2026-03-11: Soul of the Chef
- Log: Soul of the Chef
- Cast: Tamaki Uchida, Shinjiro Aragaki
- Where: Kuzunoha Detective Agency
- OOC Date: March 11, 2026
- IC Date: October 08, 2012
- Summary: Shinjiro walks into the Kuzunoha Detective Agency to share some food and offer his help to Tamaki and Todoroki. After Shinjiro wonders if he should pursue his dream of starting a restaurant, the reason behind Tamaki's enthusiasm for food comes out.
(|======================== Kuzunoha Detective Agency =========================|)
-=================================================== Sumaru City/Aoba Ward ====-
The first thing that greets visitors to Kuzunoha Detective Agency is a giant
golden lucky cat statue that, with its left paw raised, bids a hearty welcome to
customers and opportunities alike. Inspect it, and a mewling voice will ask for
donations: 100 yen from students and other children, and 1000 yen from adults.
A pair of dark couches that frame a coffee table have an excellent view of the
massive HDTV and dual stereos on the far right wall. On the far left wall are
shelves upon shelves full of books, none of which definitely can slide to one
side. A large desk with a lamp and computer stands in front of it. This is where
the portly older ex-gumshoe, Chief Daisuke Todoroki, makes his business, as...
blessed... by the agency's original owner. He investigates (and will spread) all
manner of rumors to find out the truth (and change reality), assisted by veteran
Persona User Tamaki Uchida.
The back room is nothing special; it has a stove and a sink, so it's a simple
task to always have tea ready for customers. There's a bathroom there too, but
it seems like it's always occupied. Don't ask who's in there, meow.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
It's fall, and midterms are soon approaching. Tamaki's been at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency a little bit less often these days in order to focus on her studies. There's some irony in that, considering that she would rather prefer to throw herself headlong into resolving cases.
Todoroki and the cat statue (and no one else) are ever-present fixtures in the office. The former is in the middle of getting some tea. The latter watches and waits for any visitors, one paw invitingly curled to bring them in.
Tamaki works like a whirlwind with a frantic sense of renewed vigor and purpose, in stark contrast to her usual lackadaisical nature. Empty coffee cans lay strewn on her desk. She flits between her computer, physical notes, open folders, the shelves behind both her desk and Todoroki's.
Todoroki returns to his desk and waits for his mug to cool. He closes his eyes, then drowsily opens one to give his subordinate a concerned look. "Uchida-kun, are you quite alright?"
Without pausing her task, Tamaki replies, "Never better, boss! I'm on fire today!" Skim the news. Go through tabloids. Fill out magazine sweepstakes entries for Persona-users who dropped them by. Check Dark Side of Sumaru. Plan travel routes and create itineraries to optimize the time she spends on multiple cases within the same area. Check the supply of first aid kits. And so on.
Her boss decides to leave the matter alone for now and takes a sip of his tea before returning to his own work: deciding what Tamaki even takes on in the first place.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro's been busy. Midterms are coming up, and he had to start a little earlier than most in preparing, because he's been so lagged behind in his schooling. But even he needs breaks - especially after being unable to help others against the Joker Killer lately. Being knocked out in that gallery, being unable to explore that asylum...
It eats at him.
But that is not, actually, why he's entering Kuzunoha Detective Agency, clad in his red coat. He's got a bag in his hand. As the door opens, he looks around, waving lazily once he spots the detectives. He gestures his head to the cat statue first.
"Sorry, broke."
Then, Shinjiro approaches *Tamaki's* desk, if she seems receptive. "Hey, Uchida. Was planning on coming by to see if you've got anything new and thought I'd make good on what I said last time."
He raises the bag up. Based on what he said last time, it's probably food he made. "There's enough to share," he says with a glance to her boss, but not to the cat statue. Cat statues don't eat.
Then, he looks over her pile of work. "I didn't come at a bad time, did I?"
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
The cat statue cries its usual "Nya~! Nya~! Nya~!" donation plea, but in response: it silently regards Shinjiro. After a pause, it relents and tinnily squeaks out, "... that's okay, nya." Todoroki, for his part, gives a distant wave.
Tamaki excitedly exclaims "Aragaki-kun!" as she bounds to the door. Of course she seems receptive; she so often plays the part of receptionist here!
She snaps her fingers and points at the SEES senpai. "I have just the thing. Part of what we do isn't just spreading rumors, but quelling them, keeping them from spreading too far and too wide to coalesce." She bites her lower lip worriedly and agitatedly taps her foot as she considers, then rummages through the papers on her desk. "Have a seat at the couches, I'll bring something in a sec that I think you can help on."
