2026-10-06: Children in History
- Log: 2026-10-06 Children in History
- Cast: Laurent Fontaine, Futaba Sakura, Ren Amamiya
- Where: Aoyama-Itchome Station
- OOC Date: October 06, 2026
- IC Date: January 20, 2013
- Summary: Futaba finally goes to see Laurent, with Ren's support and presence. They talk about Egyptology, family, and mental health, and Ren and Futaba are both surprised to see a very different side of Laurent.
<Pose Tracker> Laurent Fontaine has posed.
Laurent Fontaine's office is easy to find.
Both in that it is easy to locate -- located in an older building, on the third floor, with a view of the quad -- and that it's easy to get to, bureaucratically. There is a secretary for the whole building; when asked, she waves Ren and Futaba through.
As always, Laurent is dressed up. A fine suit, with a tie -- and somehow he looks relaxed as he leans back in a comfortable office chair. His desk is oak, and his walls are positively lined with bookshelves. And the books on them...
These aren't decorative leatherbound books that never get read. These are dog-eared, well-worn, and well-loved books. They're on Egypt and Babylon, on economics and sociology, and they're in French, English, and Japanese.
He, presently, is at a 90-degree angle to the door. He is hunched over his laptop, squinting at it. Stubbornly, his reading glasses sit on the desk instead of his nose.
Despite when they last saw him...
...he really is a professor at heart.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Life throws trials at you. There's a number of them... and they come at random intervals... and they all usually really suck! Such is Futaba Sakura's judgment, at least.
Nevertheless she had business to undertake. She had disposed of the email alias she had used to correspond with Laurent Fontaine: 'I literally can't reclaim that one at this point. That's the downside of operational security.'
'... Honestly, it has a lot of downsides...'
So she had said, anyway. But there's another way to handle this; to put the man at ease, and perhaps to avoid a lingering bad blood that the Phantom Thieves (whoever *those* guys are) could ill afford. Laurent Fontaine is a college professor.
And Tokyo University has an internet presence, even if perhaps some aspects might not be quite so... sprawlingly social as they would be in other nations. (Futaba has marvelled sometimes at how many darn universities there are in America. She is unaware of the upcoming cliff in higher education, and shall remain so.)
OUTSIDE OF THE SAKURA HOUSE
"... I'm ready," says Futaba, in her winter outfit. She immediately hands Ren several sheets of printed-out paper. ... One of which is a brochure regarding the antiquities department of that august university.
"... you're going to stay with me, right?"
TRAIN RIDE INTERMEZZO
Futaba had hunched over discernibly during the journey. And what's more, she'd shrunk in further yet, staying within hand-or-arm grasping distance of Ren throughout. There had been a brief relief in the stairwell up to the third floor. "Almost there... stay on target..." she had muttered to herself.
OFFICE
'Go right in.'
"... !!"
(Was he waiting in ambush for us all along?!)
Though Futaba quails at that dread portal, the doorway that leads to facing your fears and revealing the truth. She does not greet Laurent once she's through it - likely in the direct lee of Ren - and is staring directly at the carpet.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren had asked Futaba recently if she'd given any more thought to if she wanted to pay Prof. Fontaine a visit. As little as Ren likes him, they do acknowledge that his heart was in more or less the right place when he tried to "save" Futaba. (If there's some spite involved there too, can anyone blame him?) If she'd decided, no, she does not, that'd be fine. But since she has decided yes, and asked them to be her emotional support party member...
"Of course," they reply without hesitation, accepting the prints and looking over the brochure briefly. They turn a tiny, lopsided smile at her. "Mission: start."
AT UTOKYO...
It's Sunday, so Ren is wearing a tan coat over a black turtleneck with blue jeans and dark boots, along with their usual non-prescription glasses and wristwatch. They remain in arm-grabbing length of Futaba, and maintain a passive poker face through the trip. They're polite and grateful to the secretary who points them upstairs, and keeps their worried glances to Futaba to just their eyes.
When Futaba quails at the doorway to Laurent's office, they give her a more significant look of concern. Once both are through and she still doesn't speak up, they know it's up to them.
Fortunately, they have plenty of excuses prepped.
With a gentle knock-knock on the door, Ren says softly and politely, "Excuse me... Prof. Fontaine? Sorry for the intrusion..." They glance around the office. They immediately clock that the books are well-worn and not merely decoration to look impressive. Figures. They turn back to Laurent and bow. "I'm Ren Amamiya, a second-year student at Shujin Academy. I was on that field trip you hosted."
