[Taki makes arrangements to get together with her father in an hour or so and the remaining Sakuragaoka students reconvene on the otherwise empty second floor of a small coffee house far enough away from the school to avoid wandering graduate crowds but close enough to be just a short motorcycle ride away.] [Kyon has had to take a call and is sitting at a different table. Katie can hear both ends of his conversation, but the person from the brewery won't be able to hear anything from the room.] [Resume.] * Katie has made herself comfortable, with her bag on the table in front of her and her forehead against her bag. Yup. That's a Katie. * Haruko is taking her coffee black, she had mentioned that she learned to do so because some of the campus computer labs had coffee machines near by, but none of the accoutrements. * Taki arrived with Haruko and now has her hands wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate. "Soo... just to make sure I'm not remembering this wrong, Saki was The Devil, right? When she was crazy?" * Katie has a mocha somewhere nearby. "Yes," she says into her bag. "And Death Reversed. Why." * Kyon mutters quietly into the phone and makes small sharp gestures with his free hand, bag at his feet. * Haruko listens attentively. She always found the Saki details a bit like some of the stranger shrine histories she's heard where there are a few different stories intermingled. * Taki slides the folded piece of paper she got from Hinako across the table to Katie. "Because it feels like I just got an offer on my soul. I mean, maybe she's just super grateful that we saved her, but I'm kinda spooked by anything that has to to with Shuffle and The World." * Haruko reads. [The letter is a brief note that says, "I hope my appearance at your ceremony was not a disturbance, it was part of my official duties. However, since we happened to meet, I wanted to inform you that I would be honored to write a letter of recommendation to you, or any of your friends, that discreetly reflects the fact that there were important reasons that your focus on academics during that year was not what it would it would have been otherwise.] [While my role in the board of education is strictly advisory, my title does carry some weight. [Your obedient servent, Yamagata K.] * Katie lifts her head and reads the paper. She's doing it because she feels like she owes you. And the rest of us. Hinako asked her to offer a recommendation so you can stay in Tokyo with her sister. * Katie slides it back. She did? * Haruko coughs. "This does seem a lot better than the sort of deal Zein offered." Yeah. * Haruko looks over to Taki. "Hinako slipped backstage after the graduation ceremony." Aaah, I missed that. Yeah, it's something I want to talk about, once Kyon is off the phone. * Kyon glances over at Katie, and holds up two fingers. ... Huh. It's too bad everybody else is getting into the schools they want, I mean, Mikage has a school here in Tokyo she wanted to go to, but I don't think even an advisor to the education board can match the scholarship she's getting with a letter... and I think Mikage would explode if she found out she owed Hinako for something like that. * Haruko looks over to Taki. "So, while were waiting for Kyon, what was up with that?" * Katie nods to Kyon. Ah, when they first met they started, I don't know, fortune telling not-bragging... Hinako kinda won. A lot. And she's been calling Mikage that name ever since just because it bothers her. I... don't think she's doing it because it bothers Mikage. Why would Hinako care? * Haruko nods. * Taki fidgets with her cup and takes a sip before responding. "A challenge to improve Mikage's mysterious knowing everything act? I mean, she has to know how it makes Mikage feel right? Even I can tell." * Haruko makes a face. "She might be able to tell, but I think she often does what she does regardless of how anyone reacts." She snorts. "Like, I always thought she was a little sweet on Satoshi and maybe Kaede, but obviously the name thing means that'll never happen." And I don't care how many belts you wear, Akemi's a tough act to follow. * Katie looks at Taki for a second, then she says, "I think she might know." I also think she doesn't care. She calls everyone by their original name. I'm Katherine Andrews. Satoshi's Hideo. You know. * Katie sips her coffee. * Haruko nods. * Taki slumps. "Bleeeeeeeeh." Mind you, someone doing something because they don't care doesn't always feel a whole lot better than someone doing something to bug you. But it's