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Late Night Snacking - [Hiroyo]
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Post by ryouta on Apr 10, 2017 4:47:26 GMT
It's currently 11 PM, where mostly the trains are its in last shift. If people going to ride the train, this is probably the last time for them. With the street traffic slowly thinning up, a tall teenager with body so built finally found the right time to go downstairs.The upstairs of the cafe has transformed into his personal bedroom, but it's still not enough considering that he generally put his important stuffs above, not to mention the training equipment that was in his room. Yeah, he was surprised that this... is set up exactly like he want it, almost like they thought if he came back, this cafe is his new house.
...And thus it exactly become like that. He didn't move the furniture or selling any of it. He kept them squeaky and cleaned. However, as like many non-active business settlement, he took off the sign saying it's closed or not. Well, now and then people gets curious, but usually after seeing there are no waiter or waitress, nor the chef himself, they could get a clue.
...But today is probably a recipe for disaster. He forgot to lock up his cafe front door and just remembered few seconds ago when he's feeling a bit hungry. The boy thinks nothing about it, especially because his very acute hearing picked no sounds downstairs and now that he's here, he can just cook to how he desired. With the shop located in the less busy street of Scramble Crossing, he thinks that it's fine to go down barechested anyway... nobody coming here unless they think that this is one of those macho cafe---
...thinking that made him shudder.
"...Oh well, let's see... what's available?"
Thinking that he want to eat some dessert, Ryouta found the cheesecake he made few hours ago. The boy know that his appetite is pretty much require him to eat a lot. He had no idea why his body responded to put all those nutrients in his muscles though.
"...Well, then..." he sliced a particularly big one for himself and garnished it with little strawberries. With this, he's ready to eat his cheesecake and about to sit on one of the table... about to, yeah... if only that event didn't happened.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 11, 2017 0:19:33 GMT
An hour before midnight was a weird time for Hiroyo to be out roaming the streets. Normally people are asleep in their beds at that time, normally Hiroyo was almost half-way through her shift by now. That was when she was working normal hours though! She wouldn't call anything normal about her day.
First there'd been the issue with the neighbors deciding that morning was a perfect time to argue like the building would fall down if they didn't. That, of course, completely screwed her normal sleeping schedule. Then any chance of catching up with a quick cat nap in the afternoon had been mercilessly shot down by her employers calling to see if there was any way possible she could come in this afternoon instead of tonight and they'd be sure to give her an extra day off tomorrow if she did!
She said yes, of course, because four days off were better than three and she had thought it would be easy to manage. "Clearly," she grumbled as she forced her back straight and one foot in front of the other. "I thought wrong." The fatigue of not getting at least a good six hours of sleep for two days was really hurting. She had considered going to bed, letting herself fall into the fluffy down comforter at home but... well.
That would be admitting she couldn't stay up..
Lack of sleep wasn't the only thing Hiroyo was pretending she could handle though! There was also the lack of work-out time and it was such a good stress relief what was she suppose to do without it? Her gym of choice was long since closed and going home would mean braving an irate roommate. Her steps halted as she took in a light across the street. Was that an open cafe she spied? Her mood brightened considerably and her right hand twisted to squeeze the digivice hanging from her wrist. A careful check for vehicles revealed nothing so with a hand on her beanie to keep it from blowing off her head as she scurried across.
The door was open as soon as she laid her fingers on the handle. She stepped in with dreams of a hot coffee (she'd settle for plain if she had to, as long as it had caffeine!) and maybe a snack. Her thoughts were abruptly halted when she broke long enough to take in the single other occupant of the room. Blood rushed to color her cheeks and neck and she swallowed hard. What was up with that outfit? He only had half of one!
Oh, oh wait.. Was it one of those themed cafes she'd heard so much about?
"Um, excuse me for intruding. Do you...do you work here?"
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Post by ryouta on Apr 11, 2017 0:41:44 GMT
Yes, he was going to get to a table, get some milk and eat his dessert that all he loved and probably crawl back to his bed after locking up---stupid him to not lock it up BEFORE, though and when he downed the milk---
"BFUUUUTTT!!" he spitted his milk with such force that he swore it would land to the other side of the room because of some strange accusation from someone who just intruded his snacking time... He turned around to see... a girl quite shorter than he is. He raised an eyebrow curiously, but decided to not comment on why she's here, but immediately moved to two most important thing.
"I'm sorry, um... first, I'm not an employee. I'm the owner of this building... temporarily that is. My father is the owner. Second, this cafe unfortunately have been closed since a year ago, so I'm currently living here in the second floor and third..." he pulled out his Digivice that currently letting out trill-like sound.