They stand up and rest a hand on Futaba's shoulder, much more to steady her and give her physical support than to introduce her. "This is my neighbor, Futaba Sakura. She was really interested when I told her about that trip, so we came by together... Is that all right?"
<Pose Tracker> Laurent Fontaine has posed.
"Ah--"
Laurent looks up. It takes him a second to come out of his fugue state -- he'd been processing grades, and a spreadsheet is visible on the laptop until he minimizes it (privacy and all). Then, he smiles. "Of course. Amamiya-kun, it's good to see you again. I--"
A pause. His neighbor.
Futaba Sakura. His eyes widen as realization settles in; it's instant, but he can see something he worried about.
That she is fine. He nods, then.
"Of course, of course!" He quickly picks up a stack of printed out history essays -- and then deposits them, motioning to the two seats. "Both of you, please have a seat. I'd be happy to answer any questions, or anything else."
A beat, as he looks at Futaba, and then at the door.
"Would you prefer I close that?"
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
BEFORE:
"Now you're getting it," Futaba said with a smile. "Two unit deployment, go!"
BUT NOW
Futaba can feel her heartbeat.
It's not necessarily a great thing, and some of it is probably just her size, and the fact that she is under an immense amount of anxious stress at right that moment. The natural organic variation means it's a little bit of a guesstimate no matter what, but...
Futaba keeps her eyes on the floor. Laurent speaks. So that's what he sounds like in person, under normal circumstances, Futaba thinks. Her eyes twitch, and then a moment passes. Laurent's tone is not condemnatory, nor does he go for a phone. Futaba raises her head, slowly, and -- wait --
Ah!! He looked at her!! >>>GAINED DEBUFF: PERCEIVED<<<
(It's a much more tolerable debuff than expected.)
"Um, mm hmm," Futaba says, though she actually turns around and does it herself, scooting out one foot and sweeping the leg. Not with great force. It might not latch but it'll close, not slam. After this Futaba completes her 360-degree rotation to face forwards again... and looks up.
"... Ren told me about..."
...
"... the stuff that wasn't so glamorous it went on TV," Futaba completes the sentence, and she straightens fractionally also, her hands going to fold against each other behind her back. Tense, hardly 'at ease,' but progress. Maybe.
(She has not stepped forwards past Ren.)
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren is watching Laurent, so they see that instant of recognition of Futaba's name. There was no getting around that. That's her name. It would be much weirder to give out a fake name instead. They glance at her when Laurent asks if she'd rather have the door shut, and smile a little when she answers by shutting it herself, their eyes crinkling. (If Laurent's paying attention, he might notice that too.)
"Sorry. She's shy," Ren tells Laurent. No hurry, no condemnation, not even especially apologetic despite the literal apology. Certainly they don't go into the details of it--and why would they? No reason to think Laurent would or should know anything else about it, right?
They fall silent when Futaba speaks up with head raised. They nod her on a little bit as she speaks for herself. When she doesn't take up the invitation to sit, they slip closer to one of the seat, watching to see if she follows suit. If she does, they'll prompt her again by sitting first; if not, they'll remain standing.
"The story of that ninja clan that was betrayed by their Tokugawa masters was really tragic," they add, looking back towards him. "I was personally wondering if there was more on record about them."
It didn't seem like it was the same clan as the Ryouharas, but it might still be good to know for future dealings with them. One never knows, and it's as good an excuse to be here as any.
<Pose Tracker> Laurent Fontaine has posed.
"Quite all right," Laurent answers Ren.
Laurent takes a moment to consider Futaba. It isn't incriminating; rather, he has to wonder: does she remember any of what happened? Cognitive spaces can be strange, and one's memory of them can be limited. She may well not remember what happened, or have a different understanding.
But she is quite nervous. He does his best to smile, to look reassuring.
And he considers what she says.
"Well... there isn't a lot we can be certain of," he says. "The sad truth of the matter is the victors write history. Most of what we have is... well... what the Tokugawa sources passed onto us. Or what their enemies wrote."
He shakes his head.
"Which makes the tragedy of their betrayal more poignant, I think," he adds. "So much was erased."
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
She's shy.