The sight of the bag causes Todoroki to amble over and take a seat at the couches as well. "Don't mind if I do," he offers Shinjiro with a wink.
Tamaki arrives at the couches with a folder and stares at the bag of presumably food, her manic energy now stilled by the prospect of Shinjiro's cooking. She hungrily stares at it for a moment, but forces her attention to Shinjiro himself. "There's something that we found out recently, a trio of historical figures. What I'm not sure about is if they truly existed during the Warring States period, or if they're a more recent revision of the history books. What's the true origin of Tatsunoshin Suou, Maihime Amano, and Junnosuke Kuroda -- and if they're rumor-born, to what end?"
She rubs the back of her neck and adds, "It'd also help to just be able to have another set of eyes and ears in general to check the pulse of the goings-on in Iwadotai and Port Island. I've had to go there by rail and on foot myself each time so far ..."
With that business taken care of, Tamaki now gives herself permission to inquire about the bag. She eagerly leans forward and props her hand on a chin as she asks, "Sooo, what'd you bring?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro nods to the cat statue as it relents, before taking a seat as at the couches as he's asked. He sets the food down, considering what she says about the historical figures.
And then, as she explains, his face stalls when she says 'Suou'. He's familiar with Tatsuya Suou - he might not pay it any mind... if it wasn't for what Tatsuya once said to him. That the fire at the orphanage was his fault, because he 'escaped his fate'. That on the day that Shinjiro's orphanage burnt down, Alaya Shrine was supposed to - had - burnt down. And yet, it still stood. They even had that conversation there.
But he can't share that with Tamaki. Tatsuya held him to his word he'd say nothing, and Shinjiro tries to keep his word.
"Do they supposedly have descendants? That first name is suspiciously similar to Tatsuya Suou. It can't be a coincidence."
He does nod about the Iwatodai. "I'll help however I can. I have some information, but..."
He opens the bag first. "Bentos. Teriyaki salmon, but I couldn't get real sake easily, and the cooking kind's too salty, so I made the marinade out of honey, soy sauce, and mirin. There's also some chicken karaage I made for meal prepping, and I threw in some onigiri."
The bentos have kept the heat fairly well with how he packed them, and, perhaps surprisingly, were delicately placed. He's no housewife, but Shinjiro understands the art of plating.
"There's been some shit going on in Iwatodai," he'll add, before reluctantly continuing. "...my group's dorm got attacked by Strega, who Sudou has aligned himself with. He was part of the attack. I have... history with Strega, and everything kind of exploded for me after that. We're piecing it together, though." Or at least, he hopes so, not sounding quite sure of his words.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Oh, Shinjiro's familiar with Takkun. Tamaki's own expression stalls in mild surprise. That connection wasn't on her bingo card, but it makes a certain kind of sense in hindsight.
She feels like she messed up the last time Tatsuya was in the office. Would he approve of her meddling in this matter as she is? Probably not, but ... as Jun said, sometimes you have to go against what you've been told to do.
"If it's a coincidence, it isn't the only one. The other two names bear resemblance to Maya Amano and Jun Kashihara -- his mother's surname is Kurosu." Tamaki slightly lowers her head while she keeps her focus on Shinjiro. "The latter being the boy who offered himself to Sudou at the art gallery."
As for descendants, Tamaki furrows her brow. "I'll have to double-check, but the story goes that Amano had been slain by Kiyodata Sumaru, then Suou ordered Kuroda to set fire to Sumaru Castle with himself, Sumaru, and Amano's corpse inside it."
The sight of the food causes Tamaki to become overwhelmed with anticipation, verklempt. So thorough, so meticulous, both in flavor and presentation, the amount of deliberate effort is plain to see ..!
She shakes her head and clears her throat as she wrenches her attention away from it to the matter at hand. Focus! "Ahem. It looks very good, but l-let me get through this discussion f-first or we never will." Todoroki, on the other hand, is content to make his way through an onigiri. It pairs nicely with the tea he made.
Tamaki curls a finger to her chin at the mention of Strega. "Yeah, Kashihara-kun had said earlier that Sudou was interested in him ... and that members of Strega hounded him to ask him why Sudou took such an interest." Furthermore, she got a description of one of its members from somebody else. "I know the name 'Niko' from someone else -- she was the one at the art gallery that night, correct?"
Finally, she reaches over for one of Shinjiro's onigiri. "What kind of history?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"I'm familiar with Kashihara, but wouldn't have placed it. Amano, not as much..." Shinjiro considers. A consideration. It all links back to Sumaru Castle...
