2025-09-05: Umbrellas & Rain

• Log: Umbrellas & Rain
• Cast: Umie Akabane, Kurou Ryouhara
• Where: Central Street, Shibuya
• OOC Date: September 05, 2025
• IC Date: July 06, 2012
• Summary: Something feels off in the air. The rain brings a face Umie's met only in passing, who has an important message to give. Unfortunately, he came unprepared, and Umie's not about to let a young teen let himself get completely soaked in the rain. However, the other message he brings hints that there's more to the Ryouharas than meets the eye.

---

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    Somewhere, things are afoot. Something hangs in the air, bringing with it anxious energy that makes Umie nervously tap her painted fingers on the countertop.

    Or maybe that's just the July rain, accompanied by an appropriate amount of thunder. Every time the doors open and shut with that cheery bell, the outside reminds Umie of the world outside the cleaned tile floors and artificial lighting.

    Or maybe, she feels like something is amiss.

    She'll need to explore Mementos tonight. Or the Dark Hour. That'll set her mind at ease; like a part of her hates to be standing still for too long on days like this.

    Her shift ends as daylight begins to dim; her apron and uniform are changed out of in the employee stall bathroom. Makeup is touched up on in the mirror, stray ash blonde hair tucked back into place with a comb. Her raincoat is slipped on, the bag for her change of clothes under one arm. The yellow umbrella is back out, appropriately heavy enough to withstand a good wind despite it being a terrible color for her; it is unfurled as Umie steps outside the back employee entrance, after saying her goodbyes.

    Her Sevens Sisters badge is in her pocket, as well as a Triple Seven badge that was clipped to her uniform. (She can't let herself be attacked like that twice.)

    It doesn't make her feel any better.

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

Maybe it is the July rain and ominous thunder. Even if there should be some daylight left, storms still tend to choke it out and leave the world dimmer, and that much harder to see. Maybe it's just a normal, animal thing to be nervous under such conditions. Or, that's something Kurou might say.

Umie can ask him, if she wants, because once she turns around after closing the door, he is standing right there, ever with that blank eyed stare. He has his own umbrella... with patchwork efforts to repair tears and holes in it, and one of the metal bars bent, leaving a place where a bit of water can gather, pouring over in a thicker stream.

This may not be terribly imposing.

But when he greets her, it's with information she never gave him:

"Umie Akabane."

Kurou's eyes barely move as he looks her over in inspection.

"... It's come to my attention you're struggling in your assignments."

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    There is a resonance here.

    "... Oh, you're--"

    Umie looks up, red-brown eyes blinking as she places *where* she's felt this resonance before: a few days ago, a scant distance away in the Triple Seven.

    He knows her name.

    ....

    ....

    Maybe it was on a schedule. Or he overheard it. (At some point, everyone seems to know her name. Why is she that careless?)

    Her mouth opens, as she's about to mention the umbrellas they sell just right by the sliding door--

    But then, he says *that*, while simultaneously being so vague her paranoia can't place it.

    "I graduated high school two years ago. I don't need a tutor, Smelling Salts-san." She flashes Kurou a small grin as she moves to the side and, if he lets her, walk towards the street. "They sell umbrellas here, you know," she adds. "You should get one. Being wet and miserable never does anyone any favors, you know~"

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

The only reaction Umie gets for her nickname is the slightest tilt of Kurou's head to one side, like a dog looking for a sound. It rights shortly after, and he does move, just a step, to keep in front of her.

"Kurou," he offers. "Kurou Ryouhara." He glances aside, brow knitting, but not quite managing a true furrow. "... I see how there might be problems, if you try to have these conversations in the street... Ah... one thing at a time..."

As she mentions his umbrella, he glances up, then back down.

"... I don't mind it. But this needed to stay dry."

He offers her a composition notebook with a blue cover, but otherwise unassuming and nondescript. It's not terribly different from one the average student would use to take notes in.

"Please review this, and tell me if you understand its contents."