easier, at least in theory, to get over. Because they probably won't start doing something new to annoy you. That's true, but now I kinda want to go back and know that before the part where I got mad at her for it. * Haruko grins. "Well, we live with regrets, but there's always booze. And hot chocolate." * Haruko looks over the letter again. * Kyon stabs the off button on his phone, and scoops his bag up from between his feet, heading over to the table, scowling. He takes the chair next to Katie's. * Katie glances at Kyon and scoots her bag a bit away from his part of the table. She doesn't ask how it went; she already knows. * Katie says, instead, "Taki got an offer of recommendation from Kazuko Yamagata." * Kyon tucks his bag by the side of his chair. "Still takes fixing, if people don't know." He looks over at Katie, raising an eyebrow. "Why?" Hinako asked her to offer, so Taki can stay in Tokyo. Probably to stay near her sister. * Taki slowly starts to spin her cup on the table. "For me and my friends, but I'm the only one who even needs or wants such a thing. It'd be nice if I could let Mikage stay near Kenji too." I think... Yamagata feels she really owes Taki. And the rest of us. Also someone else, but us, definitely. * Kyon glances across at Taki. "You don't want out?" * Haruko watches that conversation. She accepts Katie's assertions without demanding elaboration. Yes and no. I want to stay with Nicola, but I also want to have a life away from all of this, and that's the exact opposite of being close to Nicola and her sister and all of you. And it was really easy to reject when I thought she was just being evil. I know what Mikage thinks I'm going to do, but I don't know what I'm going to do. * Taki rests he head on the table and goes back to spinning the cup. * Haruko thinks for a minute. "Given the looks she was starting to throw, I'm gussing she thinks you'll stay?" * Kyon watches her for a beat, and then smirks. "Everyone always figures they know other people's minds." * Katie makes a small 'ha' noise at that, drinking more coffee. Today's been tiring. Yeah, she said she was going to Osaka alone. And I guess thinking I knew what Hinako was thinking was presumptious when I don't even know what I'm thinking. * Haruko glances at Katie after Kyon's comment and smiles a little. You'd better figure that out. * Kyon splays one of his hands out on the table, and smirks. "Lots of extrapolating." He looks at Katie, pops back out of his chair, and goes to grab his cup from the other table. I had it figured out until I got that letter. Now I'm trying to take the weights and measures of things that have neither. * Kyon sets his cup down with a clack, coming back, and says curtly, "What does it really change?" * Haruko looks over to Kyon. "She was waitlisted at the Tokyo school. She didn't have a choice." * Haruko looks back to Taki. "The advice I got was to consider making a list with two columns with the advantages of each choice. Maybe take it up to a quad chart if you want to list the disadvantages seperately." * Kyon shrugs quickly, and folds himself back into his seat. "Tons of other schools. City's full of universities. Plenty of students take a year and try again, too. The school you're waitlisted for - is it really better?" * Haruko raises an eyebrow at Kyon, who apparently is a lot more chill with a ronin year than she'd be. * Taki nods. "Better reputation, better staff, better building, better equipment. Culinary schools are pretty specialized and there are only two in Tokyo. ... The other one was my third choice." * Haruko glances back to Taki, girl did her homework. * Katie pulls a sketchbook and pencil out and sets her bag on the floor, then flips to a blank page. Is she even pretending to listen? Not really. Is she actually listening? Probably. * Kyon nods curtly. "Right. But then it's always been better, and you wanted to leave. Got on the waitlist one year, you can find a job at some restaurant, be ready for next year. But you wanted out. So the question's this: is it better enough to be worth not escaping?" * Haruko nods at that, following Kyon's logic this time. * Taki stares at her drink. "Without thinking about Nicola, absolutly not. With her... I don't know. Yes. No. Maybe. And as much as my imagination wants to, I can't just swoop in and take her away from what she wants to do here. I am a kinght, but I have no shining armor, and the monsters have already been defeated." Defeating monsters isn't the way to get the girl, anyway. * Haruko nods. "Yeah, even if there