Title: Out For Chinese
Summary: After Fumiko has a discussion with an unknown someone at the Chinese restaurant in Inaba, Kazuo and his buddies show up.
Who: Fumiko Hokaku, Kazuo Yuudai, Jirou Hotaka (NPC), Naoki Tezuka (NPC)
Location: CCD - Chinese Diner Aiya
Some say that this is the only good eatin' left in Inaba. It's this sort of recognition that allows the otherwise humble establishment to maintain a comfortable cashflow against nearby competitor Souzai Daigaku and the food court of Junes.
The diner itself is quite small, but able to seat thirty people or so during the busiest weeks, if uncomfortably, which includes both seats up at the bar and individual four-seat tables. The color red is featured prominently through its decorations in an attempt to invoke an ethnic flair, despite the head chef and owner actually being a native of Inaba. This seems to have no effect on the quality of the food, as it is favored quite readily by the local population when they want to eat out, and not simply because it's basically the last place in town to do so. Either way, 800 yen is all one needs for a good hot, fresh bowl.
On rainy days, the owner offers a challenge: if a person can consume a quintuple-sized meat bowl in a single sitting, their meal is free. Otherwise, it is 3000 yen. It is the Rainy Day Challenge, and nobody has ever succeeded. Not even all-star speed eater Mamoru Hayase, or the Gourmet King Nozomi Suemitsu himself! This doesn't stop many others from trying... and failing miserably.
It's a cold, rainy day—not quite cold enough for the rain to turn to snow, but chill enough that it's an icy rain. Most people are inside, waiting for the miserable weather to pass or at least let up long enough to make a dash for wherever they're headed.
Fumiko may be holed up in Aiya. Or she might be legitimately hungry after a long...half-day at school. Whatever the case, she seems to be fortifying herself with a cut-down version of the Rainy Day Beef Bowl; half the size and not quite as expensive, and with extra rice at Fumi's request.
A half-finished beef bowl and a partially-empty coke—belonging to a friend who left?—sit across from her, slowly cooling. Fumi sips at an orange soda, pushing the rice around in her bowl; she looks lost in thought, a festive umbrella stowed under the table where it won't get in other people's way.
The door opens and and three boys enter. Fumiko might recognize them as they enter, first Naoki Tezuka, then Jirou Hotaka, and then Kazuo. Naoki has an umbrella. The others don't. And it's clear from how Jirou enters that he didn't share it; he's shaking water out of his hair. "Geeez Tezuka...you could have at least let me borrow it!"
"You're taller than me, it wouldn't have kept me dry," Naoki replies.
Kazuo has, it seems, had the good sense to wear a hooded raincoat. "You were the one who didn't think it was gonna rain today," he points out, pushing back the hood of his raincoat.
More people complaining about the weather. Hardly worth more than glancing up from her bowl for. But those voices sound familiar—not so much so that anyone's pinging on the radar Fumiko's slowly and painstakingly building up—but familiar enough that it seems worth a second glance. And she knows the boys coming in—or at least, recalls their names.
"Yuudai-san, Tezuka-san, Hotaka-san—there's some empty chairs over here, if you want to sit with me," Fumiko calls lightly. And they might prefer to take her up on the offer—the diner isn't exactly crowded, but there's enough people that Fumiko's dining companion must have only just left and it's not like the trio's reputation has others clamoring to share table-space with them.
Kazuo percieves a hint of Resonance...and it almost smells familiar. He's getting a little better at it now that he sort of knows what to look for. However, he can't pinpoint the exact location just yet, and has to look around the restaurant carefully. His eyes alight on Fumiko. But it's Jirou that first speaks. "Hey there!" he greets. "Thanks, that's nice of you." He takes the invitation.
Naoki is shyer, but when he notes Kazuo going to a seat at Fumiko's table, he does as well. Kazuo seems a little shy himself, actually. After his last real conversation with Fumiko, he doesn't know what to say. Jirou and Naoki don't know about his Persona. They don't know about Personas at all. So he can't talk about that right now.
However, he eventually gives a half-smile, and greets, "...Hi. How are you doing?"