"...I see that you're a chosen yourself. Since you're here anyway, can I get you something anyway despite this cafe isn't in business?"
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 11, 2017 2:06:33 GMT
Oh wow, did that milk really reach that far? Hiroyo couldn't help but laugh, that was such a perfect spit take! If she'd been recording it she could have shown it to her roommate later! She was always looking for weird videos like that. Wait, wasn't she focusing on totally the wrong thing here?
"Ah, I'm terribly sorry for intruding!" She folded her hands in front of her and bowed in apology. If she held it a bit longer than necessary well, that was fine. It just gave her a chance to clear her head and get that stupid blush off her face. 'Why isn't he wearing a shirt?!' Even from the back she could tell he had muscles but it was even more obvious from the front. 'Aren't there laws about going around shirtless?'
Well, from what he said this was a private residence. Let's be honest, any embarrassment she might be feeling was her own fault.
She huffed and straightened up, batting away an errant strand of hair from her face. What did he mean by chosen and why was his phone making such a strange noi- "Oh, that's not your phone." Her voice had gone very quiet as she spoke her thoughts aloud. Her hand slowly twisted to wrap around the memento she'd been given. The words he used was a bit weird but... She had never gotten around to asking her friend about the object she now held. "Could I have a coffee please?" She shut the door behind her and pulled her purse off her shoulder as she walked over. "I have a feeling we have a lot to discuss."
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Post by ryouta on Apr 11, 2017 2:34:44 GMT
Ryouta felt a bit... annoyed at this woman's laugh. Why did she laughs when it's perhaps already... very obvious that he's not working here because let's face it, he's the only one here? Plus if he were about to lock the door, he's probably going to be wearing shirt anyway! After picking a rag and some cleaner, he headed to the place that needed his attention. He's not going to wait. Milk is going to stink if not quickly cleaned.
"...I usually get customer on the morning, and this is seriously the first time someone came this late. Usually people stopped coming at 10 PM, because that's the latest this store usually open. That's why I don't think much of going down topless," he explained. After done cleaning, Ryouta quickly closed the curtain so it only leave the front door and its small window being the only window to see what happened inside.
"Coffee is it? Very well..." Ryouta grabbed the nearest shirt around, at least this time it'll make it less awkward for both of them despite it being sleeveless shirt. The black haired teen started to ground the coffee beans and almost like it's practiced over and over again, boiled the coffee and made the cafe's special blend. He had no idea how the person want it, but he did his best at least. He put it on an elegant cup that looked like it's modeled after leaf and served it to the woman, serving it separately with creamer, milk, sugar and whatever she possibly need.
"...You said phone, so... you really have no idea what you have, then?"
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 11, 2017 3:31:30 GMT
Hiroyo slung her purse over the back of her chosen chair and then pulled off her jacket to sit over it. She settled in the seat, smoothing her skirt out over her legs. She watched him fetch a rag and cleaner and looked away, her face still hot from the blush that hadn't quite cooled with her earlier shock. She couldn't really say anything to his words, just sat there getting redder and redder. It...really was her fault wasn't it? If she wasn't here then he would have had his snack in peace. She fidgeted with the bottom of her blouse.
"I don't really have a good sense of time anymore. Normally I'm working right now but...well, today is an exception." An apology? No! But at least she was (somewhat) admitting fault for the mess. She looked up again as her face finally started to return to normal, her expression a mix of frustration although it was really aimed at herself. Ah, if only this night wasn't such a disaster..!
Hiroyo turned her attention to the cheesecake on the table. She took a deep breath and held it, then slowly released it while metaphorically sweeping the negative thought into a dust bin. 'I am a guest.' She thought, fingers twitching on her lap. It was an old lesson she was recalling, and it only added to her tension. 'I am here at my host's inconvenience and should always act as such.' She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again with a more neutral expression. She had herself under control, not now.
Also he had a shirt on which helped a great deal.
The grinding of the coffee beans startled her and her sight jerked to focus on him at work. It had been a while since she had last seen someone grind the beans in front of her, but even then she could admire the obvious ease he did it with. "The shop looks very well cared for. I'm sure when it was open that it was quite popular." She should apologize, she knew she should but...a guilty coil wrapped around her stubborn heart but she kept a small smile on her face. If she moved the conversation to happier times maybe that would help? He had mentioned his father originally owned the store but she didn't really want to get on that particular topic of family at the moment.
The cup set before her was amazing, and she had to admit that even though she had burst in rather rudely and made a mess he was being more than polite. She bit her lower lip and leaned toward the cup, sniffing at it curiously. She wanted to compliment it and his skills but the words were difficult and clumsy in her head. "Thank you for your hospitality." She took a small test sip, cautious both of flavor and heat before beginning to add in sugar and oooh, he even had whipped cream!