were monsters, you'd need her consent. And she sounded happy to be going to Korubane." * Katie looks up at Taki. "So if it's about Nicola, you have to figure out if she's worth it. It's not like moving away means you'll never see her again, but it might be harder." * Taki snorts. "Didn't work so well for getting the boy either. I want her to be happy, and if Korubane is where she'll be happy that's the best place for her. It's me that isn't sure where I'll be happiest." * Kyon snorts. "I'd say don't worry about that and just follow your needs. No need to worry about your girlfriend." He smirks. "But that'd be hypocritical." * Katie rolls her eyes, nudging Kyon. But she's smiling. "A little bit." * Haruko laughs. * Taki lightly thumps her head into the table. * Katie laughs at the head desk. So, maybe do the list. I mean, it's not magic or anything, but it forces you to get all the factors that are important to you on one sheet of paper. * Kyon snorts a small laugh, and just looks amused. "You can. But if the school's not better enough to make it worth staying, I'd leave." He shrugs, and wraps a long hand around his cup. "Your call, though." * Katie nods in agreement with Kyon. "You can be back in Tokyo faster than most people." * Taki nods. "I kinda dropped a hint about that to Nicola." * Haruko nods. "Good. I mean your broader reasons for wanting to get away aren't just because of Arcana stuff. You had a real rough time here and a lot of rough memories. You might benefit from being out of the city and have a chance to establish yourself. If that's what you really need, she'll respect that or maybe you don't belong together." * Kyon nods curtly, and takes a sip of his tea. I'd miss seeing you, speed or not, but I want you to take care of yourself. * Taki winces. "About the third thing I did in Osaka was accidentally throw a punk to the ground because he was trying to start someething with my dad. I don't think I'm going to escape rough stuff no matter where I go." You *accidentally* threw him to the ground? * Kyon smirks. "Osaka used to be known for its toughness." I was trying to trip him and he fell the wrong way and I couldn't let him land on dad! That... doesn't sound very accidental. But it sounds like you can take care of yourself there, if you have to. * Haruko nods and sips her coffee. ... Got a nice discount offer from the land lady for it, so our rent'll be good. I mean uggggh. * Kyon nods curtly. "So that set enough for now? Wasn't there something else to talk about?" * Haruko nods, "Well that's not nothing, even Osaka isn't exactly cheap." * Haruko looks over to Katie. * Katie looks back, then sighs. "Look," she says, pushing herself up so she's sitting straighter. She closes her sketchbook and points at her with her pencil. "You already figured out what you're doing. You've told Mikage that you're going to be her roommate. If you back out now, it sounds like she's going to be stuck with an apartment she can't afford." Does Nicola know you are - or were, whatever - planning on moving? * Taki sits up. "No, there's a cheaper, worse place by her school. We thought that there was still a chance of my staying in Tokyo on my own when we made the arrangements. And Nicola knows, and wasn't exactly happy, but it's only two and a half hours for normal people." Mikage's mom is going to be infinitly smug if I decide to stay. Her mom's not important. What's important right now is you already had a plan. If you wanted to stay, you'd have found a way to stay. That letter? * Katie points at it with her pencil. "The offer from Yamagata? That's fine, it would make staying easier - if that's what you were planning on doing. Which it *isn't*." If you go back now, you're going to throw everything into chaos. Which, okay, if that's what you want. It doesn't hurt me. But it might hurt people who have been making plans around you. * Taki winces. * Haruko nods. "Hinako-san may be trying to look out for Nicola's interest. But, well, it's not like she claimed she was trying to do what's best for both of you. Not "may be," is. But a couple is always about two people's interests, there's no other way to do it. * Kyon takes a long sip of tea. * Taki sighs and takes her letter and buisness card back. "Did Hinako say anything else when she got these?" * Haruko stares into her coffee for the moment. * Kyon glances over at Katie. A few things. She and Yamagata weren't planning on seeing each other at your graduation. They both seemed surprised. * Katie turns the pencil between her fingers, looking at it. "They