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Who: Haruka+Mirai
Where: Chagall Cafe
When: Wed 26, evening
What: Coffee meet up

It wasn't a manga cafe but at least the chairs were comfy enough.

Haruka was there a bit before six and settled into her usual seat. It was nearby the door and she could catch snatches of who was coming in and out. Someone watching her long enough would have noticed she sat with a sort of attentiveness that resembled a dog. She occasionally heard something that made her grin or tilt her head in that direction with a bit curiosity before she settled back into place.

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Mirai had a glimpse of her sitting by the door, and a grin spread on his face as he went to place his order. "Creamy coffee, two sugars please," he said. He looked curiously back as the barrista made his order. He could see Haruka was listening intently to hear him arrive. He began to think of making her wait. What stopped him was when the serving girl brought his order.

He gave a nice smile. Then whispered, "Such lovely service. I'll have to come here more often."

Mirai turned round to approach the table. He had no idea of the face the girl was making behind him, but he could think it was surprised. He arrived at the table and sat down uninvited.

"Lovely evening, isn't it?"

Haruka wasn't too surprised to hear Imaizumi when someone sat down. She turned her head away from the direction of a boy trying to get the girl he was with to stop using the cream packets for make-shift pyramids and said,

"So far?" She took a sip from the iced pheromone coffee she had in front of her. "It'd be nicer if this was tomorrow night or Friday though."

Edited 2013-10-16 07:44 (UTC)

An irritable breath came out of Mirai's mouth as he blew it over his coffee. "Not tomorrow," he said. "Yachiyo-sensei's drafted everyone. You remember, right? She'll run me ragged."

While he sipped, a whole set of problems seemed to stir at the bottom. He could not openly act in a way that would cause havoc. So he spread chaos amongst the team instead. That would be where their handlers would chastise him over Miyume, he bet. Still, it was for their own good they got used by their classmate and learned a harsh lesson, rather than end up dead, right?

The reminder drew a longer sip before she spoke. 'Critical thinking' was pretty much the one class she usually gave minimal effort for these days. At least she actually showed up.

"Yeah. Tomorrow afternoon will suck. Evening should be better though," she replied. Tilting her head slightly, she responded, "You actually volunteered for optional practice?"

Mirai studied Haruka as she questioned him, emotionless and as easily as if she was the student he was taking advantage of.

"I've got some kind of deal going on. Besides, there are some people you just can't say no to."

He thought about his father and sipped his coffee.

"Huh." She let that hang in the air, looking a lot like a patient student with a droning teacher. After a while, she continued, tilting her head slightly,

"Sucky. Though I guess you could say no, it just wouldn't matter in the end." Haruka ran a finger against the glass' surface, drawing lazy shapes with the condensation drops. "What kind of deal?"

"I get money for being a good boy. Just enough, I feel," Mirai said. "You ought to have a general idea of what I enjoy."

He thought again as he drank some coffee that it wasn't hard for her to understand him. He cradled the cup by his chest. He could imagine how, with the nest of rumours, she could get some opinion about the sort of person he was.

"You're nosy, Kiri-chan. The question," he said at last, "is what do you get from me?" He put his cup down and waited.

Edited 2013-10-20 10:30 (UTC)

Haruka tilted her head slightly as she seemed to regard him for a moment. "Huh. So you're parents have to bribe you to behave? Or are they just the really demanding type you can't even take an optional off for?"

At the question, she took another sip of coffee. She thought on the question before replying with a slight shrug, "Your stunning company?"

"What a compliment!"

Mirai bent forward and lay down his cup. The glimmer in his eyes seemed to be quite faded - they pointed to her with a pleading look to them. "You'll be able to tell all your friends. I'm not such a bad guy."

He didn't answer the question about his parents.

Though she couldn't see, she could almost imagine a tom-cat Imauzumi in begging pose.

She tilted her head again and said, "The 'not as bad a guy as he could be endorsement'?"

Mirai inspected her curiously. It took him a long time to relax; he shrugged, and he even half-smiled. "Yeah. Let's see... you would have my gratitude for being such a kind girl."

"Generous," Haruka commented with a succinct nod and another sip of her iced coffee. Based on the length she had to move the straw down, it felt like there was about slightly less than half left.

She seemed to think on something before asking with a slight smirk, "Does that include a free iced coffee?"

"Why not! But only today," Mirai said. Haruka wouldn't be able to see his face was brightened with a wide smile.

Certainly a free coffee wasn't a problem. It was his father's money anyway.

Edited 2013-11-05 09:40 (UTC)

"Huh. Guess I'll only have to hurry up and take advantage of it," Haruka replied, with a smile of her own.

She took another long sip of her coffee then. After a moment, she asked,

"So what about you? What do you get from me?"

