2026-10-06: Hunting for Bargains
- Log: Hunting for Bargains
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Coin
- Where: Central Street - Triple 7
- OOC Date: October 06, 2026
- IC Date: January 20, 2013
- Summary: Another Dark Hour shift at the Triple 7, and yet another visitor. This time, thankfully for Umie, it's someone who means well, and happens to have an appearance that plays on Umie's love of unusual supernatural denizens.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie should really not do a night shift fresh off of dealing with Shinichi's Homunculus making a visit to this fine establishment. While he happened upon the store in the later hours, rather than the Dark Hour itself, in some ways, that made it worse. As a homunculus, he didn't have the same limits during the day as a human would, and while not supernaturally gifted, that still counted.
A wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf.
It's just going to be one of the many things Umie shall chose to not tell Shiryuu about, so that he doesn't feel tempted to go out and take on something to prove to himself that he is responsible for Umie's safety. Still, though...
The Dark Hour has fallen on the Triple 7. The daylight bright overhead lights turn off, the sky turns a muted green, time dilates, and the world goes deathly silent.
It is a time for a Badb to play- a thing Umie feels intrinsically. Unfortunately, she's still on shift, so to speak.
You never know when someone might want to come in.
Umie plays with the colorful orgami star, experimentally flicking it into a piece of cardboard. If she could use the cognitive space to her advantage...
That may be something Shiryuu *can* do for her. He loves these sorts of things, doesn't he?
<Pose Tracker> Coin has posed.
The Dark Hour is a dangerous time.
...but ultimately, it could be more dangerous than hunkering down in a Triple 7. There might be a coffin from a late-night shopper, but at least the majority of mindless Shadows aren't going to make it through the door even if they prowl outside. (The automatic sliding doors are off, after all.) It's not Sumaru, so there's not many Demons, either, even if Umie is probably more accustomed to having them show up than most people. For, you know, reasons.
But every once in a while, something does happen, and this is one of those times.
The sliding doors don't automatically open, without power. But despite that the doors rattle as someone tests them, and then - inch by inch - start to slide open as someone pulls the door along in fits and starts. It's designed to be possible when the power's out (you don't want people trapped inside in a fire) but that doesn't make it effortless; it's easier from the inside.
The doors open into the shadows of the street, showing nothing much for a few moments until Something Strange enters.
That 'something' is about two and a half feet tall, a humanoid vulpine but in a 'cute' way rather than a horrible monster kitsune. Big ears, big tail, orange-red mostly, with dark paws but with a white chest and face, at least the lower part; the reddish fur goes down to a point over her nose.
Also it is wearing a knee-length leather coat open over a waistcoat, a little puff of fur visible at the V-shaped collar of the waistcoast... and a hat. The hat has a feather in it (green, weirdly iridescent, probably from a Shadow). There's a sword too, worn over its back, but the sword remains safely stowed as whoever it is squeezes through the barely-opened door, turns around, and starts to slide it closed again. Or that was the plan, anyway.
This isn't the first time Coin has snuck into a konbini 'after hours', but it is the first time she has ever seen a person who is still a person inside. Her eyes widen, which is not particularly reassuring because they catch the light like an actual fox's, and that's all eerie green right now. "I didn't know anyone was inside!"
The whatever-it-is doesn't quite feel like a regular Demon or a Shadow, at least. Is that good?
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Sumaru City definitely has its ups and downs. There have been times that a demon striding in during the Dark Hour has went in Umie's favor, but just as many times, it's been a hassle, especially as word got around. Things like 'shifts' aren't necessarily a concept all demons respect (though some of the more law-orientated ones will go the opposite direction and get angry that your night shifts aren't more consistent).
Here, there's nothing but shadows, sparse enough for one to forget about if you stay in one spot, but still enough that this compliance might end with your death.
rattle rattle
rattle rattle
Umie's head jerks up, drawing the blade of her shoge from the gym bag underneath the counter. A shadow shouldn't be able to open doors... and a person would have been able to, with a bit of effort.
Looking across from the counter, Umie doesn't think to look further down, until the doors give, and something strange walks in.
From Coin's view, there may be something odd for her as well (unless Coin is gifted with seeing past a shroud): the konbini clerk here gives no resonance, nor does she seem like she's just newly found herself introduced to this supernatural hour.
If anything, the clerk, with her loose dual buns that hang low on the back of her head (making room for that cap) looks like she was interrupted from something mundane, given the slips of old coupon fliers she's folding up into different combinations.