"Then perhaps not. But you said a fire?" He grimaces at that. What's with them and fires?
He shakes his head, continuing the discussion, as it pans back to him. He frowns. "...they had a medicine I could only get one of two places. The other... didn't feel like it'd work out at the time. So I started buying it from them. Cash and... information." The way he grimaces makes it clear this wasn't a net neutral thing he did.
"I'm getting it from the Kirijo Corporation now, but... yeah." He considers, watching as they eat the onigiri. It's onigiri, so it's nothing special, but he does handmake them like a professional.
"...I had to tell my dearest friend in the world I was dying after that. I kept it from him because I was scared to hurt him, but I think that just hurt him worse. ...he and Mitsuru Kirijo, they're fighting for me." This may be less about business, sure. But it's also something that's clearly been dwelling on him.
He looks up to Tamaki, focusing on her more than Todoroki, based off their prior discussions. "...so I want to live. Help people, instead of continuing to hurt them through my selfishness. So if there's anything I can help with, please let me know."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki fills him in on the last name. "Amano-san's a journalist over at Coolest. She was at the art exhibit, too. I had to step in between myself and her since she was weak to -- "
Wholly oblivious to the full significance of that detail, Tamaki nods in confirmation. "Yup, a fire." A moment later, her eyes nearly pop out of her skull in shock. "The Joker Killer has a thing for fire, huh." She's dangerously close to realizing some more things in association with that, buuuuut ... she's not quite there yet.
Todoroki breaks apart a pair of chopsticks, then hands another pair to Tamaki. She doesn't set on the food right away and instead chews the inside of her cheek. "Given what I understand of what you knew at the time, I don't think I blame you. You had to determine which option was the least bad out of only bad options."
Morosely, she continues, "... at least you told him." She flicks her eyes back up to Shinjiro. "I can relate to how him and Kirijo-san are fighting for you, albeit in regards to someone else."
Tatsuya. She means Tatsuya. (And yet, this sentiment comes from someone who's just as tight-lipped about the things that eat at her. Maybe one day she'll realize her hypocrisy, but that's not today.)
Tamaki offers an outstretched hand to Shinjiro. "Because you're both willing to cooperate with us and because you have that aforementioned history with Strega, I believe you are uniquely suited to answer a question like this: What do you anticipate would happen to Strega if Sudou gets taken down once and for all? What would change from their current status quo?"
She leans forward, intent to hear the answer ...
... although she undercuts the gravity of the situation by taking a bite of the main course, the teriyaki salmon, and putting a hand to her cheek as she smiles.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro grimaces. "I'm not sure if he's the only one with abilities like he has," Shinjiro says. He knows about Tatsuya and Umie's Marks, but not the full significance, or even if Sudou actually has one. But that possessiveness... it seems familiar enough to have a hypothesis. "And if multiple have the same horrific abilities... it means there's something at play, right?"
Shinjiro frowns guiltily as Tamaki says she doesn't think she blames him. If only she knew *why* he chose to take the 'medicine'. That everything was a fault of bad decision after bad decision.
"...yeah. They're so strong," he says in a way that indicates he doesn't think he himself is.
But as Tamaki outstretches that hand, he takes it, straightening up. "I don't think they need him, but I do think his ability to create supernatural spaces anywhere provides them a breach of the status quo. Without it, they can only act in the Dark Hour. I know several of their members - Niko, who you mentioned earlier, is... a friend of mine, so to say, but... they're not good people generally. They're getting limited resources from *somewhere*. Which makes me wonder if they have support behind the scenes. I'm not sure it's NWO support, though."
But he has no idea who it could be.
A small breath, before Tamaki takes that bite. He smiles as she smiles.
"I've been cooking all my life... at one point, I wanted to start a restaurant when I got older. That's... slipped from my grasp some, but it's still a nice dream, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki also knows about their Marks. Umie described only what she felt comfortable with saying.
Eriko had mentioned a name which evokes an infinite, unknowable entity, something impossible to fathom without breaking. Something like the the subject of the art exhibition portrait.
"... Nyarlathotep. We found the name scrawled on Sudou's sanitarium cell, and some old classmates of mine had apparently encountered something called that before."
Something so all-encompassing that everyone's being kept in the dark by their own little individual narratives. And yet, they need those narratives to derive strength from in the first place ...
She retains grasp of his hand for a while yet. "As are you. You've gone through something that no one should endure in the first place. If I can be so bold, if I were in their position," and she is, "then I'd want to help you out so you don't need to be so strong all the time."
Tamaki holds the coins in her choker and absentmindedly rubs one with a finger. "There was a time when I didn't have anyone to lean on. No one whatsoever. It was the worst hell I've been through."
