2026-06-07: Do (Not) Disturb
- Log: 2026-06-07 Do (Not) Disturb
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Maria Sakurai
- Where: Seven Sisters High School - Classroom Building
- OOC Date: June 07, 2026
- IC Date: Wednesday, November 21, 2012
- Summary: With Futaba's Palace settled, Ren moves on to something that's been troubling them that they haven't had time to address until now: Akechi's sudden, prolonged radio silence. They head to Seven Sisters High School to investigate, and are lucky enough to run into Maria there and get her help.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren really just wanted to sleep in this morning. For the entire morning. Maybe for the entire day. The best they got was Morgana letting them sleep in through their usual morning exercise and coffee routine, and even after scarfing down a curry breakfast and dashing out the door, they barely made it to school on time and ended up taking ruthless advantage of their deal with Ms. Kawakami to sleep through all of her classes. They're only just starting to wake up by the time school ends. Even then, they're still yawning.
As they yawn, they check their texts. No news on Futaba, not that they were really expecting any; who would text it to them? She passed out, Dr. Takemi assured everyone she's more or less okay, and Sojiro explained that she just does this sometimes and she'll probably be up and out of bed in a few days. No news from their friends, who are no doubt all equally exhausted after yesterday...
...no news from Akechi, either. Who put them on Do Not Disturb after their last conversation and hasn't spoken to them since, something they only discovered after trying to check in on him, for the second time that day, a few hours after he hung up on them.
It's been a week and a half since then. They trace their thumb over the screen of their smartphone, wondering if, now that Futaba's Palace has been resolved, they should try another text.
Fuck it, they think, and send something extremely simple:
> hey
Within seconds, it is responded to with a message that Goro Akechi is not to be disturbed at this time.
Ren sighs.
Morgana, who's poked his head out of their bag and over their shoulder to watch them check their phone, suggests, "Why not head over to his neck of the woods if you're so worried? Turnabout is fair play, right?"
That gets a smile out of them as they glance at him. "True," they admit. Akechi's always conveniently showing up where they are, so... "Okay. Why not?"
~ * ~
And so that's what brings Ren to Sumaru, specifically to Seven Sisters High School, this Wednesday afternoon. Having no clubs or other school-related afterschool activities, they were able to come straight here, and so the students who do have afterschool activities are still around. They doubt Akechi will be here himself, considering how outrageously busy he is at all times, but maybe he'll have a classmate around who could fill them in on what he's been up to.
Well, assuming no one stops him for being obviously from a totally different school and not belonging here. Ren lopes across the school grounds towards the main building anyway. They've been here a couple times before due to Maria's Kingdom, but this time they get to actually take in the building and its grand clock tower.
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
It's a beautiful late-fall day in Sumaru City, and Maria Sakurai is still at school.
Partially, this is because she's been trying to get takers for her club-in-waiting (biking club!) but alas, this isn't a matter that she's had a lot of success with, given that the people who have bikes, by large, already have a lot to do on their plate, and the people who don't have bikes don't... ...have any interest in a biking club.
Still, she's holding fast to her dream. Maybe she can get something going before she's a senior, even! ...and if not, making the soccer team's taking on people?
Also, the literature club met today. That's important.
(Literature club, at Sumaru, has shifted into a girls-only club where they mostly talk about racy romantic fiction; this is to the dismay of anyone wanting to discuss classic literature.)
(They have largely not been very interested in biking club, as a result. Most of the participants don't use a bike anymore.)
Maria, loitering by the entrance, is keeping an eye out for anyone else she can ambush about ~biking club~ but at this point in the day, everyone's largely still at clubs or has already headed home. With a sigh, she hops down to the path leading towards the school. That's when she spots Ren. She remembers him from that one cafe job!
"Oh, hey, you're--"
maria_thinking.gif
"Curly-kun, right?"
maria, that's not their name
"It's been a while! Are you still working at that cafe?" she asks them, rapid-fire. "I got fired!"
She says, cheerfully.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Reading and discussing racy romantic fiction is a fine pastime for distinguished young ladies, and it's only right that Maria prioritize this activity. It's... spiritual enrichment!
Yeah. We'll go with that.
A girl loitering by the entrance approaches the path that Ren is one. The two of them spot each other at the same time. Ren of course recognizes her; they might not if they hadn't seen her since that one time they did a shift at Cafe Chagall together, but since then they helped rescue her from the Doll Corporation and from the Joker Killer. It's actually nice to see she's doing well, and they smile to see her.
Then she calls them Curly-kun.
The lenses of their glasses go opaque as they slip just slightly to one side down their cheek. "Uhh..." Their kneejerk reaction is to go, 'Sure, whatever,' but they hold it back and make themself go, "It's Amamiya, actually."