Hiroyo had been hoping he hadn't heard the phone comment. She clumsily tumbled a sugar cube into the drink and bit her lip. At least she hadn't made more of a mess, and with the napkins he had so thoughtfully supplied she was able to wipe up the few drops that had made it to the table. For a moment she considered lying to save face. Had she not suffered enough embarrassment here?
"I must admit you have me at a disadvantage," She stirred the sugar into the cup, taking care that her spoon did not touch the sides. It was such a pretty cup! "My...device has never made sounds. Nor has it show itself capable of doing such." She added a bit of whipped cream to the drink and then took a sip, closing her eyes and letting a little sigh of happiness as the liquid slid down her throat. She was riding high on adrenaline at the moment but at least when it wore off she'd have the coffee to buoy her energy. She carefully set her cup back onto its little platter. "Mine was...given to me by the family of a friend who passed away." That was safe enough, perhaps not the whole truth but he didn't need to know that. A small, sad smile appeared on her face as she carefully pulled the strap of the little bag she kept the digivice in off her wrist. She'd hold it in her hand and look at it with a fondness tinged with sorrow. "I never really thought to ask him about it, I thought it was just a toy or some such."
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Post by ryouta on Apr 11, 2017 4:08:32 GMT
"If you're having lack of sleep, it's understandable," Ryouta answered with small chuckle. "That's OK, I can get it. I get particularly cranky if I lacked sleep. Even if they said that having fit body would make you require sleep less, I just love to nap, I guess."
...And yes, her eyeing the cheesecake doesn't left unnoticed by the boy who took the dessert from his refrigerator and cut quite the generous amount, even bigger than his own (considering that he made it himself and this was supposed to be a cafe, that is) and put it in front of her after garnishing it with various berries that would make it appetizing. Who knew he could also do this sort of cooking? Even the boy himself is surprised as his hidden talent as a cook!
"Do enjoy," he said with a smile. "As I'm not a chef I should have said that the taste is not guaranteed, but I'm actually quite sure about my skill in cooking. It might not be as great as my father's, but at least for me it's quite close to the original."
He cut his own cheesecake and eat it, making a hum of approval as he noms on it.
Her comment made him chuckle. "...It's my father's second business after he got conned by his... uh, business partner. On the peak of his success, that said business partner embezzled the store's money... and we fell into debt. This store is made finally after my mother urged my father to reopen his store... My father... he's just a chef who want to see people who eat his dessert and his blended drink happy."
Ryouta looked at the picture on one of the wall. There's a picture of a man who looked like him, a woman that looked like a secretary or teacher, two girls aged around ten that looks like twins, a younger teenage boy and finally someone who looked like him, only babyfaced, despite the height isn't supposed to be all that different.
"...Well, nevermind that. You said your device is dead? ...Ah, I see now. Dear guest, I'm sorry for your loss, but I think from your tone that you wish to know about this more..."
Ryouta walked to the door and just in case quickly closed the small window by pulling a curtain on it.
"...Whatever I'll say here, I hope you understand that this will be a secret and stays a secret. Under no condition you can tell this to your family or close friends or whoever, unless they have same device with us," Ryouta warned. "I think we started at wrong foot, so let's go back a bit...name's Noguchi Ryouta. You can call me Ryouta without honorifics, it honestly made me itchy. Currently sixteen... and... Ryu, come down!"
From the stairs, hidden from view of the two came a small dragon that looked cautious at first, but soon tottered to Ryouta.
"...This is my partner, Ryu the Dracomon. Dracomon is his species."
"Hello there!" while it might be surprising for Hiroyo to heard the dragon speak, he does indeed speak. "Name's Ryu, I'm Aniki's partner!"
"...Those who have the Digivice will be partnered to digital lifeform called Digimon. Like me, I'm partnered with Ryu. There are those who like us who calls themselves Tamer, but I don't like that term. It sounds like Digimon are wild and we're robbing them of their free will... so I call myself a partnered human. Dear customer, your friend might be same as me and Ryu... he most likely still have a partner or two. It pains me to say, this, but.. most likely when he died... his device also died. But I only said that because I had no idea if there is any preceding case where Digivice ownership is transferred."
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 11, 2017 21:28:28 GMT
Surely life was taking a moment to smile on Hiroyo! She had a host that seemed quite willing to excuse her earlier rudeness and was serving her some of the most delicious cheesecake she'd had in a while. She didn't even have to ask for it! "Ah, I'm sure it will be delicious." She was proud that she managed to keep her voice from betraying just how much she was internally drooling over the cheesecake! But, there were more important things to consider here too.
