2025-10-02: Stare
- Log: 2025-10-02 Stare
- Cast: Ichika Kawase, Katsuya Suou, Yoko Hirano
- Where: Rengedai, Izakaya Shiraishi
- OOC Date: October 03, 2025
- IC Date: July 20, 2012
- Summary: A sukeban, a detective, and an artist walk into a bar. Ichika meets an honest cop, Yoko makes a friend, and Katsuya discovers something concerning in a sketchbook.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Izakaya Shiraishi is bustling at this hour, full of people eating good(?) food and drinking less concerning alcohol. ...Ichika is not one of those drinking the alcohol, sadly, because she's a minor and Ma'am doesn't go for that. It's just as well; the police are probably still watching her anyway. Either way, she's stepped inside in clearly delinquent-style clothes. A black tanktop with a skull on it, a green miniskirt, thigh-highs, and knee-high boots, along with a bunch of heavy stuff on her wrists and a nice purse. She... did not get that much evidence in Aoba Park, but it's fine.
Super fine!
"Hey Ma'am," Ichika says as she steps inside, a little tired and paranoid. "Could I get the banana ramen again?"
She likes it. And maybe the rumormonger Toku-san would be helpful, too...
Of course, she stands out, even for people who don't know she's relevant to Tsubasa Seki.
But she's at the counter, looking around for a place to sit--there aren't so many of those left at the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Speaking of rumormongers--
Isn't that a familiar-looking man in a dark suit finishing up a discussion with Toku now?
It's been a very, very long day for one Katsuya Suou. However, the wheels of justice are, though delayed, finally starting to turn for a certain person in the custody of Sumaru PD. Regretably, release won't be immediate, but, at least it's almost a certain thing now. And with that immediate problem beginning to clear, it's well past time for Katsuya to find out what the people are talking about in the wake of the attack on the exhibition. An event like that doesn't pass without fresh rumor, however he might like it to be otherwise.
"...I see," he finishes, readjusting his sunglasses. "Well, thank you, Toku-san. This has been informative."
If a little disenheartening, as these sorts of things tend to be. Katsuya wants to think well of his fellow citizens! He really does. But it seems like they're always believing such outlandish...
And he turns his head, and this might be the moment when he notices there are juveniles in the izakaya. Hopefully, no one is thinking to drink illegally! Not under his watchful eye!
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
It wasn't a very good day today, at school. She spoke to someone who wasn't there, and Yoko isn't sure but she thinks someone saw her. She should have known better. Nobody real would wear a fox mask to school!
...Probably...?
So she decided to ignore her homework for a little bit and take a short trip to wander around some more. It always cheers her up to get out of the bubble of school, dorm, rinse, repeat.
So she wandered, and wandered, and got her sketchbook out and drew for a while, and wandered some more, and drew, and while she doesn't feel completely better about things, Yoko does feel less bad.
...And hungry. She also feels hungry.
So the warm light and delicious smell spilling out into the street didn't have to do very much work at all to lure Yoko inside 'Izakaya Shiraishi'... Now, seated at a table, she has her sketchbook out again and while she's waiting for her order of tempura to arrive, Yoko is doodling. And watching people, because it's fun.
"...Officer Suou?" Because what's he doing here? He'd said yesterday that Kurou Ryouhara was following her, but isn't it strange to see him again by coincidence, so soon?
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika recognizes Katsuya by sight, even if she doesn't know to connect his name to who he is. She remembers him very well because he was at that fight...
And he's talking to the Rumormonger.
Ichika has had kind of a long day, but that catches her attention. As does--
"Sure," Ma'am says. "Coming right up."
"Thanks."
Ichika also feels hungry, and almost doesn't notice a certain young artist watching people. Almost. Until she says--
Ichika turns towards Yoko in surprise--and then looks to Katsuya, who she was looking at.
"Oh..."
Ichika steps over to Yoko's table, and says, "You know him?" to Yoko. She pauses, and, if Katsuya will happen to come over...
"...Sergeant Suou?" She asks. "You're the co--" Pause. "...officer, who helped out Tsubasa Seki, right?"
"...You don't know anything about them right now, do you? I know you're probably not supposed to talk about it, but--"
She is very worried.
...of course, standing by Yoko's table, it's possible the server will assume they're all together anyway!!
Ichika'd rather be noticing the sketchbook, but this is important...!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
A familiar voice -- the moreso for having just met her the other day -- catches him offguard. "Hirano-san? Why are you here?" This is the fourth time now, he thinks. But why is it that he's had the sudden feeling that he knows her better than this?
And... why is there a cat in here again? Or, perhaps to be more accurate, why does he feel like there's a cat in here again? A quick look around the izakaya betrays nothing, and he doesn't think he's caught sight of Ma'am keeping a cat. But...
Yoko's also not the only underaged person here. There's no law against it, of course: drinks are the main attraction, and certainly the proprietress would want to keep the underaged crowd out to avoid 'harshing the experience' of those here here to drink after work, but as long as curfew isn't broken and no one underaged is actually served, there's no problem. And it'll be a while yet before most of the working crowd filters through. The sun hasn't even properly set yet.
