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[satanael]

Disbelief flickered across his eyes. Then amusement. Mischief twinkled behind his lenses but Ren wisely held his tongue. There would be a time and a place for poking fun at Akechi over his slip-up, preferably when he least expected it.

"You're laying it on awfully thick," Ren quipped, imagining that this was how Akechi rubbed elbows with all his connections. How needlessly exhausting. His eyes drifted over to Hifumi, sensing that she felt out of place. "If you're so impressed with her skills, you should challenge her."

Ann's laughter floated through the air. "Are you sure you want a match between Akechi and Togo-san? What if he's way better than you?"

Ren rolled his eyes. "Impossible. I learned from the best."

 

[Mothman]

"I don't know any more than the basics, Ren." Akechi rolled his eyes at the prodding boy, before looking back towards Hifumi for a moment. "All I was trying to say is I was quite impressed with the match. Apologies for Ren stirring my words around." The words came out jokingly enough, warranting a small, yet slightly forced laugh in return from Hifumi.

"Amamiya-kun has been improving quite quickly in our matches, I will admit. Akechi-san, I'm sure you'd be a natural as well." She gave a gentle nod to the detective, before looking over to Ann, tilting her head a tiny bit, as if to ask if things were going well. She was still horribly nervous about this whole idea.

"If I may ask, Ren, how long have you known A-" She once again stopped herself, not wanting to come off as too casual. "Takamaki-san and Akechi-san? You never mentioned being friends with the Detective Prince before."​

 

[satanael]

Hifumi's awkwardness was really starting to show. Ren humored her regardless: "Ann and I sit next to each other in class. We're both oddballs," - "Hey!" - "So we kinda stuck together. As for Akechi, I had the great fortune of being called on during a field trip to the broadcasting station."

"Don't listen to him," Ann pleaded, grinning all the while. "Without me, he'd look like a mop that just rolled out of bed. Ren sends me a picture every morning before he leaves for school--"

"Wow, is anyone thirsty? I think I'll go grab us some water. Akechi, water? It's important to hydrate." Damn you, Ann Takamaki, I'll get you back for this, Ren swore.

He headed down the steps and grabbed a tray from the kitchen. Ren half-expected Sojiro to give him a hard time about having a bunch of teenagers over during business hours, but his guardian simply mused about the days of his youth. Ren was not about to look this gift horse in the mouth: He grabbed the drinks and hurried back upstairs.

"I've got a couple of board games if you guys want to do something."

 

[Mothman]

"I'd call you both expressive, more than anything... It's nice. You're both very outgoing, but in your own ways." Hifumi finally slid her bag off of her shoulder, setting it under her chair and being relieved to have the literal weight off of her shoulder.

Ann's comment got a small snicker out of Hifumi, though she couldn't laugh too much at the boy. God knew that she had been looking awful recently when she rolled out of bed.

Akechi, on the other hand, found it hysterical, even more so as Ren attempted to escape the situation. "That's be..." He interrupted himself with a snicker as Ren retreated to the stairs. "That'd be great, thank you." Once Ren was gone for a moment, he wiped some tears of laughter from his eyes, before taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Thanks for the info, Ann." Smirking as he concocted a variety of ways to tease the boy about it in the future, he shut up about it when Ren came back up with the drinks. "I didn't take you for a board game type. I thought you just played video games all day with Futaba and Ryuji."

​

 

[satanael]

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises," Ren claimed with a straight face. After passing out cups, he kneeled beside his TV and wriggled one of the drawers loose. Boxes of every size and color sat inside, neatly nestled. "Togo-san, do you wanna play a competitive game, or co-op?"

Before he got a response, Ren snapped his head up at the sound of heavy footfalls on the steps. "Hey, yo, guys, what's happening-- ..."

Ren cocked a brow at Ryuji's bizarre entry, then followed his gaze-- He put on the biggest shit-eating grin this side of the Pacific Ocean you'd ever seen. Gently, with all the finesse of a cat toying with its prey, he turned towards his friend and cleared his throat. "Ryuji, meet Hifumi Togo-san."

Ryuji looked like he just choked on air. "Nice, nice to, uh, meet you. And all that. I kinda forgot Ann mentioned... you." He plopped himself down on the wooden floor and scratched at the back of his head. "I don't know jack about shogi, but I guess you must be really smart if you can play that kinda thing."