"'Conned by his business partner'? That must have been very difficult to deal with." It also sounded very familiar too. She cut into her own cheesecake after he took a bite of his and entertained the thought that it was her father who had scammed his. (That was unlikely of course, he dealt with an entirely different field but it sounded like something he'd done.) "I really can't stand the kind of people who step on others for their own gain, life shouldn't be about that!" Lofty words for someone who'd been born with a silver spoon.
She had missed food like this.
If life was treating her it really should have started with the bit about Ryouta knowing what the memento actually was. For that reason alone she couldn't keep her eyes off him. When he stood she was reminded again of how tall he was, ugh maybe life was just rubbing her shortness in her face! Wait, she had more inportant things to thinka bout!
"Yeah, it's never made sound or lit up before. I've tried to protect it butt it's got this one the back." Someone, anyone else really, probably would have been worried what with Ryouta's whole 'mysterious, and dangerous secret' act, especially with the whole shutting the blinds. That same hypothetical person would probably make the sane decision that hey, maybe they should get away from the clearly shady situation. There was a dead boy she couldn't stop thinking about.
"Standard NDA terms and conditions, got it. I'm Hiroyo Oda skip the honorifics as well... wait did you say you were sixteen?" Sixteen with a body like that? What'd he do, live in a gym-okay no she was sitting in the first floor of his home. Still! That tall and that built at that age..ugh what did he do in his free time? Fight dragons?
Apparently... sort of? Hiroyo leaned back in her chair and just flat out dropped her fork, sending her next bite of delicious cheesecake to the table. "Wh-ah, haha. That's, hmm... " She stared at Ryu for a momment and then laughed and put a hand up to her face. "I''m, I'm sorry. That was incredibly rude of me." Yes that was it, fall back on courtesy she'd had pounded into her skull while her brain attempted to adjust to the sheer weirdness factor. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ryu."
This certainly wasn't what she had been expecting when he said he knew about the little toy thing she had. She had been expecting that maybe it was part of some weird game thing not... something like this. "So um, how... how would I find his partners. They... they should probably know. A-About his passing.." She sniffed and set about cleaning up the poor wasted piece of cheesecake. "I mean, it's been a while since he passed. I'm sure they were.. were looking for him."
Oh Hiroyo, if only you knew. You'd only feel worse!
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Post by ryouta on Apr 12, 2017 0:27:34 GMT
Ryouta just chuckled and waved his hand off at that remark. "I'm glad, but I think it's a bit of a letdown that I give you mine. If only my father's here... but unfortunately he's not. Sorry about that. Yeah, it's a hard thing alright, kinda glad to say we already crawled out of it for most of the part. Back in my childhood days I only eat about once or twice a day. My sisters are growing and they need food more than me. Luckily I got support from my friends..." He then abruptly coughed. Did he accidentally made a remark about how hard is it to eat back then on a stranger? Let's not repeat this again.
"...So it really never made a sound, huh..." Ryouta muttered. Actually, this call for immediate attention. He's not sure what to say other than he's worried about the partner's whereabout and their wellbeing. Yet, he know that despite all that denseness he got, he's not that super dense to tell her what happened to the partners without much warning. He pulled a chair and sit in front of her and resumed to eat his own cheesecake.
"Mmm? I'm sixteen, yeah. Pretty buff for one, huh?" he joked. "Maybe it's gene, maybe it's something else, but anyway, I'm natural as natural one can be." Just how unfair world can be? The boy said that he's natural and he's THAT buff. Still, she's not wrong either. Afterall, Ryouta DID fight dragons--or still does, up to his line of work really. If Ryouta were to be honest, he's amused at Hiroyo's quick acceptance of this sort of situation. Ryu grinned widely, showing toothy grin at the girl.
"...They're probably in the other world, the digital world. Digital World is... like a world, a shadow of ours, made of data. All data from real world will probably ends there." Ryouta answered, but the tone of his voice was not sure.. .no, it hid possibility of something gone wrong. "...Hiroyo, I'm sorry to be blunt, but as much as I want to keep silent, I don't wat to lie... There's a chance that they doesn't exist anymore."
Ryu who heard Ryouta's tone immediately pulled a chair to sit beside him---only to jump down and grabbed some book to make him able to at least have his head above the table.
"...Hiro-chan... um, can I call you that?" Ryu asked. "...I know this will be hard to accept, but... We partnered Digimons are very... dependent on our partners. Our human partners that is. Now, Hiro-chan, a normal Digimon can evolve, evolve to bigger form naturally, but they generally never got higher than few stages."