That's it! She's shy! Wow, it's a really basic explanation that does so much. Futaba sucks in a deep breath through her nose. Ren keeps talking and that is a *super* relief. That's easy, thinks Futaba. Maybe I can say that myself.
That's stupid, thinks Futaba as her mental scribe notes down the rest of the conversation and then turns her head to see REN IS SITTING DOWN? The scribe is consulted. "um!" Sidle sidle sidle sidle plop. Futaba brings one foot up as if she's about to shrimp-snuggle on the good upholstry... and thinks better of it, swinging the leg over her other leg. Where the ankle rests.
"I guess you'd... have to find other sources? Or go on a dig... but it'd be hard to find conclusive evidence, while the burned... I mean it didn't get a parking lot over it," Futaba concludes. She looks back towards Laurent.
"I mostly knew about Egypt..." The sentence runs out of steam, as if she *had* had more in mind but it just kind of didn't come out. Her shoulders droop back.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Simple is best, after all. Keep it basic enough and it's essentially beyond reproof and easy to remember.
Ren considers Laurent considering Futaba. It's sort of an interesting experience, observing someone observing someone else with only partial awareness of how those in the room have been involved with the supernatural. He does at least seem to try to be friendly and reassuring towards her...
"I see... No wonder I couldn't find anything on my own, then," Ren muses. (This is a lie. They haven't tried to look up more since then; they haven't had the time. But it provides even more of an excuse for why the two of them showed up here.) "That really is sad."
Futaba suggests alternatives--finding other sources or going on digs. Ren considers this thoughtfully. "Is that why we were there?" they wonder. This one is genuinely meant. They glance again at Futaba--the crabwalk was horrifically awkward, but Ren made sure not to so much as blink at it--and when she trails off, they add, "She's big into Egyptology. You know a lot about that too, right, Professor?"
In doing so, they hope to paint more of a picture of why these two totally normal people came here today.
<Pose Tracker> Laurent Fontaine has posed.
"Indeed. Other sources -- and consider who might have had dealings with them. It is like... well..."
Laurent considers for a second.
"Studying children in history is difficult. Adults wrote all of the records -- and, often, men did. People in power talked about children like they were their property, essentially." He shakes his head. "So... we often, in the absence of their own voices, have to research around them. Who they interacted with, when their lives touched the state or a government. So I would look into how the clan interacted with others. What might be said in the margins. And... that makes them heard, after all this time."
He tilts his head. And then, he looks at Futaba. He nods at Ren's question.
"I do," he says. "The occult and arcane, specifically. But..."
He trails off, then he smiles at Futaba. "I recall a conversation I had, by email, with a young woman who was interested in it," he says. "And it's a worthy topic -- worthy of a lot of study, for years and years to come."
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
The awkwardness of the crab walk will reach Futaba, trapped as she is in the valley between total ignorance and total ownership of being a weirdo. But now there is heavier stone to haul.
In her mind... it's not quite like the other memories, but there are impressions. Like conversations in another room, memories of what Laurent and his allies said, and did. Memories too of the intensity of the encounter with the Wild Hunt. What if they'd managed to stop it? Would it have been something she could recover from? Didn't they know she invited them *in* --
He doesn't.
And he can't! Or at least he shouldn't, Futaba reasons, which fortunately just makes her look nervous, which she already is. At most he's going to start trying to piece three and three together and getting six, and...
Ren breaks the ruminatory cycle, as well as giving her a smooth and easy in. They really are an essential party member. Futaba glances at them and fiddles with her glasses for a moment, the gratitude plain. Then she looks to Laurent and says, "I um - I mean -"
Futaba closes her eyes. And takes a deep breath.
"... That was me and I'm really sorry if it sounded like I was really depressed because I was right then but I feel *WAY* better now but I'm sorry if it worried you," Futaba says, concluding in a wheeze, and a huge intake of air... which also makes her straighten up.
Then she hunches over again to cough twice into the back of her wrist. "Urrgh..."
"... I didn't wanna just say it but..." Another cough, though it seems to be a 'strained the diaphragm a little' kind of cough, not incipent illness.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Huh... Ren refrains from staring as opposed to listening attentively, but hearing Laurent talk like this is so jarring compared to his attitude in Futaba's Palace. How can someone who so readily acknowledges how children have been disenfranchised and how researching history to allow their voices to be indirectly heard be so convinced of his own unilateral righteousness when it comes to dealing with children?
...Maybe that's exactly how. Ren bows their head for a moment, fingers criss-crossed in their lap.
