[Jihatsu] Tuesday, May 25, 2004, 8:00 PM. It's a warm evening, and the downtown streets are bustling with university students getting crepes or ice cream, young couples leaving movie theaters, kids and salarimen going to lose money at arcades. Kira leans against a cement divider next to the arcade, lazily scanning the crowd as he smokes a cigarette. He's in a plain white v-neck tee, stone-grey jeans, and a longish black vest, and accessorized with a few thoughtful touches: a black leather cord bracelet wrapped many times around his left wrist, a short black leather necklace with a small silver cross nestled between his collarbones, and black leather booties with a low heel. It's his best outfit, okay. Shut up. No _you_ overthought your look tonight. He checks his phone. --- [Ardweden] Kira sees the same message from earlier: Kyoko saying she's going to be late. That was forty-five minutes ago. They were supposed to meet at 7:30. --- [Jihatsu] Kira looks at the phone for a while. He finishes his cigarette, drops it to the sidewalk and puts it out under his heel. --- [Ardweden] "Kira-san?" Kyoko calls hesitantly while Kira grinds the cigarette into the ground. She's appeared from somewhere in the crowd, and is approaching rapidly! Well, not rapidly in Kira terms, but still at a brisk walk. She's wearing a soft pink shirt with sleeves that go to her elbow and a black skirt with a pink and white floral pattern, which ends a few inches above her knee. Pink and white ribbons are in her hair, too, trailing down her ponytail, and she's carrying some sort of glittery black purse. At least she isn't wearing any super noticeable make up, or Kira might have a hard time recognizing her. Well, that and the scuffed up steel toed boots that look like the same ones she wears to work. That helps. There's also her voice, which is definitely Kyoko as she smiles nervously and says, "Sorry I'm late. There was a... thing. Kind of a crisis." --- [Jihatsu] Kira sees her, and visibly brightens. He stands up straighter! "Hey. And - a crisis?" A flicker of doubt darkens his expression. "Like, should we be worried?" --- [Ardweden] "No. It's fine. I was just dealing with my brother." Kyoko rolls her eyes. "So I couldn't get to my phone for a while." --- [Jihatsu] "Oh. Is... he okay?" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko hesitates for a second before she says, "No worse than usual." --- [Jihatsu] Kira's mouth goes a little crooked but he doesn't press he subject. "Well. I hope it all works out. You still up for burgers, or...?" --- [Ardweden] "Yeah." Kyoko's smile loses some of its nervousness. "I'm _starving_." --- [Jihatsu] Kira quirks an easy grin! "Sweet. This is like, my favourite Freshness Burger in the city." He leads her past the arcade and up a flight of outdoor stairs to a second level shopping area, at what is probably a reasonable pace for datey conversation. "You look great, by the way," he says, trying, with middling success, not to blush. --- [Ardweden] Kira's blush might be what makes Kyoko blush. Regardless, she flushes slightly at the compliment. "I, uh. So do you." She looks away for a second, fiddling with her purse strap. "It took a little while to spot you. I don't think I've ever seen you in something that isn't our uniform." --- [Jihatsu] Kira smiles. "Me either." He looks like he's got something to say about that, but he doesn't. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko side glances at Kira, trying to tell if his smile's genuine - or maybe whatever it is he's not saying. --- [Jihatsu] The smile is genuine, hiding a shyness, an awkwardness he doesn't want seen. There's no way, in his mind, for him to say how nice she looks without seeming creepy, or lecherous, or somehow implying that she doesn't usually look nice, so he's not saying anything at all. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko bites her lip, willing herself not to blush more. Okay, so Takuya Kira's really cute, and they're on a date - well a kind of date, a kind-of-date where they talk about Arcana things as a way to get him to not throw his job away like an idiot and ruin one of her only defenses against getting thrown out too when she kicks some other idiot in the balls. He seems to think that she actually does look nice, which is date-y. Date-ish. And they're going to get burgers and then they're going to find somewhere quiet to talk about Arcana stuff, but still, it's a date. Arcana's just a part of life. There's no reason it can't be