The Digimon jumped down from the chair again and took what looks like a previously prepared drawing of Digimon stages. It's mostly very cartoonish and childish. It showed Digimon stage. First with Japanese and below it is English.
Baby I -> Baby II -> Child -> Adult -> Perfect -> Ultimate -> Super Ultimate.
"All Digimon borns from egg, even if they looks like... uh, mammals? If that what they're called here? Digimons does not evolve like... uh... what was that franchise? Pokeymon? Probably that, un. We... can evolve to stranger things that you have seen. Let's say, um, Aniki?"
Ryouta showed his D-Terminal and accessed its Digimon Encyclopedia to show Hiroyo Poyomon. Its name and its level is shown on the device, then he tapped it several times to shows Tokomon and Patamon.
"...The next one will surprise you."
He tapped it once again and showed Angemon.
"...Yeah, frickin' angel."
Ryu just chuckled. "...Well, um... so Hiro-chan, Digimons also doesn't evolve linearly. Even if you have a Patamon, there's no guarantee they will evolve to Angemon. There are so many branches of Digimon evolution. There are also lot of Digimon species... it's complex thing... Anyway, back to the concept of solo Digimon and partnered Digimon... Normally, normal solo stopped at Perfect, but there exist not-so-special solos that could reach same stage as us, partnered Digimon... the problem is... while solo digimon doesn't need help of human, we absolutely needs it..."
...He paused to gather some courage to say it.
"...Hiro-chan, when your friend died... your... um... his partners might be unable to evolve. Digital World... unfortunately is not a kind place outside its cities... they might've perished in the process... That's what aniki trying to say. I'm really sorry."
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 12, 2017 18:04:16 GMT
Hiroyo almost wanted to laugh. She'd successfully avoided talking about her own problems and here he was spilling his guts, excellent! Now she could get to the business of making other people's lives better! ...unless their dads were probably dead which was the vibe she was getting from Ryouta's little speech. A concerned frown spread across her face, her forehead furrowing as she listened to his childhood. Man, she had really had it good huh? She couldn't remember ever going hungry for any reason other than punishment or her own stubbornness. "I... am very sorry to hear about that. I think... I think your father would still be proud of you, and your friends as well!" After all, he was clearing making enough to keep this place going with whatever he did for a living! Or maybe there was a loop hole somewhere? Whatever the case, he certainly seemed to be doing better for himself.
She finished cleaning up her mess and took a sip of coffee before nodding to his comment. If the digivice had ever made a sound she wasn't aware of it. He seemed to be focusing on that fact and she worried. Was it like a heart rate monitor or something? Surely sometimes the electronics were quiet but... She forced herself to smile back as he joked, not quite chuckling as he sat back down to eat."Yeah, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were a professional body builder or at least older! I can readily believe it to be something to do with genetics." She took another bite of cheesecake and chewed thoughtfully, casually leaning back as he continued speaking.
It looked like she should listen to her instincts more.
She carefully put her fork down on her plate and pushed the coffee away from her a little. Her face had fallen to a more serious expression as she looked between the two partners in front of her. It was very well presented explanation, if this was a sham they had certainly done a good job preparing it. Her right hand picked the digivice up off the table again, her index finger lightly stroking along the side.
"A dangerous world..." She said softly, her face shifting to a frown. Was this a dream? She didn't think her dream could so realistically conjure up a guy like Ryouta,, nor the deliciousness of the food in front of her was. So, it had to be the truth right? There had to be someone, or someones, out there waiting for the return of the holder of her memento. Maybe that was why it had been trusted to her.
"I...even if that might be the case I still want to go there. They were probably... they were definitely his trusted partners. I must make every effort to find them. I shouldn''t wait for later!" She pause and found herself breathing heavily, no doubt due to the way her voice had been rising in both volume and intensity. She took a deep breath then slowly released it, silently chanting to herself to calm down. "I owe it to the person who left this to me, and to the ones who are waiting for his return." Her hand tightened around the digivice as she spoke, the edges of the broken section on the back digging into her hand. Her eyes hardened as her stubbornness asserted itself. "I want to meet them. No matter how dangerous or how hard the trip is, I will go there. It might be tough, but I'm confident I'll be able to handle it." She took another deep breath to try to control herself as her voice started to rise again. This was rather ridiculous to be getting so worked up over, especially considering the fact she'd never met the hypothetical partners! Still, she felt better having stated her case as plainly as she could. "Would you be willing to show me how to get there Ryouta-san, Ryu-san? I don't expect you to baby sit me once I'm there but... as long as I get there I can do the rest on my own."
