2026-06-10: The 'Perfect' Date
- Log: The 'Perfect' Date
- Cast: Ryuji Sakamoto, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Red Light District - Main
- OOC Date: June 10, 2026
- IC Date: November 22, 2012
- Summary: Ryuji, now that Futaba's Palace is over and done with, makes use of his job money to take Ichika on a sushi date! Amidst chatting and flirting, they talk about some things on their minds, too, including secret jobs and the idea of being perfect.
(|======================== Red Light District - Main =========================|)
-===================================================== Tokyo/Shinjuku Ward ====-
It's said if you go out the wrong side of Shinjuku Station, you lose a whole
day. Go out the correct side though, and you still might find yourself on the
wrong side of town. Even walking into Shinjuku's Red Light District subjects you
to endless barkers and touts, looking for opportunities to pull tourists and
young women alike into places where they might get scammed and exploited by the
predators of this place.
Neon signs glare offering disorienting guidance to businesses stacked upon one
another. All the vices of the city are available in smoky bars where one might
forget their dreams at the bottom of a glass, or take offers of companionship in
shady host or hostesses clubs.
Be careful. As smart as you are, wiser people than you have lost everything
here.
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
With the Pyramid caper behind them and Sakura-san saved, Ryuji makes plans to take his gal out to somewhere nice. Between his easy job and his annoying job, the delinquent has some money to spend after he gets some to his mother so she can work less. So the sky is the limit...within reason. So Ryuji proposes to take Ichika to Sushi/Sashimi...Don't tell Morgana he wasn't invited.
Ryuji stands outside the station, dressed in his usual casual attire. A purple t-shirt of a kickass robot with loud font and some checkered pants. He slouches as he waits eagerly to see Ichika....He has missed times like this. Seeing her during the Phantom meetings was one thing but he didn't want to weird out his friends with how clingy he could get.
He glances at the time on his phone. He got here early but the time seems to be moving slower and slower the more he checks it. Man, he has a lot on his mind....maybe stuff he should come clean about? Not that he was doing anything weird but...those girls at work were embarrassing and he felt weird about not at least telling her that it was happening.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika likes to be taken places! Especially nice places. She's a little surprised about sushi, though--she asks him if he's sure twice. But eventually she lets herself go with it, and stops hiding her delight with the idea.
We won't tell Morgana.
Ichika decided against driving this time; she took the train. She's dressed in a short skirt and a low-cut top under a heavy jacket, with boots. Probably she should be a little cold, but she manages; fashion is worth a little chill.
So Ichika comes out of the station, glancing around to see--
"Ryuji-kun!" she greets, with a little hop over something in the way she walks over.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
With the Pyramid caper behind them and Sakura-san saved, Ryuji makes plans to take his gal out to somewhere nice. Between his easy job and his annoying job, the delinquent has some money to spend after he gets some to his mother so she can work less. So the sky is the limit...within reason. So Ryuji proposes to take Ichika to Sushi/Sashimi...Don't tell Morgana he wasn't invited.
Ryuji stands outside the station, dressed in his usual casual attire. A purple t-shirt of a kickass robot with loud font and some checkered pants. He slouches as he waits eagerly to see Ichika....He has missed times like this. Seeing her during the Phantom meetings was one thing but he didn't want to weird out his friends with how clingy he could get.
He glances at the time on his phone. He got here early but the time seems to be moving slower and slower the more he checks it. Man, he has a lot on his mind....maybe stuff he should come clean about? Not that he was doing anything weird but...those girls at work were embarrassing and he felt weird about not at least telling her that it was happening.
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
"Hey!" Ryuji moves to kiss her on the cheek, grinning as he stands near her. "I missed nights like this so give me a minute." He leans on her for a moment. Finally, he snaps out of it and laughs. "Not too long."
He doesn't want to admit he's been here a little while.
"And don't worry about money. Between what we made defeating shadows and my two jobs, I think we'll be good so long as you don't solo a boat on your own." He laughs despite the fear that his girlfriend suddenly reveals she has a bottomless stomach.
After a moment, he begins to lead her toward the restaurant, placing a arm around her as they walk through the crowds. "So how are you? It's been...well not too long but long since we did this. Which I want to avoid going too long without you and I going out. I think I also owe Tsubasa some time."
They arrived at a modestly priced Sushi restaurant. The type of hole in the wall that usually was one of those hidden gems, run by artisans of the craft.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika accepts a cheek-kiss! She smiles warmly at Ryuji. "Okay," she answers of giving her a moment, letting him lean her way. She laughs back. "Okay, okay."
She didn't mean to be late!!
"Okay," Ichika says. "If you're sure!" Number three. "Thaaat is not going to happen. Sushi's not all that fattening but I'm not going to go too crazy anyway."
