2026-09-28: Forewarned is Forearmed
- Log: Forewarned is Forearmed
- Cast: Katsuko Yoshinaga, Kazusa Motojima
- Where: Tokyo, Kichijoji
- OOC Date: 2026-09-28
- IC Date: Thu Jan 10 2013
- Summary: Kazusa has two vital pieces of information that need to be relayed to Katsuko, but Shujin's ears have walls. The two meet to talk over coffee, and a deadly revelation is brought to light...
(|============================= Kichijoji - Main =============================|)
-========================================================= Tokyo/Kichijoji ====-
When people list their most desirable places to live in Tokyo, Kichijoji nearly
always tops the list. Minutes away from scenic Inokashira park, the district
itself feels warm and inviting with its billboard of a chibi mascot happily
dining at the entrance to Sanpo Road, the main thoroughfare.
People line up here for a quick lunch with quality street food andor finer
dining at the cafes alike, while shuttered alleys light up at night with open
air bars and izakayas. Entertainment is easy enough to find here, as businesses
eschew aggressive barkers for more welcoming signs, drawing people in. More
discerning customers know exactly where to look for some of the more hidden gems
among the clubs of Tokyo.
Even the monks outside the local Buddhist temple seem part of the experience,
offering people the opportunity for quiet meditation away from the rat race of
daily life.
(|============================================================================|)
OST: The Fragrance of Dark Jazz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMnrl0tmd3k
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Far past the glitz and glamour of Kichijoji's more high-end eateries, behind the apartments and houses of well-to-do inhabitants, and nestled into a maze of winding streets and dimly-lit backalleys, lay a simple, wooden, door. Stained a dark shade that left it closer to black than ebony, with well-polished fittings that granted it a contrast in silver, it was a rather unassuming place. The sign above it - a simple one with a silhouette of a black cat etched into its surface - did little to rectify this. Its creaking in the breeze was likely to draw more attention than the place's aesthetics.
The inside was afar cry from the brick walls and blackened door, however. Four walls in stone grey stood above an oaken floor, with framed pieces of contemporary art arranged neatly upon it in evenly-spaced intervals. The furniture followed a similar style. Wrought from oak and topped with dark fabric, the chairs and stools seemed as old as the frost-haired man standing dutifully behind the counter, polishing mugs and tending to the occasional brew. No doubt they all held a story, but the scattered few patrons there seemed to have little interest in asking about them. Or in talking in general, it seemed. Students and salarymen alike sipped idly on coffee and took bites out of whatever pastry was on offer that day, but none regarded the other's presence, wishing simply to tend to their own businesses.
It was in the corner that Katsuko waited. To her right was a mug of steaming coffee. Mixed into a tasteful shade of brown, foam popped and bubbled at its surface, while thin wisps of steam drifted past the rim. To her left was an opened copy of Daughters of Foxes - an obscure period drama with two female leads, each of whom were *remarkably* close with each other for a book written in the eighties. She waited, reading and sipping slowly, occasionally glancing at her phone in anticipation of a certain someone's arrival...
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa was still feeling rattled and a bit upset from what had taken place only a few days before. The very last day of Winter Break had been a horrifying discovery.
She was on a serial killer's list. And so was Katsuko Yoshinagi. They weren't exactly friends, really. More like business partners. Katsuko needed something from her, and had offered something valuable to Kazusa in exchange.
... But this went beyond that arrangement.
Kazusa stepped into the small cafe, eyes scanning the place. She was still in her Shujin uniform, with black tights to counteract the winter chill. She spotted Katsuko right away, but went to the counter first to place her own order.
She eventually sat down with with a latte topped with some simple latte art and a slice of handmade cake. And of course, she immediately pulled out her phone to snap a photo. "... not the worst latte art I've ever seen," she commented. "The place has a good vibe."
She's mostly talking to fill in space while her brain tries to figure out how she's even going to broach this topic.
She doesn't pay any attention to Katsuko's book.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
The barista - and the owner, as it happened - regarded Kazusa with a still and unassuming gaze. His responses were short and functional, usually spanning no more than a handful of words, but his actions spoke far louder anyway. His was an expertise honed by practice and experience, and though the art in the cup was simple, the smell that rose up from beneath it was divine. Warm and rich, but not so much that it overpowered the senses, it was a masterclass in careful brewing.