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Post by ryouta on Apr 13, 2017 2:49:29 GMT
Oh did he made it across wrong? He looks thoughtful for a while before chuckling himself. Did he accidentally writes his father as dead? "Hmmm? Well of course he is. Now if only I know where the heck he is... and that would be cool. My mother too, and my lil bro, and my two lil' sis. Problem is I've been missing for a year myself, so we're completely out of touch for a full year."
Ryouta just chuckled when Hiroyo gave her opinion about him. "Was a stunt double apprentice actually, for a tokusatsu show. At least for about two months. I might go back to it, maybe not, no idea. I'm still a bit tough on money, so sooner or later I need to work," he admitted. "But Japanese law, I guess... prevented me from getting a job at 16. I only can get part-time-job."
However, all trace of that friendliness dropped when the girl said she want to get to the Digital World. He sighed and twirled the metallic bread knife on his hand. It's definitely not a joking matter... not when he's letting out silent killing intent that looked like it's polished already. Normally, a person from modern world wouldn't have that sort of killing intent. The killing intent recede suddenly to none, and he began to twirl butterknife again.
"...So you're saying, you're going to digital world? That's dandy and all, everyone has gone there..."
But suddenly he, with such dexterity, pointed the said knife to her neck, or attempting to, if she could catch it.
"...This is what human would do. If this is a sharp knife, you'll be probably in danger. If this is is a transformable sword, however... I think your life already forfeit. However, Digimon doesn't need this. Ryu."
The small dragon suddenly breathed blue fire at open. To practically show what sort of power this dragon have, Ryouta wrapped the butterknife with napkin on the handle and exposed the blade to Ryu's fire. It slowly become red from the heat.
"...Real fire. And this is the Child stage. I can evolve Ryu to show you what sort of horror Digital World gives, but... Definitely this store won't be enough for that sort of thing."
Ryouta showed a rather bored expression as he said all of that. The warm silverish blue eyes that was looking at her now turned cold. If she haven't noticed it, she would probably notice it now, how his pupils are not round, but slitlike, almost like cat, or dragon.
"...Now, I've heard so many people said it's fun, it's interesting, it's something they have to do... But I have seen human killed by Digimon. You can't expect us to NOT babysit you, not with device that belonged to your friend who possibly uniquely for him, and not passed to you. That's impossible. You'll just toss your life away. Is that what your friend want? We're not talking about game over here. There are no continue, no load game. Granted, many people seem to be luckier to never get into conflict, but I have seen the uglier side of Digital World. All thing considered, will you still say that you're going there?"
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 14, 2017 21:03:04 GMT
The sudden disappearance of Ryouta’s friendliness caused the hairs along the back of Hiroyo’s neck to raise. She wasn’t fully conscious of the reason why at first, and thus dismissed the shiver that ran through her as being caused by nothing more than a bit of cold air. Still, the longer she stared at his face (she couldn't help the occasional glance at the spinning knife, it was almost hypnotic) her unease grew.
It started as a whisper of worry that clung to her shoulders and soon grew to a dread that choked her heart and lungs. She couldn't catch her breath. She has had no real experience with being threatened, nothing to compare this too. Still, even as naive as she was, her subconscious recognized the threat and screamed a warning along her nerves.
Her shoulders relaxed when he stopped spinning the knife and that awful pressure died away. He spoke again and she wondered what had caused her to tense up. There was nothing threatening in his words, she hadn't felt at all in danger from the moment he had served her cake and coffee so why exactly had it felt so dangerou-
There was a knife against her throat. It might be a just a butter knife but her body jerked backwards against the chair all the same. Far too late for her to have dodged it if he seriously meant her harm. Her mouth opened as if she meant to speak and then shut soundlessly once he began talking.
As Hiroyo watched his little demonstration with Ryu her face grew rather red and changed expression from fear and shock to something fierce and sullen. The hand holding the digivice tightened during his speech, her fingers a patchy red and white from the strength of her grip. Her shoulders shook but not with the fear that had momentarily gripped her so tightly earlier. How dare he attempt to scare her off, how dare he attempt to guess at her friend’s thoughts (she would not admit to the hurt brought up by his words, not even to herself), how dare he try to intimidate her! Well fine, he wanted a fight she would give him a fight!
Not the wisest choice when she was still potentially locked into the store with him. Good thing Ryouta probably didn’t actually mean her harm!