Yoko's not the only underaged person here, no. The other girl in here spots him and addresses him, because she knows that he's the one who was trying to help Tsubasa.
"That is correct," he says, looking her over. "And, your name is?"
Tsubasa had mentioned a few names, but Katsuya doesn't have the faces that attach to them. He thinks he might have seen Ichika somewhere before (in the chaos before the fire, maybe? somewhere else?) but he can't quite place it at this point.
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
Oh, she came over...! Yoko hopes Ichika doesn't look down and see where there's a little doodle of her near the top corner. Usually people are okay with being sketched, but they don't always react as favorably when the art style isn't 'classical' or 'professional'. It's weird.
"Mm-hm," she nods to Ichika, messy hair sliding over her shoulders. Yoko pushes it back and clicks the lead of her mechanical pencil twice. "He's my friend." She doesn't think too hard about what 'friend' means - or why she feels okay with applying it so soon to Katsuya Suou. Isn't it enough that he's friendly and familiar?
Why is she here? "...I'm hungry," she decides on, after a moment of looking at the surface of her sketchbook. "And it smells good. So I came inside to eat." It doesn't explain why she's in Sumaru, of course. Yoko doesn't want to talk about that.
She's quiet for a few moments, pencil touching down several times in different spots but drawing nothing. "..." It would be better to have company than to eat alone, she decides. "Would you like to join me?" Yoko clicks the pencil mechanism again, and pushes the lead all the way back in against her sketchbook.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika usually comes during the day, so as not to harsh the vibe. She knows she's not an Adult, after all, especially not by the standards of the people who come here. ...But she does like the place, and Ma'am is super-cool...
Lacking much in the way of sensory Resonance, Ichika doesn't detect a cat. Instead, she detects... Ichika glances down at Yoko, and does see the doodle. She is surprised--but not upset.
But she wasn't supposed to check the artist's sketchbook, so, "Ah, sorry..."
But he's her friend? "That's reassuring," Ichika says to Yoko. And then she looks to Katsuya, who has an answer for her. ...Or, a question for her, rather.
"Ichika Kawase," Ichika says after only a moment's hesitation. "Tsubasa-kun is my best friend. They haven't been answering their phone..."
A pause. "So if you know if they're OK, that's enough."
A look at Yoko. Hmmm.
"...Sure," Ichika says then. "Yeah, that'd be great if you don't mind. I should apologize for spying on your sketch anyway, so let me cover the bill."
"Uh, if that's... OK," she says to Katsuya.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Friend, huh... It makes him wonder: does she have any friends her own age, if she's seeking it out from an adult? And... is it okay for two people to be friends, in spite of an age gap of this size? She's even younger than his brother, if he takes any guess. He doesn't get to dwell on this thought long, though.
"Ichika Kawase... I see. So you are Seki-kun's..." He doesn't quite finish that statement, instead shaking his head. "There's not much that I can say at this point, but... I have done what I could. He should be fine soon." There's still that unpredictable element: there's that slim chance that freedom isn't in the offing, and he doesn't want to lie over something like this. There's nothing quite as terrible as false hope. "I've seen that he's receiving proper care." The injuries, wherever they were collected, definitely needed treatment; it's a small step up, even if it's not 'freedom', just yet. Again, he shakes his head. "Unfortunately, that is all I can say at this time. Please continue to be patient, Kawase-san."
Yoko says she's here because she's hungry. "I see..." Aren't there any better options in Kameya? Perhaps not: he'd heard that a few long-time places here had straight up moved shop. Something about Wang Long fortune-telling stating this wasn't a good place to have a business.
But, would they both like to join her? "Well... I suppose I could stand to eat something," he allows, because he's come out here after work, and it's not as if he's stopped anywhere else along the way. Normally -- about a month and a half ago normally -- he'd have worked late and then picked up something on the way home, or pulled something out of the fridge if it wasn't quite as late as that, and then gone to bed. But his priorities have shifted a bit since, and for some reason he's had other things to take care of.
"No, if you want to pay for her, that's quite alright," he tells Ichika, assuming that she had meant only to cover Yoko's.
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
She's been found out...!! But Ichika doesn't get upset. Maybe she worried for nothing. "I don't mind if you look. But now and then people get upset to be looked at and drawn." Nobody has been angry yet, at least. And anyway, Ichika has more important things to think about than a doodle page.
Her friend is hurt... And Officer Suou knows about it, has done what he can about it. Yoko mulls this over. It's probably all right to ask... maybe... "What happened? Is your friend okay?" (Yoko, if Ichika knew that she wouldn't be asking Katsuya!)
She pushes the other chairs out with her foot, one at a time, when they agree. It's good to have company~ "Ah- it's not a big deal. I can buy my own, but thanks. I'm just glad that you weren't upset." Yoko plays with the edges of the paper for the length of a thought.
"...You can look at it, if you want," Yoko offers to both of them, because she's an art student and this is part of their intricate social rituals. "But it's okay if you'd rather talk." Because they are not art students (to her knowledge, you never know for sure).