It's tempting to ask him about Isabeau and her boyfriend. What he thinks about him and their relationship. Ren's been paying more attention to said boyfriend since the third semester started, and they have not liked what they've heard. However, then Laurent brings up a certain email conversation. Ren shares a look with Futaba, giving her another slight smile at her unspoken gratitude.
She takes a deep breath. They don't interrupt or prompt this time. They simply wait. When she lets out what she wants to say in one big breath, then slumps over, they rest a hand on her shoulder again--then thump her gently on the back when she starts coughing.
For all the obvious share of their focus is on her right now, though, they most certainly keep Laurent and how he reacts in their peripheral vision.
<Pose Tracker> Laurent Fontaine has posed.
"Ah," Laurent says, with the sort of monosyllabic statement with a wealth of meaning and emotion behind it at once.
"I admit... I was worried. I... won't pretend to know exactly what you were going through," he says. "But... there was a time, when I was young, when I felt lost. Hopeless. And... I very nearly did something that I could not take back."
He swallows. It's a complex thing -- and a heavy thing -- to admit that he had suicidal thoughts in the past. "Fortunately, I didn't, and... I'm still here."
He hesitates, for a moment.
"I don't know how you reached that point, but -- the fact you're here, now, and that you're feeling better, that's what is most important." He smiles, then says: "Tres bien."
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Futaba squirms, deep in her soul.
She just... tw-- blurted it out like that. It might have been a natural conversation, maybe a deniable one. Futaba thinks in brief flashes of the other Phantoms to whom she looks upwards. Towards Makoto, who might have been perfectly proper down to the last dot and dash.
Towards Ann, who would have been glamorous and smooth and eased it all over.
Towards Tsubasa, who probably would have just come in and said YO THIS IS THE DEAL WANNA FIGHT? if not somehow restrained, and possibly even if restrained.
And then towards Ren, who thumps her on the back. "*wheeze*" Futaba exhales afterwards, but they get another look, more of surprise this time. Not only did they do that, it -- helped? "My throat's just dry," she mumbles--
For *Laurent* to drop a bomb. Indeed: is it not his right to hurl a flaming brand into the conversation himself? Did they not come to his office? Has he not offered them hospitality, instead of horse brutality? "... Um..."
But he's not digging for details.
Futaba looks to Ren for a moment, worry now instead of surprise, but then back to Laurent. "... What did you have to study to get into archaeology? You said you'd dug in Egypt, and I know they're supposed to be kinda strict... Did you learn Arabic? Your Japanese is super good, too." Back to Ren. She pushes her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
One day, Futaba will get to know everyone well enough to understand they're all unholy disasters too. Until then, Ren gives Futaba another little smile when she flashes them that surprised look, and hearing her throat's dry prompts them to pull a bottled water from their pocket and offer it to her without a word.
This probably doesn't do anything to make her think like they would've handled it way better. Ren thinks it's always easier to support someone else whose emotional stakes are higher than your own, though.
Speaking of emotional stakes--
"..."
Ren didn't expect Laurent to share back... but they're not surprised to hear it. Not after seeing his Persona. It might be in the past, but it feels obvious that it still weighs on him. They can't stop themself from looking at him in concern, and they don't try.
It's just as obvious that he said that for Futaba's sake, though, so they still don't interrupt. Not until Futaba pushes her glasses up at them, at which point they share a glance with her and then nod agreement on Laurent's Japanese.
"Your daughter's isn't as good as yours," they add, seeing the chance for a segue, "but my French is way worse than her Japanese."
<Pose Tracker> Laurent Fontaine has posed.
Laurent doesn't seem fazed that Futaba doesn't comment. It was, really, more that he wanted to say where he was coming from -- maybe that he understood, or at least, why he feels strongly on it. He notices Ren's look of concern, but he leaves it unremarked on.
Of course... he doesn't like the Phantoms' methods. But Futaba is still here, and ultimately, he can't be so choosy as to deny that her being here trumps that.
"Well..." He considers, when she asks. "I started with history. Now--after that, I had to go into a graduate program. I went to Oxford, lived in England for a time, while I got my doctorate. That was in archaeology--though history, of course, is a related field."
He considers. "It was in graduate school that I learned languages. Akkadian, Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphs... ah, my half-sister, she was of Japanese heritage," he says. "So I learned that when I was younger. And I learned English and German in primary school."