The clerk's red-brown eyes widen. Her cheeks puff out. She affixes a hand over her mouth.
Ah, *there's* that resonance; the clerk *is* a Persona User. It'll disappear in a flash, as soon as the young woman composes herself.
".... Well," she starts, with a twinkle in her eye, "let's just say, when I'm on staff, a location can actually be 24/7. But I can't say I've ever seen someone like you before." She gives Coin a lopsided squint of a grin. "Though that *does* mean you can't just steal what you need here, if that was your intention~"
<Pose Tracker> Coin has posed.
The being is, at least, not being aggressive. Its - her - hand never goes near the sword, though it would be pretty easy to draw it. Nor does she do anything supernatural.
But her eyes seem pretty penetrating as she considers Umie. She's not afraid, apparently, but she doesn't - or maybe she does. Coin looks puzzled for a moment, then pleased; her ears uncompress and her tail swishes in a particularly big arc.
"I would *never*," Coin says, sounding almost offended. It's true! She may come in and read the magazines (or, at least, look through the magazines... she didn't understand a lot of what she read), but she wouldn't steal anything!
Though, she did take a bag of chips once and left payment. Her payment was wrong, but it's not like she knew. And it really confused the cashier, after the fact...
Umie can tell that there's *some* kind of resonance to Coin, too. It's not the feel of a Demon or a Shadow, but it's not quite a human's either. She feels different - but in a completely different way than the Homonculus. She doesn't feel *wrong*. Just a little unusual.
"I just almost never see anyone awake now! Except for hunters, sometimes," she says, a little thoughtfully, tapping her chin. She walks closer to Umie and the counter, though as she gets closer she has to crane her neck back further - which doesn't bother her, apparently, but she still keeps a little bit of distance so she's not completely obscured.
"So tell me," she says. "I never get to meet humans, practically... Who are you? Are you here all the time? Do you know there's Shadows out there?" She waves her hand in the general direction of the door -
"Oh! Sorry, I was going to close that so they didn't come in!" Coin hustles back over to the door and starts pulling it closed. The reason for the stop-and-start movement is pretty clear - there's a grip for people to move it manually with, but it is *extremely* at the wrong height for the diminuitive ...fox person. She can move it, it's just a little awkward.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Perhaps, if it weren't for beings like Mona and Roger, this would be a different sort of meeting. This is Shibuya, after all, not Sumaru City; the appearance of someone like Coin may mean something may have happened.
Either way, Umie doesn't necessarily see Coin as a threat straight away, it would seem, as she simply looks on, amused, and secretly, a little thrilled to see yet another 'strange' denizen.
.... Which isn't to say that Umie's taking Coin lightly; Mona's a good example of that, as well as any demon of similar height. But just what *is* Coin?
Well, for once, Coin's offended! Or, at least, seems to be. "Sorry, force of habit. I'm too used to demons back from my Sumaru City days." omg look at that swishy tail and sword
"Hunters, eh... you mean the ones in all the leather clothing that are really stuck up?" she says, moving closer to the counter so that she can look over it, in order to get a better view of Coin.
"Most humans are safely asleep during this hour. Not sure if you know this already, but the coffins are a means to keep a person's psyche protected from the effects of the Dark Hour." She glances towards the sliding doors, and watches as Coin valiantly attempts to close them by her lonesome..
".... Hold on. I'll help."
Umie herself, while not the shortest person, is still a little below average, at 155 cm. This may mean little to the diminutive Coin, however, as when Umie steps beside her, dressed in her fine merchant vestments of pink and lime green, the door begins to close. "It likes to catch sometimes if you push it too hard. Just nice and easy."
She steps back. "It's fine though; if there were any shadows close enough nearby, I would have sensed them." .... This doesn't necessarily mean that they're safe from ambush; a shadow dropping from a building won't have the same tendency to splatter into itty bitty bits, depending.
"Looks like you've got a bit of muscle on you; those doors are heavier than they look." Umie goes back behind the counter, all while considering what name to give herself. "... Mmn, how about you give your name first? You might be a fairy, after all, wanting to get ahold of my name..."
She doesn't seem to seriously consider that as a possibility, judging my the crooked smirk.
<Pose Tracker> Coin has posed.
Coin *is* wearing a leather longcoat - it's about knee-length on her, open in front - so perhaps the crack about Hunters hits her a little bit. She frowns a little.
"Hunters are important," Coin says. "I would think you'd know about that! I can tell... you DO have a Persona." She had that flash of resonance before, at least. "You wouldn't want to be helpless here... well, neither do they. And neither do I! But you're right; I don't feel any Shadows nearby."