Ichika leans on Ryuji this time, his arm around her. "I'm good," she says. "A little tired still. We did a lot. ...And it got pretty rough, in there. That girl..." She shakes her head, rather than spend more time on thinking about Isabeau. She smiles, instead, tilting her head against Ryuji's for a touch.
"It has," Ichika agrees. "I like it when you remember to spend time with me." A beat, "That'd be cool, too."
But they arrive! Ichika will wait for Ryuji to lead, on this front, but, "It looks nice."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji quickly talks to the chef, laughing as he makes small talk before gesturing Ichika to follow him to a booth in the back of the restaurant. After she sits down, Ryuji plops down across from her.
"Yeah...I kinda went nuts due to those French people to be honest. I saw red when they got all high and mighty about Kamoshida" He sighs, tapping his fingers on the table.
"But we did it and we got the job done...speaking of, I was thinking about my job and there is an aspect I want to admit to you before you get the wrong idea. But before that---"
"Hey pops, can I get some green tea for me and my lady." Ryuji calls over the back of his chair to the Sushi chef, who laughs merrily and lets out an affirmative grunt. The blonde turns back to Ichika and smiles. "I might've done a video here before and thought I'd treat you since the ambience is nice and private on a night like this."
"So hi...whats on your mind?" He smiles and reaches over the table to take her hand.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika makes a little small talk, too; just chatting when she gets questions asked and all. She sits down, smooths out her skirt, and then discusses the French. "Same," she says. "...I mean, I guess that one guy you were fighting was at least willing to talk like we weren't idiots, but..." She shakes her head. "They just assume they know best. I hate that."
But the job? Ichika tilts her head. "OK," she answers, sounding a little more like her sukeban self because she isn't sure how to feel about the wrong idea.
Pops! Ichika laughs softly. "Been here before?" she wonders. And he answers! "Oh, nice... It's good to be thought of." She smiles over at the chef, and then looks back to Ryuji. "I do like ambiance."
A fancy word!
Ichika curls her fingers under Ryuji's. "...Well," she says, "Now that you mentioned there's something I have to not get the wrong idea about, mostly that," she admits, self-deprecating. "...How about we talk that first? Then I can tell you what all's going on with the school paper and stuff."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji clocks the Sukeban and he feels lump in his throat. It is good he's going to come clean but he needs to remember who he is dating before she tosses him in the trash can.
He laughs a little nervously and nods. "So while I still don't want to tell you exactly what I do....because it's embarrassing..." He sighs and takes a deep breath.
"So like my job is kinda a service industry thing but a lot of girls go and I'm incredibly popular. Before you ask, its actually kinda hellish since they want the guy I'm playing...Kinda like if someone was in love with Skull except even less like me. It's annoying as hell but the money is good. So no I'm not doing anything that would make you angry just---"
"I just don't want you to get the wrong idea. I only want to be with you and Tsubasa but the money is good and it's helping my mom and making nights like this possible...But I also don't want to tell you exactly what it is because it is incredibly embarrassing and might make you see me a certain way. Like not bad but lesser?" Ryuji sighs, nodding to the girl who brings their tea. "So like thats it." He squeezes her hand, looking at her with pleading eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"...Hm." Ichika regards Ryuji thoughtfully. She smiles at the girl bringing them their tea, and even lifts the cup to inhale the aroma, but listens to. Service industry thing, where a lot of girls go...
"It'd be easier if you just told me," Ichika admits. "I'm not going to think less of you. I thought... Um. I thought, before you guys helped me... that I was going to end up in some pretty shady work, myself. So I don't... Like, think less of it."
"...But I understand if you can't trust that." She pauses, and then, "That must be hard, though. I know you're really sincere. I like that about you."
"Putting on a role... it gets tiring after a while. Are you sure you're OK?"
She pauses. "I mean, I appreciate that you'd clarify it's not stuff that would make me mad--like... Yeah, I'd be pretty hurt if you were going around with other girls without telling me."
"But I trust you, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji listens to Ichika, taking a sip of his tea as he takes it in. She is right about just coming clean. But would she see him as a servant since she was wealthy. Probably not but...there is also the embarrassment of WHAT it is. "I trust you...so give me a second to psyche myself up. Also you can't tell Tsubasa because they will laugh so fucking hard. If you can promise me that, I'll tell you."
There is a moment of Ryuji just drinking his tea. "I'm fine...like it's just annoying." He sighs as he consider complaining more but it might be shaming these girls. As much as he didn't care for them--he didn't hate them either? Just he wasn't Satoshi.
After another moment, Ryuji opens his mouth. "I...am...ButleratabutlercafeinAkihabara." Ryuji rambles the second half of the answer before wincing. Here comes the laughter. Here comes the seeing him as less.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Okay," Ichika answers, and it's a little more natural of her. Psych himself up. "I don't like hiding stuff from Tsubasa," she admits, "But I'll let you tell them if they need telling. I can promise that much."
