Logs: Ice Cream Not-So-Social

Okina City

Okina City is something of a misnomer. A shopping district erected around a highly successful train station otherwise situated in the middle of nowhere, it boasts easy and fast routes through many cities. The transit service is so good that some delinquent students can skip some classes, come here for a while, and get back before school ends.

Surrounded by large multi-story strip malls as far as the eye can see, with benches and fountains along the way to offer places to relax, Okina City has a lot to offer whether you're an overseas immigrant going to Lunarvale, a carrier of the latest gossip from Sumaru, a Port Island tourist, or a simple country resident of Inaba. Okina City attracts all sorts of people from all walks of life.

Many stories and paths begin, diverge, and end here. Like a fool's choice to reach out towards the world through its many challenges and detours, perhaps you will have a story of your own to tell from here... the odds of you never setting foot here in your life are very slim, indeed.

<The scene was already going on when Masumi entered. Basic set: ice cream shop! The lines can be grueling).

Unfortunate! Blaise winds up behind the normally speedy, if not overly caffeinated teen who has now all but come to a grinding halt. Errgh. So Blaise is left to bob on the balls of his feet behind him. Up, down, up, down...

Finally, he says, "Biiirrrrthday cake," like how one might expect a ShoulderDevil to say it. "You want biiiirrrthday cake icecream."

And should Yoshiro turn around, Blaise will promptly pretend to have no idea what's going on, hands linked behind his back and the toes of his shoe innocently scuffing at the ground.

Yoshiro sure doesn't seem to be moving on what he wants, and he doesn't see any of his usual soft drinks up for sale. Man, he has to choose on--

Someone whispers something. Yoshiro turns around. Right there is Blaise.

He looks back to the counter. "I'll have, um... I'll have pickle seaweed." Pickle seaweed is an ice cream flavor now?! Well, one supposes it is!! Pickle seaweed-flavored ice cream it is!

Capitalism ensues across the next minute or so. Yoshiro goes to sit at a table away from Yu and Minagi, unaware of their presence but keeping a wary eye on Blaise in between licks.

Oh, foo. Well, Blaise enjoyed pseudo-tormenting Yoshiro all the same. So he moves up to the counter and finally gets his order. And since it's an ice cream shop, it comes out pretty quick. He starts to follow Yu as bid, but notes the further hesitation from the girl. Regardless, he takes the seat beside her and begins poking a spoon into his own. Yeah, no cone for this guy.

Yu makes his way to a sizeable enough table and gestures for Blaise to follow before looking towards the other two currently there.

"You're welcome to join us, if you wish," he invites amiably enough.

Minagi still continued to not directly face Yu.

"Maybe I will." she says, only sticking around because of Blaise. She sat down, after picking up her order from the counter and opened up one of the pints, and started to eat it with a spoon. "We needed to talk, right Blaise-san?"

Nodding to Minagi, Blaise says, "Yeah. I think we should. Or at least, I'd like to. When're you available?"

The points of discussion are probably best not shared with everyone else. After all, these other people may have no idea about the crazy superpowered world around them. And Blaise... well, he doesn't want to rock the boat for a number of reasons.

Yoshiro catches Yu's invitation. Ah, he remembers that face, he met him in that hick town back during that thing with the duck. That duck thing was one of those things that, generally, shouldn't ever be brought up again.

He seems less angry and a little more scared when Blaise wants to talk with Minagi about something (who's right there!), let alone Yu's apparent casual attitude around her... it's, uh, seeing what he's seen... after all that happened, it's difficult to accept the thought that she could blend into normal society and not let on what it is she did before.

Nonetheless, he goes over to the other table. "H-Hey," he says somewhat nervously and unenthusiastically.

Yu knew little of Minagi's past until recently, so he's not terribly disturbed by her, even if he does keep his eye on her. The fact Minagi and Blaise wanted to talk was a bit more suspicious, however. He goes into his ice cream silently before looking once more between Minagi and foreigner. "So, how do you two know each other, out of curiousity?" Yu asks, not expecting a terribly fascinating or useful answer.

Masumi finds that he generally enjoys the fact that his afterschool job is in Okina City; if nothing else, he can appreciate the opportunity to get out of Inaba on a regular basis. Not that it's a /bad/ little town, just that -- okay, yeah. It's a little hick town in the middle of nowhere filled with people possessing little ambition and even less imagination. No wonder his sister left the moment she was able.

But some days, the train schedule and his work schedule just don't mesh very well. Days such as today, when being on time meant he had to arrive nearly an hour early. That's always mildly inconveniencing.