Only then does it occur to her that she's gotten it kind of backwards. She looks up again, green eyes wide in her face. "Oh, I forgot-- I'm Yoko Hirano. It's nice to meet you, Kawase-san."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh," Ichika answers Yoko. "No, it's cool. I don't mind if people look at me if they aren't weird about it."
But: Seki-kun's... Friend? Gang leader? It could be anything, but one possibility occurs to Ichika as Katsuya uses 'he' for Tsubasa. It's a weird-feeling possibility, admittedly, but it occurs to her all the same that he could assume it.
Not important right now. Ichika's face goes through a few emotions, then concern, then confusion, then relief. "Oh..."
Receiving proper care. "...OK," Ichika says after a moment. "Thanks. I know you're not supposed to say anything to me. ...Your 'colleagues' already picked me up trying to find them..." She looks down. "But I guess if they found them, they didn't need me anymore. Anyway thanks, Suou-san. I will. As long as I know they're OK, I can... wait."
She doesn't trust most police, but she saw him fighting the Joker, and he helped Tsubasa against their dad. Though...
"They--Uh." Pause. "'He' likes it if people use 'they'." She doesn't have to go into why or gender or anything, it's just a preference. That's probably fine to say.
Ichika doesn't quite have the Guts to offer to cover Katsuya too, even though he did just do her a favor. She was more concerned with whether he'd be OK with eating with a delinquent like her anyway.
Her friend... "My friend was caught up in something scary," Ichika settles on. "...Some people think they did something bad. But they didn't."
Her hands at least are now mostly unbandaged; there's a couple of band-aids about her fingers, but they're no longer all bandaged up like they were before.
"I'd like that," Ichika says of the sketchbook. "My... friend," she says, a different friend? "Is an artist. He lets me look at what he draws sometimes. He draws me sometimes, too."
Ichika will find Castor familiar when she spots him! First, she smiles at Yoko. "OK," she says. "Well, you don't have to ask me twice to save some money..."
A look back to Katsuya. "It's nice to meet both of you," she settles on. "I live around here, so..."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"Hmm. Do they?" he remarks, observing the interaction between the two girls. He hadn't ever given it much thought one way or another: he saw art students when he was at university drawing people, animals (well, at the zoo, that is) or buildings. It's just what artists do, in order to build up their skills. ...But he supposes he could see how it could be taken poorly, particularly if someone felt they were made fun of in the drawing.
Friend, he's settled on, lacking other context.
"It is... something like that. There is little that I can say that is certain, or for public knowledge. My colleagues are..." A somewhat complicated expression makes its way onto his face. Katsuya is silent, then shakes his head, then glances away. "My apologies. I can say no more at this time. But I can assure you that your friend will be alright." At least, in the sense that they're no longer being interrogated quite like that, and that they're receiving treatment. And clothing. He'd been sure to take care of that.
It will just take a little bit of time.
--Wait. Did he get it wrong? "'They'? I had thought..." he says, looking back over at Ichika. Staring at her, actually. He'd made an assumption as a matter of course, it seems. But... that's a little confusing, isn't it? Yet...
"I... I see," Katsuya says, uncertainly. "Then... 'they'." Even if he doesn't understand it, it's not proper to be rude, is it?
He lets Ichika take point on explaining to Yoko: there's a lot that she shouldn't, and can't, know about. "We are doing what we can to straighten out the matter. But... it will take time," he says at last, because it's the only thing he can say without getting into the twisted mess that is his own workplace, these days. Or, well, the supernatural aspect of it all.
So Yoko will pay her own way, after all? Ichika takes the sketchbook first. It'll be a moment before it's passed his way and Katsuya spots something startling on a page. Well. Two startling things, actually.
"It's good to meet you as well," he tells her. And then, Katsuya pauses. "Kawase-san," he asides, because as a Kasugayama student she'd know this better-- maybe. "Does the owner here... keep a cat?"
It's driving him a little crazy, perhaps, this sense that there's still a cat in here, somehow. Somewhere.
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
Something bad happened, Yoko assumes. Maybe Ichika's friend even got blamed for it. Or maybe people just assumed the worst about them in some other way. Yoko's expression goes strangely sober for someone her age, and she toys with her pencil some more. "I hope they get better soon and things can go back to normal." Because if Officer Suou is ensuring they get medical care, that friend is maybe not at home... She's inferring kind of a lot, but the basics and important things seem pretty clear.
It must have been a different friend, she realizes. Because of 'he'. This is more familiar territory (art); Yoko is neutral on the subject of pronouns because they aren't as important to her as to some people. "Do you do life modeling? Or does he draw you from memory?" Maybe Ichika is her friend's muse. That's so exciting! Yoko looks brighter already.
"Usually people don't seem to mind. But sometimes they don't like it. I try not to look like I'm staring when I do it, but sometimes I just... forget not to." It's easy to get caught up! Like when Katsuya asks about a cat. There's one here too?!