Then... Annoying? Hmmm.
He finally says--
Ichika blinks once, tilts her head, then manages to process the audio. Her eyes widen. "Oh!"
She smiles, and looks--relieved? "I was worried you were a stripper or something," Ichika laughs then. "No, no. That's fine. I bet you look really dashing in your outfit. I want to see it sometime!"
"...If that's Ok. That's like... it's an acting job, right?"
"I have trouble picturing you do it, but maybe that's why you're good at it? Since--if the girls like you so much, you must be good at it..."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji nods at her answer about Tsubasa. At least that is something. Telling Tsubasa was better than them not?
He blinks when she just accepts it, feeling semi relieved. "Oh man. Thank goodness....wait a stripper? Really" He starts laughing, thinking about it for a moment. "I mean I don't think I can dance that well...plus the school is already on my ass for almost punching out Kamoshida. I can only imagine how they'd react to me being a stripper." He almost would prefer that job to putting on a costume. Oh well.
"Eh. I don't think I look special but from what I can tell they find my screw ups endearing and my aloofness to be appealing. I don't really get it but I don't really get Butler fans. I guess the stiffer the better."
"Yeah it's an acting job really. You just have to move and act a certain way. I even have a different name. When I signed up, I knew I had to be polite, which is annoying but doable. BUT it's a lot of little things that add to the whole...experience."
Ryuji leans back while still holding her hand, letting them rest in the middle of the table. "I have trouble picturing myself but there are all sorts of people at work who do this. I'm training another delinquent to do the job pretty soon...As for the other girls, meh...I like you much more."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
She accepts it! Ichika is good at accepting things. "I mean, it'd be illegal," Ichika points out. "You're seventeen. But that kind of job doesn't always care about legal..." The school is on his ass. "Well, not that there'd be anything wrong with that if you were old enough, but..."
Hmmm. "Oh. Hmm. Yeah; girls like a guy who isn't too perfect. He's more attainable."
Then Ichika winks and leans in to whisper, "But I like stiff guys, too."
But an acting job... "Wow," Ichika says. "I see... How'd you end up in a job like that?" she wonders. "I guess it would pay OK..."
"So it's like that," she muses. "...And..."
She smiles. "Good." Pause. "...I mean, seriously, too. I don't mind if you look at other girls. I'd be willing to talk about it, if there were someone else. But..."
"...But I really want to know that you love me, you know? ...I... I really do."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
"Oh yeah...huh. I guess that makes sense. I didn't really remember that part." He laughs nervously, trying to again picture himself as a dancer. It didn't even produce an image in his mind. "Still...I don't want the other guys to find out. It would ruin my image as the bad boy of the Phantom Thieves." He grins, totally missing that he said the group out loud like it was nothing.
Lucky for him, the chef is busy and the staff is tending to other things.
"Do they? They treat me like crap at school but I guess I'm not perfect at all in my civilian life." Ryuji nods, putting it together. He blushes deeply when she mentions she likes 'stiff' guys, grinning wildly. "Maybe later we can have some alone time, ok?"
"Hmm? I hang around Akiba a lot due to the model shop and saw this listing for a new cafe. Tried out thinking I'd never get far...now I'm one of the most requested. Hell I tell people my limp is a war injury...kinda sells the character?"
"Ichika, For real?...I mean I admit I look sometimes. Any guy does. But like I got the perfect girl, why would I want some girls who just want a stick in the mud like Satoshi? You know all of me so other girls just don't matter. There is no one else."
Without skipping a beat, he continues. "I love you. Truly. I mean my love language is food and I take you to all my favorite spots. You met my mom who I adore. The only other person is Tsubasa but that's closer to your end of this."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika... does not think of Ryuji as a big dancer, either. It's just not his thing! But that's okay. He has other things. "Hmm. Well, i'm not going to tell them," she says, and then laughs, because she doesn't think about it too much either.
But, "Well, they want almost perfect. It's the whole fantasy, right?" She grins back as he blushes about her comment, though. "I'd like that."
The model shop... "Hmmm, OK. Oh, yeah? I guess that would work. It makes you seem more distinguished."
But for real... Ichika does worry. "I don't mind looking," she reiterates. "I look, too."
Perfect, though...
"Ryuji..."
She bites her lip. "...I'm really happy," she says. "To hear you say that. I do worry sometimes. Like..."
"I know it's stupid," she says, "But I hear 'perfect' and I just think... that can't be me. I know myself too well for that."