Kurou looks to her expectantly, his gaze never straying from her as he waits for her to take it from him and open it.

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    Kurou. Kurou Ryouhara.

    "So you *do* have a name," Umie says, not seeming to display any recognition of the last name beyond amusement. (It's simply over the fact that he felt the need to introduce himself.)

    "Well, well," Umie places a free hand to her lips. "... Sorry to burst you bubble after you gained the confidence to do this, but you should wait a few more years first." She gives a lazy wink, playfully bouncing the umbrella against her shoulder blade. "I'm afraid I'm older than you think."
    
    (She's quite certain it's not for that, but flirting may as well be a blunt force weapon in these kinds of situations, especially with someone who is proving to be this insistent.)

    "... Oh?" Umie takes the notebook with her right hand, the black thumbsleeve visible. "You want me to review your notes? I suppose I could..."

    'Shouldn't have done that, Umie-chan.' It's fine. She needs to know what's inside. It could be a threat. 'Suit yourself.'

    Anchoring her umbrella against her shoulder, Umie opens the notebook with a similarly painted hand, though her nails are red compared to Kurou's blue.

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

"I was under the impression most do," Kurou says of having a name, and if he's being sarcastic, he's terrifyingly good at keeping an authentic tone.

But then Umie begins making a number of implications that, to put mildly, fly so far above Kurou's head they might as well be balloons set free to explore the stratosphere. "Do not worry. My training and experience in these matters are sufficient, or I would not have been sent to you."

Well, maybe he's walking into more of the same, but does that matter if he's not picking up any of what she's putting down...?

Umie, mercifully, picks up what he literally... well, offers out, if not down.

It is the first page that serves as the true cover page:

THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO CARING FOR YOUR SHOGE... WITH KUROU!

Except the kanji for kurou here is sharing kanji with red wolf, the animal -- a play on words for the adorable, wolf-dog looking character scribbled under the title with his paws held high in the air, showing off toe beans. It is wearing a ninja gi with red accents.

Its presence continues on each of the pages, cutesy images breaking up the text like a children's book, though some illustrations, while simple, are present for legitimate visual aid on the techniques describing cleaning, polishing, and sharpening. There's a XD!! wolf puppy for helpful products and tools to use, and a D8!! one for harmful ones you should never use. It includes a page for chain care and repair.

The meticulous handwriting is somewhat undermined by the fact that it's written entirely in crayon.

For all the expressive energy of the cartoon pup and the peppy, encouraging tone of the book's instructions, Kurou silently waits with naught but that same empty, but attentive, stare.

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    It's okay. If Kurou had tried to follow up on them when Umie wasn't expecting it, it would have been the equivalent of catching a blade between two hands during a martial arts movie.

    Unfortunately, he might as well be out of one himself, given how Kurou talks.

    Umie quietly flips through the cute drawings, stifling any amusement with a raised eyebrow.

    She looks up at Kurou, for one long moment, all pretense of being the friendly clerk thrown out the window. No, there is no flirty, sassy Umie.

    Just the gremlin.

    "..... I like the puppy." Umie shuts the notebook closed with a 'whup' of air, displacing the bangs to either side of her face momentairely. ".... Please let me buy you an goddamn umbrella, if you're going to go through all this effort," she then adds, her tone falling to a more natural, sardonic tenor. "Seriously, did he put you up to this? And why does he care about my shoge, anyway?"

    She gestures with a hand. "And what is his name, even?! You two know my name, and he doesn't even have the grace to tell me his own, like a _normal person_?!"

    Oh. Right. Umie's a hypocrite. She was introducing herself to at least two people in the past two days or so.

    "Anyway. Um-brell-a. I'm getting you one. We're going around front, and you're going to pick what color. Got it? Seriously, did he make you bring that umbrella so you'd look this miserable?!"

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

Kurou's posture straightens just a tad when Umie mentions she likes the puppy. Is that a sparkle in his eye...? Well, maybe not.

