[30 minutes later (4:30 p.m.), Katie gets to the Pao Pao Cafe which is located at an insignifigant but not inconvenient distance from both Sakuragaoka High and Shunyo High.] * Taro is working as a clerk. He's wearing a half-tuxedo with a bow-tie. * Katie walks up to Taro and grins. "Hello." * Taro looks up and grins. "Hi!" How's work? So-so. So... um.... * Taro rubs the back of his head. * Katie smiles, a tinge of a blush creeping onto her face. "I hope you don't mind me dropping by. I just had something I wanted to ask you." * Taro blushes too. "Oh, really?" He speaks while chuckling. "What could that be?" [About now, someone inconveniently walks in.] Well, um. Chikako's planning a trip to Disney Tokyo tomorrow, and I'd like to know if you wanted to- * Katie jerks her head up as her People Sense activates and looks over at Kyoko. * Kyoko comes in! "Hi Taro. Sorry I'm late. I didn't hear that the boss wanted me to come in today until-" * Kyoko stops in mid sentence and stares at Katie. * Taro blinks! * Katie shakes her head. "Hi Kyoko." She somehow sounds even more nervous. * Kyoko nods. "Hi." * Taro looks back and forth between the two. "You, um, know each other... I take it?" Um. Yeah, kind of. We've run into each other a couple times. * Kyoko nods. "Yeah. * Taro scratches the back of his head. "Oh. Heh." So, uh, what... What was it you wanted to talk... about?" * Katie seems to zone out for a moment, then she looks over at Taro and smiles hesitantly. "Oh, I wanted to ask if you'd like to come to Disney Tokyo with us. We'll be going tomorrow." Disney Tokyo? Sure! I-I mean... I'd love to- * Taro blinks. "Wait, tomorrow?" Ahh... I, um... Well, I can't... tomorrow... * Katie nods. "If you can't make it, I understand. It's-" Her smile fades a little at Taro's words. "Oh, okay." * Kyoko realizes she should be working, so she gets to be doing that. Well, um... I, um... * Taro rubs the back of his neck. Maybe I can... I was gonna, um, go camping with dad, and... If... well, if you want to go camping with your dad, that's fine. Family's important, and everything. well... No... Um.... Can I think about it? Sure. * Katie pulls out a piece of paper and jots down her phone number. She hands it to Taro. "Just don't get in trouble for me, okay?" * Taro grins and rubs the back of his neck raw. "Okay..." (No, he doesn't REALLY do it :P) (Aww!) * Kyoko comes back out dressed as a waitress. Hey, did you want anything to drink? Or... anything? Um. * Katie considers, then looks outside. Brr, cold. "Sure. If... well, if it's not too much trouble. I'll pay for it." Oh, that's ok! I'll get it out of my paycheck. I don't mind. * Katie smiles and shakes her head. "I don't want you getting in trouble for me, Taro." It's no trouble! What would you like? I'd just like something warm. Tea works. Okay. * Taro fixes up some tea. * Katie waves Kyoko over as Taro runs off to fix tea. * Kyoko comes over. "Did he..." Did Kyon... Did he hear anything about Reiji? * Katie sighs. "Not as far as I know. I was going to ask you about that, actually. He's still missing?" * Kyoko nods. Any hope she had just drained right out of her face. * Katie impulsively grabs Kyoko by the arm. "Kyoko, I promise I'll do everything I can to help find Reiji. All right?" * Kyoko nods. "I... Thanks." * Katie smiles. "And... I've been thinking about this for a long time, and..." She takes a deep breath, then slowly lets it out. "I forgive you." Thanks. I... I really did screw up. Nobody's perfect, Kyoko. We all screw up. * Katie tilts her head. "The best anyone can do is learn from it, right? So as long as you learn from it, I forgive you. And I think you have." * Kyoko frowns. "Yeah, but with me, it happens so often that-" * Taro comes back "Tea's ready." * Katie lets go and looks over to Taro. She grins. "Okay. Where do I sit?" Oh, at the counter's fine. [And now the GM describes the place!] (Woot!) [It's a pretty typical cafe. There's tables by the window and stools at the counter. It's a nice little corner place.] * Katie takes a seat at the counter, then. Stools are fun. [These are the cushioned type that spin!] (The best kind. *_*) * Taro hands Katie the tea! * Katie smiles at Taro as he does so. She takes a sip. * Taro blushes. We don't get much business until around 5:00, so... We've got about fifteen minutes to talk. If, um... you have anything you wanna talk about. * Taro scratched the back of his head. * Katie blushes a little, too. It's contagious. Okay then. Um... well, there was something else I wanted to ask about. * Kyoko goes to take care of a couple who just entered. Yeah? What's that? Yeah. Well, let's see. Rememeber when you asked if I wanted to join the kendo club? Uh-huh. * Katie swirls her tea in her cup a