A small smile to Kazuo and his friends, although Naoki and Kaz both get a smile of their own. "Hi." A shrug to Jirou, "I'd rather have good company that I know at the table with me, than people I barely know or don't know at all."
A sip of her drink. "I'm doing okay. Kind of sore, but that should pass soon. My own fault for trying to show off, anyways." What, exactly, Fumiko was trying to show off and why it would leave her sore is left unmentioned. Something in phys ed, perhaps? Or a martial arts class?
"That's true," Naoki replies. Wonder of wonders, he actually SPOKE without being prompted to! "But people don't like us much around here."
Jirou corrects, "They don't like us...Yuudai and me. You, they probably wonder what we're blackmailing you with." His tone's a bit bitter, but not at anyone in particular. He seems like he's scooting over closer to Fumiko. Still trying to flirt, it seems. "You, though...you're not like everybody else. You're special."
Jirou has no idea how true his words are, but they are ironic enough that Kazuo shifts, raising a hand to his face to hide a snicker behind his fist, before clearing his throat. However, Fumiko's notation of her physical state does lead Kazuo to question, "Oh? Are you all right? What happened?"
A sweet smile at Jirou's words, but Fumiko offers no signs of encouragement to his flirting. Nothing she's not giving to the other two—or to anyone else, for that matter. She smiles at everyone, all the time. "My brothers say the same thing," Fumi replies cheerfully to Jirou; this may discourage him a little—how many girls want a boy who reminds them too closely of their family?
"I'll be okay," she reassures Kaz. "I just...overextended myself a little, trying to prove to onii-sama that I could handle myself." A wince, followed by a sigh. "He didn't approve, either. I ended up kinda grounded."
Jirou pouts a little, and sits back in his seat normally. He knows he's not getting anywhere. "Well...for what it's worth, they're right," he replies. He's grumbling a little...though his tone is good-natured, at least.
Naoki snickers. "'Denied'?"
"Hey!"
Kazuo interrupts it before Jirou goes over and applies a noogie directly to Naoki's forehead. "Grounded?" he inquires. "You aren't going to get in trouble for being out here, are you?" he inquires. "You can blame me if you want."
It's very likely that he doesn't know exactly what this would entail, else he wouldn't have offered it.
"No, no, I'm not going to get in trouble—going to Inaba, or even just being outside of Sumaru, isn't on the list of things I can't do while I'm grounded. But that's a...very generous offer of you," Fumiko replies.
A soft giggle at the interplay between Jirou and Naoki, "Oh, I know. Onii-sama's almost always right, after all." She looks down at her beef bowl, taking a few bites, "So, what have you three been up to?"
A waitress finally comes over to take their order, though she...doesn't look like she's real happy about them being there. With a frown, she takes their orders, and then scurries back off to the kitchen. The three of the order light meals.
It's then that Kazuo nods to her statement. "Ah, I see. That's good, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble," he observes.
"Well...if leaving ain't what you're not supposed to do, what are you not supposed to do?" Jirou inquires.
"That's none of our business, Hotaka," Kazuo replies. He doesn't want Fumiko to have to tell the two of them about her abilities. Maybe using them is what he's decided she can't do. Her latter statement is considered then, and Kazuo replies evenly, "Punching faces. Breaking stuff. just generally causing trouble." It doesn't sound like a joke.
Nonetheless, Naoki ventures, "Ahh...Yuudai-kun. You shouldn't try to make jokes, you don't have the...tone. You sound way too serious."
Fumiko quietly picks at her meal as the waitress arrives, taking a couple bites—more trying to make it clear that she's not done yet, than actually eating. A sip of her drink—she orders a refill, while the waitress is at the table, since she's nearly done the orange soda—and she listens to Kazuo's 'joke' about the things they've been doing.
A soft giggle, "It sounds like a list of things I'm not allowed to do while grounded!" It seems she doesn't consider what he said to be a joke, then. Or perhaps she's just playing along. "I hope you've been careful, at least? I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt."