"And the instructions are clear?" he asks. Yes, this is, apparently, what he meant about 'understanding the contents'... It is important that the manual be easy to understand, after all...

But the umbrella note causes another turn of his head. "I don't --" But Umie's rising gremlin energy overshadows Kurou's softspoken manner as she continues on. "His main concerns regard fraternization, but --"

Kurou is left a scratching his own cheek, trying to catch up on a situation he thought he was supposed to be leading.

"A blade that's poorly cared for is dangerous," he says, finally, awkwardly in the wake of Umie demanding to buy him an umbrella. A few more beats pass, and he lowers into a small bow. The umbrella stays perfectly level with the ground, and thank goodness for that given its sorry state.

"... Understood, Akabane-san."

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    'And the instructions are clear?'
    
    "Crystal." There's a pause, as she waves the book at Kurou, as if to illustrate (haha) her next point. "You know, you should really go into illustrating children's books." Yes, she noticed that glint.

    "Is this for me to keep, by the way?" If Kurou indicates 'yes', Umie will put it into her satchel with her clothes, so that it stays dry and protected. "You can tell him this: I can't make it too sharp or it'll cut through my jacket. My setup isn't foolproof." Not that she has; it's been much more satisfying to use the blade for those sneak attacks.

    She's also realizing the proper maneuver for taking control of the situation, as well.

    'A blade that's poorly cared for is dangerous.'

    "... Then make like a blade and care for yourself. I'm not asking, I'm insisting."

    If Kurou allows himself to, she'll lure, or even *pull* him as needed to the front of the store, entering to the look of her confused replacement, who asks, "Miss something, Akabane-san?"

    "No, the guy back there," Umie hooks a thumb over her shoulder, "had his umbrella get blown out. Just put it on my account, okay?" She turns back towards Kurou, frowning, nodding with her chin towards a small display of umbrellas, which happen to be thankfully on sale. "They're not as good as mine, but it'll keep you out of the rain. What color do you prefer?" She's frowning, the entire time, as if trying to balance out how her gesture may seem, especially to her co-worker.

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

There is another spot of brightness as Umie confirms they are good instructions. Excellent. This is going better than he envisioned. Progress is being made.

Kurou considers Umie's suggestion. "... It would need to be rewritten to account for a grade school reading level, but it is possible, if you know a child in need of this information."

Maybe don't give children shoge?! (But then, Kurou's own upbringing...) And she said illustration, Kurou...!

Umie makes a fantastic point that should, by all rights, pierce Kurou right through the core of his own mental logic. Instead what he says, baffled, is: "... I don't... rust...?" Maybe given him an evening to process this one. It might hit him in the shower later, or suddenly at three o'clock in the morning.

But she's not asking, and that is a force Kurou seems ill equipped to deal with. When it comes to caring for weaponry, Kurou can offer wisdom. When it comes to umbrellas, Kurou knows very little. In all his uncertainty for the situation and what's happening, despite his agreement, he does have to be pulled.

Thankfully, he proves pliable enough.

"... Pre...fer," Kurou says slowly, like the entire word is foreign. He stares at the umbrellas for entirely too long before regarding Umie again. "I don't see how color could affect how it works..."

He's open to the idea it might. Again, not an umbrella expert.

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    
    "It doesn't need to be shoge. Just a boy and his dog." Umie, you are literally trying to tell a boy that might have been sent to kill you what market of children's illustration he should get into; you literally have no idea how this market even works.

    "Catch a cold and you might as well be," is Umie's quick, unimpressed-sounding reply to Kurou's logic.

    Umie, without the force of Badb behind her, isn't the strongest. With Badb? Meddling at best, better able to haul herself up unto rooftops than to haul *others*.

    For this situation, it's good enough.

    It would have been easy to go 'just pick this color' and have it be done. (Something in Umie doesn't sit well with the idea of that.)

    Think, think, Umie. This is a concept he doesn't seem to understand, and you need to explain it!

