Fandom Born 2 AU

[.Phantom.]

W e l c o m e t o t h e A U

This is just our series of AU drabbles for Born 2 Die.

Index:
I don't even know what we plan on doing first soo....




List of AU plans:
- Cafe
- Swap
- Seven Wonders
- Host Club
- Tattoo Artist x Florist
- Among Us
- Book Club
- ComicCon
- Running from the Police
-Running from the Government
-


Syrrith

 

[Syrrith]

~ ~ C A F E ~ ~

Fuji's little cafe was starting to become one of Ezra's favorite places to be. It wasn't a place that Ezra would choose to work, let alone to stay for fun unlike the quiet bookwork that was practically always there, however, she wasn't given the option this time around. Fuji's family worked with Ezra's... group. All deals and transfers had to stay hidden. Ezra highly doubted that Fuji was the type of guy to spill anything to anyone regardless of whether Ezra was there or not, but Kai was cautious. So Ezra was given the order to watch over the place some days, just as a reminder that they were always close by. Ezra wasn't sure if it actually did anything, but there had been no incidents so far so she couldn't argue her way out of being there. Plus, the cafe was a bit homey, with fresh flowers, the smell of coffee and tea, and a light chatter from some of the customers. There wasn't a huge customer base, but enough regulars to keep it running. That seemed to keep Fuji happy. It meant less work for Ez so she was happy with it as well, though during the slow hours, like it currently was, she wished something would happen just so time went by faster.

It wasn't long until the little bell rung, alerting the cafe to someone coming in. With a quick glance at the clock, Ezra guessed that it was probably Kaiya, a blue haired college student, who had come in. Kaiya was interesting enough to catch Ezra's attention. She certainly helped pass the time for Ezra, even if it was just helping her study for a career that Ezra couldn't care about if she tried. The light haired girl leaned back a little from her position so she could check if she was correct. She was. With that confirmation, Ezra begun making another randomly picked drink since Kaiya's whole thing was to surprise her. So far, there was no drink that Kaiya didn't like, and yet she wouldn't decide on one herself. At first it was irritating, now it didn't matter. Each drink that Kaiya had tried was crossed off the list so that she would get a new one each day.

After making the drink, Ezra took it out and slid into the seat across from Kaiya, setting down the drink in the middle of the table. There was a slight motion for Kaiya to take the drink, but other than that, she stayed quiet. While waiting for the interaction, Ezra glanced at Fuji. It was slow at the moment, another thing one should never say out loud unless they want things to get busy again, so he and Ren could handle anyone else that came in. It was officially Ezra's time off.

----

Ren had finished up cleaning after the last person who left. He did another round of checking everything to make sure it was in order before moving to the front. Ezra had stopped work as soon as Kaiya came in, which was to be expected by now. It didn't bother Ren much. Not during times like these. When it was busier, then it certainly did but Ren could hold down the fort for now. Ren let out a small sigh, tapping his fingers along the counters without thinking much. There was Kameko walking in now, looking a bit flustered. She was late, which was pretty rare for her. Or at least that's what Ren had picked up on by then. Had she gotten lost? Maybe... she had a run-in. With... a ghost. And that's why she looked flustered. Ren looked from Kameko to someone he didn't notice had come in, stopping whatever theory was brewing in his mind. Aiko! A smile appeared on his face instantly as he pushed himself off of the counter to walk over to her. Unlike Ezra, he didn't immediately take the seat across from her.

"Oh look who showed up! What can I get you?" Ren inquired with the same dumb smile that had appeared when he saw her. Aiko was definitely one of his favorite customers. He enjoyed the constant banter, and it was just downright cool that someone as well-known as Aiko wanted to visit. He was surprised that she was able to visit here undetected. From what little he knew of her fame, the place would probably get stormed as soon as she publicly gave it a good review. "Or are you just here because you love my company? I knew it." Hiro had certainly had his influence on Ren, it seemed. Still, saying things like that always started the banter, so maybe it wasn't all that bad.

---

Kameko was late, she knew that. She had been caught up in reading a romance novel that a friend had recommended. Now she didn't have as much time as she would've liked at her favorite cafe. Of course, there was no obligation to go. No one was expecting her or anything of the sort. It was just a personal disappointment. She loved the relaxing feel of the little cafe and all of the people inside. Ezra, in all honesty, made her a bit wary. The light haired girl didn't talk much, aside from Kaiya, and she was nice enough when Kameko actually had to interact with her. Ren was fun as well, a bit more hyper than she personally was. That left Fuji. A total sweetheart and one of her favorite friends to talk to. It was why she was upset about getting carried away. Simply because there was less time to talk to him.

The bell rung, announcing her presence. Kameko usually didn't like anything that made people's attention turn toward her, but here it didn't matter that much. There was never a problem in the safe haven. If there was, Kameko could trust that it would be taken care of quickly. Ren looked bored, until he saw Aiko. It was obvious that there was something there, but Kameko couldn't bring herself to say anything during her talks with Aiko. It was likely out of line regardless.

Kameko skirted around the mean spirited waitress, making sure to give a small wave to Fuji beforehand, to set her bags down at the chair before moving to the front counter.

"Hello, Fuji-san! May I have the peach tea?" Her voice was as quiet as always, but there was still a chipper tone. With Fuji she had gotten less shy, but it was probably still obvious to someone like Aiko that she was still shy. Especially when they met for the first time that day. And as much as she loved the tea, she really did, she was more looking forward to talking with Fuji about whatever it was that happened that day.

 

[.Phantom.]

The homework was always interesting. The things she learned in class on a daily basis were constantly picking at her brain, encouraging her to think outside of the box and take into consideration situations and experiences she would have never thought about before. Today the assignment was very exciting, and she hoped that she could get some help from those in the cafe. She simply needed to ask nine psychological questions that could help her understand a person and their mental state better. Her task: ask at least eight different people the nine questions and write down their answers. Then she was supposed to come up with a conclusion based on what they'd gone over in Professor Angel's class about the state of being.

"Ez!" She was excited to ask if the pale haired barista would allow her to question her and attempt to understand her better. Though she didn't appear to have many friends, Kaiya would hardly classify her as rude. Ezra was even kind enough to already have her mystery drink of the day prepared for her when she showed up! Very polite of her, if Kaiya would say so herself. It was the color of chocolate, so she assumed it was something more sweet than tart - a bonus for herself since she had quite the sweet tooth and today was particular a chocolate-needing kind of day. "I don't have a test coming up since we're studying new material, but I do have this really interesting assignment and I need some volunteers to answers a few questions." The glass was cool against her hand. A cold drink rather than a hot one? Interesting choice. "Mind if I pick your brain a bit? Your name won't be on any of this, it's just for a studying assignment for my psychology class."

It was always a nice change from home, the little cafe. She forgot the name most of the time, only knowing it because it was right down the road from a local bakery that her adopted mother was always wanting snacks from. Nagisa had been the one who told her about the cafe, being a friend of the owner's son. She didn't talk with the boy much, but from what Nagisa had told her he was the shy kind of guy anyways. She had asked him about the types of plants they had on the selves around the cafe out of curiosity once and had gotten all of three words out of him. Scientific names of plants that she would never be able to spell or pronounce correctly even if she tried. After that, she'd decided to leave chatting with the brunette up to the purple haired girl who seemed to be the only one whom he spoke more than a few sentences to. She would have to ask both of them if they'd participate in her experiment as well. A variety of people. And if they were around - there! The red-headed boy had already found Aiko Higurashi, Japan's most likely candidate to win the title of "Miss Japan" in the beauty pageant, daughter of the famous Higurashi family, all known for their active role in the entertainment and fashion industry. If she could get both of them as well, that would already be five out of the eight to answer her questions. Nagisa, of course, would be one, so that left her only with two more people to ask if her desired targets all agreed.

- - - - - -

Aiko Higurashi knew it was risky to come to the small cafe. At first, it had simply been because her best friend Kameko had talked about it all of the time, and she'd become intrigued to see the faint blush on her cheeks when she started telling her about the boy whose parents owned the place. Being the good friend that she was, it was only right that she do her duty and check to make sure this boy her friend was potentially crushing on was worth her time and wasn't going to hurt her. The first time she'd went, much to her dismay he wasn't there. So she tried again. Watching the interactions between the shy pair gave her secondhand embarrassment. She felt for her friend, truly. So she had decided she would watch them, and attempt to give Kameko some advice on how to talk with the boy more. It was only within the past few weeks that she'd even learned that 'the boy' she referred to was named Fuji Sakamoto.

Somehow it landed her here. Sitting at a seat away from the window where prying eyes could see her, resting her chin on the palm of her hand as she quirked a perfectly groomed brow at the freckle-faced server standing before her. How she'd come to fond of their 'chats' she wasn't sure. Even so, she found her lips twitching into a smile. "You'd just faint where you stand if I came here for you, wouldn't you?" She replied. Truly, she was put-off by Ren. He didn't seem to care who her family was or who she was for that matter. He never asked for a picture with her or seemed like he was trying to pry dirty little details out of her like most people who approached her. He was just there because he was a friendly guy. "Do you still think I'm secretly a fraud? I think I may cry myself to sleep if that's the case." One of their previous talks had revealed that Ren believed most celebrities had died, and the ones they saw now were fakes. That the government turned a different person into them to pretend to be them in order to keep up appearances. She had been one of those apparently, due to an incident a few years ago where she'd fainted on stage at a fashion show due to food poisoning. Except Ren hadn't believed it was so simple.