Ren elbowed Ann who let out a very distinct "ow!". She was totally about to lay into him, too, if it wasn't for the smarmy look on his face. Ann squinted. Then it hit her. Ren could tell because her jaw was hanging. "Well, we were just about to pick out a game to play together. Ryuji, you wanna show Togo-san the ropes?"

"N-nah. She's Ann's friend. They probably think alike. Or whatever. You and me, though? We'd be unstoppable."

"True. Which is why I should probably partner up with Akechi so the rest of you have a fighting chance."

Ann groaned. "You are sooo full of yourself."

 

[Mothman]

"You certainly are." Akechi smirked as he muttered his words, watching Ren move to some of his boxes to look for board games. He was never one to participate in casual activities like this, but he was quite enjoying it so far.

"Oh, erm... I suppose it doesn't matter much to me." While she worried about playing anything too serious, afraid her overbearing personality change when she played things like Shogi that were competitive in nature. Though, she didn't want to make a choice for the rest of the group. The girl would just have to do her best to keep it under control.

As Ryuji entered and seemed less than thrilled about Hifumi being there, the feeling that she was intruding on something bigger set on her again. Ren had mentioned Ryuji Sakomoto in passing a few times with her, but she knew very little about him. Though, in truth, she was just bad at reading Ryuji's expression.

"It's a pleasure, Sakamoto-san. Apologies if I'm intruding." She bowed towards the boy as he sat on the ground, before glancing over towards Ren.

"I'm not sure what we're playing, but unless it's something involving muscle, I'm confident I'd have a leg up over Ryuji." Akechi smirked with his fighting words, about to open his mouth again before footsteps practically dashed up the stairs.

Futaba walked in, holding a plastic bag in one hand, a bag of chips cradled under her arm as she pulled chip after chip out and snacked. "'Sup." She had frankly forgotten Hifumi would be there, sitting down and looking at her in confusion in a moment. Not saying much, she set the plastic bag on the table. "Brought snacks." As per usual, she was far less vocal than she was over text.​

 

[satanael]

"Why you little--!"

Ren launched himself across the floor, landing in Ryuji's lap as he threw out his hands like Rose on the Titanic. All eyes turned towards him, even Ryuji's. Anger gave way to confusion; Ryuji lowered his fist. "I just thought I'd practice my T-pose."

"Umm, what?" Ann asked, looking like she really didn't want to know the answer.

"Nothing," Ren chirped, slowly picking himself up out of Ryuji's personal space. "Anyway, this is a game my penpal recommended. It's kind of like an RPG except everyone's fighting against one another. You can work together or screw each other over and-- here, just pass around the rule sheet, this is gonna go by faster if we just learn as we go."

Ryuji stared at the rule sheet Ren handed off to him. "Should've known you'd make me read something."

"It won't kill you," Ren promised, crawling on his knees to pass out cards to everyone. "Futaba, can you pass me the jagariko?"

Worry flashed across Ann's face. "Ren, you better leave some for Yusuke. We don't want a repeat of the last time you ate all his jagariko."

"There are some things man was not meant to know..." Ryuji muttered in solemn remembrance. "Uhh, here, Togo. The rules. I think I'll just pick it up as we go."

 

[Mothman]

"Oooooh, Munchkin!" Taking an excited bite of a chip, Futaba leaned forward in her chair, sitting in her signature pose as she looked towards Ren with excitement. "I pwned some dudes online at this game once. They kicked me after I won, though..."

"I wasn't aware they had games like this online." Akechi dug around in the bag for a moment after shooting Ren a weird look after his odd display. After a moment, he took a can of Arginade from the bag and cracked it over.

"If you stare at that too long, Ryuji, your hairs gonna go grey." Futaba spoke with her mouth full as she tossed Ren a container of jagariko, glancing over towards Hifumi and holding a second one out to her. "Wan shum?" Ever the girl to use her manners, she finished chewing and spoke again. "Want some?"

"Huh?" Hifumi looked more than confused at Futaba's first offering, but once she asked again, she nodded and took the container. "Thank you, er...?"

"Oh, Ren probably didn't tell you. Futaba Sakura. I'm younger than you, so Futaba's fine." Her hand moved up to adjust her glasses before returning to her chips.