"Hey! Pretty and tough," Jirou notes. Yup. Trying again, it looks like. But as he's about to say something else, an almost imperceptible shift might be noted in Kazuo, and then Jirou jumps slightly. "Ouch!" Naoki starts to snicker.
Kazuo says nothing, but turns to Fumiko, with a pleasant smile on his face. "We've been careful," he replies. "Nothing too severe, I'm happy to say." He half-smiles.
Jirou's flirting is politely ignored, just like all the other times. Fumiko smiles at Kazuo, "Good. I wouldn't want you getting in trouble or hurt unless it's something you're okay with handling."
A couple bites of her beef bowl, "WHat else have you been up to? Anything noteworthy?"
This time Jirou does not return anything. Probably because he's still nursing a kicked shin under the table. One that Naoki's still snickering about. However, that saves him from having to comment. Kazuo however, responds to her inquiry, "Not really. School, mainly. These two just got over a cold."
Naoki nods, and mock-frowns at Jirou. "One that he gave me."
"Hey, I didn't tell you to sleep in my room!" Jirou protests.
"A cold? Well, it's good to hear that you're both feeling better now. Being sick, especially at this time of year, really sucks," Fumiko sympathizes. She takes a few bites of her beef bowl, hmming to herself. "School? You must be getting ready for Career Experience week too, right? Any ideas for what you're going to be doing?"
The waitress arrives with Fumiko's refill and the girl murmurs a soft 'thank you' to her. "The teacher hasn't given us much clue about what we're going to be doing this year. I'm hoping for somewhere interesting, though."
Kazuo smirks. "Ah yes. Career Experience week," he muses. "Hotaka and I will be here at the Food Court. I think Naoki's going to be a salesman." There's a hint of mirth in his voice. "I think our teacher thinks that Tezuka needs to come out of his shell a little."
Naoki pales a little. "Nnnh...I don't like that idea..."
"Well...you do," Jirou replies evenly. "You're way too shy. Never get a girlfriend that way."
Kazuo notes, "And neither will you, if your attempts to flirt are any indication of your normal methods of operation...."
"HEY!"
A gentle smile from Fumiko and a soft giggle, "Well, maybe not. Some girls like the kuudere type, you know. There's something very...flattering...about seeing a side that no one else gets to see."
She would know. Fumiko is probably the only one that has ever seen Riki smile.
"But I'm sure you're strong enough to endure it well, Tezuka-san," Fumiko encourages. "Maybe you'll be very good at being a salesman. This could be your chance to find out!"
Kazuo can't help but snort a very soft laugh. Despite that, his words aren't unkind. "Nah. I think Tezuka's just shy." Smirk, and he teases, "Side effect of being in lockers so much?"
"Oh, I've never been locked in a locker," Naoki replies.
Jirou pipes up, "At least, not that you didn't do yourself?"
Naoki blinks owlishly behind his glasses. "...Why would I lock myself in a locker?"
"Oh, come on! Everybody's locked themselves in a locker once or twice! Right, Yuudai?" He looks to Kazuo, who has an eyebrow raised in confusion. Obviously he's never done that. And then Jirou blinks. "Oh, that was just me then?"
Kazuo facepalms.
Fumiko raises an eyebrow at Jirou, "You locked yourself in a locker? How on earth did you manage that?" She shakes her head, "How do you...I don't think most schools even have lockers!"
A sip of her drink, "You weren't stuck in there long, I hope?"
Kazuo grunts. "Hotaka manages to get himself into the most...interesting situations," he mutters. But as Jirou starts to talk, he quiets.
"Nah," Jirou replies. "I kicked my way out."
"This was apparently before Yuudai and I met you, eh?" Jirou nods. Naoki sighs. "Yeah. I thought so...."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jirou inquires.
It's Kazuo that answers. "None of that's happened since the three of us knew you. Indicating that we're keeping you out of situations like that."
"'Interesting' seems to be an understatement," Fumiko murmurs. She takes a couple bites of her beef bowl, stifling her giggles. "But—well at least you can catch colds—so maybe you were just very unlucky, before you met your friends?"
Unlucky might be another understatement, if 'trapping himself in a locker' is par for the course for Jirou's life before he met Kazuo and Naoki.