Yoko ducks her head to peek under the tables. ...Nothing? :(
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
For public knowledge. Ichika guesses he can't say too much. That complicated expression suggests he has things he'd like to say, but... She's not going to push him. Not when he's already going out on a limb, and she's fresh from the interrogation room yesterday. His assurance at least means something. "Thanks," she says.
But, he'd thought--and he's staring. Ichika glances to the side, a little uncomfortable with that stare, until he agrees to it. Then, "...Yeah," Ichika answers. "Thanks!"
She seems to relax almost immediately.
"I wish I could talk to them," Ichika admits when Katsuya says it will take time. "I'm really worried..." But, she'll have to wait. "Uh, sorry. I'm not trying to pressure you. It's just hard."
She certainly isn't going to mention the supernatural parts either. ...Not because of Yoko or Katsuya, but because they're in public, and because Ichika doesn't want to give herself away.
Yoko, though, says something kind. Ichika smiles at her. "Thanks," she says, and she's appreciative, warm.
But a different friend! "I do," Ichika confirms. "I model for him sometimes. He mostly sculpts, but he likes to draw sometimes, too. He lets me keep some of the drawings, too."
Sometimse they don't like it... Hmmm. There's also the matter of staring. "I think it's nice. It shows I'm making an impression. ...But staring... Better not, if you can remember."
A pause. A... cat?
"Uh?" Ichika says, and glances over to Ma'am. Then she shakes her head. "No," Ichika says. "I think she has a picture of an American President's cat somewhere...?"
"But like, she couldn't keep pets, it's a restaurant."
Yoko confirms!? "...Right?" Ichika checks.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"They should be fine," he tells Yoko, "now that they are being treated." And once the SIU proves that there are discrepancies in the story his colleagues have concocted, it will be harder for them to hold Tsubasa. ...How did it get to be like this, though? This isn't how the police should be behaving...
He shakes his head at Ichika's apology. "No, I understand. It is... a difficult situation. Please rest assured that we are doing what we can do settle things properly." As opposed to the manner which his colleagues had wanted to settle them. He had been looking for ways to circumvent things indirectly, but the fact is that without the SIU's involvement, it wouldn't come as quickly, or possibly, at all. Perhaps he could have leveraged a request for medical assessment as a stall, but, it was possible even that could have been at least partially cut out under him since he'd been blocked from professional involvement with the case.
As Akechi's 'monitor' at the department, though, he's suddenly gained a lot more control over what happens.
The conversation about Ichika's art student friend he lets glide on past him: it's none of his business, but it's good that Yoko could find a friend, perhaps, though Ichika, isn't it? And he's also reminded that Myunghon had given him a name of an experienced Persona user in the area to speak to. Another thing to follow up on, once he has some time.
On the subject of staring, though, he opines, "It can be seen as rude, sometimes. I would hope that having a pencil and pad of paper in hand would eliminate any worries they might have, though..." Maybe he's just used to seeing people working on sketches, though. He is an officer, and art can be an important part of his department's trade, especially when it comes to rendering a potential suspect's apparent appearance.
But, is there a cat?
Ichika's got him there. It is a restaurant, and, to be fair to himself, he had thought something similar at the outset. "...Yes, of course," he echoes, shaking his head as if answering his own question. "This is a restaurant..."
But that nagging sense that there's a cat in here somewhere hasn't departed just yet. This has been happening a lot lately, hasn't it? Perhaps it's stress. There's an awful lot to be stressed about, and he's always been prone to it. Frowning still, he glances up at the ceiling as if he could find a better answer there for what's going on, but...
"...She has a picture of an American President's cat? Why?"
Somehow more pressing questions also have their own way of arising.
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
"I mostly sculpt too! But sketching is more portable. And a foundation skill." Everything gets planned first before being fabricated. A bit like the old saying, 'measure twice, cut once'. And Yoko will keep trying to improve her manners, even when it's difficult. "I don't want people to feel stared at. I don't like it either."
There is no cat. At least, not where Yoko can spot it. She checked thoroughly and everything!
She wouldn't mind spotting the presidential cat portrait though.
You'd think that art supplies out and ready to be used would be enough to assure people of Yoko's harmless intentions! True, often enough it does, but Yoko han't really discovered a foolproof way to ensure a good interaction.
She'll get it right eventually. She'll keep trying until she does!
But first there were the cookie-cutters from yesterday. And the cat at Iwatodai Station. Officer Suou had known a lot about cats, or so it had seemed. "...Officer Suou," Yoko asks, "Do you like cats?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
It is a difficult situation. She doesn't often do the 'rest assured' angle. And indeed, she looks kind of mixed-emotions about it. "...I think you actually mean it," she says. Then she stops, "I mean--uh, of course you..." A moment later, the tall girl sighs. "...You know what I mean, I think." It's how police should be behaving, as opposed to how they shouldn't. "So thanks."
"Oh, really?" Ichika asks of Yoko's sculpture, and smiles wider. "Sei-kun's really great at it. He says that, too--that if he can draw it it's easier to do anything else with it..." A pause. "I like your style," she says. "The little 'me' is cute." But she wonders--Castor... Does Yoko, too, have a Persona?