Coin lets Umie help with the door, though she's definitely not terribly happy that she had to be helped. Still, that's hardly Umie's fault, and it's not in Coin's nature to blame her over something that isn't. At least, that's what she tells herself. At least it came with a compliment, so Umie gets that swishy tail again.
"Thank you," she says, regardless. "And yes, I know most humans are asleep, tucked away. They don't have the same kind of ... protection, in cognitive space, as you and me." Does she mean a Persona? "I'm from..." She hesitates for a moment. "Well, not here. But it's the Dark Hour! A cognitive time in the material space! I have to come and see. There's so much *everything* here! And it's easier to find the places where distortions are if you're near them. I'll have to get back sooner or later, though..."
When asked for her name, Coin sweeps her swashbuckler-esque hat off her head and gives a bow with it, before putting it back on her head and adjusting it so her ears go through the holes in it. Fancy! "I'm called Coin," she says, and that could be the English word or it could be a distortion of 'kon', the sound foxes make, either way. It's not clear and she doesn't explain.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"They've done a poor job of representing themselves, that specific group," Umie says, with a shrug. "I've got no qualms with particular members, however, if you count yourself among them. Just be warned that their hijinks of 'I know better than you' have not made them any friends. I'd also be careful-- I'm not sure if they'd take well to you." That may be more Isabeau's own tendencies, however. There does seem to be at least one person that stands apart from them: Kanae Fuyuki. However, Umie doesn't know much about how she fits into all of this.
That's another part of Coin that Umie notices: she doesn't like to be helped. An independent soul... that would make sense, with that shape. "Don't get me wrong," she starts, tilting her head. "One or two of them have been very active and helpful. Just... the older sorts that rub me the wrong way. Just because you're a veteran doesn't mean you can't learn from those younger than you, you know?"
She understands the thrill of the night, as forbidden and deadly as it may be.
She also understands how she can be as deadly as a shadow to a fellow person, if she's not careful.
"The world's just a little more wild at this hour, I agree. For many, it's the only way they can feel alive." Pink fingernails flip over the origami star, the bottom half of her right hand obscured by the longer sleeve. "If you're afraid I'll treat you differently because of where you were born... don't worry about it. That's your secret to keep."
So, names... "Coin, huh..." omg even her name is cuteeee, waitwait make sure Coin doesn't see that!!
"I should be a little more opsec, but..." Umie shrugs again, drawing a tendril of hair back behind one ear with her left hand, the lucky bell charm making a tiny jingle as she does so. "It's hard to do that with a name tag. I'm Umie Akabane, a boring, normal adult." She closes one eye in a discreet wink. "I do happen to have a Persona, though, as you've noticed." Opening the nikuman display case, she gets the tongs out and gets out one for herself. "Would you like one? It's buy one get one free, so... consider it a welcome gift. The pork ones are the best, I've found..."
<Pose Tracker> Coin has posed.
The older sort?
Coin's brow furrows for a moment. She knows Kanae; she's heard of Isabeau (from Kanae, granted) too, and already been warned to stay away from her. But Kanae didn't mention any old ones, and nothing comes out of her memory to remind her about them, even as she digs deep. Nope. Nothing.
"Well, that's certainly true!" Coin, after all, isn't very old, but she'd like to think she's worth learning from. "I was already told about one of them - an Isabeau Fontaine? And I've met one or two, of course," she adds. "But I'm afraid I don't know who you mean. Aren't we all Hunters together?"
She gives Umie a longer look this time. Her ears perk slightly as she focuses, sniffing as if catching a scent for a moment. "You too, I think. Something about battle seems right for you."
With that minor act of observation handled, Coin wanders over to poke around the konbini a little bit. She can hold a conversation while she's doing it, but everything is a little new and mysterious. She picks up one of the fashion magazines and looks at the cover, for a few moments, before she puts it back. "This is the time for it. When Shadows roam, and other fragments of the mind."
"Umie Akabane," Coin repeats, memorizing the name. "And yes, I *did* notice. But it would be an easy thing to suppose, given you aren't in a coffin. They," by which Coin means the people in the coffins, "don't have the protection you do."
Coin does not see that she is being thought of as cute. She's a little distracted by picking up - oh, that's a can of chuhai. She turns it around in her hands. "What," she asks with as much seriousness as she can manage, "is a grapefruit? I know what a grape is, and I thought it was a fruit. This picture does *not* look like a grape."
