2026-10-03: Don't Move
- Log: Don't Move
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Shinichi Nagisa
- Where: Triple 7, Shibuya
- OOC Date: October 03, 2026
- IC Date: January 19, 2013
- Summary: Triple 7 attracts some unusual guests from time to time, despite the completely normal staff that works there. This time, it's Shinichi Nagisa, a harmless Shujin student, who must deal with the terrible Umie Akabane. Shinichi is not, in fact, a monster walking around in a human skinsuit, and Umie is not, in fact, someone destined to die a horrible death soon.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
It's funny: despite the ceremony, the furisode, seeing Shiryuu show up for their celebration (and embarrassing him by calling him 'her boyfriend' in front of people, in public!!!), and celebrating at a izakaya with Remi, Shinobu, Shiryuu, and Yanagi, Umie...
... doesn't feel any older.
Maybe it's how Tatsuzou's speech sticks in her craw (no pun intended), or how, despite being able to complain and grouch with like-minded fellows afterward, there was no way to say 'he was directing it towards her' without looking like she was paranoid to an unhealthy degree. Even if she could share the reasons, it was tied to her Mark, and even if that were all explained... it was illogical to believe that the man even remembered her. How many people had he thrown to the lions for the sake of his own dreams?
It would be easier to ignore it, to insult the man by acting like it didn't matter. Men like that thrived on attention, right?
'I guess you've really grown up, huh... all ready to ignore your own feelings for the sake of others. Except.... Mai-chan was there to make sure Umie remembered all that anger, to chide and rile her up until she--
"Akabane-san."
'You'll make such a beautiful bride, you know...
"Akabane-san!"
"What?!" Umie gaze snaps up at her co-worker, whose eyes widen.
The blonde sighs, rubbing her neck. "Sorry, had my mind in the clouds. Not your fault. What do you need?"
"Well, I'm just letting you know," the co-worker starts, carefully, "that I'll be clocking out soon. Can you man the counter for a while?"
"Yeah," Umie says nodding. "Store should be quiet right now; slip out while you can."
Life hasn't changed all that much, but maybe, that's a good thing... right?
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
There's a high schooler, still dressed in her Shujin Uniform, picking up an issue of 'Coolest'. If one had to give a word for her it might be 'a little mousy' - with hair a little wavy, and glasses. "Just this please." She murmurs softly, pays the money- and leaves.
Not one for small talk with Strangers.
Out the door she goes, before she turns around- and stops.
Through the window a boy approaches her, stepping in front of her. She tries to step aside. He uses it as an invitation to get into her space.
She looks mortified, shaking her head, even bowing it once.
He puts his hand against the glass of the store, as she cringes, whispering something inaudible, outside.
He just smiles- says something back. She holds up a finger, making an excuse. One can almost imagine she said something like 'I forgot something. I'll be right back.'
As she then turns in the opposite direction, the doors sliding open as she heads down one of the aisles at random.
A Night Stained by Phantom Flowers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYDtF1zJU5k
The doors slide open again - and Umie feels a resonance that's acrid- sharp- like iron against the tongue. A tall boy with a shock of reddish-orange hair, blue eyes- also wearing a Shujin uniform steps inside.
At this distance, he's quite familiar, though of course- he doesn't even look at Umie.. at a lazy gait he saunters down the aisle. Remaining a presence, hovering right there...
Keeping watch over the store- and the door for the girl to show herself again. An easy smile upon his face, but a predator's sharpness in his eyes.
He doesn't like being defied, not when he was 'just being friendly'.
A few steps to the left, he looks up and over the aisles, trying to catch a glimpse of where she might be... without trying to look too overt about it.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie's not a stranger to this girl's type; they're here on a mission. Get in, get your stuff, get out. They're the easiest to accommodate, their orders slipping under her red nailed fingers like fish in a stream, disappearing out of sight, out of mind. There's the customary Triple 7 good-bye as the girl exits, flying out of Umie's mouth without a second thought.
However, where there's trout in a stream, there's likely a bear, waiting for the perfect catch.
Umie's not a stranger to seeing a young man come on too strong. She's had one or two herself when she was younger, but all of them where, in the end, ordinary people.
This, however, is a homunculus; she can almost *taste* it.
A homunculus is a being that plays at being human, while wearing another's face. Kazusa's homunculus was content to play the role of the sweet girl; if it weren't for the efforts of her brother and friends, things may have gone poorly.
This person, though...
"My, my... That uniform... Shujin, right?" Umie gives him a little grin. "I have a co-worker or two that go to school there. Sweet people... Ah, one of them's a guy, you probably don't know him, but there's also a girl: Touya Hiraga. You know her?"