Katsuko had even less to say. She shipped quietly on her own drink while she waited for Kazusa to speak, watching with cold and expectant eyes. She made no noise, with the slight clink of the mug being replaced on its saucer the loudest one she made. Tempted as she was to simply ask Kazusa what was so urgent that they had to speak outside of school, however, she saw little point in being rude. If it was something to do with their agreement, Katsuko supposed it could've been discussed over text, or at school - the fact that neither option had been taken left Katusko curious indeed.
"It's one of my favourites." Katsuko eventually said, taking a sip of her coffee as if to demonstrate. "It's quiet here, and the owner takes great care with every drink." That was about as much of the niceties as Katsuko could stand before shutting her book, however. A quiet thud filled the air between them when she did so, and her attention went solely to Kazusa. "So what did you need from me?"
The cover, for those that cared to look, depicted two women at each other's sides, surrounded by leering figures dressed in the garb of feudal lords. They were close - very close. Surely the artist just meant to depict them as stalwart allies and friends.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
The silent bartender type. Kazusa isn't afraid to be exacting with her orders, (though being an outright Karen sometimes is also one of those things she's trying hard to unlearn.)
She doesn't post the photo right away--she so does not want to give anybody a live update on her position right now--but she does take a sip, taking a moment to sit with the flavor. "... Mmm." Quietly she mutters. "... the art isn't worth it but he could probably charge more for just the brew and still make a profit."
That's surely all the artist intended, and there's nothing deeper to read into the cover.
Having run out of her own pleasantries, Kazusa's almost neutral expression settles into a stern frown. "... Actually," she said, keeping her voice low. "... it's less that I need something from you, and more that I have something for you. Information, as per our agreement."
"But," she was quick to add. "It comes with some conditions. I have other information for you that isn't part of the agreement, and agreeing to my conditions is the price to get all of it."
Does this count as changing their deal? Yes, it does. But this isn't Kazusa being capricious. Her gaze is serious and steady.
... but there's an undercurrent of fear, too, perhaps most easily recognized with the way she keeps glancing over her shoulder towards the window or entrance to make sure nobody is observing them.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Information, but with a catch. Katsuko's expression hardened at that reveal, and she pushed her things to one side to make it clear that she was listening. The fact that she was willing to risk letting such a brew go even a degree past its most optimal temperature should have spoken volumes on just how important it all was to her, though the way she inclined her head - and then the rest of her body - just an inch forward might have served to highlight the fact as well.
"Then tell me the conditions." Katsuko said flatly. Her expression had dropped from something neutral and polite to something noticeably colder and harder. Her features were like the jagged edge of a glacier - cold, hard, and unyielding, she regarded Kazusa with sharp eyes that noted every twitch and shift in expression. It should have been no surprise, then, that she noticed Kazusa glancing to one side. Curious, she peered in the same direction, and then back to Kazusa once certain nobody was there. "...Are you afraid someone'll overhear us? Nobody here cares about what anyone else has to say. They won't even look at you unless someone's life is in danger."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa isn't in a position to appreciate the intricacies of Katsuko setting her brew aside--she's got too much going on in her own head at the moment to worry about it.
Back from her latest glance she looks down at her mug, huffing quietly. "I'm worried about being followed." She looks up, her expression still serious. "... you made sure you weren't followed, right?"
She takes a deep breath to try and steel herself, hands gripping her mug. "Alright. Here's the conditions. You can't ask where I got this information. You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Actually, she's a little bit worried Katsuko might believe the story, and it's for that and other reasons that leads into next condition. "Second, you can't take any of what I'm about to tell you to the police."
"... but if you can agree to both of those conditions, I promise I do have something that might be of interest to you."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
"Of course I made sure. I don't need anyone else but us knowing what we talk about." Katsuko said, making an effort to keep her tone reassuring - or, at the very least, flat and inoffensive. She was very slightly insulted that Kazusa even had to ask, but it wasn't loud nor prominent enough to manifest itself as anything more than a stray thought. Nevertheless, Kazusa's cautiousness left Katsuko intrigued. Something seemed to have rattled her bad enough to leave her glancing around, and if she was being allowed the privilege of knowing what it was...
"Must be serious." Katsuko said tersely. It was stating the obvious, but if it conveyed to Kazusa that Katsuko understood the severity of the situation - if not its details - then all the better. "Alright. I agree. Whatever you say here, stays here."
Akihiko Sanada has disconnected.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa nods, as Katsuko says she made sure not to be followed. She's extremely worreid and on-edge, but she's pretty sure Katsuko isn't the type to take her own security lightly. "... okay. Good."