"I'm willing to bet that you're all stronger together, greater than the sum of your parts." Like she is with so many people, as she's since come to learn.
She listens to his explanation on Strega, then extracts her hand and pulls back to the couch and curls a finger over her chin. "So he isn't the one calling the shots, he's just a member. There wouldn't be a power vacuum, from the sound of it. Them losing flexibility is good. If they're not getting support from the NWO, though, then who does that leave?" She points a finger at Shinjiro, then nods at Todoroki. " -- I think that's our job to figure out."
Tamaki nods vigorously at Shinjiro's expressed dream. "I think that's a wonderful idea! Do you still want to give it a shot? Maybe you still can do a smaller scope thing. Run a school festival stall, or be a street vendor, or ... hmmm."
Another bite. Tamaki's expression just melts, and she praises the meal with her mouth still full. "Mmmf, sho gud ..."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Tch. Sounds creepy," Shinjiro says, still a teenager, though he considers. "If I hear anything about it, I'll let you know."
Tamaki's words, however, cause his expression to falter. To not have to be so strong all the time... he can't imagine it. When you're an orphan who's never had someone to truly rely on, who else is there but yourself? But maybe he needs to *start* imagining it.
"...I've never been able to rely on anyone but them. It's hard, sometimes, to let that happen."
A sigh, and a nod about being stronger together. But as she pulls back, he straightens up a bit more, considering. "I don't know. But if you learn anything, let me know, alright?"
Though, about professional cooking, he's a bit melancholy. "...if I make it through this." It's not full-fledged 'I will', but it's better than last time, so assured he was a goner. Maybe he can find hope after all.
"Glad you're enjoying it. I think the best food feels like the soul of the chef. I know that's a little avant-garde, but I go to an art school." He's smiling a bit at that joke.
"So I guess... I want my food to express that not everything has to be terrible. You can still have a good meal, once in a while. A little taste of hope."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki glances down at her choker. She starts, but falters. "I, uh ..."
Okay, so maybe today is that day. Physician, heal thyself.
She hangs her head. "Yeah. I know it's hard. Took me literal years to start letting other people support me instead of me giving them support." She presses her hands together and winks at Shinjiro as if pleading for forgiveness. "It was only mere days ago that it clicked for me, so knowing that, take it as you will."
'Let me know, alright?' About Strega's sourcing, that is. "Yeah. And likewise if you do. I've got a few places to look, at least ..."
'If I make it through this'? Tamaki blinks in slight confusion. "Why not now? Why wait? I can help you look up what it takes to get a permit."
The rest of it -- Shinjiro's motivations, his aspirations, what his food means in an artistic sense -- is enough to bring Tamaki to genuine tears. "I, uh ..." sniff, "Let me explain myself." sniff, "I said that it was," sniffle, "the 'worst hell I went through', right?"
Tamaki regains enough of her composure to continue without, well, waterworks. "During both times I was involved in supernatural incidents in high school, good food was hard to come by. The second time required us to ration our supplies while we waited for rescue, but in the first, I was stuck with nothing but vending machines or whatever was left in the building. Eating was strictly a dry and utilitarian affair."
She pounds both fists against the couch cushions. "And it SUCKED! Same old fare, day in, day out, yelling at the dumbass that took all the sports drinks for himself. Sustenance devoid of soul. It was an empty experience, and I don't just mean in the sense of 'empty calories.'" Her petulant outburst doesn't startle Todoroki ... but there's a distant thud and scrabbling sound from the direction bathroom behind the kitchenette. The detectives simply ignore it.
With a laugh, she angles her head and grins at Shinjiro. "I don't know if your vision will resonate as strongly with anyone else, but holy hell, man, you got me right in the weak spot with that. I get it, I really do. Hope's hard to come by, and I'm all for ways to help people find it."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"...heh. Let's see if I can do it in a fraction of the time, then." Is Shinjiro challenging himself? A little. But it helps, even if he's joking.
He nods about giving her shared info, though he hangs his head a bit a bout the permit. "...I'll consider it. I don't know if I'm ready for that, with everything going on, but maybe." A way to put it off, but not a no.
When she starts to tear up though, his eyes go alert. As she explains through sniffles, he sheepishly rubs the back of his head, but...
Her words do resonate with him, too, and it shows on his face. Another high schooler dragged into this stuff, and she was trapped in a school... he won't pry, but that must have been terrifying. This world sucks, he thinks.
Though, as she says it resonates with her... "Then we're working together in that. I'll see what I can dig up, bring it back to you two. Thank you, Uchida."