"I'll take a chai tea latte, hot." She paused. "If you could, though, add an ice cube or two? I have the talent portion of Miss Japan coming up and if I injure my throat and am unable to sing I think my mother would consider killing me and paying someone to pretend to be my stand-in." Though it was a joke, part of her was serious. Her parents were very strict with her diet. If they knew she was getting a chai tea latte without asking for skim milk and being overly careful with the calories and sugar intake, she would be locked in the house for a few weeks with nothing to do except exercise, design more outfits, and do interviews that she'd have to be escorted to and from. This was her only free time, slipping away from home thanks to her bodyguard, whom was an absolute angel.

- - - - - - -

One look around the café said that should a rush come in, Fuji was likely going to be on his own. When Ezra sat down with the girl who never ordered the same drink twice, he knew it would be at least a few hours before she would even consider coming back to work if at all. She wasn't really there to be an employee, regardless, so he only figured she stayed because she knew that eventually the blue haired female would show up. He knew Kaiya was friends with Nagisa, and he felt the obligation to keep an eye on the girl for his friend. But he couldn't tell Nagisa to convince Kaiya to avoid Ezra without alerting him to what was actually going on behind the scenes at the café. The most he could do was hope that the rude girl didn't bring the clueless student into her mess of a world. Ren was more helpful, but sometimes the guy got too distracted with Aiko to notice when a rush came in. The two were always bantering, but it never caused a commotion so he never told Ren to rein in his behavior.

Kameko was his favorite regular. He didn't think that she'd read the same book twice, and he was fairly certain that she always came in with a new title. The genre seemed to have a theme, however. A romance reader suited her. Each regular had their own genre about them. If he had to assign each person a book stereotype Ezra would be the delinquent student, Kaiya would be the popular bubbly cheerleader, Ren would be the conspiracy theorist class clown, and Aiko would be the prom queen that he was certain she already was. He hardly paid attention to celebrity gossip, but he had gathered that Kameko was actually friends with the famous girl. He'd never had the interest to ask, though he occasionally found himself curious.

"Sure." Fuji smiled, already reaching for a cup. He'd already made sure to have fresh peaches ready for her arrival. Though she came consistently, he knew there were times when she wasn't there, or when she didn't want peach tea. Even so, he made sure to have fresh peaches peeled and sliced to give her the best drink. It wasn't anything special, but he enjoyed watching her become absorbed in her books while sipping on tea, only to realize she had already finished it. He always offered her more. "New book today?" He asked, glancing at the title. Recently he'd bought a book to give her. A minor gift, really. He had absolutely no reason to get her a gift, other than he'd seen it at the bookstore when he was getting a new book on building an indoor greenhouse and he remembered her talking about wanting it when it was released. His little sister had insisted on him putting a red bow on it, a bow that he could see peeking out of it's hiding spot in one of the shelves on his side of the counter. Would she even like it? Or would she find it strange he got her it? Should he give it to her?

 

[Syrrith]

Kaiya's class and assignments had originally felt off-putting to Ezra. The college student had explained what her class was about and what the questions for pretty early on. Ezra had decided that she didn't like the questions almost immediately. Hearing about others was fine, but when it was turned toward her, there was always a sense of unease. The light haired girl had worked so hard on hiding everything. Hiding emotions, hiding reactions, hiding thoughts, hiding everything that could possibly cause Kai to get pissed off. Then Kaiya had wanted to use her knowledge from her class in order to figure out what Ezra was "actually like". After awhile, and after getting to know Kaiya a little more, Ezra had realized that it was a stupid fear. The answers to the questions became a little more truth. Whenever they came across a question Ezra didn't like, she would simply avoid it or lie. Nothing had been brought up or questioned, so far.

"Go for it." Came the simple response. "What's the new material?" Even getting over the irrational fear that a handful of questions from a college class would somehow expose everything that she had worked for, the secretive woman still preferred to talk about what they were learning or results from other things. Plus, she had the right to know, didn't she? It concerned her after all.

---

"Oh don't flatter yourself. You're only the stand-in, remember?" Ren joked, referring back to their previous discussion. The conspiracy theories were his favorite to play up, even if he knew they were completely fake. The looks on their faces were enough to have him keep the joke going. In truth, they were fascinating, even without joking around with people. Some he believed more than others.

"Do you still think I'm secretly a fraud? I think I may cry myself to sleep if that's the case." Aiko's response wanted to make him laugh. Her actually crying, let along caring, if he thought that she was the imposter to the famous Higurashi daughter? Laughable.

"Oh no... so sad. How are you ever going to live through it?" Ren fake pouted, though the smile returned soon after it. These little banters were his favorite. It was always gave him a little pep for the rest of the day. Aiko had to enjoy it as well considering she kept coming back around. There was no way it was only for Kameko, like Aiko could claim. "Got it. I'll be right back." With that, Ren turned away to go fix her the drink. He had wanted to say something about it being weird that they have to replace the person they had to replace the first, but figured they were past that. Not to mention it seemed a little more serious. It was no secret that idols and the sort had strict routines. Ren couldn't imagine it would be any fun.

-

"Here ya go!" Ren carefully placed it on the table. Hopefully it was to her liking this time. "Just how you like it. There's no other customers that need to be helped right now just in case, ya know, you need anything else." Fuji was helping Kameko right now. If anyone else came in, then Ren would go help them, but he was hoping that wouldn't be the case so he could talk with Aiko some more.

----

Kameko let out a breath. As soon as the conversation got rolling, her nerves would calm down and everything would be okay. She was still feeling the adrenaline of being hurried and a sudden entrance. It didn't seem like Fuji had minded all that much though, which Kameko was grateful for. Instead he just went to work on the tea she liked and pointed out the book that she had brought along. Right. The reason she had been late.

"Ah, not really. It was a book I had read as a child. It's been years since I last picked it up so when I saw it again, I had to." Kameko replied happily, glad to talk about one of her favorite topics. Thousands of worlds that she could dive into at any moment that were so unlike her own. So many different ways of writing the same events or even similar worlds. se loved the creativity of it all, as well as getting to know each one of the characters. There were very few books where she couldn't bring herself to like something about it. Each one was a piece of art in it's own ways. "It's written nostalgia." Kameko looked up toward Fuji instead of her book. "But, the cafe is as cozy as always. Good day I take it?" Despite herself, Kameko glanced over at Ezra. How anyone can be friends with such a scary person stumped her, though Kaiya never seemed to mind.

 

[.Phantom.]

Not wishing to waste a second of time, Kaiya pulled out her sheet of paper with her rushed hand-written questions, and a notebook with the label, "Psych HMWK" on the front in big bubble letters. She flipped through a couple of pages until she got to a blank sheet, writing at the top in neat writing, Homework Assignment: 9 Q's Person 1. "Hmm? Oh, it's just a way to get into someone's head. It's to teach us how to evaluate a person and their state of mind." Glancing at the sheet of scribbled words, she slowed herself in writing the question again, glancing up at the girl across from her. "Okay! Question number one: Would you open an envelope that has the date of your death inside?" Her hand was poised over her notebook, prepared to scribble down Ezra's answer as to not miss a single word. The questions weren't really personal, but gave a lot of insight about the way someone's thoughts worked. The way they felt about certain things. The first question was meant to understand their attitude towards life, and their level of fatalism. Since she wasn't using names, she would be writing down which person was asked what by assigning them numbers. Ez would be number one.

"Speaking of," Kaiya took a sip of the chocolatey beverage. "I won't really know what the answers mean until my class on Thursday. We were only told to get our answers first, and then next time we're going to go over what each question tells us, the most common answers and their meanings, and so forth. So right now it's just like a simple questionnaire to make you think." Though she didn't say anything, she had realized Ez wasn't the most talkative person about herself. When Kaiya first met her, she'd thought that considering everyone else kind of kept their distance, she was quite easy to approach and fun to talk with. Then, after about a month of coming to the cafe, she'd realized that the barista was just really good at listening and she chose some answers to questions with great care. This new assignment was really exciting to her. She wanted to get to know Ezra better, get to understand what was going on in her mind, what she was thinking.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -- -

"We'll just have to see about that." She teased, picking up the chai tea and taking a careful sip from the warm beverage. It really was perfect. Not too cold to be iced, but not so hot as to do any damage to her vocal chords. "Hmm... I think there's too much milk in it." She put on her best 'difficult customer' impression. "And the cup is not colorful enough for my taste. Do you know who I am?" The obviously feigned act was accompanied with a manicured nail being pointed in his direction. With it being fairly taken care of in the cafe, she didn't think she needed to be on edge in worries of being swarmed by fans and those wanting to use her for fame.