"Futaba-chan." Hifumi repeated the name out loud to be sure she'd remember it, before taking the rules sheet from Ryuji. It didn't take her long to read over it and seem satisfied, before passing it off to Akechi. It took him a bit longer, a few bits of it not making a ton of sense, but after he seemed satisfied enough, he handed it back to Ren.​

 

[satanael]

Ann pried the rule sheet out of Ren's hands, getting distracted by the glossy texture of the brochure. For the briefest of moments, she totally understood where Yusuke was coming from. After she looked over the rules a second time, Ann figured she'd gotten as much out of it as she was gonna get, then folded it up for Ren to put away.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I trust you've all made Togo-san feel welcome?" Yusuke set his book bag down, off to the side, then spied the bag of snacks lain upon the table. His eyes widened. "A thousand blessings upon the generous soul whom sponsored us tonight..." He made a beeline for the goodies and shamelessly pulled out two cups of jagariko.

"Welcome to the party," Ren greeted. He scooted over, inching closer to Akechi as he tugged on Ryuji's sleeve to make space in the circle. "We're playing bootleg munchkin."

"An interesting name. I look forward to seeing how the title represents the core mechanics." Yusuke settled into the open space on the ground and munched away.

"I doubt it's that deep," Ryuji remarked as he made an attempt at Yusuke's snacks. His hand was summarily swatted at. "Dude, c'mon!"

"Get your own."

"You have two!"

More footfalls echoed from the banister. Makoto regarded the room, saw the crowd, then held back a sigh. She put on her best smile, told herself to think of this as an assignment, then looked to Hifumi Togo. "They can be rambunctious at times but I assure you, everyone here is good company. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Togo-san." She didn't miss the grateful look from Ann.

 

[Mothman]

"Kitakawa-kun!" Hifumi gave a smile the the familiar face who made her feel at least a bit more at home in the attic that was slowly getting more and more crowded. She supposed there could only be so many more people they could cram up here before it became somewhat too much. A laugh escaped her as Yusuke quickly started to dual wield the jagariko. Ever obsessed with food, he was...

"I got enough for the both of you screwballs." Futaba snickered as Yusuke fought off Ryuji from laying hands on his precious jagariko. Nothing got between Yusuke and his food, no matter the circumstances. She dug into the plastic bag and hurled another container at Ryuji, laughing as it thunked off his head and his the ground with a quiet thud.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone!" Gentle footsteps made their way up the stairs, just behind Makoto, as Haru entered, quickly finding a seat at the table and helping herself to a drink. "I hope you haven't been waiting on me, or anything. Some guy was hassling me for money on the way here, I told him I'd skip calling my lawyer and sue him myself and it scared him off." An almost crude giggle followed her words as she crossed one leg over the other and looked to Hifumi. "Good evening, Togo-san!"

Hifumi was more than a bit overwhelmed at all the hellos, but found it in her to give a nice introduction to Makoto and Haru both. When it came to situating in the table, she was grateful to be in between Ann and Haru, hoping their fairly gentle natures would keep her anchored enough.

"Ren, c'mon, let's start! This is the perfect time to show these chumps who's the card game supreme around here!" Futaba bared her signature gremlin smile as she eagerly rubbed her hands together. "Maybe Togo-san can provide me my long awaited challenge..."​

 

[satanael]

"Ow!" Ryuji thought about chucking the jagariko back at Futaba, then decided she didn't deserve the satisfaction. With a grumble, he opened his cup and started chomping on his snack. Sweet glorious salt. His taste buds were in heaven. "Hey, Ren, blood oath. No screwing each other over until we're the last two standing."

Perhaps it would be advantageous to start striking up alliances. "Ehh. That's not how I usually play but for you, I'll make an exception."

"Pssh. If that's how we're gonna play, then..." Ann threw her arms around Hifumi and Makoto. "Girls versus guys, losers treat the winners to a round of boba!"

Makoto found herself leaning out of her chair to accommodate Ann's surprisingly sturdy grip. "W-well, there is strength in numbers. What game are we playing again?"

Yusuke stared into the depths of his empty can. "Bootleg munchkin. It is designed in such a way that it can destroy friendships." He stuck a finger into the cup and collected jagariko dust upon the tip. Absent-mindedly, he licked at the remnants of his favorite snack and sighed. "May we come out of this alive."

 

[Mothman]

"It is five on four, then..." Futaba looked around and did a count just to be sure.

"Oh, I don't think I'm gonna play. I like watching you guys yell at each other over games like this." Haru took another sip of her drink, dismissing herself from the competition. "Though, if the girls win, the boys are still buying me boba." Before anyone had a chance to contest it, Futaba spoke up.