    ".... Your... hair color." She points to her own, indicating Kurou's hair. "Or your nails." She shows her own. "... It's just another extension of that."

     Her co-worker is staring. Umie looks behind her at him and holds up a hand, quietly signaling him to treat the situation like she had just lured a timid dog from the wet box it was trying to find shelter under. "Which color are you if you are an umbrella, Ryouhara-san?"

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

A boy and his dog...? There is no recognition in Kurou's eyes. Did no one ever read him children's books?

"Does it work that way?" Kurou asks of colds and rain. He looks to the window. "I didn't think getting wet was much of a problem..." He may have a general demeanor of stoic, but his previous confidence has fallen in favor of open-mindedness. He is listening. He is learning. ... Probably. Hopefully.

But Umie points out Kurou's hair and nails. Kurou looks at his fingers first, then his eyes scroll up toward hair he cannot see. This is possibly meant to be symbolic for himself. It's all blue today. It's been, for a while. When it needs to be redone, it might become another color, but...

... What color is Umbrella-Kurou? A creature that keeps the rain and the wet away? There's about a ten-fifteen second window where Umie can see Kurou's eyes unfocusing as he goes on some kind of umbrella mind journey before he turns to refocus back on her.

"Green."

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    And Shiryuu thought *she* was odd. He can't even take care of his own subordinates!

    "It can be, if you embrace it too much." She takes a step closer, lowering her voice in volume. "I don't know if you realized, but I could've used that against you. Wet clothing makes it harder to move." She may act and *be* inexperienced, but the DIY approach to dealing with demons have taught her quite a few hard lessons over the years. "I would have had an advantage over you if I wasn't trying to be nice."

    "And another thing..." Closer still does Umie get, her lips sliding in a small, thin grin as she hovers just on the edge of a comfortable distance to his face. "Just because you have a Persona, Ryouhara-san, doesn't mean you'll always have the upper hand."

    She pulls back, holding up a finger as she picks up a green umbrella. "This one good?" As if one may be different than the other; all the green ones look more or less the same.

    A pause, as she looks through them into the small barrel display. "Huh... handle matches, too. Kind of a cute look."

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

Kurou is silent a moment with her words, giving a slow nod of acknowledgment. "...But it is important to know exactly how you'll move when wet, too. Or it can become an easy way for something to suddenly hear you."

Something, he says, rather than someone.

"I think you are successful at being nice, Akabane-san," he says, as a simple matter of fact. Never mind that's not the issue here!

Umie is suddenly closer, and Kurou's eyes cross briefly as he tries to figure out how he's supposed to properly look at her from this proximity. But with her words, the awkwardness of it suddenly shifts, sobered and sharpened.

"Mm." Barely a sound in confirmation. It is easy to say too much, but saying so little might do so itself: this is a subject Kurou Ryouhara is intimately familiar with... and not one to be spoken of here.

It's with the same conversational ease as Umie that he regards the umbrella. "Ye...s? Yes." This is the correct answer, surely. He inspects the umbrella with her, noting the matching handle.

"... Does the cuteness matter?" he asks, genuinely wondering.

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    "True." Umie... never thought of it that way. But how could you account for it either way?!

    Something, rather than someone; that is definitely not sliding past her.

    'I think you are successful at being nice, Akabane-san.'

    This comment, however, takes Umie by surprise. "... Er... Well, it... you..." Kurou's insistence on staying on his path finally has made Umie boggle; she draws that surprise in like it made her somehow vulnerable, pressing her lips together. "... Thank you, Ryouhara-san."

    It's not like Kurou himself wasn't as rude as Shiryuu, but perhaps it's an act to make her pull down her guard?

    So she needs to press things, so he knows she's not that easy a target. Naturally.

    There is no resonance from Umie; that is, at least, if someone doesn't have the means to break through the veil Umie has.

    It may have no effect on Kurou, but the point hopefully has been made.