But swinging back to the upside again, Okina City specifically caters to people with some time to kill and a little bit of money in their backpocket with which they don't mind parting. It's usually not too difficult to find something to do for a little while before or after work when he's held up by the train schedule. Masumi decided that today he was in the mood for icecream.

One order of a sundae later, a quick scan of the building established he didn't know anyone there -- oh, wait, that's the guy that came into Moonstruck yesterday. He approaches Yu and Company -- and the others may end up doing double-takes to try and figure out if it's a guy or a girl that just walked up -- and asks, "Do you mind if I join you?" The question is mainly directed at Yu, the one he at least passingly knows, but one supposes the others are free to tell him to buzz off if they so desire.

Minagi looks at Masumi, but doesn't tell them to buzz off.

She still refuses to look at Yu, and shys away from Yoshiro. Her comfort level is not very high right now, but she holds her ground.

"Aigis is a friend of Blaise, and Aigis is my friend. We were introduced briefly at the Lucky Seven after I recovered. We've become better friends sense then." she says, and turns towards Blaise. "Yeah...later today, on the way home maybe?" She asks, not too sure...especially if she doesn't leave here soon. She takes a bite and retorts at Yu.

"How long have you known a thug from KNOWS?"

"Yeah, we kind'a.. randomly met. And that sounds perfect," Blaise agrees, nodding. "I'll start heading back soon, too. I mean, I can take care of some things around Port Island..."

And Minagi asks something very, very peculiar of Yu. "..Wait, what?," he asks, peering at Yu. The newcomer is a little unnoticed right now - but at least Yoshiro gets a tiny nod! For now, however, he's all but entirely focused on Yu.

Yoshiro just tries to enjoy his pickle seaweed ice cream in relative peace in spite of the high-sensitivity dialogue being bantered about. Then again, his immediate needs of relieving thirst (in a way) and cooling off are being attended to. He likes this kind of ice cream.

Masumi makes their grand entrance. Yoshiro pays them a little more heed than an average passer-by might, a little wary of Blaise's nod for some reason.

"I don't mind, here." Yoshiro gets up off the seat so Masumi can take it. He'll just sit at the next table over.

"I see," Yu nods in response to the two, "Aigis is a very interesting person. I'd like to get to know her a bit better someday." Was he even right in calling her a person? He didn't know. He was nevertheless very curious about her, however.

He then turns to Masumi as he enters. Recognizing him from yesterday, he lets up a slight wave and greets him, "Hello there. You can join us if you'd like. I don't mind." He looked to the others to get a feel of how they thought, but seeing Yoshiro already rising up basically sealed the deal.

"Thanks," Masumi replies with an appreciative nod towards Yoshiro as he slips into the vacated seat, realizing a moment too late that he's apparently just walked into a charged conversation. He briefly feels mildly awkward at having intruded when he has only the most tentative of connections to a group that seems to know each other fairly well, but dismisses it with a deep and calming inhale.

Seeing the other three engaged in conversation with each other, but no real way to engage in it, he turns to Yoshiro and extends an introduction and handshake. "Masumi Hayashi."

The handshake gesture is a little weird to Yoshiro, but after a pause he takes it. Yoshiro's grip is not very firm. In fact, one could argue it is... very lacking, by any standards of how strong a man's grip should be.

"I'm Yoshiro Yoshino," he says with a tone that shows significantly more interest and attention than what he's given to everyone else here in the store.

Minagi frowns at Yu ignored her question. Still, the young woman didn't look towards Yu, and Minagi looks towards Blaise. "...Nothing, it's not important." She says, and looked away finally from the group. Minagi wasn't apparently into meeting new people today, and is only here because she is too stubborn to leave.

Masumi's own grip is not especially firm himself, although it feels more like a conscious decision for a subtler grip than simply an outright lack. "It's a pleasure, Yoshiro," he says with a dip of his head.

"What brings you to Okina today?" he asks after releasing the shake and taking a quick bite of his icecream, extending just a simple question that makes for a good conversation starter. It seems that he's tuned out the other three and their charged conversation, but is in truth listening a lot more closely than it looks. He doesn't expect to hear anything interesting. His boss just keeps telling him that he needs to start paying closer attention to, well, everything around him, so he's been trying to hone that habit.

Yu heard Minagi, surely enough, and replies with a simple hand gesture that may be inferred as telling her to wait, likely for a better time to answer such a question. He brings his focus back towards the others, particularly upon the newly arrived Masumi.