She took another sip, smiling. "All jokes aside, it's delicious. Thank you, Ren." It wouldn't get her intro trouble by ruining her strict diet and it wouldn't risk her upcoming competition. While being seen at this cafe would increase their business, she worried about what would happen if too many people showed up. Fuji and Kameko would hardly have any time to themselves to chat. How sad would it be if they didn't have their moments? Not to mention she would be pretty disappointed to be unable to talk with Ren without causing a scandal. He would be bombarded with the paparazzi who would demand answers and come up with their own conspiracies, otherwise known as baseless lies just because she talked with him. "If you're not too busy, are you up for a chat? I'm quite bored and all others I could converse with are hardly as entertaining as you are."

- - - - - - - - -- - -

Fuji wasn't sure he could say he'd like to re-read any of his childhood favorite books. Most of them were books that he read to his sisters a million times over. Ones he'd once carved little wooden figures for each story, to move about as they watched him tell the story without even needing the book any longer. He had it memorized. Even so, Kameko seemed excited about it. "Yeah." He glanced around the place. "Not too busy." Just how he liked it. With a regular influx of customers, even when they got a rush it was small enough to be handled by two people. That was lucky, since Ezra wasn't really any kind of help around the cafe.

"What's the...uhm... book about?" Hearing is own voice rumble in his ears was always off-putting. Usually he kept words to a minimum. He had never been a fan of attention. The way Ren was able to babble on about his conspiracies and not seem to feel shy or awkward about talking so much was inspiring. Talking with Kameko had become easier over time. She was comfortable to be around, though even then he felt as though talking wasn't his strong suit. Fuji was much better at sitting back and listening to Kameko talk about her books. He was fine with listening and asking more questions. He knew once Kaiya had questioned him about how he could read his sister's stories, but not talk to other people comfortably. It had something to do with her psychology class, she'd said, but even that kind of attention had increased the temperature of his face.

 

[Syrrith]

Ezra followed the paper with her eyes, watching as Kaiya started writing her notes. God, that was certainly one thing that Ezra didn't miss. Kaiya seemed to take more notes per month than Ezra ever did in school. After a moment, she made sure that everything was under control and that no one would bother them, glancing around the store. Nothing was out of the ordinary so her attention turned back to the other girl. Good timing since Kaiya asked her first question.

An envelope with her death date? Ezra didn't know. She didn't really care for the date, nothing would change regardless. If the date was known to her, she wouldn't change anything. It was a set date so might as well do whatever in that time. Stressing about it was a waste of precious time. Did she even want to know? The answer was just "didn't matter" again. Ezra took a moment to think of what her answer would be if the envelope was offered.

"Sure." Came the reply with a small shrug, no other explanation given. If it was being offered, there was no reason to actually turn it down. It not changing anything didn't mean that she couldn't know, so why not have that information?

Ezra gave a small dip of her head in acknowledgement to Kaiya telling her about what was happening with the questionnaire. So it'd be awhile before Ezra could ask for what Kaiya learned. The usual uneasiness at feeling like Kaiya was trying to pick her apart came back but dissipated within moments. It wasn't worth worrying over, she reminded herself. Worrying about such a small thing was a waste of time, was another reminder.

--

For a moment Ren truly believed that he had messed up the order. He swore everything was right, but maybe he was wrong about it. He was about to apologize when Aiko went to say that the cup wasn't colorful enough for her, making Ren realize that it was a joke. He nearly sighed a sigh of relief at that. He responded with an eyeroll and a smile. Yeah, the cup wasn't colorful enough for such a drama queen.

"I think that the fact you have to ask is telling enough," Ren responded. The smile and genuine compliment made his expression soften a little, from mischievous and playful to plain out happy. The boy really did love these moments. He nodded and sat across from her, crossing his arms over the side and leaning forward slightly. "That was the most genuine compliment you've ever given me so far. Could be it be?? Aiko Higurashi, the one and only, falling for a simple man like myself?" Once again, Hiro's influence was certainly showing. Ren noticed too and swore to yell at him later for it. Without waiting for Aiko to respond he continued with, "And ouch, isn't that kind of- Kameko is right there." For this part he lowered his voice a little, not wanting to catch the other customer's attention. Having her catch him talking about her wouldn't be very good for him, especially since she was Fuji's favorite. Ren doubted that he would lose a job over it, but better safe than sorry.

--

Kameko nodded in acknowledgement of what he said. That was probably nice, a more relaxing day than the constant stress of having to talk to people and trying to remember a ton of things for them. That's one reason that she loved the cafe though. It wasn't busy, but it was able to keep it's head above water. Made for a calming and welcoming atmosphere.

At Fuji's question she turned over the book to look at the black and white pages. She could just go with the summary of it, couldn't she?

"It's... It's like two stories in one." Kameko paused, trying to figure out how to explain it. "Some chapters are one story and some chapters are another. The white pages follow an author who wrote her first book while the black pages are about the character she wrote. The character can travel to the afterlife and back." It was here where Kameko became acutely aware how much she was talking. On cue, everything started tightening up as she took a breath. Fuji had asked what the book was about, she wasn't talking too much. "She meets a psychopomp there and ends up falling in love with him. It has interesting concepts about the afterlife." Kameko finished the summary, relieved. Fuji had asked, that was the truth but had she been too excited about it? Fuji showed that he cared so Kameko wasn't worried about that, just about... everything else. She definitely wished that she could busy herself with something else at the moment, even if it was with sipping on the tea. This had been one of her favorite books and yet she was still cutting herself short when talking about it. God, Fuji must've noticed, and with that singular thought she felt her face get red. First she was late and now this? This was embarrassing...

 

[.Phantom.]

She was ready for a short answer, but the one-worded response stunned her. It was something she expected from a shy guy like Fuji, but she'd truly thought that this would be a more interesting conversation. Perhaps even with Ezra asking something along the lines of: "What the hell kind of question is that?" Instead she'd pondered it and gave a single worded answer. The way she said it made it seem like she would read it just because it was there and it had information on it, but it wouldn't bother her even if she didn't know. Was this because in a real life scenario they didn't know their date of death? Interesting concept to think about.

"Okay..." She tried to hide her confusion as she wrote down her one-worded reply, along with a few side notes with small arrows. Was that a common response? Was it supposed to go like that? It was technically a yes or no question, but it was hard to think that someone wouldn't expand on their answer once given. Ezra was pretty nonchalant about her response.

"Next question," she poised her pencil, ready for the reply. There was no need to get so hung up about the first of nine questions that were meant for her to analyze later on, not right this minute. "Would you-" She finished reading it silently and broke off giggling. Every time this question seemed to set off the giggles. "Sorry." She cleared her throat. Really she needed to get it together. It was fine. "Would you be friends with yourself?" She couldn't imagine introducing herself to her other self. What an odd concept. Would she even like herself? She'd thought about this question a lot when the professor had asked it to the class, making them write a two-page response on it.


- - - - - -

Even though Ren tried to skip past his teasing comment, Aiko set aside her drink and leaned forward on her elbows, watching Ren. "What if I were to say yes, hmm?" She quirked a brow. "Would you faint where you sit, freckles?" She actually teased him about his freckles more than she cared to admit. It worried her that she'd make him self conscious about them, but she loved his freckles. They were one of her favorite features about Ren. They looked like little sprinkles of cinnamon across whipped cream. Aiko had yet to admit it, but she thought he'd make an excellent model. Whether it be sheer embarrassment to admit it aloud or her secret desire to keep Ren hidden from the world, she wasn't sure.

Her gaze left Ren to glanced towards her friend. As if she'd go interrupt their puppy love conversation because of boredom. Besides, she got to talk with Kameko a lot. She was her best friend. And though she loved her, she was only able to pay attention to her spouting on about the latest book that she was reading. Sometimes she could keep up with it, but no one she had ever met could listen about a book so contently like Fuji, and the guy seemed genuinely interested! It was the kind of connection she would watch in fairy tales. The kind of thing she'd dreamed of since she was a kid. Instead, here she was, bantering with a messy red-headed boy whose smile was quite charming.

She was genuinely surprised that he wasn't even "talking" with any girl. Though he could be a little too energetic for her to keep up with at times, he wasn't a bad guy. Aiko wasn't sure she liked the feeling of discomfort at the thought of other girls coming into the cafe and having these types of ridiculous back-and-forths with him. He was such a friendly guy, so it was definitely plausible. She caught herself beginning to frown and wiped the expression clear off her face, forcing a smile a little too much.

- - - - - - -- - -

She seemed to light up talking about the book, only to cut herself short. He could see the hesitation in her eyes a moment before her words changed. Was he staring at her too much? He grabbed a rag to seem like he was doing something, absentmindedly wiping at the world's suddenly cleanest spot in the entire cafe. Still, it was such a quiet kind of excitement she had. Nothing loud and obnoxious like Ren, who had the most ridiculous theories he'd heard to date. It wasn't like the bubbly cheerful excitement of Kaiya every time she came in with something new she learned from class she wanted to share with Ezra. It was a calming kind of excitement. Like waking up on a day he was allowed to sleep in, knowing he had the whole day ahead of him.