It is a restaurant, meanwhile, but...
"Well," Ichika says, "She used to be the President's secret lover," Ichika relates the rumor seriously. "So, I guess he gave her a picture of the cat because he liked her...?" Pause. "I dunno. Anyway, did you want to look too?" She offers the sketchbook.
It's a good question though. Cats...
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
He's a little taken aback at that comment. Are the police always... that bad to some of the young people? When he'd been a young man, he'd of course admired the police. But perhaps the police of then are not the same as they are now. "...I am only doing what is my job, as a public servant," he answers her, shaking his head. Which means that most other officers aren't, then?
It's because Ma'am was the American President's lover, Ichika explains. He blinks. This bit of information is new to him. Katsuya tries not to look over at Ma'am, but even he has his limits and if just in passing looks her way. "I... I see..." he says, accepting the sketchbook. It's not a question he wants further information regarding, it would seem.
His gaze skims over the sketches. They're good for someone her age, he thinks? He's never had much talent in this direction himself, and it's not something his brother has tried his hand at (at least, not so far as he knows). There's a small sketch of Ichika there, and it's not bad-- it's in a 'cute' style, isn't it? He can tell who it's supposed to be, in any case. He turns the page.
And stares at it like he's seen a ghost.
Is that-- it looks just like Helios, his own Persona. Could it be an accident? A coincidence, he tells himself, his gaze moving to another, more detailed sketch, and he almost forgets to breathe for a moment. It's... that young man's Persona. Shinjiro. He looks up at Yoko in silence, his gaze asking a strange, mute question before it moves to Ichika.
But... neither of them have a Persona. He would feel Resonance if they did.
...Right?
Discomfited, he pages through a few more sketches before returning the sketchbook to Yoko.
"These are... quite good. Though, some of them are strange to me. Do you get your inspiration from somewhere?"
But she has a question of her own for him. Does he like cats? "Well..." he hazards, as if put on the spot (because he is). "I... do like them. Why do you ask?"
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
"Thank you," she tells Ichika sincerely. "Doodling like that is fun. I wish more people did it," Yoko confesses after a moment's thought, "Because I'd like to see the kinds of things they were thinking about." And also maybe because she'd like to trade sketches and drawings with more people than just other artists!
As Ichika passes over the sketchbook, Yoko peeks across the restaurant at Ma'am. "...She's kind of glamorous," she decides quietly, "Even now." Shiraishi's proprietress still cuts a striking figure, even if the corners have been softened a bit by middle age. The dark lipstick, the multi-toned hair, the lay of her buttonup's collar... Yoko can imagine what she might have looked like twenty years ago. Beautiful, sharp and vibrant.
But she's careful not to stare!
Though while she's busy evaluating Ma'am, Katsuya is receiving some visions of his own...!
Helios is roughed out in shapes and tones, the ideas that make up a figure. Yoko only got a few moments to look at him (it?) before Helios faded. Castor, however... the horse and rider are eerily detailed. Textures are replicated faithfully, from the gloss of the Persona's horn to the padded doublet and flowing hair. There are a few smaller, quicker sketches of it from other angles, but the largest one carries the same sense of unknown dangers as the real thing.
She must have gotten a very, very good look at it.
Yoko's gaze skitters away from him when Katsuya asks about her 'inspiration'. "I guess they just occur to me. I don't really think too hard about it..." She takes the book back from him, but leaves it closed at her place in front of her.
"Because you knew what kinds of things cats like to eat," even if she's still undecided on the matter of a cat's 'refined palate', "And you got those cookie cutters for Yeo-san. (She may have peeked, a little.) "Kawase-san, do you like cats too?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika smiles at Yoko. "I don't have the knack," she admits. "But I really like getting to contribtue. It's why I like letting Sei-kun draw me." Yuusei Ogawa, that is. "...Well, maybe not the only reason."
Ichika has had some very bad experiences with police. ...Even before she started standing out. But now, Katsuya simply says he's only doing his job, and Ichika nods. "Yeah."
Ma'am is awesome. Even Yoko seems to think so! Ichika says, "She's really cool..."
Glamorous is right.
And Katsuya looks like he's seen a ghost. Ichika tilts her head slowly. "Hm?" she wonders, noticing the question but unaware what it is. Still...
"Imagination should be a little strange," Ichika thinks. "It's how you know you're seeing more than just what's already out there." Pause. "...Or something."
Cats. "I do," Ichika says, "Though I've never had one. The dorms don't allow pets, either..."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Glamorous? He can't help it. He takes a proper glance over at Ma'am. If he excludes their current environment and trades her current attire (not that it's poorly-chosen, mind) for something more modern... or actually, he thinks more 'classic' would be appropriate. He turns his attention away from her again. Glamorous. Yes, perhaps a little bit like a movie star from the golden age of Hollywood, or at least, that's the impression he's gotten. "Perhaps so," he remarks at last. But... still, an American president?