He looks at Ren. He smiles at them, then. "I've always had an ear -- and an eye, given the hieroglyphs -- for languages. Isabeau, she had less exposure to it, I'm afraid. I'm helping her learn, as best I can."
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Everyone has burdens they're carrying, even if they might not be willing to share.
Futaba takes the bottle and looks at it with minor wonder, then back at Ren's pocket, then she cracks it open and drinks about half of it in a single mighty quaff. She stops before going for the full 'ahhh,' and holds it in her hands as she lets her leg slide off the top of the other one. Her feet don't *quite* touch the ground, but that's partly because she shoved her butt back as far as it could go.
crnch crnch crnch
She's messing with the plastic.
He's a real international traveller. Oxford! Which is in Britain, so then it goes history, history, archeology, and *languages*. "So you know seven languages?" The incredulity there isn't feigned. Futaba has her own challenges with her two (Japanese; Internet).
"Did you learn to read demotic script, too?"
Futaba adds a clarifier for Ren: "You've seen hieroglyphs and stuff, but demotic was like... If hieroglyphics were kanji, demotic was like kana, I guess. It looks really cool. Kind of like it's between Arabic and Western writing." Back to Laurent - more tentatively, Futaba asks, "Half sister?"
(Wait, thinks Futaba. No, that makes sense. People have two parents. Even if they aren't *there* they're --) (This makes Futaba frown faintly, but after this she takes another, less enormous slurp of water.)
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"It's not a magic pocket," Ren half-jokes, seeing Futaba's line of vision. They're just well-prepared. (They've got snacks and a second drink on them too.)
The plastic, meanwhile, is fine to mess with. Just as long as she recycles it later.
Laurent really has studied a lot. That follows for a college professor at one of the most elite schools in the world. It's a little astounding to Ren, in a good way, that he's able to focus on the occult at such a prestigious place. Maybe they could do something like that one day. It is, ironically, the first little bit of hope about their future as an adult that they've had in a long while.
"Your half-sister?" Ren prompts--but their real interest is how Laurent speaks of her in the past tense. When Futaba makes that aside for their benefit, they nod thoughtfully. They'd never even heard of demotic before. It does sound like a beautiful script. "You'll have to show me later."
Seems like they're both interested in Laurent's family, though. That's good, because it continues to be a relevant topic vis-a-vis Isabeau. "Her boyfriend seems to be helping her out a lot with it too," Ren says blithely, expression poker-neutral even as he watches for Laurent's reaction. That too lets them add something else they've wondered: "How did the two of you get reunited, if I may ask?"
<Pose Tracker> Laurent Fontaine has posed.
Laurent doesn't comment on the plastic being played with. It seems to help her relieve stress.
"Seven," he says. "With a smattering in more -- though, that's more for specific things, rather than a command of them. It's... well, I'm good at it, but we've all got our strengths."
He pauses at the question about demotic -- and then he nods. "I can," he says. "I'm not as good at it -- I specialized in the earlier periods. But, it's handy, especially for some translations."
Then, there is a tilt of his head. He looks again at Ren, and then nods. "Mm. Yes," he says. "She was my older sister, Ruza. She had a Japanese mother -- though I don't know her, nor did my father get along with her family. Ruza is... no longer with us, sadly. But... she helped teach me Japanese, when I was younger."
He frowns a little. "Well... I suppose it's good he's helping," Laurent says. "As long as she's happy for the help. We--ah. It was recently. I never knew she existed, until she arrived in Japan."
He smiles fondly. "Once I knew, though... family is important. So I've tried to make up for lost time, as best I can."
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Now Futaba pooches her lips in a minor sort of a Pout. She knows it's not MAGIC!! it was surprise!! she's not a kid!! Or at least so her face says for a significant fraction of a second. (Laurent can take from that what he wishes. It is probably a good sign, at least provisionally.)
"They had no idea what either of those meant until they found the stone in Rosetta," Futaba editorializes to Ren. (Obviously Laurent knows.) She keeps scrnching a bit of the water bottle while looking back at the explanation.
Huh, Futaba thinks.
Her head tilts down at the mention of Ruza's loss. So he wasn't kidding, perhaps.
She doesn't lift her head when Laurent continues on with the story of Isabeau. And how... he... didn't... know......