also knew each other." * Haruko nods, still staring down. Hinako seems to know everyone. I see the chaos has already started. * Katie keeps talking like Taki didn't say anything. "Yamagata called you 'Shimiru-chan' and said that she owes you and your friends a debt. I think for saving her back when. But I... got the sense that she also owes someone else." The Heirophant is a force of her own, don't hold yourself responsible for her choices. * Kyon grasps his cup, and nods curtly. "Any sense who?" * Haruko listens. * Taki drinks chocolate. * Katie shakes her head. "Don't know." She looks at Kyon. "Aki Uehara, maybe? Yorihisa? The World? Those would be my best guesses, but they're guesses." She taps her pencil against the table. "Hinako also pressed Yamagata about the books. Yamagata said..." She takes in a breath. * Haruko stops staring at her cup and looks over to Katie. * Kyon just waits for her to continue patiently. She sounded angry or at least on edge, and really didn't want to talk to Hinako by herself about it. She said she can read the books. And also that if the Council wants to know anything, she'd be happy to answer their questions. Wait, the Council? * Katie nods. * Katie puts her pencil down for coffee. And Hinako wasn't like "what council?" * Kyon scowls, and looks back at Katie now. * Taki gently sets her chocolate down on the table, and then her head. * Haruko then remembers her note taking promise. She gets a notepad out from her purse and copies down what Katie has said, checking it by her when done. "I'll be sure to destroy this when I send an email or have Wataru do it after delivery." * Kyon nods quickly to Haruko, and then turns back to Katie. * Katie sighs, suddenly tired again. "She wasn't like what Council. No." She just said it won't be necessary. And that Yamagata should consider what she's saying, for everyone's good, including hers. * Katie looks up at Haruko. "If you do that, can you send it to all of us, including Kaede?" He needs to know, too. * Haruko nods. * Haruko checks her watch. "So I think we're reaching the end of Taki's time. I guess we should settle on next steps and I'll include those in the email." * Katie shrugs. "Reaching out to Yamagata seems possible." She knows about some sort of Council and feels she owes us. If we're possibly talking to Aki Uehara anyway... * Haruko nods. "All true. Want my opinion?" * Katie blinks at Haruko. Well, she's not saying no. * Kyon scowls again, but then nods quickly. He turns to Haruko, and waits before he says what he was going to say. * Taki brings her phone up to where she can see it and confirm what Hauko said about the time without lifting her head. That makes perfect sense to me, and honestly you were a key leader of that rescue, so she owes you at least as much as anyone else. Actually talking people reveals some of what we know, but with all that's going on it's better to know more as these people already know we exist and are active. I'm okay with talking to her. I'd like to not go by myself, but... * Haruko nods. "That makes sense." * Katie shakes it off and looks at Kyon, who was going to maybe say something. If you can wait until I get this sorted out, I even have an excuse to arrange a meeting with her and her number. * Kyon nods quickly, and looks over to Katie. "We have the meeting about the books, too. But she's probably associated somewhere. Better to meet with her before we go talk with him." He looks at Taki. "And you're sorting it soon, so no reason to wait." * Haruko nods at Taki and then Kyon's comment. "Sumire or Matthias either don't know about the Council or aren't sharing. I should probably talk to them again before too long, but talking with Ryuji next might be a good next move for me." Takeo's freaking out about the books, too, or at least was. * Katie rubs at her eyes. * Taki snorts and sits up again. "I wonder if Hinako knows you know? I could just ask her, but there's no telling if I'd understand the answer I get." * Haruko looks surprised at Katie's comment. "Huh, Sumire was more concerned with Shuffle. Maybe I should talk with her again." * Kyon shakes his head quickly. "Wouldn't go asking her yet. But we need to follow up with those others, too. We can work on it. But this is the easy point. Got the rec offer. So we follow up with her where the information's clearest. Then we can follow other leads." Okay. * Katie nods in agreement. * Haruko does as well. * Kyon downs the rest of his tea. "So we're set." Yeah, think so. We can talk about anything else over e-mail. [End!]