Jirou seems confused. "Huh? Well...yeah, I can catch colds," he notes.
Thankfully, before Jirou has a chance to ask 'can't everybody?', Kazuo chimes in, in a teasing voice, "Yeah, his skill at catching things isn't that bad." Which of course prompts the expected response from Jirou.
"HEY!"
A brief eyebrow quirk at Kazuo, but Fumiko doesn't comment. After all, his Persona might actually have made it harder for him to catch colds than hers does. Or maybe he's worried about what her response would be.
Instead, she giggles, "Well—maybe he'll be a baseball player, when he graduates." She shrugs, "But seriously, it's healthier to get a couple colds, every once in a while. I remember reading that somewhere."
Kazuo actually has no idea what abilities his Persona might have. All he's managed to do over the past couple of years he's had his Persona is...well, learn how not to summon it. So it doesn't do like sensitive bits in a wardrobe malfunction and just pop out.
Kazuo nods. "It does strengthen your immune system," he agrees. "That usually only applies to really young kids, though. If a kid never gets sick, when he grows up, the first time he catches something, it's going to nail him hard." Pause, and he slides a glance at Jirou. "Not. One. Word." Jirou just grins reeeeeeeeally big. Clearly he's thinking something Freudian....
"It helps with adults and teenagers too, though," Fumiko notes. "Your immune system's like any other part of your body—it needs practice, or it gets weaker." A blink at Jirou and she cocks her head to one side, "Hmm?" She hasn't thought of the Freudian thing Jirou's thinking of, it seems.
She stirs the beef bowl with her chopsticks for a moment before taking a few more bites.
Before he replies to her observation, Kazuo addresses her confusion. "...He was thinking something he shouldn't have been at my phrasing," he explains. "Don't even say it, Hotaka. Or you'll be eating my knuckles."
Jirou raises his hands as if to say 'hey, not me'. "Didn't say a word!"
Naoki looks confused too. "...Huh? What didn't he say?"
Kazuo sighs, and looks to Fumiko. "Excuse me, Fumiko-chan." He leans over, and whispers something to Naoki.
Naoki's eyes widen. "What? Oh geez...Hotaka!"
Jirou looks defensive. "WHAT?! I didn't say a word." Kazuo covers his mouth, but Fumiko can see the smirk. He's trying not to laugh.
Another blink and a soft "Oh?" from Fumiko. And then "Oh!" and a sudden blush, as she apparently pieces together what Jirou was thinking. "Oh my." She ducks her head, brushing her hair back so that it doesn't spill into the beef bowl.
"...Sometimes it's the things you don't say that get you into the most trouble, Hotaka-san. From my experience, anyways."
Kazuo facepalms and shakes his head. "...Sorry about that, Fumiko-chan," he offers. He was trying to avoid her having to be embarrassed about that.... To Jirou, Kazuo slides a glance. "Really. No manners at all."
Jirou raises a hand to rub sheepishly at the back of his head. "Ah...sorry, Fumiko-san," he offers contritely. Notably, he called her -san, rather than -chan, as Kazuo had done. Well, at least he's honestly apologizing for it.
"It's not your fault, Yuudai-san," Fumiko murmurs. Because really, it isn't. If anyone's to blame, it's Jirou. Who, by the way, gets a quiet nod and a soft "It's alright." She's still blushing, by the way.
She falls silent, taking the time to nosh on her beef bowl, letting one of the boys pick a new topic to go from here.
It's an awkward silence that passes for a moment or two. Kazuo isn't a great conversationalist. Neither is Naoki, and the blushing is making it hard for him to think of something. And Jirou is feeling a little too contrite to really concentrate.
Wow, awkward silence, yay!
Kazuo finally clears his throat, coughing lightly behind a hand. "Ahem. So, uh...you said you don't know what they'll be having you do during the Career Experience week?" he inquires. "Do you know when they'll tell you? Or will you show up to the 'surprise' the morning of the first day?"