The name is made up, and she's certainly not going to give Ren's name.
The goal is to be distracting, after all.
The playing field is too lopsided for Umie to progress straight to being direct.
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
As Umie addresses him, his eyes whip over to her so quickly that it was like they were always on her to begin with.
His eyes trace her up and down, like he's scrutinizing her. Then an easy smile comes upon his face, as he saunters over her way towards the counter.
"That's right. ... That uniform... Triple 7, right?" He says, in a teasing tone, before he cocks his head and his gaze goes blank at her statement of a name.
"You sure she goes to Shujin? Either way- be sure to introduce me to her later. But first- how about we get to know each other a little better ourselves?"
Behind him, the door opens, the girl departs- he only barely looks her way, like a fish he's letting slip away, because he's found a bigger one.
"You're Umie Akabane, right?"
He asks, and that smile only remains on her face, but there's something in his eyes- that makes it seem like he's looking.
Right.
Through her.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Catch the eye of a predator and pay the price.
... This, too, is something Umie's rather familiar with.
It took a while for the stain to come out of the floor tiles, with the Order agent attacked during the Dark Hour. Then there was the Joker Killer himself, though the visit was... cordial, confusingly. And then... a goddamn memeber of Strega...
Basically, Umie needs to stop doing night shifts.
However, it's not nighttime now; when the sliding doors open, there's the usual call of city traffic, cold slush in the streets, and a tinted blue sky beyond the skyscrapers.
Umie gets a reminder of that, when the girl flees through them, clutching her magazine and escaping to the safety of an anonymous Japanese crowd.
'Triple 7, right?' "Yes. We're having a sale on sandwiches today. Buy one, get one free." Umie's eyes fall back to the homunculus, a smile still on her lips.
'But first- how about we get to know each other a little better ourselves?'
'You're Umie Akabane, right?'
'This is what happens when you play it safe, Umie-chan~ Ah, what wonderful things shall happen next?'
Is it on her name tag? She'll assume that's the case.
"My, my, do I have an admirer? I'm afraid I'm already taken, though. Not that a guy like you's lacking in prospects." She smirks, her grin turning sharp. "Especially in girls your own age, though I *am* flattered."
She needs to be careful, but alas, it must be the Badb in her that finds a similar delight as she sees the situation becoming dangerous by the second.
"Perhaps, if you give me a name, I can tell her." She's pretty sure of who it is, just by process of elimination. Then again, just how many homunculi are running around, nowadays...?
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
"Not a bad deal. Not a bad deal at all." He says, playing along it seems for now to her sales pitch. "What else do you have on sale behind the counter?" He asks, with a touch of a smirk.
Then- she indicates that she's taken and out of his age range. Far from looking annoyed, he instead chuckles lightly, "Already taken? What's that got to do with anything?" He smiles, leaning forward, "The way I hear it. You get around." What!? Is he really thinking that accusing her of that is endearing? "In fact..."
His eyes glitter with barely concealed intent, "... the way I see it too. That was you, in my house, wasn't it?"
Now the smile feels like a mask, barely veiling his intent. "Now, if you were just coming over because you had an interest in what a man has to offer. There's no problem, right?"
There's a shift then of his visage, as his affect turns absolutely flat, "But if you were breaking in... well then, I'd say you owe me for the trouble. So which was it, Umie-chan?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
What else does she have on sale behind the counter? Umie shakes a finger. "You're wasting your time," she says, not unkindly.
'The way I hear it. You get around.'
Well, that stings, just a little. "Ah, it's because of the blonde hair." She shakes her head, crossing her arms in front of her. "Don't you know not to judge a book by its cover?"
'In fact...' There's no denying it: the thing inside this flesh suit's a predator through and through. She may have cameras, societal norms, and the ebb and flow of customers, but he could easily use that body of his and injure her before any of those things can come pull things back into her favor.
Of course, when danger actually starts... that's when Umie is genuinely on her own.
She chuckles. "Who do I look like, a Phantom Thief? Though.... do they even do houses, I wonder?"
If he knows because her name was mentioned in 'his house', there are likely others who may be in danger.
But if she can get confirmation, maybe, she can ask a few questions to make the most of a potentially deadly situation.
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
"Nah I'm not talking about the bad dye job."
Wow.
Does he actually think that, or is he just saying it to be cruel? He snorts, then chuckles at her 'Who do I look like, a Phantom Thief?'
"No. Not at all." He says, as if he thought the idea was ridiculous, "... But I think you might know them."
