sempai'? Here I thought we had a casual thing going," Itsuki says, shaking his head and shrugging with shoulders and hands. "Well, fine, then, Kanae-sempai. Or, should it be Fuyuki-sempai?" That glint in his eyes suggests he's teasing her now, too.
"Well, lying is a sin, Nagisa-sempai," he says, similarly readjusting the honorific for him. Perhaps it's to soften the blow of saying essentially 'it's true, though' to an upperclassman, as the slight curve of his lips suggests. "But Isabeau's a character, huh? I kind of want to know her better." Even if she commandeered half his lunch, and then walked off, upset, after her asked about her mother. He's only fifteen, but there's something interesting to him about a girl like that.
That's the thing that's a little weird. Shinichi doesn't look like the usual kind of guy Itsuki would expect to hang out around books like that (in fact it was a very mild sort of diss that would have gotten a little more attention back home but some things don't hit the same here). The way his body's set up... almost, he wants to guess 'football' (not the American sort, thanks) but that's not... quite right.
"Volunteering? Legal," he says to Shinichi, using a bit of slang. "My grandmother was always after my older sister and me to volunteer at church back home. ...I guess it's not that here." With animals, maybe? Or cleaning up trash?
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Case in point: the moment he's not in their line of sight, Ren may as well be invisible. Kanae outright says that if he's not going to make an issue of his presence then she doesn't want to talk about him. Maybe that's her way of trying to discourage gossip, but Ren doesn't have high hopes of her being motivated by kindness here. Still, once again, they'd rather be invisible than have people get up in their face.
They do glance up a little when Shinichi indicates he's run afoul of Isabeau. Based on his tone, it sounds unpleasant--but then, is there such a thing as a pleasant run-in with Isabeau Fontaine? Especially if he's as timid as he seems. They look away again, thumb working down the screen of their smartphone.
Maybe more important is how Shinichi isn't mentioning the bad blood Ren had drummed up with Kamoshida. Then again, maybe not. That pervy teacher is even more persona non grata than they are--not that Ren's mad about that part.
Adjusting to another language... It does seem tough. Itsuki seems like a good kid--friendly and honest. Religious, but Ren won't hold that against him. Ren hopes he's not getting bullied himself over any of that. Then again, with Kanae right there, maybe they're being too quick to worry. She'd know about that, as they recall. Maybe that's why she's being nice to the new kid--not that she isn't nice as general, as long as it doesn't cause her to lose face, apparently.
...no, that's a spiteful thought. As far as she knows, they're a convict. It's only natural for people to want to avoid someone with a criminal record.
Ren hits the screen of their smartphone a little harder, and so misses Itsuki looking over at them for a moment. It's only natural for people who haven't known that person for years.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Tall...
"Then you know how she is," Kanae says of Isabeau, because she tends to have a lot to say about Isabeau. It is a little clearer, though. And with Shinichi's talk on Ren, "...He's not gonna give you trouble," she opines. "If he were actually going to do anything he would've by now. But you're better off not getting involved, that's true."
Kanae laughs softly at Itsuki. "'Kanae-senpai' is fine," she says. "I kinda have to fight for respect when i'm dealing with people like her, so..." She's willing to insist on it.
"Get to know Isabeau Fontaine at your own risk," Kanae says.
"Oh, cool," Kanae says. "Church, huh? Christian ones?"
Kamoshida makes Kanae grimace. But...
"You'll do fine," Kanae assures Itsuki. "Japanese is my first language, so I don't have as much trouble, but... People assume I'm going to, you know?"
She notices Ren's still there.
...She thought he didn't llike people talking about him. Maybe she was wrong.
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
Shinichi gives Itsuki a little odd look at the choice of 'Sin' there, but doesn't comment. Sin isn't something he really wants to discuss with anyone. "Good luck with that. She's... a lot to deal with, yeah."
Lying is a sin after all.
And he doesn't have anything good to say other than in regards to her forceful personality. Which is why when Kanae asks, "... Yeah. I kinda thought you were exaggerating before, I admit." He knows how people in sports clubs can act and treat each other, rivalries and the sort, "Now? I think you were kind of understating things..."
As for Itsuki, "Oh you're Christian! That makes a lot of sense." Like he comprehended something in the connection between sin and Church.