She doesn't mean any insult, of course, but maybe Katsuko will understand once Kazusa explains.
"It is." Serious. But Katsuko agrees, and Kazusa nods, taking a deep brath. "... okay."
Even having gotten Katsuko's agreement, she's aware it still sounds, frankly, kind of insane. She leans in and drops her voice. "... something has taken control of a second-year student named Shinichi Nagisa. I know you've had a run-in with him recently, just before Winter Break." She wouldn't even say his name--because this isn't Shinichi's fault, and she wants to cause as little problems for him when he's freed as possible, but...
... if she doesn't say the name, Katsuko might not be fully informed of the danger. Shinichi could approach her and strike, if she doesn't know to avoid him.
Kazusa doesn't know that Katsuko is capable of sensing the Homunculus. It would be a lot easier to explain, if she did.
Sorry, Shinichi. But hopefully living with someone thinking you're a weirdo will be an easier pill to swallow than having someone's blood on your hands, if only just.
"... I know that sounds crazy, but I need to make sure you understand how serious things are. That thing is out to kill everyone who's 'wronged' him. he's..." Kazusa can't suppress a shudder. "... been stalking them. You're on that list."
She looks down at her mug. "... as am I."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Slight - almost imperceptible as it was, Katsuko flinched when Kazusa spoke of her incident with Shinichi.
"...It was naive to hope nobody would hear about that." She muttered, not caring about whether Kazusa heard or not. The cat was out of the bag now, after all. That was all she said in response, however, instead choosing to keep her counsel until Kazusa had finished. Still as a statue, and with an expression that was twice as stony, it took an active effort on her part not to give some kind of reaction the whole way through.
She took some small solace in her silence giving her time to figure out how she was to approach things. Homunculi were nothing new to her, after all, as were a great many supernatural phenomena. But Kazusa thought Shinichi's would be, and she had to sell it. *Maybe* Kazusa was panicked enough that a few slip-ups in her acting could be excused, and *maybe* she'd built up enough of a reputation as impassive and ice-cold that she could get away with no reaction at all. But it wasn't worth the risk.
Her reaction to the list, however, was nothing short of genuine. She knew the Homunculus to be a detestable thing, with its conduct towards her and others standing as proof of that, but to go so far as to stalk and kill... It left her looking down at the table, fingers locking as she tried to steady the onslaught of thoughts that flooded her mind. Her hands tensed, as did her jaw, and Katsuko attempted to provide some semblance of steadiness to her mind. But the Homunculus wanted her dead, and had the means to do so.
She was silent for several agonisingly long seconds, then looked back up at Kazusa.
"...Say I believe you. If we can't call the police, what do we do about this?"
Not that she would have called them, but she had to act like they were an option.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Katsuko was surprised people heard about that. Kazusa looks up from her mug without lifting her head. "It's Shujin. You know how gossip gets around there."
She does. She used to spread it.
And even if she hadn't heard, somehow, she could've guessed that something happened anyway. How else would she be on that list?
Kazusa might be extremely hypervigilant, but she's not watching Katsuko so closely in particular. She's also still abit in shock, so maybe she won't pick up on everything.
But she wouldn't blame Katsuko for being out of sorts. She's still out of sorts.
"... we can't call the police because there's no way to provide them with evidence." Well, they know where the evidence is, but... how would they explain how they found it? "... and because the thing controlling him isn't Shinichi Nagisa," she says firmly.
"... Some people I know are handling it. I wish I could say more, but..." She shakes her head. Better not to give Katsuko, who is definitely not Awakened, any more information than she has to. She looks up ot Katsuko again. "What you can do is watch your back. Don't let yourself be alone with him, and be careful of anybody trying to tail you."
If only Kazusa could take her own advice--she still has to go to class and sit in the same room as him. She's trying to hold herself together, but her expression still looks deeply troubled.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko did, unfortunately, know all about how those rumours spread. She'd kept her ear to the ground to try and hear about any useful ones, after all, and there'd been talk of her using them to nudge someone into doing as she willed. But that was talk for another time, and for a person she trusted far more than she did Kazusa.
"I don't know if I fully believe all of this." Katsuko said eventually, doing her level best to appear as though she was some helpless, troubled, civilian, instead of Grim's civilian identity. "But this is serious, isn't it?"
She went quiet again, but not just to sell the illusion. She needed to think. She needed to weigh her options, assess what she could and could not do, who could help her... It was all so much to consider, and she didn't even have the comfort of knowing that she could rely on supernatural forces for protection. She was unbearably human, and all too vulnerable to the whims of something that had no regard for the things that held humans back.