part of a date. Shit, she's on a date. She kind of forgets to talk. --- [Jihatsu] Kira doesn't say much either, which is fine, since the burger joint is just upstairs. It isn't long before they're in front of the door! "After you," Kira offers, opening the door if she'll let him. --- [Ardweden] "Thanks," Kyoko manages, having found her voice, and she also manages to head in and up! --- [Jihatsu] It's a small and well-lit fast food place, but more like a diner or family restaurant in design: round wooden tables topped with containers for napkins and sugar packets and a short-stemmed pink carnation, framed prints of Americana on the walls, a long low counter with the menu clearly written above it. It smells like fries and clean floors. Kira smiles at the menu from a distance. "Man, I'm starving." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko is examining the menu as well; it's not like she hasn't been to a Freshness Burger before, but- but she's not really sure why the but. Wait, is he paying for her meal? Is it that kind of date? Kind-of-date? Not like it really matters... She probably shouldn't ask though, right? How do people even do this --- [Jihatsu] Kira wanders up to the counter. There's only two people ahead of them, and he makes thoughtful sounds at the menu, expression openly interested. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko keeps up with the slightly mesmerized Kira, still unreasonably self conscious. --- [Jihatsu] "What are you thinking?" He says, glancing from the menu to her. "I'm feeling kind of like trying that chicken thing. Ooh, maybe onion rings." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko catches Kira's eyes and relaxes a little bit. Right, it's just food. "A cheeseburger, I think," she replies. "But onion rings sound really good." --- [Jihatsu] Kira grins! "Wanna split a side of onion rings, then?" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko smiles hesitantly back. "Okay." And then, more strongly, "Yeah." --- [Jihatsu] Kira's expression brightens! "Cool." It is their turn at the counter. Kira puts both his hands on it and leans in languidly, eyeing the menu again as he orders. "So yeah, one fried chicken tomato burger, one cheeseburger, and one side of onion rings." He looks at Kyoko. "Something to drink?" --- [Ardweden] "Uh... melon soda," Kyoko decides. And then she smiles again. "Thanks." --- [Jihatsu] "Sure!" Kira turns back to the cashier, who is paying attention with acute politeness. "And a melon soda and a coke. Thanks." The cashier repeats his order for accuracy, then rings it up when Kira approves! Kira reaches into his pocket and gets out a black leather wallet with vaguely Gothic white ornamentation and illegible text in English, which hangs on a chain. The text looks like it used to be red, but it's faded; the wallet looks like it has a zipper, but it's not zipped now. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko wanders closer, taking a look at the wallet. She tries to make out the English, but well, she never was any good at it. --- [Jihatsu] Kira smiles, a little awkwardly, looking at her look at his wallet. He hands the cashier the total amount in cash, then collects the change! As one does. --- [Ardweden] "It's pretty cool," Kyoko says to Kira's awkwardness. "At least it's not boring." --- [Jihatsu] "Hm? Oh!" He laughs nervously. "Yeah, the wallet. I uh, I like it a lot. But it's really old. I guess I should be looking for a new one, but y'know." He takes the number the cashier hands him, a little 19 on a card on a metal stand, and starts scoping out the joint for a suitable table. "Maybe over there?" He gestures towards a quiet-looking table along the wall. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko nods and heads over there, hanging her purse on a chair before taking a seat, smoothing her skirt. She looks around, again. --- [Jihatsu] Kira's chair makes an ungracious screech when pulled, and he winces, but laughs it off. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko kind of laughs, too. Once Kira sits down, she flattens her hands against the table. "So... yeah. Sorry I'm late." --- [Jihatsu] "Eh," he shrugs easily. "Late happens. I don't have anywhere to be." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko blinks. "Well yeah, because you decided this time was for me. And then I wasted a bunch of it." --- [Jihatsu] Kira smiles. "I dunno. Life's too short to get annoyed about these kinds of things, is what I think. It's not like I've never been late to stuff, you know?" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko rolls her eyes a little at that, but her hand goes to her drink and she relaxes almost imperceptibly. "Yeah, I know. But you still manage to get in just enough on time that I don't wanna write you up." --- [Jihatsu] Kira snerrrrkks, and looks down at his drink. His eyelashes really are pretty dark and surprisingly long. --- [Ardweden] They're kind of fascinating, really. She'd never noticed before. Kyoko finds herself watching him for maybe too long before she looks away herself. She doesn't want to get caught staring. --- [Jihatsu] Fortunately, their order is shortly up! Here comes the food! "Aw, sweet, I'm famished," Kira says with enthusiasm. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko smiles. "Do you wanna talk about stuff now, or...?" --- [Jihatsu] Kira blinks mildly? "Stuff?" He smiles, picking up his burger. --- [Ardweden] She blinks back. "Yeah. The reason you asked me out? Arcana stuff." Kyoko, people can potentially hear you. She doesn't seem to care though, picking through the onion rings for the Obviously Best One. --- [Jihatsu] Kira nibbles his lip, trying - and failing - to hold in a smile. "I mean. That's part of it, sure." He puts down his burger, unchomped. "What do you want to talk about?" --- [Ardweden] It's not often Kyoko's the one who feels like she's the smart one, but that seems to be happening right now. She has... no idea how to handle this. Maybe she's remembering things incorrectly? She has been extra tired lately. That's probably it. "Uh." Kyoko eats her onion ring. It's good, so that's nice. "What did you want to talk about?" --- [Jihatsu] Kira pauses. Oh right. There was a conversation he nominally wanted to have, about Arcana things. Something about talking before going back to work. Right. "Well, I'm back at work anyway, right?" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko nods. "Conditionally." She pulls her burger closer and lifts up the bun, checking what's underneath. --- [Jihatsu] He smirks. "Conditionally on me not using mops for anything but their intended purpose?" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko laughs. "Nah, that's stupid." She eyes Kira, considering. "You can do better than a mop, though." --- [Jihatsu] "Oh yeah?" Kira takes a sip from his drink, eyeing her playfully. "Like what?" --- [Ardweden] "Knives," Kyoko replies without hesitation. "They'd be easy to hide." --- [Jihatsu] Kira barks out a laugh. "What, at work?" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko just looks at Kira before putting the bun back on her burger and taking a bite. --- [Jihatsu] He laughs again. "I'm bringing that up in our next performance evaluation." --- [Ardweden] "Don't you dare!" Kyoko cries, shooting to her feet. Then she realizes that she's in a restaurant with _other people_ and blushes heavily, sinking back in her seat and, uh, hiding behind her burger. --- [Jihatsu] "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kira backs up in his chair, arms going out placatingly, expression torn between worry and humour. "Wow, okay, I was jokin' around, s'all good, I would never do that." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko huffs into her burger. "Okay," she mumbles, still red. --- [Jihatsu] Kira scoots his chair closer again. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think - mm. Yeah. I just didn't think." He huffs out a small sigh. And surreptitiously glances around to see if anyone is staring, which they no longer are once they catch him looking. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko isn't looking, but she does say, "Maybe I should put up a field." --- [Jihatsu] "Go for it," Kira smiles, maybe flirtier than he was intending. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko nods, lowering her burger from her face. She takes a sizable breath. As she lets it out, the lights in the restaurant wink off, and everyone else disappears. It's just Kyoko, Kira, and their food in a dark and silent Freshness Burger. "Oops," Kyoko says, a little sheepishly, as she reaches for her bag. Hopefully at least a little light from the moon or stars comes in through the window. --- [Jihatsu] "Wow," Kira says, a faint reverence in his voice. He closes his eyes, slowly. "Oh wow, it's so quiet." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko blinks. "Yeah?" She finds a few glow sticks in her bag and snaps them. Now they're in the dark with bonus neon light! --- [Jihatsu] "AW SNAP," Kira exclaims with glee. "Glow sticks, hell Yeah!" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko laughs. She doesn't even know why she's laughing! --- [Jihatsu] "Now it's a party," Kira says with a grin. And finally takes a bite of his burger. --- [Ardweden] "Oh no," Kyoko manages, still laughing. "I don't even know what to do at parties." --- [Jihatsu] Kira chews happily. "I mean," he says after wiping his mouth with a napkin, "sure you do. You eat food, have something to drink, find someone fun to talk to." He gives her a sparkling little smile. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko wrinkles her nose. "Last time I tried that, there was this guy I didn't know was gonna be there and wanted to avoid, so I hung out with a different guy, and he was like, 'Why would anyone think I'd make out with you? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard'." She tried her best Kaede impression there, which is not great. But she at least managed a really condescending tone. --- [Jihatsu] Kira makes a face. "Gross, and incredibly wrong." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko kind of laughs again. "Not... really." She picks up her burger again, not really looking at him. --- [Jihatsu] "Well, that is hugely his loss then. He doesn't sound like he remotely deserves to even be your friend." He taps his fingertips on the table. "Still, that really must have sucked. Words can fucking hurt." --- [Ardweden] "I should have expected it," Kyoko sighs. "I'm just... and he's not like... I don't know." --- [Jihatsu] "Oh, I know: you're - you're rad and - and beautiful and strong, and he sounds like a dick who thinks more highly of himself than anyone else." Kira takes a sip of soda, his heart beating a little fast. "He doesn't sound like someone who would have treated you right one way or another, you know?" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko shakes her head. She doesn't really know. But even so, she quietly says, "Thanks. I'm, um." She pokes at the onion rings. "Thanks for thinking that." --- [Jihatsu] Kira glances at her. That's not really how his flirtations usually go, but Kyoko is a woman of many mysteries. "You're welcome," he says, and fishes out an onion ring. "How're the onion rings?" He munches. --- [Ardweden] "I like them," Kyoko says, looking back up at him. --- [Jihatsu] Kira nods, tasting thoughtfully. "Yeah, me too." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko smiles back. She grabs an onion ring for herself. And EATS IT. --- [Jihatsu] YEAH EATING. Kira grabs another too, and also keeps working on his burger! He really was hungry. --- [Ardweden] They devour food for a while, sitting in the dark! Kyoko is down to just her soda before she asks what she was thinking about for a bit: "Haven't you been in fields very much?" --- [Jihatsu] "Hmm?" Kira asks, around a mouthful of food. --- [Ardweden] "You seemed kind of surprised." --- [Jihatsu] "Oh, it was just..." he smiles awkwardly. "Sudden. And cool. And like." He gazes out toward the window. "Tokyo is so noisy, you know? When you take the noise away in the middle of a downtown restaurant.... it's kind of magical." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko smiles, a little. "Yeah." She picks up her soda and looks at it, bubbly and a greenish pink because of the glow sticks. "It helps me concentrate, I think. I'm always more calm in a field - even if I'm in a fight. _Especially_ if I'm in a fight." --- [Jihatsu] Kira chuckles. "I can imagine that. You don't need to explain anything to mundanes, there's no risk of collateral damage..." Kira sips his drink, looking at her. "Get into fights a lot these days?" --- [Ardweden] "No, not really. Although a few days ago, there were a bunch of Arcana that showed up at my other job, and then while I was talking to one of them later _Strength_ showed up, which-" Kyoko makes a face. "And the guy I was with wasn't so wasn't in shape to deal with him, so we had to do some roof hopping to get away." --- [Jihatsu] Kira has a delighted little smirk. "Roof hopping, huh?" --- [Ardweden] "Yeah," Kyoko says, sipping her soda like it's no big deal. Then she notices Kira's smirk and maybe it is? But she can't immediately think of anything to say to that. --- [Jihatsu] He shrugs, looking away with the same smirk on. "That sounds really cool." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko blinks. It does? She feels like maybe that smirk means he's kind of winding up for something, like Kyon does sometimes, but that wouldn't make sense. He's seemed genuine so far. "I've never for fun, but... Do you want to do it sometime?" --- [Jihatsu] Kira beams. "Ohmygod yes? Yes. I'm super game." --- [Ardweden] "Okay," Kyoko laughs. "Next time we both manage, um, time." --- [Jihatsu] "It's a date," Kira says, and briefly touches her hand. Then he noms another onion ring! --- [Ardweden] Kyoko blinks down at their hands. Her hand. His hand is gone already. But it's a date? He said it's a date! "Yeah," she says, with a bright smile. --- [Jihatsu] Kira smiles in return! He has some soda. "So, yeah, you wanted to talk about stuff, right?" --- [Ardweden] "I thought you did." Kyoko pokes at her drink. "You weren't sure about coming back to work and..." --- [Jihatsu] Kira exhales. "Sorata," he says. "And word getting out more generally, I guess. I..." He pushes the straw a bit further into his drink. "I've managed to stay under the radar for a couple years, right? Doesn't feel safe, being seen." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko looks at Kira for a second, then nods. "Yeah. I dunno. I felt like everyone knew I was Arcana as soon as I found out, and there wasn't really anything to be done about it. But nothing that awful has happened for a while, ever since the whole thing with the demons and Shinjo and stuff." --- [Jihatsu] Kira _exhales_. "Yep. Good fucking riddance." --- [Ardweden] She wrinkles her nose. "I don't remember that last fight that well - I mean I was there, I know I fought, but it's..." She waves vaguely. "Were you?" --- [Jihatsu] "The... like, the end of the world one? With the gates? Yeah. I kinda feel like everybody was there. It sure seemed like it." --- [Ardweden] Kyoko smiles. "Cool. I was at Tokyo Tower." She picks up a stray onion ring. "Maybe we ran into each other." --- [Jihatsu] "Oh, no way!" He grins. "Me too. Maybe I did see you!" --- [Ardweden] Kyoko grins back. "Didn't remember me, though." --- [Jihatsu] "Damn shame," he says. "I uh, I don't suppose anybody kissed you during the - no, never mind," he quickly says, taking a bite of burger. --- [Ardweden] "I, uh." Kyoko blushes. "What?" --- [Jihatsu] "It's," he says, and swallows, reaching to take a couple of onion rings while he takes a sip of soda. Yum yum onion rings. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko peers at Kira. --- [Jihatsu] "Want the last onion ring? They should really make bigger portions. Hey, I wonder if there are some back there now if we sneak in." --- [Ardweden] "Did you kiss somebody?" Kyoko asks, still peering at Kira and undeterred. "Did you think it was _me_?" --- [Jihatsu] "I...." Kira drinks some more soda to help the onion rings down. "Hey, you know, it was a party. We'd just saved the world. I .. may have kissed... a lot of people. It's. I don't _think_ any of them were you, but my memory's, uh, fuzzy." He is very distinctly not looking at her. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko keeps peering at him. "Oh." And then she sits back, letting out a breath. She picks up her soda. "Yeah, I guess it was." --- [Jihatsu] He glances at her, looking sort of apologetic. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko shakes her head, then smiles a small, self-deprecating smile. "I didn't stick around." --- [Jihatsu] Kira blushes. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko's blushing, too, though probably for a different reason. She finally drinks that soda she kept poking at, at least. --- [Jihatsu] "I, uh. I wasn't kidding about those onion rings, by the way." He gives a tentative smile. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko tentatively smiles back. "Um. Thanks." She reaches over to take it. --- [Jihatsu] "Oh I meant -" he laughs. "Sorry, the mood got kinda weird, huh? No no, go ahead," he encourages. --- [Ardweden] Kyoko blinks. "Do you want it?" She offers the ring! The onion ring. --- [Jihatsu] "No, I mean, I was thinking about maybe popping into the kitchen and grabbing some more. But. That's uh, yeah, probably not, uh." --- [Ardweden] "Oh." And then Kyoko laughs a little. "Uh, have you ever tried that before?" --- [Jihatsu] "To mixed success," Kira admits. He looks sheepish. "Hey, you're the one who told me to bring _concealed weapons_ in to work." --- [Ardweden] "Because you should!" Kyoko replies. "I would if I wasn't able to pull a spear out of nowhere." --- [Jihatsu] Kira grins. "Fair enough." ---