What?
"The demons in Sumaru are pretty talkative about you, you know." There's a slight tilt of his neck to the side as he speaks to her, expression without anya ffect. "At least... after I made them talk. The Wayward Daughter of some secret organization. The Ninja Princess. Now... as far as I know- the cops aren't searching after you right now."
Still he looks at her, and the way he does seems more and more inhuman by the second.
"Let me tell you though, I bet they'd start being real interested, if they thought you had any connection to the Phantom Thieves."
A beat.
"At the very least... they'd definitely bring you in for questioning..."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'Nah I'm not talking about the bad dye job.' Now, *this* Umie reacts to, her expression falling flat. "You try being blonde on a budget and see where it gets you," she says, a little more cooly.
The notion of *knowing* the Phantom Thieves, however, Umie's far more ready for. "Of course I do," she says, tapping her chin. "I've seen the phone where they get their orders from, even... from the rich faceless benefactor that funds them."
Of course, Umie's talking about something else completely.
Then, he talks about demons in Sumaru City, Wayward Daughters, and Ninja Princesses, of cops that may be very interested in the sort of information she might have to share.
A very real threat, that would be impossible to get out of in a legal way, and may end up with her mysterious death, if she's particularly unlucky with her timing.
(goddamn demons being absolute snitches!!!)
"Is that your threat?" Umie looks up through her bangs at the young teen. "Which part do you think they'll believe more? The Ninja Princess part, or the secret organization part? Or maybe the demons?"
"Though, if you're going to be open about things..."
She looks towards the door: not to see if there's an opening to escape, but to know how to proceed.
One must keep their secrets.
"I admit, it's a fascinating subject," she continues, wrapping a tendril of hair behind one ear. "Where does someone like you come from? I mean," she says, with a drier tone, "it's not like we particularly know where we come from. It's almost comical: you suddenly exist, and now, everyone's yelling at you to get out of the house *you* manifested in. About as silly as a ninja princess, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
To be fair to the demons. He can be very persuasive when it's their existence that's on the line.
And it was.
'Is that your threat?'
"Of course not." He says, waiting for her to finish before, "My threat that is that I'm going to kill you slowly, in front of your ninja boyfriend, while he's powerless to do a single thing about it." He says with such a flat tone he might have said his threat is going out to pick up groceries for her.
"But I'm going to make your life very difficult until I get there. You think I'm stupid enough to mention anything about 'secret organizations', 'ninjas' or even 'demons'? I don't have to. All I have to do is say I'm doing my part as a law-abiding citizen to report something I saw- you hanging around some teens in masks that called themselves the Phantom Thieves of Hearts- the cops in the pocket of said secret organization will do the rest."
Umie though, asks a question, where someone like him comes from, and now he smiles at her patronizingly. "Originally? Mikage-Cho. Unless you mean in the existential sense- which in that case- when a man and a woman love each other very much-"
He cuts himself off like that line of discussion is ridiculous. "I'll just say one thing. I didn't 'manifest' in anything- it's my house. Come back there- and see how long you last.
"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Damn those demons and their fear of death. Why can't they act like they are immortal and unable to die?
There's a brief flare of fear; Umie is very mortal, and very human, and has had to face that mortality more than once. But it's a human thing to have *some* fear in your death, which will come, one day or another. It's not like she's doomed to have another sort of fate, right? ha ha ha
However he has to bring up her boyfriend in the middle of this. Umie sighs, looking like he had thrown a particularly bothersome pass at her.
".... Really," she says flatly, before putting up a hand just in case 'Shinichi' takes it wrong. "I'm very sure you're able to kill me, and slowly, at that, and yes, in front of my ninja boyfriend--" god, that feels so weird to acknowledge "--but I can just imagine what he'd say. 'Akabane, why in the world are you cavorting with people who can kill you', to which, I'd say, 'you didn't seem to mind it much yourself'. As I was dying. Slowly. In front of him."
Can a homunculus have a sense of dark humor, specifically Umie's? _Time for Umie Akabane to find out_.
But secondly, he brings up the Phantom Thieves.
He's a very clever Homunculus; as a young man, likely with a history of not being much of a troublemaker, he could easily do as he threatens. She'd be at a disadvantage, being the one with the crispy blonde hair and the history that *some* in the secret organization may have interest in.
It bothers her that she never thought of it before, and that, if she wanted to do the 'smart' thing, it'd be cutting all connections to them, for their own safety.
Just another thing she'd sacrifice, on the altar of the Order.
....
This is her domain. _She's the one in control here_.