"Seems interesting." He forced himself to check the floor, but things were running smoothly. Hoping it'd been enough time since he'd been staring at her, his gaze returned to the bookworm. "This might be.... uneducated..." He cleared his throat, already feeling the heat in his cheeks. "What is a pyschopomp?" He had never heard of the term before. Was it a type of character in the book? What kind of book was written where the pages changed colors? Were the black pages with white font? His mother told him and his sisters that things like that could permanently damage their eyes. Was Kameko going to ruin her eyes with how much she read? She was too sweet to be damaging her eyesight because of weird pages. Such an odd book, but it definitely caught his interest. "What did it say about the afterlife?" Too many words. He'd said too much in one sentence. If she looked at him, he might explode right then and there.

 

[Syrrith]

Ezra knew her answer wasn't that satisfactory. Would Kaiya get points taken off because Ezra hadn't elaborated? Didn't seem very fair for Kaiya so she doubted it. The girl watched as her answer was written down with mild interest before the next question was asked. Ezra raised an eyebrow when the other girl started giggling. What was so funny about the question? Then Kaiya asked. Ezra didn't find it as amusing, only making her confused about why Kaiya did.

Would she be friends with herself though? Probably not. Ezra's own bad attitude would piss her off for sure. Though if they happened to hate the same person, there could be some level of comradery there. Maybe. Ezra also knew how fast she'd be willing to screw a person over to save herself and having another person who was willing to do the exact same? There'd be no way. That was the answer she'd go with.

"No." The safe answer. The chances of them banding together for something like that would be small. They would like the same things, Ezra figured, but would that be enough to make up for fighting that would happen? Kaiya probably needed more. There wasn't enough in a single "no" to analyze. "Too bitchy. There's a possibility, but there'd be fighting no matter what happens." God, that felt unnatural. Explaining herself didn't come naturally, especially with things like this.

--

Ren had thought that the flirt was going to go by mostly unnoticed. When Aiko leaned forward, he knew that he was incredibly incorrect. The little nickname had him rolling his eyes. It didn't seem to be said with bad intentions so Ren didn't take offense. Sometimes little bits of insecurity had come up with them, especially since the comments that his younger sister had made awhile back, but Aiko had yet to actually trigger that. Yet.

"Yeah, yeah. You wish I would." Ren followed her gaze after a second. Kameko looked happy, and so did Fuji. Seeing them like that was so nice. They were the couple- friends, not couple- that others were jealous of. He wasn't sure if he was, if he were being honest, but he liked seeing them happy regardless.

"So, what's the latest drama?" His attention left Kameko and Fuji, returning to Aiko. There was always some type of drama happening in Aiko's workplace. It was as entertaining as it was annoying to hear how petty people were over the smallest things. Considering how Aiko reacted to it, those sort of things were perfectly normal. It made Ren glad that Fuji's place was drama-free with no secrets waiting to be exposed and without petty people.

--

Fuji seemed to be embarrassed about not knowing what it was, but Kameko knew it wasn't a common word for it. With the knowledge that he had actually been listening and wanted to know more, her nervousness had eased.

"It's a soul guide, kind of like the grim reaper. He guides souls to their afterlife. It's not uneducated, I haven't heard almost anyone call them that," Kameko responded, hoping that her answer made him feel better about it. She looked toward the book for a second after Fuji's next question, remembering the specifics about the afterlife that they had described. There was a lot to it, from the hunters who stole the soul's memories to the time traveling to the actual gates that the souls had to cross. "It's a vast nothingness, aside from the souls currently in it. There's no end to it, no ground or sky. A tar will come up from the ground and it can take you anywhere you want to go, from any time. Evil souls will try to kill other souls for their happiest memories." Kameko paused, looking a bit sad. "It's a bit sad, but the author didn't focus much on that. I liked the book, but I'm eager to get another one. Tomorrow, maybe."

Tomorrow she would go pick out another book to read, hopefully one a little more upbeat. This one had so many dark concepts in it. Multiple little girl's murders, evil people, and even acts of terrorism. Dark for sure. At least in Kameko's opinion. The end turned out alright, but she was ready for another book's fluffiness.

"Do you read, Fuji? ...Maybe tomorrow we could pick out a new one?" Kameko surprised herself by asking. It was something she had thought about before, but she never had actually made a plan to ask. Now she was fidgeting a little, trying to think of what to say next. Of course, she didn't want him trapped into going and he might not even want to. Kameko felt like her little rabbit fast heart would burst if it went any faster. Could he hear it? She was already talking so much and now this? "Uhm, or in the future if you're busy."

 

[.Phantom.]

Kaiya began to write down what Ezra was saying as she was saying it. She noted the pause in answer, making herself small little cliff notes for later. Things she was noticing about her posture and the way she responded to the questions being asked, as well as the way she answered them. How long she took to think about the question, and similar things of that nature. Everything was telling about how the question made her feel and what kind of response she had towards it. She really wasn't surprised by the answer, but she was surprised that she elaborated. Not giving more than a simple 'yes' or 'no' said something about a person as well. That's what they were analyzing. The behavior of a person. Their thoughts. Being closed off could tell them a lot about a person as well.

"I'm not surprised." She smiled, making another quick note. "You don't seem to have a lot of friends in here, but I don't think you're bitchy at all." In fact, she was kind enough to go along with Kaiya's indecisiveness to pick an actual drink even though she didn't have to. She had no obligations to make it. "Next question!" She piped up, flipping back to the page with the questions and scanning it over. "If you could see a measuring scale above people’s heads, what would you want this scale to measure? Their status in society, their level of happiness, their wealth, etcetera."

Though she was curious about what was going on around them in the cafe - she liked to come here to observe behaviors - she was trying to not miss a thing about how Ezra was reacting to her question. She'd used Ren and Aiko and their banter in a project before not too long ago, their interactions and so forth. This time she was relying on all of her acquaintances and friends to help her with this project so that she could better understand people and become better at reading them. Hopefully she would be able to break down the answers and meanings behind them. To the untrained eye they were just silly questions to get to know someone better. But to those who know what to ask, you can get a read on their personality and their emotions.

- - - - - - - - __ _ _ _ _ _ __ - - - - - - - -

She knew she'd been teasing him, but the feeling of disappointment washed over her for only a second. It didn't matter that he didn't answer the question. Who cared if he never answered what he'd do if she really were falling for him? Certainly not her. It wasn't like she really would ever fall for him. She was Aiko Higurashi. Her sister was a world famous singer who was loved by millions across the globe and she herself had quite the fanbase as well. There were multiple male models and singers and movie stars in her contact list, all of whom would be throwing themselves at her feet and grovel for her to spare them an ounce of attention. So why am I here at some tiny, unknown cafe talking with a boy who could out-theory a small town crazy man about why aliens exist?

"Drama?" She echoed, confusion written across her face until she mentally repeated the word. "Oh!" He was asking what was happening in the world of celebrities. She forgot that he didn't really keep up with the drama in the news. Or if he did, he always let her tell the insider scoop. "Depends on who and what you want to know about. I know that my sister is dating that famous actor who played in," she waved a hand, trying to recall the name of the film he'd been in, "Gods I don't even remember. The one with the shark that just came out? The horror movie? The main guy. That's him. They're keeping it on the downlow because he just got dumped by Fuyumi Todoroki, the daughter of the CEO of the big Entertainment Scouting company?"

Aiko tapped her bottom lip. "Or maybe you're wanting to know about my drama? Because let me tell you, my mother wants me to marry Daisuke for an arranged marriage. I've known this guy for forever. I mean, sure he's handsome and the richest guy in the country but I don't want to marry because I'm being told to, you know? But they don't listen to me anyways, and they're already setting up some schedule for me to make appearances and have him with me anytime I go out. I'm planning on keeping this place a secret for as long as I can. I don't want him to meet you, it would be a train-ohmygosh I don't mean it like it just sounded." Aiko's eyes grew wide, hands reaching across the table to touch Ren as if to reassure him. Wrinkles formed between her brows, eyes closing in shame of how her words came out. "It's not that I don't want him to meet you. I... I don't want you to meet him..." That didn't really sound any better.

How was she to explain it to him? "I don't want to share...our time... with him..." Aiko mumbled, words getting softer and softer the more horrified she became at her own selfish desire to keep Ren and their little talks to herself.

- - - - - - - - __ _ _ _ _ _ __ - - - - - - - -

From the sound of the book, it wasn't one Kameko's usual reads. He had been paying close attention to the types of books that she gushed about for the entire visit and the ones that she only vaguely explained. For a moment he was worried that the book that rested in the small cubby by his legs was not going to be one that Kameko liked. There were other people who liked reading that he could give the book to, right? No. I got this for Kameko. I need to do this. He reminded himself. "It definitely sounds like an adventure." He nodded his head. "Not your usual read." He verbalized his observations. He knew what genres she preferred to others. Occasionally she seemed to stray from her safety net genre, but it appeared to be a rare occurrence from what he could tell.

His hand toyed with the small string wrapped around the book hiding under the counter. Just as he was about to pull the book out, her soft invitation to the library caught him off guard. He had to work tomorrow, too, and wouldn't be able to make it.

"I read sometimes." He nodded, feeling the heat rising in his cheeks. How embarrassing. "When I have a spare moment." He added. She was trying to talk with him, but it was so hard to say anything without worrying he would mess it up and upset her somehow. Kameko was just such an amazing girl that he was already feeling awkward around her. What was he supposed to say? Nagisa never had this kind of problem talking with girls. Neither did Ren. He was slightly envious of their ability to freely speak without getting tongue-tied by their words. He frowned softly. "I work tomorrow."