...
Kamoshida comes up anyway, and Shinichi has the opportunity to say something about the bad blood for him and Ren at least, "Well I can't exactly blame him for that one. The guy was... terrible." It took him a moment to pick a word for him, "If he were still here he'd probably be harassing your club."
There's something indirect about that, evasive, like it was more than just general gossip in his certainty of that.
He gives Itsuki a sympathetic nod, "I can imagine. Some of the dialects are probably pretty troublesome for you too, huh? A lot of them I don't have much exposure to except on TV..."
Shinichi doesn't have the same sense, for reasons best not gotten into at this time, so he doesn't see Ren.
"I volunteer at the University Hospital. Nothing major or anything, I just push people around from place to place and talk to them. Help them get up when they need to and back in bed and the like."
He smiles a little as he talks about it, despite downplaying it, "But it's interesting anyway. You learn a lot, see so much about how it really is to work in a Hospital. I don't regret devoting a lot of time to it at all."
<Pose Tracker> J. Itsuki Hayashi has posed.
"I wouldn't worry about it, sempai. He's not going to do anything on school grounds," says Itsuki, not mentioning the fact that he's been in a few fights growing up and... more recently yet. "At least, not at a school like this. And not alone." His brother went here. It's prestigious enough, right?
Hands up, palms forward, he says to Kanae, "Fine, fine, Kanae-sempai it is," as if in supplication. "Haha, now you're both making her sound like a challenge..."
Which is not all that far off from the truth, per se.
"She seemed fine to me. A little forceful," he says, speaking up in Isabeau's... defense? "A little weird, too, but," he continues, shrugging. "She's not the only one who sticks out."
"Are there others back home?" he grins at Kanae. "We're all Catholic, of course!" But he pauses. "Well, mostly." There are Protestants in Brazil, too. The horror.
"Yeah. She told me about him. Seems like a pretty bad guy," he says, of Kamoshida. "I mean... I have an older and a younger sister, right? I don't like thinking about a guy like that..." He's fifteen, he knows adults aren't infallible by now himself. But there's a difference between 'a bad teacher' and 'A Bad Teacher' and it's a bit of a shock, the more he turns it over in his head. That, and the way people still seem to venerate him...
...is there a word for that? It can't be right.
"Yeah, I think I get it." Back home, everyone considered him Japanese, even if he's 'only 1/4th'. Here, almost everyone considers him Brazilian. There's no winning position to take, is there? "It's rough, huh, sempai?" He glances once at Shinichi, as if to survey /his/ reaction to this minority commiseration: maybe he'll be cool with it since he seems like a nice guy (and pushover). But instead, Shinichi mentions the /dialects/ and he just grimaces. "Don't get me started. I can't understand half the words some of them say." Like, what's nandappe?? "Granddad came from the Kanto region, and so did a lot of the Japanese people I knew growing up..." He shrugs, as if to say, what can he do about it.
But Shinichi volunteers at the hospital. "Ah, legal. My older brother's studying to become a doctor in America," he says, which is a bit of a boast, considering Oscar is only pre-med currently. "I bet you see all sorts of things there, huh? I've only been in one once or twice. But my youngest brother, well..." He looks up, briefly. "Fell and broke his arm when he was six, right? We were waiting at the hospital while they set it."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Kamoshida makes everyone grimace now. Rightfully so.
At least Kanae says Ren isn't going to give anyone trouble. Of course, she immediately follows that up by telling people not to get involved with them... Their mouth pulls to one side briefly when Itsuki talks about them like the only reason they don't start fights is because they don't have the nerve to at a school as nice as this.
It's not that they're lingering in the hopes of hearing the three gossip about them. Even they couldn't give a good reason for why they're lingering, really. They do spend a lot of time eavesdropping around school. Maybe they've just gotten into the habit.
Lying might be a sin they commit every day, but the Bible doesn't say anything about lurking like a creeper, probably.
Shinichi doesn't seem like a bad guy either, Ren reflects, as he describes how he volunteers at a hospital. That seems downright kind, even, for all his timidity. (Low Guts, high Understanding?) Ren finds themself wanting to ask him more about it; it sounds really interesting to them. He must hear a lot of stories from the patients he talks to. Itsuki seems interested too, at least, but he segues into a story of his own instead of asking more.