"Well, I was just doing a bit of shopping," he answers, "but then I met some friends and they decided they wanted ice cream, and so here we are!"

"Just running errands for one of my uncles." Yoshiro says, as though it were a routine sort of thing. "I'm taking a break before I take the train back home." He raises his cone a little, which is full of a flavor that only this part of the world can ever hope to come close to considering delectable.

Yoshiro withdraws his hand and reclines back a little in his seat. "I bet I'm gonna get yelled at for it."

Huh. Well, that response from Yu was a little less than satisfactory. Blaise settles back into his seat and resumes spooning a bit of icecream with a contemplative stare at the silver-haired boy. Hn. So he knows people from KNOWS. Friends with them, maybe? Worth interrogating... possibly.

His attention drifts to the new arrival, Masumi, and Yoshiro. "Heya," is the general greeting, complete with pleasant smile.

Minagi is then looked to, and Blaise tilts his head a little. Turning just enough to block himself off from the others for the most part, he discretey mouths, 'You okay?,' at her.

Masumi nods amiably in acknowldgment of Yu's and Yoshiro's responses. "Hello," he returns pleasantly enough back to Blaise, but isn't able to introduce himself before the other youth turns back to his friend. It re-incites that annoying feeling of awkwardness for a few moments, as if he were intruding. Perhaps he is a little at that.

But then his attention goes back to Yu and Yoshiro. A look that may be vague sympathy briefly crosses his face when the latter talks of running an errand for a family member like it's a pretty regular thing. That must be annoying. "I had a little time to kill before going into work, myself," he says. A glance over at Yu. "Speaking of, did the fangs turn out to meet what you were looking for?"

"Actually, um... come to think of it..." Yoshiro thinks for a moment as he looks up at a clock within the store proper. His eyes suddenly widen, wincing at the thought of just what the position of those hands on that clock mean.

"Oh no! It's later than I thought... I'm gonna be late!" Yoshiro stands up again. "Ahh, I'm sorry, I need to go, I'm gonna be in big trouble!" He bows quickly before running right out the door with his ice cream cone in hand.

Not a single drop is spilled.

...Maybe he's a future pro drift racer in the making?

Minagi stood up.

"I'm leaving." She announces, putting the top of her pint back up, shoving it into a bag, and turning away to leave. She waits for Blaise, if he wants to go, but once he stands up, she steps outside.

"Right well," Yu frowns as the others begin to depart. This was a bit abrupt, but he doesn't think to much of it. As Minagi departs, he makes sure to call out, "Wait! Before you go, you should probably know she's not with them of her own free will." She'd better know who she was referring to.

Then, to Masumi, he sighs and apologies, "I'm sorry, but it looks like something killed the mood. We'll have to meet up again another time." With that, he begins to rise from his own seat.

Minagi hops up, and Blaise, looking a little alarmed at the sudden declaration, opts to hop up as well. He then scooches the chair back under the table, as is polite to do. Even more polite are quiet little, "Bye," and, "Later,"s he gives.

'Til Yu calls that out.

He's given a brief, but very intensive look from the American. That settled that. Yu should expect to have a hooded visitor in the near future.

But then he's all smiles again! "I'll see you later, a'right?," he calls chipperly to the silver-haired boy before turning to catch up with Minagi.

Minagi turns and gives Yu a glare. "It may not be, but it was her choice to do what she did, and it was yours to let it happen. I came there to make amends, I can understand if nobody wants to accept it, but I will not beg for my life or my well being. I am not a dog..." Minagi says, and starts hurrying up. Blaise may need to run to catch her.

Masumi blinks a couple of times at the sharp abruptness of the girl's exit. This is sufficient to mask over the sharp pique of curiosity he feels when Yu calls out after them. Not with them of her free will? Not with whom? Someone did mention thugs earlier. A crime syndicate of some kind? Or something much more mundane made intriguing by a poor choice of phrase? And that look the other youth gives Yu... Hm. And then suddenly begging for life and well being is brought up. What exactly did he walk into?

Masumi does a very good job of pretending to just be generally confused by the whole affair, the outsider looking in at someone else's personal melodrama. "Perhaps we will see each other at school," he finally offers with a small wave to Yu after it seems that the exchange is over. He then quietly returns to his icecream, pausing to take a quick glance at the clock. He'll need to get moving in a few minutes himself.

[OOC] Blaise Cameron says, "Welcome to PMUSH, where your first few days of RP is best described as, "What the Hell?""