Not wanting her to feel as though he wasn't interested in going, he found the courage to pull out the book and awkwardly hold it out in front of him, looking away from her. He rubbed the back of his neck, clearing his throat. "I, uh, thought you would like it. Saw it at the store and, uh, it reminded me of you." If he could dig a hole and crawl in it, that's where he would be. What did she think? Fuji wasn't sure he could make eye contact without turning the shade of Ren's hair. Kameko would think it was weird, right? She definitely thought it was weird. Why did he get her a book? He should have just recommended it to her. Said she might like it. Why did he buy it for her as a gift? Stupid. He was definitely coming off as creepy. What would Nagisa do in this situation? Think... think!

 

[Syrrith]

Kaiya disagreeing with her and cussing in the problem nearly made Ezra smile. Nearly. Kaiya was one of the few people that Ezra talked to who didn't know who she was in some regard. It made Kaiya fearless. It was different than Ti saying something like that to try to reassure her, and Sienna would just agree with the statement. A nice change of pace, however wrong the college student was. There was a reason that she didn't get along with people and Ezra was well aware of it. Didn't change anything though.

The next question was another one that she had never thought about before. The things that were listed in Kaiya's examples were useless to someone like Ezra. Money was better for someone like Sienna, and Ezra genuinely couldn't care for the rest. The first thing to come to mind was a person's danger level in that moment. That would help with life. People around her were unpredictable, quick to anger, and were violent. Violence may be a universal language, but it was their primary one. With Sienna being around, Ezra's life had been threatened a little too often for her liking.

Choosing that would reveal too much, she decided after a second. It would seem odd, paint her as some paranoid or scared person. That's not the image that she needed nor wanted. Even if it would help keep the lie going with Kaiya, the thought rubbed her the wrong way. Therefore, probably status. Thinking on it more, it might actually come in handy.

"Status most likely. I like to know who I'm talking to." Ezra wondered if these answers seemed odd, but Kaiya never showed any hesitation or confusion around her. It was probably fine. Probably.

----

Ren tilted his head a little when Aiko seemed confused. He was going to clarify, but Aiko had gotten pretty good and piecing together what he was talking about. The small snippet that she talked about was usual. Celebrities seemed to have the messiest lives. Though he kept away from the news and other gossip places most of the time, he found it kind of fun to listen to.

"Yikes," Ren replied, acknowledging what she had said. Being dumped by someone like Fuyumi Todoroki must've stung. It sounded messy since Aiko had said "dumped" rather than that they just broke up. Keeping the relationship on the down low would probably be for the best until everything with that blew over.

When Aiko asked if he wanted to know the drama in her life, he shifted to sit up straighter slightly. He was paying more attention now. Not that he wasn't earlier, but Aiko was important to him despite just being a customer that he talked with sometimes. Of course he cared about the life of someone he knew more than some person who hardly felt real, that was only seen on TVs and heavily clad in makeup on some show that he probably wasn't interested in.

His heart sunk. It was an odd feeling, considering that they were literally just friends and hadn't said a word to each other outside of this little cafe. The thought of her marrying some other guy didn't sit right with him, especially because of what she was saying. Ren tried to keep his expression, but he had always been a lousy liar. But the words that came after that were even worse. There were probably a million reasons why she wouldn't want them to meet, but none of them were things he wanted to consider.

"I don't want to share...our time... with him..." Aiko had said, which put a stop in Ren's thinking. What? She was keeping Daisuke away because of that? Ren couldn't predict that, not outside of teasing her and it coming up. The confusion was clear on his face. He stayed quiet for a moment. There was a lot packed into a small moment for him.

"That was an emotional rollercoaster." Ren laughed a little bit, though he wasn't totally sure that he was understanding things right. Then after a second, "I'd like the same. Daisuke probably wouldn't enjoy hearing about how he is most certainly a reptilian alien. Or do you think that he's just a cult leader? I heard that a lot of celebrities are in cults."

----

Kameko nodded at the observation, dipping her head a little to hide a small smile. It certainly wasn't, but it was heartwarming that Fuji had picked up on something like that. Or was it just because she talked about her books too much? Kameko tried to push the thoughts aside, focus on what was actually happening instead of thoughts with no proof to back them up.

Her invitation was turned down and Kameko could instantly feel her face go hot. Her heart was already racing from inviting him out somewhere, but even more so now that she was rejected. Kameko instantly recited the reason for it, that he was working, but it did little to help. Her brain supplied that it was a lie, that he just wanted to turn her down politely because she was, in all, a customer. They had shared talks, but it was a bit silly of the girl to assume anything from that. It wouldn't happen again in the future, Kameko decided.

"That's okay." A friends had advised Kameko to not apologize unless she had actually done something wrong. Right now, she wasn't sure. She wanted to apologize for the awkward situation that she put them in regardless, but a second had already passed since she last talked. It would be awkward timing. It would seem forced to Fuji. Right now, how rude would it be to just turn and walk right out of the cafe? Or to simply disappear and never return?

Fuji grabbed a book and held it out. The small string wrapped around it was a nice touch, and one that Kameko noticed. She hesitated. Despite it being handed to her, she was unsure that it was actually for her. Maybe he just wanted to know if she knew who it belonged to? Or maybe thought that it was one of the books that she left here. Either way, it took a moment for Kameko to actually take the book.

Her eyes flicked up to his face when he spoke, one of the first times that she had actually made any sort of eye contact. Fuji not only confirmed that it was for her, but had gone out of his way to do something for her. A smile replaced all of the worry and confusion that marred her face seconds ago. Kameko excitedly looked down at the book, though the rejection still hung heavy in the back of her mind.

"Thank you, Fuji." Her words were a tad bit louder than normal, the giddy feeling in her chest making her forget about the typical rules she had in place. "This is one I've been eyeing for some time now." There was a slight incredulous tone in her voice. Out of all of the books in the store, he had managed to pick one that had actually been on her list. Kameko looked over the cover for a second. "Would you like to hear about it one it's finished?"

 

[.Phantom.]

The answer surprised her. Though she had given a list for examples, she had not pegged Ezra as the type to actually want to gauge such things from another person. Would she want to avoid the person depending on status or would she purposely seek them out? She was curious as to what the scale would look like. Would it have numbers and complicated readings, or would it simply go higher the more status they held? None of these were questions for her homework assignment, but they ran through her head in the same fashion that questions about what to eat would. Nodding, she quickly wrote down her answer as close to word-for-word as she could remember in the moment.

"Even if you know who you're talking to, I don't think that would really change how you speak to them." Kaiya pointed out, glancing up from the drying ink. It was difficult to imagine Ezra playing nice to someone just because they had more money than the average person, or her belittling someone who had nothing. It also went the other way, though, too. She still couldn't see Ezra being rude to a person just because they were wealthy and turn around and be kind towards someone who was poor. It was one of the things that drew Kaiya to her. The lack of a facade. Ezra was just Ezra. She was a "you get what you see" kind of a person. That.. wasn't true for Kaiya. She knew her mask was worn like a cheerful commercial.

Glancing at her list of questions, she blinked in surprise. "Oh! This one should be easy." She twisted her pen between her fingers, flipping it over a few times. "What do you do differently than other people?" Kaiya felt like she should expand and explain the question better, but her professor had said not to influence or confuse their first response to the question. She did, however, make note of how long Ezra took to answer the questions, and which ones she seemed to linger on the longest before responding. Those were outside factors she had to consider as well as her body language while answering them.

- - - -

It was actually a relief that Ren decided that this was a moment to make a joke. She quickly jerked her hands back to her side of the table, picking up her drink as though that had been her intention from the beginning and taking a sip. What had even come over her? How weird of a comment she'd made. Not sharing their time with her future husband. She was just a regular customer and Ren was doing his job by entertaining her. It was because of her status. That had to be it, so she shouldn't be getting so attached to the cozy cafe and the cute freckle-faced boy who spoke with too much excitement and less restraint than a Siberian husky.

"No," she chuckled. "I don't think he would appreciate that." In fact, she was almost certain that he would deem the place as something that needed fixing. He'd have problems with the location it was at and the casual way Ren had addressed her. He wouldn't have sat back quietly while the wild-haired boy teased her, and would remind him of her status and his lack of. She didn't like the thought of that, a small frown tugging at the edges of her lips. Even though she teased him about his alien conspiracies and rolled her eyes at his lack of manners, it did not mean it would be fine for Daisuke to waltz in and flaunt his money to all of those in the vicinity.

"...Or do you think he's just a cult leader? I've heard a lot of celebrities are in cults." Aiko nearly spit out her tea at his sudden remark. What kind of theory was that? Though she knew the elite had tight-knit circles, she didn't think that they went as far as to label themselves a cult. Was that a way that the lower classes made them feel better about being left out? That they wouldn't want to join anyways, because they were a cult doing bad things? She took one look at Ren and decided it was just his way of trying to make her feel better about being forced to marry some guy she didn't have romantic feelings for.

Now wasn't the time to dampen the light mood with her problems.