...They do wonder about how Shinichi talks about Kamoshida, though. There's something about it that twigs Ren to the idea that maybe he had personal experience with him. Sounds like Isabeau did too... Ren wouldn't have figured that Kamoshida would bother with someone as acerbic as her. Though, hell, the way Itsuki talks about her, it sounds he doesn't mind that. Cultural similarities, maybe? Ren doesn't really know anything about the mores of Brazil, they realize as they look up at the ceiling in thought.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Cool," Kanae says to Itsuki, and laughs softly. She'll take joke with the respect. But... A challenge, hm? "Sure," Kanae says to Itsuki. "Have fun." She doubts it'll go well, but she's given her warnings! ...It's not like she wants to have Isabeau prove her right or something.
But Christians! "That's cool," Kanae says, but doesn't speak up about her or her family's religious proclivities. Instead, she notes... they're truly not the only ones who stuck out. But Kamoshida...
"He would," Kanae agrees, and puts an arm across her body, uncomfortable. "...he was already trying to creep on me," she says with a grimace. "Said I was 'exotic'. Even telling him I had a boyfriend didn't help. ...And, the only reason we got going was that he's gone..."
She doesn't comment on dialects, either. Instead, "Yeah. It is." Rough, that is. "Still, I call you a pushover, but it takes guts to do medical stuff. I think you're cooler than you let on."
And a brother... Hmm.
"...Must be nice, having siblings," Kanae reflects. "It seems fun." She considers, though. Talking about Kamoshida...
"...I should probably get going," she reflects after that. "But I hope we can play again soon, Itsuki-kun." A nod to Shinichi.
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
What's he going to say? That Isabeau Fontaine is a bully? That she bullied him? No he knows how that sounds. Besides who is he to spread things that would ruin someone's reputation?
If Isabeau Fontaine bullied him... it's more justified anyway.
"Well, if she treats you well, then hey. I'm not going to tell you otherwise."
He clarifies he's Catholic, "Oh hey. Cool." Catholic immediately brings to mind Shimabara from History Class, and everything that shaped his country's attitudes towards Christians and the West for a few centuries.
But in modern times, it's not like anyone in Japan is against it, it's just their historical relationship is complicated.
"That must be unusual too, I know we've got Churches and Schools but- still a big change."
But Kamoshida, that discussion...
"Nah I don't blame you. I mean I saw some of it but..." His expression grows dour, "... I never thought he would do something like that, you know?"
He kinda lets this conversation trail off rather than go into details. Nobody wants to talk about someone like that.
Shinichi doesn't seem to have much of a problem with hafus at least. Like he's worried Itsuki might have trouble with a few adjustments, but for the most part, "Yeah and then there's Tohoku-ben... it's always so exaggerated on the shows to make them sound so Inaka. I always wonder if it's really that hard understanding them up there."
As he reveals that even someone who's lived here their whole lives still has trouble getting things like that.
"Oh hey, that's incredible. America huh? He must be a real genius." The idea of going to America for your education just sounds so elite, or Great Britain, or Paris - that kind of thing. "I bet your whole family is real proud of him."
Before his eyes soften, "That kind of thing is always hard for kids that young." He has trouble sometimes wrapping his head around the mindset that a broken arm isn't that serious when he asked the nurses about someone in distress. To the kid, it's the most painful experience of their life so far, right?
"But yeah, all kinds of things. I was there when a lot of people came in from that Subway derailment last April."
This is at least the biggest thing he's been involved in, "It's not like I can do anything really, but sometimes they have me grab things they need so they can stay with their patient. You know, simple stuff. Or answer call bells for people who are more minor while they're handling it."
Kanae however mentions that she has to go, and Shinichi checks his watch, "Oh shoot. Now that you mention it... I should have already caught the train myself. Nice meeting you, Itsuki-san. And good seeing you again Fuyuki-kun."
As he self-corrects, thanks to her earlier protest, before he begins to walk off quickly to grab his things and put the roll of trashbags away before he'd catch the train.
<Pose Tracker> J. Itsuki Hayashi has posed.