It seemed wrong to say he was enjoying her company, given the previous events at his club. The word of what had happened would get back eventually, just like it had about other matters. He took his coffee and drank.

His face brightened with a smile, and he said nicely, "The chance to talk. Given what we do," he said, "I appreciate some semblance of normality."

"Flattering." She tilted her head slightly. "Not getting enough between school in club?"

For some reason, she remembered that conversation she had with Hachi.

"If you did have a choice between normal and supernatural-fantastic-manga-style life what would you go with?"

Mirai had no trouble detailing the world he wanted. "Oh, I'm just interested in one that is interesting. It's good to be entertained, right? Our lives are quite fascinating at this moment."

His face became somewhat calm when he thought about what he would change. His teeth gritted, but he said calmly, "I don't want to talk about this now. Let's drink our coffee."

Haruka didn't reply for a moment. Her head held in place for a moment, like a dog listening to something far away or just somewhere deep in thought. Finally, she said,

"Interesting." And let the word linger, before lightly pushing the tray with the cream and sugar over to his side of the table. She took another sip. "Interesting is good."

They were so absorbed in the moment with their drinks that the world away from Chitoku was almost out of Mirai's thoughts. And when he spared a moment to reminisce about the people left behind, he found he could not worry about them too much. Then he recalled they would be together in a few days - he held his cup a little tighter.

"It is, right?"

"Yep." She doodled with some of the precipitation on the glass, tracing the kanji for 'normal' before wiping it off.

"Long as it's interesting, that's something."

"... Yep."

Mirai poured the cream into his coffee slowly, with dizzy outlines of people passing by him against a damp window. Everything had happened so suddenly with their shinmen that, at the start, all he could think of was his own position - and the resentment he felt at being put there.

"Are you game for keeping things interesting?"

"I guess?"

She tilted her head, looking genuinely curious.

"What way?"

"Oh, nothing much," Mirai said. "I just think a little trouble will do us all good. It stops the grass growing too tall, right?"

He wore a nice smile on his face, but still his eyes glowed with a kind of malevolence.

"Huh. Interesting way of putting it." Haruka turned her head skywards slightly. Unlike Mirai, she looked completely chill for their change in topic.

"Like?"

"I don't know what. I haven't thought that far," Mirai said to her. She listened. He smiled. Several quiet seconds went by which let them hear the sounds of coffee and cake being sold and whispering.

"As you may have guessed, things fall in my lap. I'm happy to wait," he added, lying. "I am quite sure something will happen."

"Maybe? Lots of things seem to," Haruka replied with a straight face. She tipped up her glass until a shard of ice fell in her mouth. She sucked on it thoughtfully before she continued,

"I used to date a wannabe super villain. He was usually pretty good with coming up with interesting stuff on the fly."

"Then maybe that's rubbed off on you," Mirai said, adding more sugar to his coffee and stirring. There was nobody here to tell him that he shouldn't.

"Maybe? Or maybe it rubbed off on him." Haruka smirked a little. Satoshi and her were apparently bad at enabling each other.

She chewed another piece of ice, savoring the taste of coffee. "Guess if I were truly diabolical I could arrange shady trips back to the falls and trick people until it. Mwahahahahahaha."

"I see."

For a while Mirai stopped and waited for Haruka to say something more. He found himself enduring through silence and decided it was better to say something as her friend than let them both grow bored. He stirred as he spoke, "Then you won't mind a few easy marks?"

She tilted her head.

"Like who? Looking to pay someone back or teach a lesson to?"

Mirai had no trouble correcting Haruka's assumptions about what he was after.

"No?" he questioned disbelievingly. "I was just thinking some of our group can do with a little push to enjoy life more. You can admit that, right?"

"Oh. Yep, most of us could." She turned her head upwards. "So you want to make things 'interesting' for the easier ones?"

"Indeed. Or maybe I want to make things interesting in general," he said. "For my friends as much as myself."

"Huh."

The last of the ice clinked against her glass. It didn't have much coffee in the piece anyway.

"More interesting than if it's just for yourself, right? Tis a boring road otherwise, as someone put it." Like Imaizumi himself.

"You remembered what I said," Mirai said, smiling. "I feel flattered."

He necked back the rest of his coffee, which he had sensed was going cold when drinking earlier. His right hand was playing with the sugar decanter and cream on the table, and he kept imagining they were people he could fool once or twice.

"Well then, are you finished?"

"It stuck out?" Haruka replied, with a shrug. "And a sudden deluge followed right after."

She nodded at the question, pushing her glass off to the side. "You?"

Mirai followed her glass with his eyes. Instead of nodding, he tipped his head. He wanted some time alone to think about things. He gestured subtly by bringing out his arm and raising his palm.

"... Yeah. Thanks for the company."

Haruka smiled and replied,

"Yeah. Same to you."

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