"I think they'll tell us the day before," Fumiko says. "Or maybe Monday. But the teacher is usually pretty on top of things like this, so we should know in time." She looks up, smiling cheerfully at Kazuo, "I'm hoping to get the chance to spend the week at a medical clinic, or maybe the SEBEC labs—that'd be pretty interesting, and it'd give me a chance to do something to get a bit further ahead when I've finally got my degree."
"I hope so," Kazuo replies. "It'll help you get ready for it, if you know what you'll so at least the day before." He offers a smile, and nods slightly. "I would have liked to do something actually useful too, but..." He shrugs. "I'm afraid we tend to get confused with riff-raff, so we don't get a lot of trust in Inaba. Granted, we don't have the worst record here, no...."
A blink and Fumiko tilts her head to one side, "What did you do, exactly, to get such a bad reputation? You seem like quite nice young men to me, after all. I'm sure yuo can't have done anything truly terrible..."
Of course, having said this, narrative causality will have it so that Kazuo and his friends used to be a trio of hell-raisers.
Kazuo seems suddenly uncomfortable at the question. "Nnh. Well...." He pauses. How could he explain it without alerting Jirou and Naoki to what he'd really done? He pauses, trying to think.
In the meantime, Jirou inquires, "Didn't you tell us about that gang you tore up?"
"I didn't exactly 'tear them up'," Kazuo replies. "I just...scared them off. I guess...they just weren't prepared for somebody to stand up to them, is all. That's why I didn't get arrested—I was more messed up than they were." He shrugs. "After that, it just...sort of got blown out of proportion, with the rumors that were being spread about me. And anybody with me tends to get the same label, you know?"
Fumiko raises an eyebrow at Kazuo but doesn't call him on it. It's his choice when to tell his friends, after all—and the middle of a diner isn't exactly the place to pull out one's Persona, it'd probably cause property damage.
"Ah. I can understand rumors getting spread around. But if it were just the one incident, surely the rumors would have died down eventually?"
Naoki nods. "Well...we met Yuudai-kun during incidents that weren't exactly...the calmest of circumstances. In my case, there were a couple of older kids at the school that were trying to make me do their homework, and he scared them off. Hotaka actually ended up in a fight with him, didn't you?"
Jirou nods. "Yeah...I made the mistake of...saying something he really didn't like."
Kazuo pre-empts, "I don't have many 'explode' buttons. And...well, he hit one of them. The main one, in fact. But we made up after that, and became friends."
"Ah. Well that makes it a little more understandable," Fumiko murmurs. "Although probably harder to change one's reputation, under such circumstances." She finishes her beef bowl, "But not impossible. Probably not, anyways. Although it'd take a great deal of effort."
The mention of a berserk button does make Fumiko curious—but it's not the sort of thing one asks about in public. Not even in the interests of avoiding it. Not if you want to be polite, anyways.
Kazuo nods. "In the end, their reputations were probably negatively affected by mine. Except Tezuka—they think I'm threatening him into doing my homework for me." He smirks, sliding a glance to Naoki. A moment later, he looks to Fumiko again. "It's sort of...you can't really be...neutral in my neighborhood. It almost feels like you either have to be one of the bullies or one of the bullied. So...I'm pretty sure you know which side I'd prefer to be on." Or at least, what side everyone there seems to think he's on, anyway.
A long look from Fumiko, followed by a delicate snort. "Yes: neither of the two. You're not a bully, and only someone so stupid that they can't even catch a cold is going to mistake you for one."
No, she's not about to play along with that. Kazuo isn't a bully or a thug. She's seen enough examples of both to know the difference. He doesn't even really look like a thug, unless one considers a long jacket to be thuggish; the scars are questionable, but they probably aren't his fault.
Kazuo sort of...half-smiles. "Believe it or not, that means a lot more than one might think, to know that at least somebody doesn't think we all belong in jail," he notes, half-joking.
"It bears noting," Naoki points out. Then he looks to Fumiko. "Er...Fumiko-san? Not to be rude, but you aren't from Inaba, are you?"