Then they shrug a bit. "Not really. I didn't get fired, but I got other, better-paying jobs." Sometimes they ask him to come in and do a shift, but frankly Ren has so many things they're trying to do and learn that they really don't have time for something they don't have a specific reason to do.
"You're... Sakurai-san, right?" they say, turning to her. They of course know her name, but they don't want to creep her out by remembering her name too well, considering... well, the opposite. "D'you know Goro Akechi? I'm here to see him."
This is technically correct--the best kind of correct.
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
She recognizes a certain other fine fellow from both her rescue from the Joker Killer and the Doll House Corporation, but she doesn't recognize them as Ren of course, and the same goes for her alter-ego of 'Cherry'. The upshot of this is that they probably remember that she sort of... turned into a horrible awful creature and everyone had to beat her up with the help of some mystery 'superhero'.
At least, from the point of their own perspective.
Curly-kun is a terrible choice of name. Maria is not the world's best nicknamer.
"Amamiya-kun! Okay!" she says, without shame or even missing a beat. Does someone like Maria know shame? ...She probably wouldn't be like this if she did, honestly.
"Oh, I see!" she goes on, about work and so on. "Cool! So did I! I work at Giga Macho in Yumezaki sometimes. It's nice to have spending money, hehe. Granny doesn't like to keep loaning me money..."
And she doesn't feel right about asking her mother. And if she asks dad, he'll just tell her to ask her grandmother. Ah, what's a girl to do...
But is she Sakurai? "Yep! Maria Sakurai!" she says, waving towards herself with both hands (wee). "I'm a second year. I'll be a third year, next year, and,"
Does she know Goro Akechi?
"Akechi-sempai? Yes!" she says, stepping two steps closer to him. "But, it's not like that, okay? We're not dating!" She shouldn't say it like that, some of the other girls would immediately lock on to her just for saying that.
"It's like... he's kind of like my magic savior, sometimes, a little, you know? He's a detective, kind of! And he was looking into some things for me about this and that, and, he's really nice!"
Granted, this is because Maria is a little too dim to understand that Akechi has also been manipulating her.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
In fairness to Maria, Akechi has been very good at manipulating the people around him. Even Ren has, after a long period of being deeply suspicious of him, decided to take it on faith that he's good-intentioned and come around.
Ren does remember Cherry. They have no reason to believe she is Maria Sakurai, thanks to the subtle effects of the Will of Rebellion. Maybe one day they'll learn. The rest of the Kingdom, though... yes, they definitely remember that too--including when Maria's Shadow called them cute. It was weird and flattering at the same time.
It's fine that she doesn't have any shame. Ren's just glad she didn't insist on 'Curly-kun.' They thought there was a real possibility of that. They nod once, remembering the version of 'Granny' that existed in the Doll Corporation and refraining from commenting on that part. "It is," they say instead. Spending money is very important when you have no parental support. (Besides getting set up at a prestigious school and finding (and paying for) room and board for them, but Ren doesn't think of that as 'parental support'--just their parents doing their due diligence so they don't look like the bad guys. They do not trust they won't get kicked out for good when they go home and they weren't magically transformed into an obedient and diligent son.)
Maria approaches. This is fine--no really, it actually is fine--though Ren maintains a poker face when she goes out of her way to assure him she's not dating Akechi. Her describing him as a detective, kind of, almost makes them snort with laughter, but they manage to hold that back, too. "So you know him really well, huh?" they remark. They're a little dubious about the 'he's really nice' part, but it's not like Akechi's incapable of treating others kindly. Stranger things have happened. "Do you know if he's in school today? If not, do you know where his homeroom is? I figure I'll ask his teacher about it."
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
Fortunately, it's a nickname born of 'I can't remember your name' rather than any true attempt at making Curly-kun happen (it's not going to happen). So she holds onto it as well as she might water through her hands.
The disclaimer about dating is very important. Almost all the girls want to date him, you see, but he's famously chaste. This is probably fortunate, because the first one to do so would almost certainly be the target of all her friends and schoolmates ire. Woe betide the one who breaks the fantasy of 'perhaps I could be the one': (almost) everyone wants him and no one can have him.
Life is hard, for someone with idol-like stature...
Was Akechi in school today? "Ummm," Maria hazards, her gaze going a touch blank. "I don't know? But I didn't see him. And he's usually not, so probably not?" She sighs. "I wish I could do that, too... oh, but, I have to keep studying! He said he expected me to do well on my next exam, and, um..."
One may get the not-incorrect impression that Maria doesn't test well. She does not, outside of math. Is this what 'being a savant' is like?
But his homeroom, then? "He has Saeko-san! She's really nice. I heard she used to teach somewhere else a few years ago, uh, wait, homeroom?"
maria_loading.gif
"3-C? Oh wait, no!" Maria corrects, shaking her head. "It's 3-B, of course! I'm in 2-C, so it's one above me and one to the left!" ...That's probably some kind of logic. "I think Saeko-san might still be in. Do you want me to show you up? She works pretty late, just in case anyone needs help..."