And then Umie makes an offer.
Coin does not literally teleport. That is not an ability she has. But she covers the ground between the aisle and the nikuman case in a red-orange blur, practically appearing at her side as soon as the magic words ('would you like one') are spoken. "Yes, please!" she says.
(She still has the chuhai. She did not bother to put it down.)
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie's eyebrows rise at Coin's expression; perhaps Umie spoke a little too quickly, given the fox's confusion. "Isabeau Fontaine..." She hums thoughtfully, folding her arms. Wasn't it Isabeau who gave valuable information to Kazusa about Shinichi's Atelier? "She's someone sorting through her own problems." She'll be charitable, at least, just because of that. "I imagine she'd probably not take kindly to you, so I'd be careful. Don't take it too personally; there are people who exist in terms of black and white because it gives them control over the world. A world of greys is a world of uncertainty."
And people like Umie are... difficult, sometimes, to pin down into a box.
"... So that's what you mean by hunters, huh..." Umie tilts her head. "Not everyone would consider themselves that way, no--"
She quiets as Coin's ears perk up and that (cute) nose sniffs the air. Will Coin, also, smell sin on her...?
'Something about battle seems right for you.' "My Persona is the Badb," Umie admits, nodding. "Goddess of war and death, also associated with ill omens. I'm not surprised you sensed something."
Yes, the Persona, and not the Umie.
"There's quite a few people that can hide themselves. It's complusive for me; besides, sometimes people can go looking for someone to harass at this time of night..." She trails off, occupied by the sight of Coin turning a can of grapefruit chuhai over in her little fox paw hands.
"Better to not rush into that if it's new to you; that's alcoholic. No telling how your body'll react, especially as small as you are." It wouldn't be too serious, considering there's stronger drinks out there than this by far, but if this is new to Coin, Umie needs to at least be a little responsible.
There's more interesting products here, anyways.
Umie is so shocked by the speed that she bursts out laughing. "I'll take that as a yes, then..." She gets out the tongs again, grabbing a pork nikuman bun and putting it into a paper sleeve, as if Coin was a customer coming in during the day. "Here you go. Should still be hot enough, though I've never figured out the logistics of food during the Dark Hour."
<Pose Tracker> Coin has posed.
'So that's what you mean by hunters...'
"Indeed! I know that not everybody is the same kind of hunter, but you don't hide from the Shadows all the time, do you? Sometimes, you need to fight one - to hunt it down before it can kill. To relieve the distortion, or to protect something or someone." Coin points at Umie with one finger. "I can tell, you know!"
She might be able to. She certainly noticed Badb.
Coin nods along. "I know that some people can hide themselves." And she can't always see through the concealment, even if she has a better chance than most people. "I've never been much for hiding, myself... but sometimes you must."
On the topic of Isabeau, Coin has an opinion of her own. "My friend," she says, and she sounds pleased to be able to say it, "told me that I should stay away from her, yes. I expect we'll meet each other whether we intend to or not!" And why does Coin think that? Well, if the two of them hunt the same thing, it's unavoidable.
Coin loses interest in the grapefruit chuhai once she is distracted by something else: to whit, pork yakuman. "My thanks," she says, before taking a toothy bite.
*.*
You can practically see the stars and sparkles above her head. "Ah! Excellent!" she says, not *quite* around a mouthful. "I have never had anything like this before! Not once!" Given she can count how many types of food she has had on one hand and have fingers left over, this is both completely accurate and not a particularly useful unit of measurement, but she's taken by it. "There's pork, but there's more in it than just pork. I think... mushrooms and onions?" she wagers.
"I will take another! To go! I can't stay out much longer." But Coin is already digging in her pockets for a way to pay for it. Apparently, she has a lot of things in there.
Unfortunately, most of it is not actually money, as she pulls out two Life Stones, a chunk of quartz, a different chunk of quartz that has some power to it (it's a Traesto Gem), a piece of shiny hematite, some Iron Sand from a Shadow - oh, that one's money, but it's an American quarter, and how she got *that* is a good question.
Eventually Coin does find two 100 yen coins. They look and feel like real ones, not cognitive images. "Is that enough?" she asks, eyes wide. She may be a fox, but she has apparently learned the puppy-dog eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Ah. So, it's hunting down something for the well-being of others. "That's one way of looking at it. There'd be several people who'd hit neatly into that category."
She wouldn't dare look this fox in the face and say she's also a part of that group. Someone who summons demons, and doesn't even respect the bond of friendship when one came to her aid...? Taro-kun...