"No, I'm not," Fumiko agrees in response to Naoki's question. "I live in Sumaru." She doesn't seem to see how it's relevant, though—and she doesn't say where in Sumaru. Although these days, it'd take even Jirou only about five minutes and a good search engine to find out if he was really curious. She's probably listed in the phone books, after all...along with a number of other Kohakus.
Either they don't spend a lot of time online, or they haven't come up with a reason to search. Either way, Naoki takes the answer at face value, and nods. "That would mean you might not have heard that rumor." He looks to Kazuo. "That you..."
Kazuo interrupts, "That's garbage." There's a tiny growl to his voice. "They're just full of crap." He seems upset, having noticeably bristled. After a moment he sighs, and calms, relaxing. "...It's just a bunch of stupid people who are trying to make up for getting their butts kicked, is all."
Fumiko probably knows the source of that rumor, whatever it is....
Fumiko tilts her head to one side, "What rumor?" Nope, she hasn't heard any rumors about Kazuo—not that she's really gone looking, either. She has no reason to go hunting for information on Kazuo, after all, so why should she search for rumors about him?
She does know the probable source of the rumor, of course. And that gives her a good idea of what the rumor might be, but she can't be sure without someone confirming it.
In any case, she attempts to calm Kazuo further, murmuring, "Whatever it is, I'm sure there's no actual truth to it."
Kazuo waves a hand dismissively. "Nothing to worry about," he assures her. "Like I say, some idiots that don't like they they got their butts kicked by a kick and are trying to make up excuses to keep from looking like complete idiots. Not that it's working." Smirk.
"Yeah," Jirou replies. "I've seen Yuudai-kun fight before. He's trained. Most of them aren't."
"Besides," Naoki pipes up, "these gangs aren't the kind to call the police if they have a problem. They tend to take matters into their own hands."
Kazuo nods, and adds wryly, "Yep. And what they usually take into their hands are bats, chains, anything hard or made of metal, or stone...."
A soft giggle, "I prefer a kendo bokken or a naginata, myself." Fumiko isn't being entirely truthful—she actually prefers a dagger. Like the stilleto one she keeps hidden in the handle of those parasols she carries with her everywhere. But she can't exactly explain away a preference for stilleto daggers, without it getting awkward.
"I do know some people who use chains, but...not my preference. Too easy for someone to yank it out of your hands, you know?" A shrug, and Fumiko sips at her drink. "So—if they tend to take things into their own hands, what stopped them from trying a repeat of the first time?"
"I prefer fighting with my hands," Kazuo notes, without missing a beat. He seems to accept that Fumiko is more than she seems. "Pretty much for that reason. The only way you can get disarmed is...well, to literally get dis-armed. Which, if that happens, not having a weapon is the least of your problems." Smirk.
Guaaah. Kinda morbid, isn't he...?
"What stopped 'em?" Kazuo repeats. "Well...probably because they didn't want to get their butts kicked again." He doesn't sound like he's bragging. "They already exercised their grand totaly of five brain cells between them to try and get me the first time. That didn't work, so...." He shrugs. "At least, I assume."
Fumiko is used to 'kind of morbid'. She's practically Wednesday Addams. His comment about being 'disarmed' gets an answering smile, and Fumi nods. "It's an interesting theory at least. And a plausible one, since they haven't tried for a second attempt."
A couple sips of her drink. "I assume you weren't bothered much by bullies after that?"
"Not really," Kazuo replies. "Probably a good thing for me as much as them, though. Nobody wants to get arrested, right?"
"Yuudai-kun, we need to get going...you need to study, don't you?" Naoki pipes up, looking at Jirou.
"Aw, man..." Jirou whines, leaning back in his seat. "Totally forgot. And if Iw asn't about to flunk outta that class I'd say screw it and blow it off but...."
Kazuo chuckles, and stands. "Well...we need to get going. I have to crack the whip here. Figuratively speaking." Naoki and Jirou stand as well. "Was good talking to you again, Fumiko-chan," he replies, with a polite bow, and steps back from the table to go for the door.
"Pleased to meet you," Naoki adds, bowing as well, before following Kazuo out.
Jirou offers a grin and a wave as the three of them start to head out. "See ya later!" he chirps happily.
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