“I already told you I was going! I also told you I absolutely don’t need you to babysit me nor do I want it! If you were trying to impress upon me the dangers CONGRATULATIONS! Clearly once I get there the very first thing I should do is ditch Mr. Crazy who likes to threaten people with butter knives! I don’t care if it is dangerous, I don’t get care if I might get hurt I probably definitely won’t but that’s not the point! You barely know me so you really don’t have to feel like you need to protect! I am QUITE capable of defending myself!”
At some point during her rant she had stood up and was now leaning over the table towards him which would have possibly been threatening if she wasn’t, y’know, the size of a middle-schooler. She irritably reached up to flick a piece of hair out of her face with her free hand (why wasn’t her hat doing its job?) and then put it down again to steady herself.
Right into her still pretty hot coffee.
Hiroyo recoiled immediately, jerking her hand up and to her chest so fast it spent the cup itself tumbling to the side. If someone didn’t catch it was going to break across the floor.
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Post by ryouta on Apr 14, 2017 21:22:01 GMT
Ryouta with the same reflex that he exhibited few moments ago captured the cup right on its handle. While it's not enough to prevent it from spilling, at least he somehow managed to capture it safely.
"Ditch Mr. Crazy who fake threatened you with blunt knife, who at the same time is your only chance to survive there?" Ryouta asked, raising an eyebrow. "Wow, suicidal if I ever heard one. You know what do you look like at the moment? Kid with temper tantrum. That's not the way to convince me to help you to go there, lady. And no, I don't even need to look for more than few seconds the second time that yes, you're capable protecting yourself from a thug... or two, or three, or maybe five. Against Digimon though... child stage is your best bet. Uuuunfortunately," Ryouta drawled to make his point, and at the same time twisting the proverbial dagger deeper "you rarely find Digimon that can't fight. An Adult stage pretty much could squish a human with a stomp or maybe with breath of fire... All Digimons is designed with a survive or die thoughts in mind. Oh maybe you'll be asking but what's the point of killing a human? No idea, but some Digimon are aggressive. Sometimes overly so. Most can be reasoned with like Ryu, but another just have such distrust to human to point of they want to eliminate human. Some just want to gobble up human because they look appetizing."
Still, he was quite chuckling at how Hiroyo could think she would appear threatening while she just do the exact opposite just now. The thought entertained him, but... here's the problem. Ryouta sighed in resignation and put a foot on top of the table.
"...At first I thought I'll be babysitting a decent woman who can understand the danger of going to Digital World unprepared, but instead I got a woman who acted more suicidal than me, like that's even possible to begin with. So? Are you still going to show this extremely disgraceful action or will you... dunno, grow up and think rationally? I don't know you, so I only can judge what I'm currently seeing."
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 16, 2017 12:34:53 GMT
A little relief wormed it’s way into the current emotional mess that was Hiroyo. She couldn’t help the thought that if he hadn’t caught the cup then things would be completely over. There was only so much injury she could inflict before she would be spurned completely. She reached for a napkin and wiped her hand on it.
At first the distraction of cleaning her hand served only for him to start talking without speaking, but then she started to actually listen. Her shoulders will still shaking (at this point she didn’t know if it was from fear or rage and didn’t care) and she hadn’t let go of the digivice yet but she actually looked like she was willing to listen.
His off-hand comment about her sense of self-preservation struck a bigger chord than he was probably expecting. Was she really suicidal still or was he just exaggerating the dangers? She didn’t want to consider that she hadn’t shaken that urge off completely even at the behest of her deceased friend. Clearly this guy needed to butt out of her personal issues (nevermind that he had run into them by accident) and take a good look at his own oafish behavior.
“I don’t care if it looks childish to you.” She snapped, slamming her hand down on the table again. She was still standing but even so she had to crane her head back to look him in the eyes, especially in these close quarters. “I already said I’m going so it’s pointless trying to scare me off! You don’t get to sit there and make completely ridiculous assumptions about my mental state especially since you need to make everything ridiculously dramatic.” Hey wait, hadn’t she just said something about not making assumptions? Ugh! This wasn’t going how she wanted at all.
“Furthermore where did you post the signs so I would know it was a fake threat? It certainly felt pretty real to me! Who even makes fight threats like that?! You might have a lot of experience with dangerous things but clearly I-” Her mouth was frozen open for a moment as a moment of realization hit. Oh, that was what he had been trying to say wasn’t it? The look on her face was almost comical as her self-righteous anger was doused in the waters of embarrassment. Her mouth closed and she swallowed, her eyes turning away as she kept them off of Ryouta’s and Ryu’s faces.