She leaned forward, resting her chin atop her intertwined fingers. "Then I suppose that would make me the future cult leader too, no?" She grinned at him, a kind of mischievous little smirk that the cameras never could catch on screen. "What do you say, coffee boy? Will you join my cult?"

- - -- - -- - - -- --

This was the kind of situation where he should be confident and smooth. She was a beautiful and sweet girl. If he were like the kind of guys in the movies or books that Kameko read, then he would be winking at her and teasing her about her twin braids. He'd give her a look that would make her blush and make some cocky remark that would make her roll her eyes at him as though he didn't know what he was talking about. But he wasn't like those guys. Even trying to think of the words to say was difficult enough, but now he was put on the spot.

"I..." He trailed off, scuffing the toe of his non-slip work shoes against the wooden floor. "I have a day off next week. Mom's coming in." This was it. He could make up for being stuck in the cafe tomorrow. It wasn't as though he had never thought about asking Kameko to hang out somewhere that wasn't his family's small cafe. Not at all. He never imagined she would have an interest in hanging out with someone who struggled with his words, though. She had made the first move in inviting him. Now he felt he should let her know that he did enjoy her company.

But now what. The words hung in the air awkwardly for a moment. He needed to say more. Something else. He racked his brain for something to say. The small bell hanging on the door chimed, and he lifted his chin to see who came in. He raised a hand in a silent greeting to the curly haired boy. Nagisa would know what to do. Too bad he couldn't have Nagisa speak to Kameko in his place. That would probably go a lot smoother than this conversation.

"Would you... want to..." God. Was he going to even be able to finish his sentence? He swallowed, heat burning his face. Did he look fever-y or could she tell how embarrassing this was? He knew sometimes his skin could hide a blush, but he felt the heat in his cheeks like he'd held a heating pack on it for a few moments too long.

"He's trying to ask you on a date." A voice cut in. Fuji glared at Nagisa, but his friend just offered a not-so-apologetic smile. "He's really bad at talking to a girl when he likes her. But you're all he talks about when we hang out, it's kind of cute, actually." He could just wrap his fingers around his throat and suffocate him right now, but that wouldn't go over well with all of the customers they had in the building. "Now that that's settled." He stood, stretching his arms behind his head. "Mind if I study in the back? I planned on grabbing Aya and studying but she seems preoccupied." Fuji knew he'd be asking questions about the fair haired girl his best friend was excitedly chatting with at the table. Everything about her sent off warning bells to those around.

"Sure." Fuji grumbled, leaning over to open the gate for Nagisa to walk through. He couldn't bring himself to look back at Kameko. It wasn't like Nagisa to embarrass him on purpose, so he must have been put in a bad mood by something today. Later. Later he would find out what it was - and possibly strangle him for it if the reasoning wasn't logical enough for Fuji to forgive him outing him right in front of Kameko while he was embarrassing himself at failing to ask her out.

 

[Syrrith]

Of course, Kaiya's observation was right. Ezra figured that the observation was obvious since it was clear that Ezra didn't care much for people. If she wanted fame or money, she'd be over playing friends and sweet talking with the Higurashi just as Ren was doing. Though, Ezra figured that Ren wasn't that... aware of just how powerful his friend was. Sienna would say it was a waste, but Ezra was just curious what Aiko was planning. She seemed to genuinely like being around the redhead, but it was such an odd situation.

Ezra didn't reply to Kaiya any further than that. Instead, she just waited for Kaiya to finish writing, once again watching her write everything down. It was almost over, right? Not that Ezra hated this. There were just more interesting topics than Kaiya trying to get more information on her. The girl looked out the window, watching the back of some stranger as they passed by the cafe.

"This one should be easy" Kaiya had said before picking a question more difficult than the previous ones. The question seemed obvious, but what did it mean? Out of everything, what was one thing that made her different? This seemed like a cheesy, "What makes you unique?" questions. Ezra repressed the urge to roll her eyes at the annoying tone she thought that in.

The door's bell rung, alerting all of the staff to a new customer walking in. This time, there was two. Ezra was saved. A smiling girl came to stand next to Ezra, not sparing Kaiya a look. Ezra looked up at her for a second before realizing why they were there. Kai needed her. Now that was annoying. The white haired girl would take Kaiya's surveys over doing a job for Kai any day. Especially right now. The thought was putting her in a bad mood.

Ezra stood, moving away from the table, and Sienna slid into her spot.

"I'm leaving for the day," stated Ezra bluntly as she passed Fuji to go into the back, where Nagisa had gone in. She didn't wait for an answer or even to see if he heard her. It wouldn't matter what he said anyway since no matter what he tried to protest with, it wouldn't come close to the importance of getting back to Kai and finishing whatever the fuck he had lined up for her now.

On the other side of the cafe, Sienna swung her legs back and forth under the table while studying Kaiya. She picked up a paper that was lying on the table, eyes scanning over it quickly. It was amusing to see what Ezra had said, though the reason *why* she had been talking to this random girl was far more pressing. Sienna had never heard of her. If Ezra never said anything about Kaiya, then she simply wasn't important or she was new.

The piece of paper was dropped back onto the table, it nearly sliding off the table as it floated down. Sienna made no move to fix it.

"Ezra's never talked about you. Who are you?" Behind Sienna, Ti came forward to put his hands on the chair. His prescence was a silent reminder of Sienna to play nice, even though that was one of the last things that she wanted to do right then. What if this person was trying to make friends with Ezra? Then what? Ti couldn't just let that happen because then Ezra would spend less time around them. The job already stole Ezra away enough in Sienna's mind. Instead of blatantly being rude, Sienna decided to cross her arms and glare. As if that would scare anyone off.

---

Ren's comment caught Aiko off guard and it was obvious. A genuine laugh filled the air around them, only tapering off once Aiko regained her composure. While Ren was sure that there were cults in the high class, he doubted that Daisuke would be the type to join. ...Unless? Ren still had a stupid grin on his face when she looked up at him. Something in Ren's brain said that he said the wrong thing. Even if it didn't evoke a bad reaction, he should've picked something else. But Aiko didn't seem bothered by it, so he wasn't sure why he was thinking that.

Then she leaned forward with her own little mischievous smirk and Ren swore that his heart would jump out of his chest. Coffee boy was a new nickname, not that is really mattered considering everything.

"Of course!" Ren said, perhaps a little too quickly for someone who just got asked to join a cult. "This just confirms that famous people do have cults though. Oh so powerful cult leader Aiko, thank you for granting me this knowledge. What other secrets do you have?" The tone was exaggerated along with the movements that went along with them. This playing around always made him feel silly, but not in an embarrassed why but like he was just a kid having fun again. Aiko always made his days better. His mind was still bothering him about the previous conversation though.

Ren turned to look at Kaiya's tables just as Ezra got up. Guess he was too focused on the conversation to hear the door open. He's certainly never seen Ezra's two visitors before. The shorter girl had immediately begun talking to Kaiya, though she didn't seem like she was too pleased about it. The other guy was one Ren already envied. Why was he stuck being short?

"Do you know who they are?" Ren asked, turning his attention back to Aiko for a second. They completely avoided the front where Fuji was and stayed around Kaiya. It didn't seem like they needed Ren's help, that's for sure. And for some reason, he didn't want to be around the girl. That wasn't surprising since they seemed to be friends of Ezra.

---

Kameko looked up from her book when he said he had a day off next week. If he saying...? Kameko didn't want to assume that's what he was saying, just in case it wasn't what she was thinking and she made things even more awkward. Instead, she waited patiently for him to finish what he was saying. At least on the outside it looked patient, with her minimal fidgeting and polite smile, but on the inside her nerves were killing her.

Kameko was excited, or maybe just a nervous wreck since it was always hard to tell the two apart, when he did finally start asking the question. A small, more genuine smile started to appear on her face. Fuji was withdrawn, just like her. It couldn't have been easy to be the first one to ask, so she was grateful that he did go ahead and start that.

Nagisa cut Fuji off, something that Kameko didn't really know how to feel about. Then Nagisa continued on, obviously embarrassing the taller boy even more than he was. Then what he said made Kameko want to hide. She brought the book closer to her, as if she could hide behind it. There were no words that she could say to something like that. It was cute, but that wasn't just something that you say in front of both people!

The topic was brushed off a second later, going from making Kameko want to disappear to asking if he could study in the back. Secretly, she was glad that he was going into the back so he couldn't say any more. Her heart was already faster than a hummingbirds and surely her face was red. At this point, she'd wring the cover of the book right off as well! Fuji didn't seem all that happy about it either and Kameko could relate. Nagisa had always been so nice the other times that she met him. What was wrong today? And why did he have to take it out on them?!

"I..." It was a bit hard to speak. She took in a breath and tried again. "I would like to, Fuji. Go on a date that is." A giggle halfway between giddy and nervous followed afterwards, nearly making Kameko simply turn and walk out. She paused, quieting down when Ezra passed. Despite Ezra never really doing anything directly to Kameko, she wasn't a fan of the barista. "Is everything alright?" Kameko's voice was hardly above a whisper now, seeing as Ezra seemed like she wasn't in a good mood. Neither was Nagisa and now Ezra was leaving. While she personally was having a great day, it seemed like the others weren't sharing the same luck.

 

[.Phantom.]