She pauses, looking Ren over again. "Are you his friend? Oh, wait, duh!" Maria knocks a fist lightly against her head as if to say, 'I'm dumb lol'. "You're," she says, pointing at them now, "looking for his help, too! ...Right?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Famously chaste.....................
That's one way of putting it, sure.
"Mm." Yeah, he probably wouldn't be in school on some random day of the week... Ren doesn't know the full nature of Akechi's arrangement with his school, but they do have general knowledge of how he has one in the first place. They knew it'd be a long shot to catch him directly, but that's why they're open to talking to his homeroom teacher and classmates. Maybe they know something or have heard from him in the past week.
Something flickers in Ren's dark eyes when Maria mentions he said he expected her to do well on her next exam. "Oh. He did, huh?" He... said basically the same thing to them the last two exams. That makes something twinge unpleasantly deep in their gut. ... ... ...is this jealousy...? Or...
They avert their eyes briefly.
Or maybe they're stung because it turns out Akechi takes similar lines to people he's being 'nice' to--that they're not as special to him as they thought they were.
They take a deep breath and let it out. Then they reassert their usual neutral face and look back at Maria. "Yeah. That'd be a big help. Thanks," they reply. "Saeko-san, you said? And Class 3-B." They were kind of distracted there for a moment.
They hesitate when Maria asks if they're a friend of his. Her forehead-clap excuses them of a need for an immediate reply, but her follow-up assumption ends up also getting a slight hesitation. "Something like that," they end up replying.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe they're making a fool of themself.
They follow Maria inside anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
As far as most of the student body would put it, yes.
"Yeah," she says. "Um. Something happened to me last semester? So, I didn't do so well on my exams." Never mind that she never does well on her exams. "I guess he was worried, or something? Since I'm his client? And underclassman?" It's a long long series of questions that aren't really questions. "So! ...I guess I can't let him down," she sighs. Doing well on her exams is going to be a tall, tall order.
"Maybe I should go to cram school more..."
But back to Ren's actual topic of the moment:
"Yeah! 3-B." Maria studies Ren carefully, as if a very interesting message was written on their face. Then: "Are you okay? You looked like you zoned out there a moment. It's okay! I do it all the time," she continues, waving her right hand dismissively. "If you want me to repeat that, I can do that!"
But they did just repeat the most important information, so that is one up on Maria. "Yup!" she cheers, happy that they got it.
"Ohh, so that's it," she says, easily mollified. "Don't worry, your business is your business! But if you want to say, I'll listen~"
Still, she scampers ahead and she holds the door for them. "This way, this way! It's on the third floor. She'll probably still be here, but we should hurry up just in case! Even teachers probably have dates, right?"
They at least do in some of the books she reads.
Up the stairs, up the stairs! Ignore the Poltergeist, hovering in the stairwell, Maria always does these days.
"Here we are!" Maria declares, as room 3-B is in sight! "I don't come up here much, I'm not a senior yet. But next year, I guess I'll be up here all the time?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Sorry to hear that," Ren tells Maria diplomatically. Well--they are sorry to hear it, sincerely. It sucks to ruin your grades because of something out of your control. (Now, never studying anyway, that is in your control. You have no one to blame but yourself in that case.) They just shouldn't already know about it. The mention of exams gets them looking away from a different reason, though. "They're already coming up next month, huh... I'm not looking forward to them either." They look back. "Good luck on them, Sakurai-san."
They blink when she focuses on their face. "Oh," they utter. They hadn't expected that level of observation from her. They rub the back of their neck. ...Maybe it was jealousy after all. "No, that's okay. Thanks, though. Sorry for zoning out on you for a second."
They pause, then add, "Is it okay if I ask what you're his client for? If it's private, it's okay, just forget I asked."
They do not say what their business is. There isn't really much business to be had anyway.
They nod at her in thanks for the held door, and when she suggests they should hurry up, Ren follows her suggestion. They snap a short, reflexive stare at the poltergeist as the two pass it by, but Maria says nothing so neither do they. Hopefully acknowledging it, however briefly, doesn't set it off.
"Seems like a nice building," Ren remarks back, looking around the floor before focusing ahead on the classroom signs. "Thanks for the help, Sakurai-san. I can take it from here, if you've got things to do." A slight pause, before they open 3-B's sliding door. "But I don't mind you sticking around either," they add before entering and leaving the door open for her.
If Saeko is in there, they'll ask her briefly about Akechi. He was indeed not in today, though he has (presumably) been handing in his classwork on time as usual. There's not much more to say than that...
...besides, of course, the address of Akechi's agency. That's the logical place to send someone in need of his services, after all.