Slowly she sank back down into her chair, her hands moving to rest on her knees as she bit her lip and slouched in her misery. Hiroyo really was acting the fool here, wasn’t she? Here she was trying to shout down possibly the only person who could lead her to where she needed to go to solve something that had been troubling her for a long time. She turned the digivice over in her hands, her face twisting as she tried to sort out her feelings.
What would he say about how she was acting now and what she was trying to do? Even if he had entrusted this to her, she knew he would still want her to be safe. She knew this, yet here she was sabotaging the best chance she had at completing this task. SHe opened her mouth to say something then closed it again, clearing her throat. She had caused a lot of grief for her hosts. She straightened her back
“I..I’m sorry. You’ve invited me in and been nothing but generous and helpful and I have turned around and thrown it all back in your face with my ungracious actions. You were only trying to warn me and I took it as doubt of my own abilities and self, doubt that is, in hindsight, justified considering the situation. A good man would not let someone wander into danger unprepared and it is obvious that is what you are. I,” she took a breath and kept her eyes on the table. She knew she should look up but it was so hard to do so. She wanted to run, wanted to storm out and never think of this moment again but Ryouta was right. She had been acting childish. It was time to stop.
“I have let my emotions get the better of my manners and my sense. You...you are right of course. I don’t know what dangers I will face, I don’t know what will be waiting for me there, but even so I’m still determined to go. If…” she paused again, struggling to put her feelings to words. “If my friend had died over there and I had never seen him again I would..” Would have actually died too, but he didn’t need to know about that so she ruthlessly aborted that sentence and thought. “I want to let his partner know, if they still exist, that he didn’t abandon them. I would like to believe that is why he gave me this, so that I could convey his feelings to them.”
She took a big breath and forced herself to lift her head even though it felt as if cinder blocks had been tied to her head. It was hard to bend this much, to give up her angry charge. But she could do it. She had to do it if she ever wanted to learn about what her friend had so clearly known. “I know I have no right to request this of you again, especially after being such a despicable guest but I… I don’t have another option for someone to go there with me. Would you still...would you still accompany me? I’ll pay, I know it doesn’t make up for my rudeness earlier but… however much. I’ll pay it!” That sounded a lot like her earlier declaration even though her face still looked like she’d bitten into a lemon.
Humble pie was a bitter pill.
Better hope you can live up to the promise of those words Hiroyo.
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Post by ryouta on Apr 16, 2017 13:36:12 GMT
"This again?" Ryouta sighed, then merely listened to--no, he's not really listening. He took out his iPod and began to play some noise cancelling music.Her shouting getting grating to his draconic sense so much that he swore he's having headache from it. Luckily he's used to reading lips so he know what sort of things she spat even without listening to her directly.
"Ridiculously dramatic, you say... I wonder?" Ryouta offhandedly commented. Then he keeps listening as she ranted on and on, actually tempted for once to slap this spoiled woman. This is certainly not her abode yet she's treating him as if he's some personal driver of hers. Ryouta's draconic pupils narrowed dangerously, starting to feeling irate. Ryu who saw this began to look panicked, because honestly this is not the way how it's supposed to be... Luckily, it all dawned on her.
"...Finally, you got it, huh?"
Ryouta seem to calm down slightly and gulped his milk, but upon noticing that his cup is empty, he stood up and put the cup on the sink. Instead he took out what looks like chamomile and boils it. Chamomile tea. Certainly it have some sort of relaxation effect. Like how he made tea, he made it skillfully too. He brought it to the table in a clear glass pot.
"...I wonder if caffeine is good for you if your reaction was like that." he muttered. "Finally said some sincerity, have you? Very well..." He took out what looked like document and brought it to Hiroyo with a pen. "...First, read the fine print. I'm not like some despicable businessmen or loan shark. The total that I'm asking you is... 10 million yen." Of course the impressive amount would make anyone got heart attack. That's pretty much 100 thousand dollars. "I won't charge any interest, nor I'm expecting you to pay it wholly by today. However, the impressive sum did not come without reason."
He raise a finger. "...First, assuming that we can find them and they're alive, we'll be going places to places. This is the transportation cost." he raise another "and you can't expect that we won't run into any danger, so this is bodyguard fee." then he raise another "three, assuming that they somehow become your partner AFTER THIS, then I'm charging you for education and training fee." then he raises another "finally, accommodation fee. I'm charging you for a diamond class service. Unfortunately, if you want to lower the cost for this accommodation, it'll be harder to protect you so give up already on thinking to lower accommodation cost. Oh and if you're behaving unreasonable, I'll charge liability cost too. You have been warned."
He then once again crossed his legs and put the heel on the table. "....Well, in case you need to call anyone for loan or anything, there's a phone there. Payment plan can be discussed later."
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