"Wicked. We've got all the smart ones! Makoto and Hifumi'll wipe the floor with you guys as our tacticians, and I'll be the brute force of the team!" Another flash of her gremlin smirk, and she seemed fired up.

"Then what's Takamaki-san?" Hifumi was still a bit unsure of the entire ordeal going on, but decided to humor the girl.

"Wild card." Futaba shot a confident glance to Ann, along with a thumbs up.

"I suppose the boys'll have to rely on Ren, then. I take it you're a natural?" Akechi glanced to Ren with a hopeful look.​

 

[satanael]

Ann bristled with excitement, taking a moment to spare her newly established rival a glance. "You hear that, Ren? I'm coming for you!"

Ren met her challenge with a confident smirk. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Now remember, team, it's gonna be tempting to run interference during the early game. What we should really be focusing on is stockpiling cards to maximize our defense."

"Ooookay. Makes sense." Ryuji picked up the cards Ren dealt out to him and snorted. While the flavor text didn't appeal to him, the drawings were silly and cartoonish, appealing to his sense of humor.

Yusuke peered at his hand. Within a matter of seconds, he had abandoned them in front of his feet and produced a sketchpad. "Until it is my turn, I'll be capturing the spirit of competition that resides within each of us."

While the boys blabbed about their cards, Ann leaned over and fanned out her cards so that Hifumi could see them. "I think this one's supposed to give me more defense points? Usually that's a good thing."

Makoto scrutinized her cards. "Traditionally, play begins with left of the dealer. That means both Ryuji and Yusuke will have an opportunity to act before Futaba. I think we'll just have to sit tight and see what happens."

 

[Mothman]

"Hehehehe..." As the cards were dealt out, Futaba grinned and looked dead towards Ren. "You boys are gonna be sorry. So are your wallets." Futaba waited as the turns went through, shuffling her cards in her hands as she did so.

"I think so." Hifumi nodded and pointed at one of the cards in her hand that would lend itself to be useful later on. "That'll be helpful, I think."

When it eventually came to her turn, Hifumi took a moment to analyze the situation. Her expression turned around in a complete 180, as she seemed to get into the grove. "Foul beast, show yourself!" As a monster was played for her to attempt to combat, Futaba widened her eyes.

"That's a tough one. Akechi's probably the only one that could beat it since he's got that nullifying card." Futaba looked to Hifumi for a moment before the shogi player slapped a card on the table.

"Blade of evil's bane, wielded by the full might of the Togo Kingdom! Strike my foe down!" Hifumi threw one more card down on the table as she slayed the monster and reaped the rewards of it.

---

"Hehehe, read 'em and weap, boys. Y'all are finished!" Futaba chuckled as the team managed to take out Ren, the last man standing, the girls had reigned victorious.

"It was a valiant effort, I think." Haru had been watching eagerly throughout the entire match, along with the twists that had happened.

"I'm surprised how lacking in luck this game is. Sure, there's a bit, but it's mostly a strategy based game." Akechi, despite the loss, seemed more intrigued at the balance and deep thinking required for the game.

​

 

[satanael]

How many times did they erupt into laughter? If someone wasn't laughing, someone had to be screaming. More often than not Ryuji was losing his mind, caught off-guard by the twists and turns of the game. Yusuke had the bad habit of egging him on, wallowing in the same losing-streak despair that plagued the boys' luck.

Despite the odds stacked against them, however, they stayed in the game, waiting for the moment they'd make their comeback. (Of course, it came and it went, thanks to a miscommunication on Ryuji's part - "You had that card this entire time?!").

Ren gave up on trying to win and settled for trolling the hell out of Ann, the weakest link in the game. She called him out on it - "Again?! Seriously?! Ren, I'm only level three!" - but his cause was just, his resolve unshakable. Bit by bit, he wore away at all of Makoto's respect for him: "Ren, you do realize that both Togo-san and I are on the verge of winning, yes?"

Cards exchanged hands and the losers dejectedly fetched their wallets. That's when the real arguments began. "Yusuke, how are you broke?" - "I don't have to deign that with an answers." - "Ren, I really don't think the three of us can feed all the girls." - "I guess I could dip into our slush fund..." - "Please stop calling the money we earn from Mementos a slush fund."