It almost certainly won't go well -- despite how he's comporting himself, Itsuki has exactly zero experience in romantic relationships with girls. Still, there's nothing like the confidence of a first-timer, huh?
"It'll be fine," he says, and, maybe, given his family circumstances, it will be okay.
"Wow," he says, when Kanae says that Kamoshida was trying to creep on her, too. "That stinks." Isabeau had said the same thing, or something very close to it. Why couldn't a guy like that just date women his own age? ...He might not have the precise concept for it, but the outline of 'why' that might be has already occured to him, hasn't it?
But at least he's gone now.
"Yeah, it's pretty different," he tells Shinichi. "For one thing, almost all the cheese here is awful."
(is it different in the French ward, one wonders)
"Huh. That's a good point," he says, rubbing his chin and thinking back on the Ibaraki dialect he'd struggled with parsing at all. "Maybe. They do a lot of stuff in shows that people here don't really do."
He grins when Shinichi compliments his brother. "Yeah, it's all mom can talk about with the other ladies sometimes," and it's only after he's said that where that grin starts to fade. By contrast, what's he done...?
"When it's my turn, though, I'm going to do one better." Except how do you outdo 'future doctor'? Astronaut? Don't you have to be a certain height to be an astronaut? --Well, he's got time to figure it out, he decides, thinking better of letting that spiral take him.
By contrast, his little brother-- "Yeah, it was a bike accident. He was just starting to learn at the time. It was only about a year before we moved and... he really took a bad fall. Mom babied him pretty hard after that." He shakes his head, then looks over at Shinichi, who says... he saw people who came in after that bad subway accident and Itsuki winces. "For real? That's... wow. I'm glad you were able to help them." Luckily no one was hurt, but he doesn't like thinking about being in accident like that. But then again, who would?
He glances at Kanae. "Yeah. It is pretty cool," Itsuki tells Shinichi, using the Japanese word for the concept this time around.
Is it nice, having siblings?
Itsuki shrugs. "Sometimes. I'm pretty close with my younger and older sister. And, I watch out for my little brother. My older brothers picked on me, though," he says, gesturing towards his neck with both hands to indicate that he's not actually bothered by this. "And forget standing out when there's six kids. So it's not all it's cracked up to be. I wouldn't mind being an only child sometimes," he says, once again throwing up his hands as he shrugs as if to say, what can you do?
"Sure, sure," he says, when she says she should go. "I should get going, too. The train home's a pain if you miss the next one. Ah, you too, sempai? See you around, then!"
With that, he gathers his things and heads off.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Well... Isabeau Fontaine /is/ a bully. Anyone who interacts with her for five minutes knows that. Saying it aloud isn't spreading rumors or gossip. That's Ren's perspective, though. It's not wrong to call people out for nasty things they're actually doing.
Consequently, Ren also thinks the "challenge" that is Isabeau will go poorly, but who knows? Even Akechi started getting nicer to them once the two of them got to know each other better. Of course, Isabeau makes negative attempts to put on a polished surface...
More and more, Ren's glad the Phantom Thieves changed Kamoshida's heart, though. They might, in their personal life, be relegated to lurking on the edges of a social group and listening in--though in fairness, that's something they chose to do as opposed to boldly joining the conversation (and making everyone uncomfortable) or leaving (probably the smart thing to do to be honest)--but Kamoshida isn't hurting anyone else anymore. Not even girls who already have boyfriends, apparently.
It makes them feel good about themself. Even this long after the fact, the effects of that teacher's ill deeds are still felt, and Ren and their friends are the ones who stopped them at their source.
They thus push off against the wall and tuck their phone into their pocket. The ongoing talk of country dialects is a little funny--they've got one of their own when they let themself talk that way--but, well, they're all in Tokyo right now. They do glance over at the group for a moment when Shinichi mentions the subway accident from back in April--they remember hearing about that the day they arrived--but otherwise slouch off to leave.
The last thing they overhear is Itsuki chatting about what it's like to have a big family, and how it's hard to stand out. Being an only child themself, they have to admit it is indeed very easy to stand out, and that's not always a good thing. But then, their parents don't actually love them... (So Ren believes, anyway.) Maybe for someone like Itsuki, it'd be different.
Time to head out for their own train. They're going north to Port Island today.