"But hearing you tell me you love me... it's easier to take. Especially since you can back it up."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji blinks as he continues to consider 'almost perfect'. So thats what women were after. In a way, the old Ryuji would've resented that, finding it unfair that such standard be applied to anyone. Still, he was good at pretending to be 'almost perfect'.
He watches Ichika, smiling as she admits to looking too. He blushes at the thought, remembering how sexually free his girlfriend was. "You too, eh? You eyeing Ann in her Catsuit or something?"
Then she reacts poorly to something he says. The blonde tilts his head, slightly confused for a moment as he thought he said everything right. "Wha?" She says his name like this was going to be bad.
He listens, blinking as he realizes what he did wrong. "I.." He stops himself from cutting her off. Finally, he sighs and shakes his head. "Look..I don't mean you are flawless but I can see past those things. Like I don't think I could find someone else I jive with this well...You get my weird hobbies. You know everything about me and you don't judge. Like I love you and thats what matters to me. So if you're ready, tell me about the paper, ok?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
But Ichika laughs. "I mostly mean at guys," she says, "But... I admit, I'm a little curious about girls now. They're attractive in different ways, you know?" A beat, "Though nah. I mean, Ann's beautiful, that's true. But I I think she looks really cool in that outfit, too."
She didn't mean to react badly!! It's just--
"Oh..." So it's not that. "Hm. I..." She smiles faintly. "I don't always like myself very much," she admits. "So when I hear someone say I'm perfect... it makes me think they mst not know me as well as they think they do."
"But you're right. We're great for each other. I love you, too. ...You're really sincere. And I guess that's just how you are, when you say something like that. You're not just saying it to make me feel good... it's how you feel."
"I guess I worried that I moved you too fast, and you didn't... stop to understand all the details."
She pauses. "But, OK. The paper is going great! I'm hoping to do some more stories about stuff in Hirasaka, you know? Get a big issue that everybody really notices."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
"Oh. Huh. I guess guys are ok too." Ryuji nods, watching Ichika explain. "Eh. Ann is like my sister. Mom was sure I'd want to marry her when I was a kid but she ain't my type. Still, yeah she's pretty, ya know?"
"Oh..Huh. I guess that makes sense but I think I do know you. I've seen a lot of you and I'm still here. I'm gonna be here as long as you want...maybe even beyond that since I'm pretty clingy. But fine, you don't like yourself. I disagree so I'll like you enough for the both of us." He grins and shakes his head.
"Hmm. Maybe but honestly, I think it sort of tore of the bandage? Like since we..." He looks around and leans in. "had that kind of connection, I guess I've felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Like I got less to prove since I got a babe like you willing to show me that part of her. And trust me, after dinner, we'll see if we're up to something. " He squeezes her hand and winks at her. "Trust me, ok?"
"Big issue? Hmm Could always interview the Phantom Thieves...then again Makoto would kill us. You for doing it and me for running my big mouth."
"So how about we order some food and see where the night takes us?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"But if you ever see a girl you think is really hot, point her out to me, OK? I really like knowing what you're into." She smiles. And then, "That makes sense. I admire how free she is about how she expresses herself that way, you know? ...It's cool." %rHe does... "Heh. Clingy is OK with me." She pauses. "OK. I'll try to get better about it. But in the meantime... I'll trust you."
Ichika runs her thumb along Ryuji's hand, thoughtful. "Ripped off the bandage, huh? ...OK. I can see that. You really don't have anything to prove, there. That's what I wanted. ...To get to know you like that. To have you get to know me like that. There's things I can only share that way."
She grins, then. "...Okay. I'll trust you."
"Oh, she'd super kill us," Ichika agrees. "But maybe one day."
A beat, "Yeah! Let's. ...I wonder if they've got any eel today? That's my favorite..."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
"I mean you showed me a lot...and I admit I want to see it again cuz I don't know if you know this but--" He leans over and whispers. "--You're smoking hot...even when you give me that punk look you gave me before I told you what I do. In fact, I'm know I'm game for later if you are." He winks again.
"Good, good. Cuz I trust you."
"Hmmm I'm sure they got some eel even if we aren't in the season for it. But I'll make it happen." Ryuji stands up for a second and holds up his hand. "Hey Pops, two Unagi-Dons for me and my lady!"
"About time you two love birds ordered. Ohoho" The Chef says as he begins preparing the dishes.
Ryuji sits back down and returns his hand to Ichika's. "That should be good right?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika laughs softly but still cheerfully at Ryuji's whisper. "I was on guard a little," she admits. "...But you know, when we do get to, look all you want, right? You know how I feel about that."
"I'm totally game. I gotta get home eventually, but... the last train's not for a long while."
She smiles back. "Great."
'His lady' sounds nice, too. "Thanks!" Ichika calls back, and brings out her other hand, too, leaning across the table a little at Ryuji.
"Sounds great," Ichika says.