.... was a demon, Umie glumly reminds herself, belatedly.
And it may be because of that that Umie goes into senpai mode, to distract from how she feels. ".... There are many things out there more dangerous than shadows or demons. If anything, those things are more straightforward in how to deal with them... and a great deal more honest about what they want, as well," she murmurs, softly. "Besides, hunting's very much about hiding. Whether you're predator or prey, you can't overlook the importance of a surprise attack."
Coin has a friend as well, which is something that is relieving for Umie to hear. "Sounds like they have your best interests at heart."
Unlike Umie, who just introduced Coin to something completely delicious and addictive: nikuman. She allows herself a small grin of satisfaction, watching the corrupti-- er, appreciation form. "They're good, aren't they? The mushrooms and onions definitely help bring out the umami flavor."
As if expecting Coin to have some change on her, Umie's already preparing another batch, her eyes looking at the various baubles Coin sorts through. Ah, two hundred yen, and with the buy one get one sale, that means a 50 yen coin back. Accepting the two coins from, well, Coin, Umie manually opens the register and deposits the two coins, grabbing a 50 yen coin to slide over.
"I know hunting's your thing, but if you haven't tried it yet, it's good to keep some objects on you for trades. After all..." Umie begins, a smug smirk on her face, as she holds out the paper bag containing the two nikuman, "there's another type of hunting that can bring world peace."
She spreads the fingers of her left hand by her face-
"<Bargain hunting.>"
<Pose Tracker> Coin has posed.
It's not just hunting for others, as Coin is quick to point out: "Or yourself. You don't seem like the kind of person who'd always run, when you have the power to act!" Self-defense is legal, Umie!
But Umie speaks, and Coin listens, ears perked slightly. "That's very true. The surprise attack, that is. And I know there are other things!" She's one of them, of course. But also: "I know about the Homonculus," she says, "or at least *a* Homonculus, and I have pledged my assistance. It's the least I could do!"
Does that mean Coin can fight? Well, she does have a sword, so she must consider *herself* not helpless. Though if she has anything beyond that, it isn't revealing itself... tonight, anyhow.
Coin busily replaces her treasures into her pockets, except for the money, which she leaves out for Umie. She actually pulls herself up so she can look over the counter and look at the cash register; the computer part of it doesn't work, but the mechanical catch still does, and that appears to satisfy her curiosity for the moment.
Once she has taken the bag of nikuman, Coin drops back down, landing lightly on her feet with her new prize in hand. "I always keep things," Coin says. "You never know what's going to be interesting, or to who! Though food certainly never goes unappreciated," she adds, shaking the bag a little bit for the sound of crinkling paper in her ... paw? Fingers? Grip, anyway.
But bargain hunting... Coin's eyes light up. This, too, is interesting to her. Many things relating to humans are, of course, but this sounds like something she can get her teeth into. Unfortunately...
"I had best return," she says, before sweeping her hat off again to give a less deep bow and a little wave as she plops it back on. "But I am very pleased to meet you! And thank you for your gift." Some she bought, of course, but Umie offered the first one and that means something. "Perhaps I'll come again," she says, "if I don't see you elsewhere." Coin grins, showing a little bit of teeth with another one of those tail-wags.
She takes a step away, then... "Just give me a moment for the door." It's a lot easier from this side, though, even for her. And once it's open, Coin vanishes out it, as suddenly as she arrived in the first place, the faint sounds of her feet vanishing into the night.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'You don't seem like the kind of person who'd always run, when you have the power to act!' "Running doesn't mean running *away*," Umie responds, with a cheeky little grin. "Sometimes it means falling back and going for a better vantage point."
'I know about the Homonculus.' This causes some concern from Umie, who frowns. Sure, there could be more than one Homunculus out there, but there's only one that's active, right now. "... Be careful," she says, with a soft concern she had displayed before, her eyelids lowering. "He's a dangerous one. It's nice of you to try to help, but keep close to your friend. He knows who's been in his 'house', and if he knows a name, he's going to look for a way to exploit that person."
That thing must be dealt with, sooner or later.
At the very least, it seems Umie's convinced that Coin has *some* ability; due to that resonance, it's likely that Coin herself has a Persona.
And besides, Umie knows very well that things in cute little packages can be quite deadly.
Looking towards an egg timer that has been sitting hidden among the display items on the counter, Umie nods. "Yeah, let's get you on your way. Need any help with door? You got your hands full, after all~"