    "I think it does, but it's not my umbrella." If Kurou seems satisfied with the umbrella, she'll bring it over to her co-worker to put on her account. Ah, the magic of employee discount! You have never let her down.

    Once that's done, she brings it over to Kurou, presenting it like a new weapon, the plastic green curved handle tilted towards him. "Here you go. Tell your 'big brother' to not take advantage of your talents."

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

Kurou does not seem to recognize he's said anything particularly piercing. She was making an effort in something, and he verified its effectiveness. This is how learning works! He simply nods to her gratitude, business-like. They're helping each other, given they are, at the end of the day, allies of similar causes.

Well, at least sort of.

But that Umie doesn't read as having a Persona doesn't seem to surprise Kurou. Not that he shows much surprise. A deep misunderstanding is, nevertheless, occurring. Ah, he thinks. This is why he's having me track her in particular. He'll have to remember this, for next time.

Underestimating Umie is, however, not one of those misunderstandings.

An umbrella is chosen in froggy green, and Kurou accepts it in all its matching cuteness. He'll have to consider how the cuteness applies at a later time. He bows in gratitude to her as he accepts the umbrella by its handle, but then pauses, looking it over.

Kurou experimentally presses the end of the hand against his palm, and gently curves it to test the leverage. He could probably get significant pressure out of this at someone's throat or under their jaw, especially if he launched the attack from behind.

"Cute..." he murmurs, with new understanding.

He does not correct the specifics of his relationship to Shiryuu, understanding well enough. (Kurou why is that the one correct thing you've picked up on this entire time --) "If anything, I'm taking advantage of him. ... Thank you for the umbrella, Akabane-san. I will check in on you again concerning the other matters, and I will endeavor not to falter in my preparation next time."

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    "You're right. Green suits you."

    A strange young man, to test a umbrella like that.

    'You did the same thing with your umbrella, didn't you? You liked its weight in your hand. Are you really that different from him, Umie-chan?'

    Mai-chan may have a point.

    'If anything, I'm taking advantage of him.' What is this strange, strange family?

    "... Is this matter really that important to him that he needs to ask you to 'check in on me'?" she'll ask, once they've crossed outside to the anonymity of the street. "Don't sell yourself short, Ryouhara-san. You prepared plenty well." She pats her bag, indicating the illustrated guide.

    Why is she... trying to compliment him? Focus, Umie.

    Still, she can't quite fight off the concerned look on her face. Why does this keep happening? "... Please reconsider if you really want to do this. If he would simply consider me a boring, normal konbini store clerk, he could worry about more important matters."

    .... Like how she had been, in many different conversations....

    "Is whatever you are using him for going to be worth whatever happens next? I may not be a danger--" Oh, she's going to milk that for all it's worth, believe her "--but there are others who have heard there have been people like him running around."
 
    ... had been quite insistent on mentioning him, if not by name (because she couldn't), but by deed. An NWO agent, going and following people, demanding answers...

    "He can't depend on surprise for very long."

<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.

Kurou gives his green umbrella a good, long look with the idea it suits him. He as the one who chose the color, but it's another thing to be seen by someone else.

"You seem an important enough matter to him," Kurou says. "That is all I need to know." In truth, even if it were more personal than it were practical, Kurou would still see to the matter on Shiryuu's behalf. ... And it did seem at least a little bit personal, especially regarding Suou...

Kurou will worry about that matter later. Surely a delay in that won't be cause for further misunderstanding.

But he goes quiet, until that anonymity if the street sinks in while under the protection of his new, green umbrella.

"You're right. He can't."

That doesn't get any elaboration.

"... I know what's like to be someone who is 'not dangerous' during a... 'dark time'," he says, trying to choose his words delicately. "No one can... or should have to... survive alone in this world. There are many allies worse than him."

And there is a 'we' there, because that's what this matter stands to be. Kurou may be tracking Umie, but part of that is looking after, not just surveillance.

"Please remember that, Akabane-san."