Futaba's eyes turn towards Ren through the side of her glasses. 'did he just say he--'
Straightening up, Futaba finishes off the water bottle's contents, screwing the cap most of the way back on and scrunching from a different angle.
"... Was she mad at you?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
In response to Futaba's Pouting, Ren cracks a brief but genuine grin. They refrain from tousling her hair in front of Laurent, but there is a certain level of I-know-I'm-just-giving-you-shit that Laurent, as a brother himself, might recognize.
Ren introduced Futaba as their neighbor, but that's clearly not the extent of their relationship.
"I see... I'm sorry to hear that," Ren says of Ruza's passing, though they'd already guessed it was the case. They are sorry to hear it all the same. It sounds like Laurent had--continues to have--a complicated family situation. (Join the club.) But... like Isabeau, he seems to value family much, much more...
They share that glance with Futaba. Yeah. He just said that. However, while Futaba might wonder if Isabeau was angry, Ren already knows if there ever was any anger, it was short-lived. Isabeau worships the ground her father walks on now.
"You don't like him?" Ren wonders instead of Isabeau's boyfriend, seeing Laurent's frown. "I guess that's natural for a father..."
To Futaba, they aside, "I've heard of the Rosetta stone. Amazing how it was the literal cornerstone for unearthing an entire dead language."
<Pose Tracker> Laurent Fontaine has posed.
"It is. I--well, I admit I'll be judgmental. I try to watch it," Laurent admits. "As long as she's happy."
And if not... well, that is a problem for Laurent.
Was she mad at him?
"Well... it's Isabeau," Laurent says. "It was something like anger, but also insisting, and... I think, it was something altogether complicated. Even if I didn't know -- her mother never told me -- I hadn't been there." He shakes his head. "But, once I knew... well, she's my daughter."
And that's that, in his mind. He puts family above all else, for good or bad.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Futaba has a hunch that that doesn't mean Isabeau isn't angry. But that's buried under multiple levels of subcognition. Perhaps it's more of an energy reading than anything else. The question of a Boyfriend makes her lips pooch to the side.
"If he's not a scumbag, at least..." Futaba says, trailing off. Maybe that's entering too much into the domain of the father. But then Laurent reveals that he wasn't *told* about Isabeau, which means...
The situation is scandalous.
"It's good that you're there for her now, though... Is she in your class, Ren?" More plastic scrnching happens even as Futaba looks back to Ren. She's slowly but steadily compressing the bottle into a flat object now.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren remains outwardly impassive as Laurent admits to being judgmental. No--really?
They glance at Futaba when she mutters about scumbags. "Yeah..."
If Laurent really does care about his daughter, he'd do something if he knew for sure Isabeau's boyfriend is no good, right? ...Might be time in the future, once the Homunculus has been dealt with, to put that to the test.
For now, they nod at Laurent's description of Isabeau's reaction. Something like anger, huh. If her mom really never told him they'd had a daughter together, yeah, no wonder. Something does feel askew still, but Ren honestly doesn't know either Isabeau or Laurent well enough to be able to tell what if anything that might be. Maybe it's just them being suspicious of people they hated but whose human sides they're starting to see.
"No, but she's in my grade. She was at that school trip too," they reply to Futaba. "She's pretty well-known."
And not in a good way, but they'll keep that to themself.
"Anyway, sorry to interrupt with personal questions," they continue, looking back to Laurent. "I'm sure you two want to talk more Egyptology."
They've found out enough for now. Best to let the two have a freer conversation, now that Futaba's said what she came to say.
Though with that in mind, they glance at Futaba. "Unless you wanted to head back instead?"
Either way, they'll support what she wants.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
'I'm sure you two want to talk more Egyptology'
ABANDONNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
wait - no - an offer of rescue -
"... um... Yeah," Futaba says, before straightening up and hupping out of the chair to stand before Laurent, holding her empty water bottle to her chest. Her head turns up.
Futaba makes herself meet eyes with Laurent, just for a moment.
"... I'll be watching your career with great interest," she says, with the air of a quote of some kind, before shuffling a step away and leaving the room, in Ren's wake, shortly thereafter.
She doesn't say much while leaving the campus (she does put the damn water bottle inside of her own coat pocket for disposal at the house - tidy is tidy after all)
It's not until they're at the train station that she slumps.
"I was so lame uugggggghhhhh he just seemed like a normal *person*, where the hell was all of that fire and determination? Did we just take him by surprise...?"
A question for another day.