"I'll do what I can. Just.. make sure your people get it done. Please."
There was only so much she could do, of course. There were precious few people Katsuko - rather than Grim - thought she could rely on, and none that knew of the mask she wore. Her options for protection were slim at best, and the Homunculus had already proved its physical capabilities. She was, as much as she hated to admit it, a sitting duck. But she'd never admit that much out loud, much less to Kazusa. Something odd struck her when she looked and saw just what the situation did to Kazusa, however, and stopped any trains of thought dead in their tracks. The sight alone was enough to cause discomfort to her, twisting her stomach in knots and sapping the colour from her face. Katsuko paused, considering her response carefully, then lowered her voice to something that - for a woman of her repute - was strangely kind.
"And let me know if you need someone to watch your back as well."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa cna't really fault KAtsuko for not being trusted. She hasn't proven to be a really trustworthy person in the past, even if she's trying now.
Katsuko doesn't fully believe this. "... yeah, that's... fair," Kazusa coneeds. "I..." She looks a bit uncomfortable as she admits that. She knows how insane it all sounds. "I know it sounds crazy. I wouldn't even be saying this much if I didn't think-- if I didn't think it was necessary, to keep you from getting hurt."
Or worse.
Katsuko says she'll do what she can and... that's all Kazusa can hope for, at this point. She nods. "We're working on it. I'll... let you know when things are safe."
It takes her a moment to respond to Katsuko's kindness, shaking herself out of her thoughts as she looks up. "Oh, um. Thanks. But I've got people looking out for me."
It was only a partial truth. She could hjave her brother playing bodyguard for her, but... she had Kazuhiro looking out for Wakana instead.
Deep breath. "Alright, well. That was the important thing I had to tell you." Kazusa reached into her backpack and pulled out a small USB drive and slid it across the table. "Everything you asked me to look at checked out as far as I could tell. But I noticed one of our EULAs had a significant update in the timeframe you asked me to look at."
She nods to the thumb drive. "So I thought I'd bring it to your attention."
What Katsuko will find, later, is a couple of PDFs, with the differences between them highlighted for ease of reference.
Te EULA has to do with one line of Motojima Corporation's smart TVs, and the biggest changd section has to do with data collection.
"... I don't know if it's what youre after, but it was a pretty significant update. Hope it helps."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Kazusa had people looking out for her. Katsuko supposed she shouldn't have been surprised by that - the sheer number of people that had mounted an assault on her Atelier alone should have told her that there were at least a few people willing to extend an olive branch out to her. But when it was juxtaposed against her own solitary nature, Katsuko couldn't help but consider how strange it felt to hear it. She did her best not to show it, but those with sharp enough eyes might have seen the muscles in her cheeks tighten, or her gaze dart away just a little.
"If you say so. Offer's still on the table, though." She said, before taking something else that was on the table. She turned the thing over, clutching it lightly between two fingers, before stowing it safely into her bag. One of the inner pockets, with a zip for extra security. "...Changes to the EULA? But that's the same as-" Katsuko cut herself off before she could expound on the point. For all she knew, it could have just been a clarifications of previous points, or tweaks to account for changes in the law. It wouldn't do to get too excited now.
Regardless, Kazusa had fulfilled her end of the bargain, and Katsuko nodded.
"Thank you. I'll look into this as soon as I can." She said, sounding as genuinely grateful as the human incarnation of a glacier could. With their business concluded, she drew her coffee and her book back in, then looked to Kazusa's own coffee. "I know this isn't part of the agreement, but let me treat you if you come here again. It's the least I can do for you warning me."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
As Kazusa recently reminded Kasumi--she barely knew most of the people who showed up to fight in her Atelier. Many of them were people she had interacted with at one point or another, but almost none of them she'd consider a friend.
Kazusa might be being a bit self-sacrificial here, but her words weren't entirely untruthful, at least.
"I'll remember that," she says of the offer.
For all she might not catch all of KAtsuko's physical cues, she does catch the auditory one. "Changes in what?" she asks, eyebrow arched.
But she lets it go readily enough.
She pulls her own latte and cake towards herself, getting ready to move to another table. "Hope it helps. If you tell me more of what you're looking for, it'll help me refine my search." But then there's an offer, and Kazusa pauses. "... I'll think about it. Thanks."
And with that she'll give Katsuko some space while she finishes, and then leave quickly thereafter.