While the boys and Makoto bickered over the terms of the bet, Ann nudged Hifumi with her elbow and noted, "You got really into the game back there. It was so cool how intense you were!"

 

[Mothman]

"It doesn't have to be today. But you'll be held to the bet all the same. Perhaps next time we take a trip to the beach, we can cash out on our boba." Haru tried to deescalate the argument, but to little avail.

"You guys agreed to it, didn't you? Should've checked your wallets beforehand." Futaba rolled her eyes as the boys tried to defend themselves and get out of the trouble, taking the time to stack the cards back up neatly. It didn't take her long to have thing sorted and back in the box.

As Ann nudged her, Hifumi jumped a bit, looking over to the side at her fellow victor. At the mention of her serious attitude to the game, she blushed a bit. "Oh, t-that..." An awkward laugh followed her words as she tried to play it off. "It's, er, just force of habit, I suppose. Ren sees me go overboard a lot when we play shogi... I never imagined it would carry over to here." A hand moved to her forehead in embarrassment, knowing the others were likely just as floored as she was.

"Guys, relax. I'm sure me and Ren can make up for Yusuke and Ryuji's lacking wallets." While he didn't like to flaunt it, just like Haru, Akechi was fairly well off in terms of money, living with his politician father, alongside his time with the detective force. "So, if the girls would prefer, I'd be happy to get this squared away tonight."​

 

[satanael]

Makoto shook her head, brushing aside the heated discussion that had erupted in the attic. "It wouldn't be fair to either of you, footing the entire bill." And it wasn't as though she was in the mood for sugary drinks. After all those salty snacks, she wanted a properly balanced meal.

"I don't mind," Ren insisted, "I like the idea of Ryuji and Yusuke being indebted to me."

"Dude," Ryuji crammed all of his creeped out disbelief into a single syllable.

Yusuke shrugged. Unlike Ryuji, he knew the lesser of two evils: "I'd much rather owe Ren than Haru. I accept these terms."

Ann stared at the others, then looked back to Hifumi, one of the sanest people in the room. "It just means you were having fun. Riiiight?"

 

[Mothman]

"You're welcome to skip out, Nijima-san. Or, I'd be happy to treat you to something else in the area." Akechi waved his hand in front of his face in a slightly flamboyant motion before he continued. "Plus, it's just boba. Nothing all that expensive."

"I'm with Crow." Futaba skipped on realizing that using codenames with Hifumi around was probably stupid.

"Does that mean we're going right now?" While she still planted comfortable in her chair, she posed the question to nobody in particular. The decision would probably fall to Akechi and Ren, since they were paying.

Hifumi didn't say anythng about Akechi's odd nickname, assuming it was just some odd thing she came up with. Perhaps a reference to a video game or show she didn't know about.

"Fun...?" Hifumi had to go over it in her head for a moment, unsure if Ann was right or not. "I... I suppose I have been. I'd probably have just been reading all evening if I wasn't here."​

 

[satanael]

"It's less the monetary value and more the principle of the matter," Makoto murmured, unaware that her hand had found a place beneath her chin. To those who'd met them both, she was the spitting image of her sister, all meticulous poise. "But all right. I'll come with, in case you need an extra set of hands." Because while the boys now owed the girls drinks, there was still the matter of tantalizing snack foods begging to be paired off with milk tea.

"Aw jeez, my ass is sore." Ryuji pushed himself off the floor and kneaded at his butt with his knuckles, completely forgetting that they were amongst polite company (namely, Hifumi). "I gotta stretch my legs."

"You've terrible posture," Yusuke stated matter-of-factly, settling a hand at the small of Ryuji's back. "Straighten out."

"Gah! Don't just grab me outta nowhere."

Ann pursed her lips, failing to hold back her amusement; her shoulders trembled as she refused to laugh. "It'll be chaos if we go as a huge crowd. Maybe some of us should hang out here."

Ren poked her in the cheek. "It was your idea to get boba."

"Uh huh, and it's my idea to wait here while you do all the heavy-lifting." Ann waved Ren off when he failed to make a comeback. "Ta-ta!"

Honestly, with everyone marching down the stairs, it sounded like a stampede - a stampede of hungry crazy teenagers.

Ann eyed the empty cans and strewn-about wrappers. With a sigh, she started cleaning up after the messier ones. "A quiet night in is nice every now and again, but-- I guess I get a little antsy if I'm cooped up all the time. Sorry for springing this on you."