The newcomers seemed to change the whole mood of the cafe, save for the small corner where Aiko and Ren sat. Kaiya was aware that Ezra was suddenly less relaxed than she had been, though she made no comment on her observation. Being a major in psychology meant she was more attuned to these things - or rather she was in training to become more aware of such small mannerisms. She watched Ezra leave before returning her attention to Sienna, blue eyes surveying her carefully. She took in everything there was to take in about the girl, from her lax way of sprawling out in the chair to her not-so-subtle attempt at figuring out what was going on before she'd arrived.

Kaiya giggled. "I'm Izumi Kaiya, it's nice to meet you." She reached for her paper, slipping it back in front of her and making a quick note on the sheet before stuffing it into a folder. She'd analyze her notes later and begin her project. It seemed the rest of the questions would either go unanswered, or she would have to ask the barista another day when they had more time.

She quirked a brow in surprise at the stink eye she was getting from the girl sitting across from her. Was she dating Ezra, or simply an overprotective friend? Maybe a sibling? Ezra never talked about her family much, nor of any friends. Though they hardly shared personal information with each other. There was much about herself that she'd not shared with Ezra either. Their relationship was very superficial at the moment, without any deep roots to take place. Despite this, Kaiya hoped that they could grow closer. She really enjoyed spending time with the stoic barista.

"Ez helps me study for my classes occasionally." She threw out there casually, taking a sip of her newest surprise drink. It tasted more sweet than the one she'd tried last week. Seemed like there was more chocolate in this one than the sea-salty taste of one of their newer beverages. A limited-time-only kind of drink. She preferred this new one, though she'd enjoyed the last one as well. "I don't think I can put a face to a name, Ezra's never mentioned friends." Kaiya spoke freely. Her eyes grew wide after a moment, flushing. "I didn't mean that I think she has no friends other than me, I just meant that she doesn't talk about other people."

- - -- -- - -- - - - - -

Aiko didn't even look over to those who'd walked in. She'd made a quick note the moment they entered, deemed them as not secret paparazzi's who had followed her, and went back to their conversation before Ren had even registered that there were people inside the cafe who'd not been there before. "I do not." She responded with a disinterested glance outside of the window. Did he think the girl was cute? She was kind of pretty, if you were into someone who looked like they belonged in a rave club. Was that the kind of girl Ren thought was attractive? Was that why he asked if she knew them?

She clicked her fingers along the top of the table, irritated. It wasn't that big of a deal, so why did she want to shout at Ren all of a sudden? It wasn't any of her business who he thought was cute or not. "They appear to be friends with the robot, though, so I don't think they're the kind of people that you would want to get involved with. Kaiya should be careful."

The blue haired girl was none of her concern, but if they tried to go intimidate Kameko and ruined her conversation with the shy cafe owner's son, then there would be a problem. Aiko would have to take action immediately. She finally looked at Ren. She didn't care why he was curious. What was so big about it? Right now she should be keeping a careful eye on the time before her manager sniffer her out and found her top secret hiding place. "Why do you care?" The words left her lips before she meant for it, eyes narrowed. "Do you think she's pretty?" She huffed like a child, looking back out the window and leaning back. "Are you suddenly going to turn all lovesick puppy on me? What a bore." No. She didn't mean that. That's not what she meant to say. Aiko was supposed to tease him with more secrets. She wanted to go back to the playful atmosphere they'd had a moment ago.

- - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- --

She... said yes? It was almost too good to be true. Though he wished to strangle his friend for outing him so horribly, it turned out to be a semi-good thing. He'd still need to speak with Nagisa about his sour attitude at a later time, but for the moment he felt as though he were floating on cloud nine. Kameko wanted to spend time with him. She agreed to a date! He would need to plan everything out. Or would that be too much? Would she like flowers? Would she like a picnic in the park? Oh. But they were just talking about bookstores.


Then a trip to the bookstore and later a relaxing stroll in the park ending in a picnic? They could find a nice tree to camp out underneath and read a book. Maybe she'd read to him? Explain more about the book's that she enjoyed and talk about the characters she was fond of? He was so lost in thought that it took him a minute longer than it should have for him to realize that she'd asked him a question. Blinking out of his daydream, Fuji looked at Kameko blankly, as he processed her question.

"Oh!" He hadn't paid much attention to the ill-tempered co-worker. She came and went as she pleased. It wasn't as though she were at the cafe to truly work, unlike Ren. She was there because of his family and their debt to a certain man. He'd not want Kameko to be involved in such a mess. "It's ok." He nodded towards the door that Ezra had just walked into. "She's kind of a special case." He couldn't explain more even if he wanted to. Holding in such a secret was hard, but letting others in on the troubles was... not something he enjoyed. No. He would keep this a secret until he died. "Parents decision." He added after a moment, eyes lifting to Ti and Sienna. Why were they there? He knew Ti wasn't a problem, but if Sienna began to cause problems he would make her leave, special circumstance or not. If she ran off important customers they'd never be able to remain a secret.

 

[Syrrith]

Kaiya introduced herself, something Ezra didn't ever care to do before she left Kaiya with her friends, with a smile. This didn't seem to be the type of person Ezra would typically want to hang out with. The blue haired girl seemed chipper and completely unfazed by Sienna's obvious bad attitude. And a good student, judging by the papers and notecards spread all over the table. Basically, she was the complete opposite of Ez. How did they meet? Why was Ez hiding her?

It was childish, Sienna knew. She shouldn't be getting jealous over some random *customer* that Ez was sitting with and yet, Sienna, Ezra's closest friend, didn't know that Kaiya existed. People were allowed to have their own lives, but not if they stole attention away. Did Ezra not trust her? Or worse, did Ez not care about her? Did she prefer Kaiya's company over her own? After everything Sienna had done for her? How did someone like Ezra have the audacity to do something like that? Ezra really was just turning into Kai. Anger bubbled under Sienna's skin, the jealousy felt like poprocks exploding in her chest.

"Right," stated the girl bitterly. It was illogical to feel this way, she reminded herself. She should just stop and go find Ez. That thought seemed to be poorly timed as Kaiya's next sentence left her clenching her fists. Ti moved to get in between them, to pull Sienna away and calm her down before blood was drawn. Ezra never mentioned her to this blue haired bitch?

"Yeah, Ezra doesn't talk very much. It's always a fight to get to know her." Ti's tone was more easy going, even with the slight warning tone. "Hell, didn't know her name for months, let alone any friends or family's. It was nice meeting you though. See ya around." Ezra was going to owe him. She knew how Sienna was and still left. Why was he left babysitting again? At least Sienna stayed quiet for the next couple of seconds, allowing Kaiya to talk, before suddenly spitting her words again.

"Where the fuck is she anyway?" Sienna felt the waves of anxiety hit stronger and stronger. Ezra really didn't care, did she? She was just using them. First she leaves for a job that she'd normally never get, now she has some friend that she failed to mention despite them seeming close, left as soon as they arrived to get her, and now she was taking forever to get ready when usually it only took her a couple seconds. Ezra was leaving, wasn't she?

"Coming," Ti answered as the door to the back of the cafe swung open to reveal the grumpy white haired barista. He put a hand on Sienna's shoulder, trying to ground her a bit. Sienna would get too caught up in her thoughts if left unchecked and by the way Sienna jumped at the touch, it seemed like it was already happening.

Without checking on any of them, or saying goodbye to Kaiya, Ez stepped out the door. Ti moved to catch it and hold it open for Sienna. With narrowed eyes, she looked toward Kaiya one last time.

"She tells me about everything." The lie came a little too easily. "Hasn't mentioned you though, which means you're not important." The girl stood up suddenly, running a hand across her skirt to make sure it laid flat, and then made her way to catch up to Ez.

"Sorry. Bye," Ti addressed Kaiya first and then gave a wave to Fuji before heading off.

---

Ren hummed in response. Aiko didn't know them, so they weren't some celebrities coming to get Ezra. Even with the constant conspiracies, that would be a surprise. Ezra hated people, he genuinely couldn't imagine her being known like that. Though the two that stopped by were interesting. A girl with multi-colored hair, obviously dyed though still eye catching, boots that seemed like they were nearly stilts, and ripped leggings. Looked uncomfy in his opinion.

Aiko was right though, they didn't seem like the type of people he'd get along with. The girl was already frowning and throwing a paper for poor Kaiya to pick up, and the guy standing behind the chair was no help. Kaiya was wonderful, she didn't deserve that sort of treatment.

Irritated words directed at him pulled Ren out of his conspiracies. He just sat there, blinked once, and then said a graceful and totally not confused, "What?". Aiko's mood had gone down south so quickly and he wasn't sure why. Every other time he was curious about people who visited the cafe, Aiko had always been there to come up with equally stupid backstories for them. Now, when it was regarding Ezra, probably one of the scariest and most mysterious people Ren had come across, Aiko was turning on him.

"I... guess she's pretty." Ren admitted hesitantly. Not really his type though. Why did Aiko want to know? A huff left Aiko. Ren felt lost about what was happening. They were just joking and teasing each other seconds ago...?

"Are you suddenly going to turn all lovesick puppy on me? What a bore." The words stung, even with how false they were. Ren just stared for a second, glanced at the now leaving strangers, and then at the table. Was... she jealous? Hiro had mentioned something about that before but... why? Aiko had asked if the girl was pretty and who was Ren to lie to her?