Certainly, not the current American president. It would have had to have been the one from a decade or more ago, Katsuya thinks, reflecting back on his knowledge of politics overseas. 'Those' sorts of scandals were more typical back... then.
Then, he's distracted by the sketchbook proper, and has no more time to think about political scandals in other countries, decades ago.
There's a chance it could be coincidence. 'Helios' is blurrier, more uncertain. It's more of a concept than a fleshed-out idea. Is it so hard to conceive of a cat with horn-like ears, in a suit?
Castor, on the other hand. Of Castor, there can be no mistake. She must have seen the Persona, somehow. Doesn't that mean she has a Persona? Or-- is it possible that someone without a Persona can still see one? He doesn't know all the ins and outs. Baofu would know. Others might well know. But he has no idea if what he's looking at here is proof that she has a Persona, or...
The 'or' is a potent or, isn't it.
He hands the book back over as she tries to explain. Or rather, doesn't. "I see... some of the figures in here are very interesting. I'm not certain I've seen anything like them," he says, glancing again at Ichika, who returns a somewhat confused look of her own. "It's not from... a cartoon, is it? Is it something you're more familiar with, Kawase-san?" He hasn't watched cartoons since he was quite small, himself: he'd outgrown that rather quickly.
But she just says that imagination should be a little strange. "I suppose that's true," he says, and perhaps as homicide detective, he'll be forgiven his apparent lack of imagination on these matters.
He likes cats. This isn't the half of it, actually.
Yoko continues, saying that he knows what cats like to eat, which isn't so bad, or weird, really. But she goes on: there's the matter of the cat-shaped cookie-cutters. "Th--those were for someone else," Katsuya blurts out in a hurry, looking like she'd said something way, way more embarrassing, like that she'd spotted him coming out of a very different sort of store. "I thought that-- for a woman, something cute might..." He trails off, largely because he's probably dug this hole a bit deeper, considering who he'd told Yoko those were for, and the fact that he's just admitted to buying something for a woman.
(In truth, he'd bought them because he thought the kitty-cat cookie cutters were cute, too...)
"Ah, I see. That's the case where I live, as well." Also, he's allergic, so it's a non-starter all around.
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
There are many ways to contribute to art culture! What would artists draw if there were no models? Museums would be full of nothing but endless bowls of fruit...! "Is Sei-kun someone from school?" She isn't sure if Ichika is still in high school, or maybe college.
"...I like that." There's something a little secretive and pleased about the smile Yoko aims down at her sketchbook. "And there's nothing wrong with being strange, anyway." Even if it goes against cultural norms and the get-along ethos of Japanese society.
It feels a little bereft to have no pets around. Yoko knows why dorms can't allow them (imagine a building full of dogs barking and cats yowling and birds screeching and fish... doing whatever it is that fish do. Blorping?) but she does miss the family cats at her parents' house. "I've been trying to make friends with a cat that lives at Iwatodai Station. If you ever visit there, I'll try to introduce you." She almost got to pet it the other day!
Any day now, Yoko is sure of it. Senpai's method is foolproof. And Yoko isn't a more powerful fool than anybody else.
"I don't really have time to watch television much," she denies, shaking her head. Her hair's still messy...! "I go see things or attend Art Club after school, and then there's homework. ...But sometimes I let something play while I draw or work."
But she tilts her head at him, staring, when he gets flustered. "But they were for Yeo-san, right?" What's wrong with giving something cute to someone else??
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh!" Ichika starts. "He's a friend from where my parents live, not my school," she explains. "He goes to Gekkoukan High. His name's Yuusei Ogawa. He's in the Art Club there. He was my boyfriend for a while." A pause. "I go to Kasugayama."
Strange... Something good about that. Glamorous! Ichika doesn't really know anything about American presidents. She's sure they spend a lot of time watching baseball in New York with their guns.
Ichika... did see those sketches, but at the time she didn't think much of it. Katsuya's questions make her realize maybe she should think twice.
"I, uh..."
Is she familiar with it? Ichika is not actually that great at lying all the time. She looks at Yoko. Then she looks at Katsuya. "I don't think they're from a cartoon," she says.
But cats! "Ooh," Ichika says, hearing the intrigue of buying a gift for a woman. It cheers her up a little. "I don't watch a ton of TV either," she supplies for Yoko. "Just some dramas."
But... "A gift for a woman," Ichika repeats then. "I'd like it if a guy got me something like that. You probably did good! I guess the police have time for romance, too?"
She smiles. But then--wait.
"Oh, you know Yeo-san?" She's surprised. She didn't think they were the kind of person to know police...
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
She doesn't think they're from a cartoon, or anything like that. "I see..." And Yoko says that she doesn't have time to watch a lot of television. It's not possible that she imagined those out of nothing, is it? That it's some kind of coincidence? No, she has to have seen their Personas. ...But when? They weren't in a supernatural space (outside the environs of the Cardboard Dragon, that is) so that does beg the question of 'how this happened in the first place'.