"So you *do* have a sense of humor," Umie says, expression neutral. "But I see... I stand corrected here, looks like. There's a lot I don't know about this subject."
Umie listens to the next thread of Shinichi's threat. He's likely done this to many people, hasn't he...? "No worries, I'm not especially itching to go back, but, here's the thing: the cat's out of the bag, so to speak. You can spend all your time ruining my life, and then, killing me, slowly, in front of my ninja boyfriend, but it won't keep people out of your house. If anything, it'd just make people more likely to visit. Not because of me, of course, but because the door's been unlocked. Your time is better spent figuring out how to lock it back up, rather than threatening people's lives."
It's a trick, of course; Umie's sure that will take up even more time, and be just as fruitless.
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
Demons die when they are killed, Umie.
Does Shinichi take it wrong? While it's easy to believe his explosive temper might come into effect, that's when he has to fully pretend he's human.
Right now, Umie Akabane has touched upon the inhuman. She has touched a realm beyond. And so he's beyond pretending he's simply an aggressive teenager.
Now, he's a monster.
And so as Umie puts up a hand, he grows still, cocking his head to the side as he watches her, like one might a particularly flighty butterfly, dancing through the air.
And then when she finishes, she waits, trying to find out if he has a similar sense of dark humor.
"Sounds like he needs to find a girl that's less terminally stupid- as to keep putting herself in situations where she's dying in front of him."
But, as he does display, he can fake a sense of humor. By drawing upon the memories of the young man he's parasitizing.
"I've got jokes." He confirms, before replying, "That's right. You don't know anything about what's going on. So you ought to stop poking your nose where you don't belong."
Then, Umie indicates the cat's out of the bag, they're coming for him. "Oh. Your little Hunter friends won't be a problem." He says, voice growing chillier by the second. "I was warned they were coming for me, long before any of you ever stepped foot in my house. You really think I'd take that news lying down?"
He leans forward, brows contracting as he stares at her whispering, "How do you think I knew you were there last time? Use that pretty little head of yours for something besides holding up your dye job. Tick-tock. Tick-tock... Umie-chan. That door is already about to be closed, forever."
Then he allows himself a wide grin as he straightens back up and puts back on the teen boy Persona, like a sticker he placed on his face, "Maybe go home tonight after work and fuck your boyfriend silly. Might as well make the most of what time you've got left."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie sees it, how the language of Shinichi's movements shift from 'cocky aggressive teenager' to something predatory in a more intrinsic, primal way.
It's yet another thing Umie knows well, growing up. Demons occupy the wrinkles of the human psyche, and, like this homunculus, some will act and resemble the things that drove humanity to master the use of fire and stone.
She is prey, and an unimportant one, at that.
Umie tilts her head, holding her left hand up with the red lucky charm bracelet, the other holding her elbow. "You're welcome to tell him yourself, but I'm afraid he's very aware of my shortcomings." All Umie can do is bluster and act like she's the one overseeing a simple neogiation with a dangerous party, rather than something that should try to flee like a startled rabbit.
The homunculi of before failed to state just how dangerous they can be, when the mask is off.
A chill runs along Umie's spine. She has to warn at least the Phantom Thieves; Belle definitely didn't know, and neither did Mona. Or Kasuza, for that matter.
But most of all, Umie herself, given that she was willing to say her first name. Her shrouding ability may have helped, but once Belle said 'Akabane', that was all that was needed to break it.
Her little... Hunter friends... he thinks she's with that crew?! ".... As for poking your nose where you don't belong..."
She glances down, occupying her hands by organizing the counterspace, wiping it down with a cloth. "It didn't stop you, did it? You try to pursue the fruits of humanity, despite still trying to understand it, and despite thinking that you're beyond it in some ways." Not too different from her, she thinks, noticing the irony.
..... though... that does leave a question up in the air: will this homunculus notice the same thing about her as so many other things have?
She looks up, and leans in. "One more question, before you go: when you see me, what do you see? ... Aside from a blonde idiot." She'll invite the question now-- will a homunculus see her as something sinful in some way?
And, in a flash, everything is normal. He's just a teenager, and she, just a konbini clerk. "That is a critical part of being human," she says, her voice now adopting that clean, sterile cheer of customer service. "Making use of the time we have left, that is."
She'll have to ask who warned him, but that will be for another time, when she's not trying to maintain her composure in front of a monster in human flesh.
She glances down, occupying her hands by organizing the counterspace, wiping it down with a cloth. "It didn't stop you, did it? You try to pursue the fruits of humanity, despite still trying to understand it, and despite thinking that you're beyond it in some ways." She looks up, and leans in. "Tell me-- when you see me, what do you see?"