"I... I better go. Got some things to work on," Ren stated, confusion still clear in his voice, as he slid out of the seat. "Talk to you later?" A hopeful smile graced his face, hoping that it was just a passing, small comment he made that pissed Aiko off.

---

Kameko waited patiently for his answer, although she started fidgeting with her fingers when the silence stretched on. That didn't seem like much of a yes. She noticed that Ezra was a bit of a sore subject around the cafe. With Ren being scared of her, her and Aiko getting into fights, and leaving suddenly like this, Kameko could understand why. Kaiya and Fuji were saints for putting up with someone like that. Although Kameko wanted to ask *why* they put up with her, she felt as if that was a prying question.

Fuji seemed to read her mind, elaborating slightly on why she was a special case. Kameko understood that. Fuji couldn't really do anything about an employee of his parents'. Then he looked behind her, causing Kameko to follow his line of sight. Two strangers were conversing with Kaiya, seemingly the reason Ezra was clocking out so early.

More questions filled her head, but these she was afraid to hear the answer for. Who knew what kind of trouble Ezra was? While the guy, whoever he was, definitely passed for normal, the girl looked like the embodiment of trouble. Kameko almost envied the stranger's confidence until she realized what that confidence was being used for.

"Uhm... about our date? You were saying it was for next week?" The words nearly choked Kameko, and the heat in her face wasn't leaving. It always went so smoothly in romance novels and yet it seemed as everything was going wrong when it was her turn. Not that she could really feel upset. It was strangely fitting for them, and she was excited for their trip to the bookstore next week. The thought of new books, made her hug the gift closer. Fuji really was the sweetest-

 

[.Phantom.]

~ DEMON HUNTER ~

This was entirely unreasonable. Even though she had been living the life style for the past five years, it did not become any easier to accept that the once pampered life she had lived was no longer her every day comfort. No. Now she went around collecting bounties - and usually on disgusting demons. Like the one she was currently tracking down. It almost seemed to easy, the trail and information she had been given from the locals in the area sent off warning bells in her head, reminders that not everyone was trustworthy especially if they claimed to be paying that much for one measly demon. Either it was one hell of a problem, or it was a scam.

She was leaning towards the latter, seeing as she hadn't directly met with the one who had posted the bounty. It was a job passed around and denied by many hunters who were far more experienced hunters than she was. And maybe she was gullible. Maybe they knew that having a crying three year old little boy tottering up to her with tears in those fearful green eyes was just the way to tug at her heart strings. Apparently it was a nasty one, the creature she was hunting. Burning cities and leaving children orphaned if they even managed to survive.

Each step brought her closer to her target. Each step brought her closer to the sound of those screaming, running away in fear. She was too far to hear the threats that the demon was making, but she knew the type. Cruel and haughty with no remorse and not a shred of mercy behind a malicious grin and breath that reeked of decay. Small fingers deftly plucked a throwing dagger from her side, already envisioning the path she would take. Catch it's attention, and before it had a chance to react she would embed the sharpened blade into it's eye. That wouldn't give her much time to make the killing blow, but she hardly assumed it would be easy if the name of the demon caused even the more experienced hunters to shudder.

But she was on the warpath.

With each head she took, each bag of gold placed in the palm of her hand, she was able to help build a shelter for the weak and innocent the demons scarcely left behind. Each step brought her closer to the violent, gruesome, hideous beast of a -- CRACK! Gravity drug her body down the hill, tumbling so quickly she could only feel the soon-to-be bruises and cuts for a second before the impact against the very creature she had been hunting. There went the element of surprise. Gritting her teeth against the sting of fresh cuts, the blonde jumped to her feet, flipping the dagger in her hands and raising her hand back, about to drive the blade down into the exposed throat of the creature until she met it's - no, his gaze. It startled her, how human it's expression was. "I won't let you terrorize any more humans, Beleth!" She spit out the creature's name, reminding herself despite the trembling in her hand that having his name gave her power. She didn't mess up. She was still going to take this bounty.

 

[Syrrith]

A once quiet village was now in ruins. Houses crumbled, fire leapt toward the stars overhead, and people scrambled for cover. Children were crying and calling for their parents and siblings. The panic only got worse when they laid their eyes on the demon standing in the village square. This had gone so terribly wrong.

It wasn't supposed to go down like this, truly. It was only supposed to be a bit of harmless fun. Go around to scare some people, cause some HARMLESS chaos, and then safely return to the Hell domain. No fire or destruction included. Ren wasn't even sure how things had gotten to this point, but that didn't really matter at this point. Hiro, of course, had blipped out of existence and Ren couldn't see him anywhere near.

CRACK

A flash caught his eye, and Ren's immediate thought that it was Hiro, finally coming back to help Ren out with the mess they created. Unfortunately, it wasn't even close. It turned out to be a human, one that stood out from the rest of the terrified villagers with the ease at which she addressed him. She had brushed off the tumble with a sort of gracefulness Ren would kill to have instead of having his friends immediately going into bellyaching laughter every time he tripped over nothing. Firelight danced on the blade she held, and with that, Ren had put the pieces together before she had even begun talking. The realization stopped Ren's laugh entirely.

Okay so not only did Hiro leave him to clean up this mess, but he left his friend with a demon hunter. Another problem, Ren hadn't actually come across demon hunters before, so this was all new. One thing that he absolutely did know though, was that was not his name.

"Uhh... Beleth isn't... here. First time I'm even hearing about him. Also, listen, this," the demon motioned to the destruction around him with a small wince as another building fell, "was not supposed to happen. We just wanted to play some pranks on the humans and then... yeah. Uhm, but Beleth's not here. Maybe he's in the next village? You should probably go check." Ren flashed her a pointy-toothed smile, hoping that he would be able to find his troublemaking friend before she was able to stick a blade in him.

 

[.Phantom.]

Demons, in her experience, were nothing more than liars. Not much of a difference between the human men in that regard. They'd say anything when they felt trapped, offer any bargain or sweet promise of power. It was in their nature to be liars, to thrive off of chaos. Out of all of the demons she had encountered, this was the most human-looking one. Most actually looked the part of a demon; monsters with razor sharp teeth dripping with blood and pieces of flesh trapped in their jowls.

She glared at the red-head standing before her, tightening her grip on the dagger. He hadn't immediately attacked her or attempted to bargain. Aiko knew better than to believe the lies of any demon, especially when she had a blade poised and ready to make a killing blow. It was just, well, a little harder to stab someone who looked so harmless.

"We?" Every muscle in her body tensed. There were more of them? She lurched forward with the full intention of getting the demon in a body lock so that she could question him further. No, not him -- it. If she began to think of hi--it-- as a human being, that would only complicate matters. Even so, her body has been taught to be elegant and fragile. She didn't have the body strength that most brutes did. Her quick thinking was what kept her alive. That and her speed. "You're not working alone? Have you not done enough?"

Why did she bother trying to talk to it? She knew how they were, nothing more than sinister creatures that fed on the despair of humans. "Don't bother trying to deny your crimes now, Beleth. I've been on your trail for weeks now."

 

[Syrrith]

The demon hunter didn't seem to care that he was not Beleth. Did they not have descriptions of him or anything?? Instead of even considering that what he was saying was the truth, she just tightened the grip on the blade. He only made her more nervous by giving away that he had a friend, which was EXACTLY why Hiro should've been here. He could talk his way out of everything and would probably have them out of this encounter.

She moved forward a little and Ren instantly reacted, knowing that his life was instantly on the line. The blonde was fast, really fast, but he had been expecting some sort of attack as soon as she showed that she wasn't even going to listen to him. Readjusting your grip on a weapon didn't exactly scream "friendly". Powerful wings lifted him up onto the nearest roof after dancing out of the way. It'd take a second to get up there, he figured, and in that time maybe he could convince her.

"Have you not done enough?" Ren winced and risked a glance around. It really was not supposed to escalate like this, and he was going to be in trouble as it was. But before he could even try to defend himself again, she was shouting at him once more.

Ren stood to his full height atop the unstable, crumbling roof and motioned toward himself in exasperation. "I'm not Beleth!!" Then he paused, an idea coming to mind. "Weeks? I haven't even been on the surface for a day! I've only been here mere hours. If you've been tracking this dude for weeks, and I'm supposed to be Beleth, why was it so easy to find 'me'?" Ren asked, making air quotes around the word "me".

If she didn't believe him the first time, he doubted that she would this time. Perhaps, if the demon hunter refused to believe him this time, he would simply go back to Hell. She was only mortal after all, it couldn't be that hard to shake her off his trail. Hopefully. But that would mean leaving Hiro behind. At first it seemed tempting to let him learn consequences, but Ren knew he wouldn't be able to leave him behind. Especially not when someone was set on killing them.

"And has Beleth ever worked with anyone? I don't know about you, but what you've said about this guy suggests no!" Truthfully, Ren had so little information on Beleth that it was a ridiculous thing to accuse, but he was trying for anything that would make her realize that he was not the one she was looking for. Though burning a village down ACCIDENTALLY was still probably punishable to a demon hunter.