He decides to change the subject, not certain what else he can ask: doesn't he understand what's happening, if not why? "I am in the same situation, I suppose," he says, of the TV. Though he does have his television on sometimes, when he's working in his apartment's excuse for a kitchen. It's nice, to have some sound on in the background.
"Ah, so that cat is still there?" Katsuya says, not evading the allegations of him being some sort of cat-lover.
"Yes, they were for Yeo-san."
Yoko, fortunately, doesn't latch onto what he's trying to say as emblematic of anything deeper.
Ichika, unfortunately, does.
"Ah--" Katsuya gets out, looking as if he's just received a terrible shock. "No, no, that's not-- what I mean to say is... it isn't... like that." For one thing, he's a little too busy right now to be in a relationship with anyone (particularly still coming off his breakup from last year, which had gone badly if he's any judge himself). For another, isn't it... it wouldn't be proper, is the long and short of it, for a handful of reasons, among them being the fact that his workplace is still regards Myunghon as a potential criminal element. If word got out that they had-- this sort of relationship -- it'd make it impossible help them out again in any way.
And things being what they are, Katsuya might even have to resign. Even the appearance of impropriety can be the same as actual impropriety. He knows this lesson well.
"Yeo-san is an acquaintance of mine," he explains at length. "Since she is wounded, I wanted to... help her with her errands." Just your normal helpful local police officer, eh?
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
He goes to Gekkoukan High. "Ogawa-senpai??" Yoko is easily redirected (momentarily) from Katsuya's embarrassment over Being Caught Doing Nice Things For Others (the shame!!). "He's really good! We haven't talked much but his work stands out." That means... if he's the 'Sei-kun' Ichika was talking about...
Yoko looks at Ichika. Really looks at her, particularly her face... and hands. "No way... you were the model for 'Grasp'?" Everybody liked that one...! "He did such a great job modeling the knuckles! It's really easy to forget them or to make them too knobby, but he made them look graceful and strong without unbalancing the overall composition."
So Yoko can be talkative...!
Of course Kawase-san wouldn't have seen them on television, Yoko thinks privately. Nobody else could have seen them. (Probably.) ...It's kind of strange though, isn't it, that Officer Suou was so intrigued. Maybe he's not someone who appreciates non-classical art? That or everything unusual is just anime to him.
"Yes. Arisato-senpai and I have been feeding it. I can't bring it to my dorm, but maybe Senpai could. I think he lives in one of the nicer ones?" She heard something like that once, or maybe it was just a rumor.
But maybe Ichika's gotten the wrong impression, and it's making Katsuya uncomfortable. "It didn't seem like that, when we were at the Cardboard Dragon. Officer Suou was formal like usual, but there wasn't anything romantic about it." Is she taking pity on him...?
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogawa!! Yoko knows him! Ichika smiles at Yoko. "Oh, that's great!" Then, Yoko gets it and--"Oh!" She flushes a little. "Yes," Ichika answers of her hands. "He's really good, isn't he? He told me it's because my hands were already graceful, but I think if he weren't so good they'd have come off more ordinary..." She likes her hands, but she doesn't think of them as terribly special. "But it feels really nice that a piece I got to help with was so successful."
But the cat! "Oh, Arisato? ...That wouldn't be Minato Arisato, would it?" Small world!
Oh, for Yeo-san. But Ichika realizes a different issue. ...That comes later. First...
"Oh, it's not?" Ichika looks a little disappointed. She was already starting to ship the nice detective with his mystery woman. Besides; if it were Yeo-san...
Ichika opens her mouth and closes it; she can't quite think of a way to correct Katsuya on the matter of Myunghon, but at the same time, calling them a woman seems not quite right either...
Well, if Myunghon wanted him to know, he'd know, right? ...Or should she say something? It takes her a minute to settle.
Yoko chimes in. "My bad," she says. "I'm just kinda romance brained," she admits. "When you have someone you like, you see it everywhere. ...Uh, but anyway. No, I know Yeo-san, too. It's cool of you to help."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
He regards Yoko curiously, as if he didn't expect all that out of her just like that. Which... is pretty much what just happened. She's pretty quiet by nature, or at least, this is his read on her regarding, but it seems once the conversation pivots towards something she's interested in, she's capable of saying quite a lot. "Is that so," he remarks, entering the conversation he'd largely been content to remain outside. "It does make sense. Construction and assembly of a three-dimensional is not a skill easily acquired. It requires an understanding of how the final product must look and how best to reach that state," he says, because he knows a little bit about that himself. ...Just not with clay, or stone.
(He's never done anything completely out of pocket, like a wedding cake, but he's done due diligence in other areas. Macarons alone require a steady hand...)
She'd mentioned her sempai before, that he'd been the one to first correctly attract the cat with some takoyaki. It had worked, he must admit, but is it really healthy for a cat to be used to eating takoyaki...?
(they were good takoyaki)
But alas, a misconception has taken place. Yoko comes to his rescue! ...Though, there's something embarrassing about him needing it, as well, so it's sort of a zero-sum game. "Hirano-san, this isn't..." he tries to protest, but there's no heat in it at all. Besides, Ichika has apologized. Katsuya shakes his head. "No, no, it's... quite alright." It's not, but he's not going to say that to a young woman he barely knows. "It is... an understandable mistake." Considering the way he'd put it, anyway.