 

[Mothman]

"Wait, I'm coming with!" Haru jumped out of her chair as the group started to leave, eager to get a drink with them. "Bye, Ann-chan, Togo-san! We'll be back soon!"

Akechi chuckled as he was near the back of the tidal wave of students descending down the stairs. "It's just one line over in Shibuya. We shouldn't be more than twenty minutes, I hope." He put emphasis at the end, knowing that something would likely complicate their trip, what with how many people they were bringing.

When it was down to just the two girls, Hifumi couldn't help but let out a deep breath, finally having some space and a quiet room to breathe in.

"No, it's really no worries, Takamaki-san." Hifumi nodded and started to help Ann clean up. She seemed a bit out of it, but frankly had the entire evening aside from their game.

"Perhaps when we're done with this, we could take a walk...? I think I could use some fresh air." Her voice was quieter than average, and she spoke as she gently set Akechi and Haru's empty drink cans into Ren's wastebin.

"I can't imagine spending all night in here. It's quaint, I suppose, but it's so dusty..."​

 

[satanael]

"Hey now, that's not fair, picking apart Ren's room while he's gone," she teased, only to pick up a trail of dust off the table. Ann frowned, debating whether or not to scold Ren for not cleaning up his room. Then again, if she were in his shoes, she would spend as little time up here as she could, too.

After tossing her bag of torn packages and crunched-up containers in the trash, Ann went back to the table and drew a little smiley face in the dust. She blew at her fingertip, then turned towards Hifumi. "Let's go on that walk you wanted. The more we walk, the more we can eat afterwards!" Because as far as Ann was concerned, the boba was just an appetizer.

 

[Mothman]

"I-I don't mean to pick it apart!" Hifumi nearly dropped what she was holding as Ann mentioned it. "We're just cleaning. I sure hope he isn't mad about it..." A small grin crept on her face for a short moment.

"Maybe Ren will be able to be at ease if we get out of his room for a bit." Hifumi went and grabbed her bag and waited for Ann by the stairs. "It's funny, the place my shogi competitions are at are just around the block..." While she tried to sound excited about it, she unintentionally reminded herself of her current troubles.

"Mom..." She muttered as she checked her phone, a small wall of texts from her mother covering her screen, regarding future arrangements, questions of what she was up to, and all the sort. A frown crept onto her countenance as she shoved the phone in her pocket with a lasting scowl.​

 

[satanael]

Ann snagged her purse off the counter and slung it over her shoulder, almost knocking over Ren's plant as she walked on by. There was a brief moment where her heart leapt out of her chest and she almost surged forward to catch the plant-- but the pot rattled until it steadied. Not a single speck of dirt was out of place.

She heaved a sigh and followed after Hifumi. "Has she been texting you this entire time?" Ann hastened her pace and grabbed the door for her friend, lest she walked into it while checking her phone. "Do you wanna take a moment and answer her?"

 

[Mothman]

Hifumi jumped a bit as Ann nearly made them an even bigger mess to clean up, but thank the lord, it managed to steady itself. A gentle phew escaped her as the two girls headed out.

When they reached the door, Hifumi stopped and looked to Sojiro. "Thank you for the hospitality. We'll be back for just a bit longer, soon."

With that, the two girls hit the street, the sun still barely in the sky. It'd be evening within the hour.

"I must have had my ringer off. She's very... What's the word..." Hifumi put a hand to the accessory she kept in her hair, gently poking at the ends of it. "She worries about every little thing, it really gets under my skin...!" While anger was very rare to come from her, she was having trouble keeping it under wraps.

"I don't want to, in truth..." A sigh followed her words as she begrudgingly took out her phone. "But I probably should." It took her a short moment as she stopped at a small bench and typed a fairly dismissive response back to her mother, agreeing to all the plans that she was making in her name.

"No point in contesting anything she says... Ugh." Tucking her phone away, she stood back up and looked to Ann. "Sorry to waste your time. Let's go."​

 

[satanael]

"Togo-san... You're not wasting my time. If you gotta vent, then you gotta vent. I mean, what else are friends for?" Ann tucked her hands beneath her elbows, trying to warm herself as a brisk wind blustered past them. "It's okay to be upset and to show it. Bottling it up is just gonna make you as crazy as-- as crazy as that laugh Futaba does when she's kicking someone's butt."

Why yes, English was Ann's best subject. Thank you for noticing her and her eloquence, her use of simile and metaphor.