little. "I think I might take you up on that." * Taro blinks. "R...Really? Cool." He scratches his head! :P (*snicker*) * Katie looks up from her cup and nods at Taro. "Yeah. I... um. I guess I've gotten a little more worried lately, and I think doing something for self defense wouldn't hurt." Ok... Ryuji's a good teacher, so you'll pick it up in no time, I'm sure. He can teach anybody, even someone with no talent at all! * Katie grins. * Taro blinks, eyes widening. "Uhh... n-n-not that I think you have no talent, or anything!" I hope I'm not completely awful, but that'll help, yeah. He seems really good. * Katie giggles. It's okay, I know what you meant. * Taro sighs in relief. [About that time, the door chime rings, and in walks Eriko.] * Katie grins and sips at her tea. "So, if you end up going camping with your dad tomorrow, do you want to do something else?" Her people sense tingles, but she doesn't jerk her head towards Eriko like she did for Kyoko. Nah. I'm pretty sure I'll cancel after all. * Taro looks up and waves. "Oh, hi Eriko." Well, if you're sure. * Katie waves at Eriko. ( This is where the NPCs go when they're not being used ^^ ) (How about the socks that get lost in the laundry?) * Eriko waves back. She's wearing jeans with a hole above the knee again, sneakers, a red jacket. She unzips it once inside, and is wearing a white halter underneath. One wonders how she keeps warm. Hey. Get me a coffee or something. * Eriko sits down next to Katie and lights up a cigarette. "Surprised to see you here." * Taro complies, of course. "I'll be right back." * Katie sips her tea and smiles a little at Eriko. "Just chatting. How've you been?" * Eriko shrugs. "Same as ever. They caught that guy, you know." * Katie nods. * Eriko puffs on the cigarette again. Yeah, I heard. Saki was pretty happy. 'S one more drug lord down. Guess I need to thank you guys. * Katie laughs a little. [Katie doesn't breathe in any smoke :P] You're welcome. Do you want me to carry the thanks to the rest of them? Yeah. * Eriko takes another puff. "I'm envious, honestly. I wish I could do what you guys could." Keep failing whenever they use one of those damn fields. Ah. I... don't find it all that great. I mean, sure, the fields don't affect you. But... people keep trying to kill me, or mess with my head, just because I'm that way. * Katie sets her cup on the counter and frowns. "No other reason. I haven't done anything to make anyone hate me." * Eriko takes another puff. "Been my experience that that doesn't matter." It seems to be that way. Things used to be a lot simpler. Look at it this way. If people come after you for no reason, you at least have some powers or something you can use to do something about it. I've got to resort to beating people up, and that doesn't always work. * Katie smiles faintly. I haven't shown any powers until recently. They don't do you much good if you don't know they're there, and you can't control them. Well... You can still go in those fields, though. And get killed. A combination of luck and running has kept me alive so far. You know, though... * Katie tilts her head. If he ever wants to leave the jail, he just has to get the guards to open the cell, and activate the field. Then he can waltz right out. * Katie shudders and curses quietly in English. "You're right." I... * Katie frowns. * Taro comes back with Eriko's coffee, in an attempt to keep this at least a little realistic :P * Katie waves at Taro. She looks, well, worried. As you'd expect. * Eriko says nothing. She snuffs out her cigarette and takes a drink. Sorry I took so long. the coffee machine was on the fritz, so... It's all right. You're back now, yeah? Yeah... * Eriko finishes her coffee, tosses some money on the counter, and stands up. Well, that wasn't bad. * Katie chuckles. "Bye Eriko." * Eriko waves. "See ya later. Sooner than you think, though. Probably." * Katie waves. "Take care." [Eriko leaves. Meanwhile, business starts to pick up.] * Katie glances at Eriko as she leaves, then smiles at Taro. "So, I was going to ask you. If you can't go with us tomorrow... or even if you can, do you want to do something after that?" * Taro blinks. "Eh?" He blushes fiercely. "Y-Y-Y-You don't m-m-mean...?" * Katie grins at the look on Taro's face. Her blush doesn't nearly match his, fortunately. "Sure." Um... s-sure! Great. Call me tonight and we can talk about it, okay? * Taro nodnodnods. * Katie practically lights up at that. "Okay. I'd better go now, or I'll get you in trouble." She gives Taro a quick peck on the cheek and grabs her satchel, then hops off the stool. "Call me!" * Taro nodnodnods some more, still blushing. * Katie waves and blushes a little, too, then heads out the door. [Session End! (in here)]