As with Tsubasa, there's something that still hasn't been explained to him about Myunghon, alas. "So you know her as well? ...Well, as a public servant, if I can be of use..." he says, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
It's because he hasn't been entirely honest, truth be told. He's getting skill cards from Myunghon as an exchange, for baking lessons from him.
"Are you a player of card games, then?" He makes it sound so stiff!
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
"That's something that only a model for a piece gets to know," Yoko says, smiling another version of that secret smile. "What it's like to see the 'you' that lives inside someone else."
Oh, Ichika knows him too? "Yes. Senpai showed me how to coax out the cat. He calls it Enigma." Yoko and Katsuya have had a serious discussion about cat names. "I wonder if the cat's let Senpai pet it yet...?"
Ichika is just romance-brained, then. "Love and romance are enduring themes, and they make people create. If you love something you'll dedicate a lot of time to it. You can make really amazing things if you're passionate." That may be simplifying things a bit - there's a lot more to great works than just enthusiasm!
"Yes, that's it - it's work to be able to make and understand two-dimensional forms, and it's even harder to work in three. Talent only gets you so far." Yoko fidgets a little bit with the corners of her closed sketchbook, before giving in and opening it to leaf through. The pages with Castor and Helios are near the middle of the book, and the preceeding pages are crammed full. "Anybody can make art. With enough studying and practice, you can even surpass someone who relies solely on talent."
It's not what? She considers Katsuya, but he just says everything's all right. Yoko doesn't think he's being entirely truthful and her expression indicates that. But she knows that there are things people don't want to talk about, and maybe that's one of them. Maybe he's just saying it's okay to change the subject.
Yoko turns back to Ichika. "Have you seen 'Vampire Bakers'? The illustrations are really good!"
She's got your back, Officer Suou.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
It is a difficult skill! But Yoko has the emotional context that makes it special for Ichika, and Ichika smiles at her. She gets it. "Right," Ichika answers. It's a feeling that's easy to want to experience again sometime... But Katsuya, Ichika wonders if that means he does some kind of art. She already kinda put her foot in it once though, so she doesn't ask.
Enigma the cat. "Oh, cool. He's pretty cool." She's appreciative of Minato. He's a good... friend.
Enduring themes! Ichika is glad to put it to the general instead of specific, since she'd be a little embarrassed in this company to talk about 'who' that is. ...Art's an easier topic, too. "Right. Tsubasa-kun is really good at art, too, and I can tell they get better by practicing."
But it's all right, he says, and while she suspects it might not be, she's going to take the graceful out offered her. "Thanks," she says. Instead, "I do. But..."
Vampire Bakers!!
"No, but I'm thinking of trying them," she says. "I know Yeo-san because... Well..."
"Personal stuff," she settles on. "Yeo-san's cool. But I might try the games. I'm definitely not smart enough for the books."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Engima just isn't cute enough as a name, in Katsuya's estimation. (The cat had been very cute, cuter than he'd expected.)
"Well... that is true," Katsuya says, of love and romance. "Some of the more enduring myths and legends, to say nothing of stories, are about love. In fact, even the founding myth of this country is, at its core, a story about love, isn't it?" It's just also a sad story about love, and how bonds that once tied can be shattered forever.
So it's no surprise such tales have prompted art and music. And of course, when you love someone, it's normal to want to make things for them, too. Isn't it?
Ichika's a lot closer than she thinks. It's just probably not the art that she's likely to think of first-off. And if she's listening to the rumors, Katsuya is into... photography as hobby?? (He's not, but at this rate it might end up happening. Reality is at the mercy of public opinion, in this city.)
"Seki-kun is also an artist? I wouldn't have guessed. Do they sculpt as well?"
Talent only gets you so far.
Katsuya, himself, wouldn't describe himself as talented. Not... naturally. He has his gifts, like everyone does, but he's never coasted a day in his life. Everything he's gotten, he's gotten through effort, and a lot of it. "Yes," he says, as if agreeing what what Yoko's saying. "That is correct, I believe. ...You are quite perceptive, Hirano-san." Or maybe she's just buttered him up in the right way to appeal to his ego, which is also a definite possibility.
He's concealing something here. But he'd just said he's not dating Myunghon, so it's probably less fraught than a relationship would be. Some under-the-table agreement, maybe (yes, actually)? Or some secret plot between the two of them (no, it's definitely not that)?
Not card games. Not the books, either... Yeo-san's advice, maybe? If she's Tsubasa's friend, and Tsubasa he knows is close to Myunghon, then that, he decides, might be the key to this particular puzzle. Someone who is a mentor to one might be the mentor to another. It's as easy as that, even if Myunghon is an unorthodox mentor, indeed. "Ah. So that's how it is... I am not one for games like that, myself," he answers, shaking his head. The books are a little more his speed. Well, some of them, anyway.
And the skill cards might just prove the difference between life or death.