And, in a flash, everything is normal. He's just a teenager, and she, just a konbini clerk. "That is a critical part of being human," she says, her voice now adopting that clean, sterile cheer of customer service. "Making use of the time we have left, that is."
She'll have to ask who warned him, but that will be for another time, when she's not trying to maintain her composure in front of a monster in human flesh.
<Pose Tracker> Shinichi Nagisa has posed.
"Heh." He snorts at her statement that he's very aware of her shortcomings. "What kind of man knows that and doesn't put their woman in their place? If he was any kind of man at all, you wouldn't be in this kind of trouble."
The Homunculus has a very specific view of masculinity, born from the fears of what Shinichi Nagisa had deep doubts about the kind of person he really was, deep down.
That women were 'special pets' you get to take care of the household and breed with, rather than people of equal worth and value.
'It didn't stop you, did it?'
He takes on a relaxed smile, that seems like a concealed sneer. "What do you mean? ... 'Fruits of humanity'? Go on, ask anyone around you if I'm human or not- but be careful."
He puts a fingertip up to his lips, tapping them once in a gesture of 'Shhh'. "Ask too many people, and they'll start questioning your sanity. Think you need to go on meds- Umie-chan. I know your family would love to cram enough of them down your throat until you did what you were told."
Umie asks... what he sees. And the Homunculus casually looks at her. Then whip quick, he reaches across the counter, attempting to grasp her chin between two fingers.
And stares deeply into her eyes like he's inspecting her. Though on the cameras it would just look like a boy being a little 'overassertive' with a girl he's flirting with.
"What do I see...?" He whispers... then as he takes a few moments to inspect her further, he lets go. "Hm." Then his eyes drift down to the spot where she's covered the mark. "... Perhaps there's no need to kill you after all."
What?
"You're already a dead woman. It's only a matter of time... until you cross the bridge that separates this world from the next."
How- how could he possibly know this?
"So to answer you... I see, a face pretty enough to kiss. A body lovely enough to fuck on the third date. But sooner than you know... I see a rotting corpse. A feast for the crows and maggots."
He smiles at her blithely, "Even if I'm not the one to kill you- I'll be there with you all the same, when you cross over."
Then, as he turns around, he lifts a hand, waving at her without looking at her. "See you soon."
The doors slide open, and he steps into the night as if he had entirely dismissed her existence as being worth any concern at all.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"So he needs to be a man and put me in my place?" Umie's smile turns devilish. "I'll be sure to tell him that."
It would be incorrect to say that this homunculus is being the 'opposite' of which its victim is, Umie knows; Kazusa made for a spicy leader, but not the quiet, polite girl that unnerved people around her. No, this is a very specific type of person, being led to its natural conclusion: a man whose masculinity was undeniable and overwhelming to a toxic degree: persistant, angry, emotional, immature, and selfish to all around him.
.... And that was just the human 'costume' on the thing itself. While Umie was aggressive in her conversation, this homunculus has stripped away any questions she may have had of it being a victim of its own circumstance; it sees itself as a rightful owner to this body, not something trying to survive.
'Ask too many people, and they'll start questioning your sanity.' "Don't worry, I'll tell them I'm a ninja princess who knows the Phantom Thieves, and is on the run from a secret organization that cannot be named," Umie says, dryily. Nevermind that it's a fear she has; when someone challenges her on it, she pushes back.
They both know 'Shinichi' is correct. Her family may not be the sort to drag her back and force pills down her throat, but belief can be powerful. Who knows what kind of lies have taken hold while they've been separated from each other? Better to believe what your leader says than face the fact that you may have wounded your own daughter with your own ignorance and unwillingness to face the truth.
Shinichi moves, and Umie's bluff is seen for what it is, when he catches her by the chin, lightning quick. "...!" Her body becomes rigid, fighting a desire to back away and flee, on top of another to assert herself, damn the consequences.
Just. Hold. Still. It'll hurt if she moved.
He lets go, his eyes looking down towards her covered Mark. 'Perhaps there's no need to kill you after all.'
'It's only a matter of time... until you cross the brdieg that separates this world from the next.'
"...." He knows something, and it's not because he threatened to kill her, and asserted that it'd happen soon.
"Wait, what do you--"
He's slipped out, before she can call him back, the door remaining open as another customer comes in, ahead of another.
The greeting slips out of Umie, tired and automatic, as she swears she can hear the lights of the store humming off-key.
What is it, that they all see...?