wipingallout

"I always get the house special here - senpai insisted on it once and I got completely won over," Hamuko assured fondly, giggling as she settled at the table. "I always sat at the bar, so this is a funny change! This whole place is so homey."

An employee shuffled over, eyes on their notes for the ticket. "Orders ready?"

"I'm doing the house special."

Won her over, huh? He raised a brow at that information, smiling still. The restaurant was homely and the timing kept the crowds at bay so it was nice to just sit at ease and stretch his legs a little- well as much as he could without being rude.

"If you want to sit at the bar, I don't mind-" he starts but cuts himself off when the employee shows up. He gives a quick smile with an added "good afternoon!" before digging into the menu card to get a good grasp of what he should order.

Eh, everything is free though so maybe ordering the special isn't a bad idea.

"I will get that one as well. A little healthy skincare bonus wouldn't hurt after all," he chuckled as he closed the menu card. "Oh along with that I will get some soda. You sure you don't want to get one as well?"

"Just water for me!" Hamuko smiled fondly.

"Alright, I'll bring the ramen in just a moment for you and your daughter, sir," the server blandly explained before walking towards the kitchen to fetch the glasses and bowls, stating the order to the ramen cook.

Hamuko just snickered at that. Wow.

Maruki's eyebrows flew behind his glasses as he glanced at the server's statement- immediately straightening up like a ruler with red tinging his cheeks. "...er- thank you..." he only manager to squeeze in before staring at Hamuko and her chuckling.

He shakes his head before rubbing the back of his neck- becoming awkward. "Probably for the best that way," he sighs. "I feel like this place is giving me a sign."

"Heehee..." Hamuko giggled, tickled pink. "Maybe you're destined to be a dad! I bet you'd be an incredible foster father."

He could be a little cagey, but honestly, she could easily see him becoming dedicated to any kids under his wing... she knows she would've probably had a much easier time with him, herself.

"How's Morning, by the way? The more I chat with him, the more... sassy! He gets. I think he really is slowly pipping through that shell."

Being destined to be a father- that brings him back to the little sibling joke Ichinose had said to morning earlier. The idea of being a foster father- really he wasn't opposed to it. He would have loved to adopt a kid back home its just-

"I don't make the best financial decisions...so I am probably going to be stopped right at the reception." He jokes but it falls flat- looking out to see the view from the adjacent window.

He perks up at the mention of morning, listening intently. "You think so too?! I have been seeing a gradual change in him as well and I think having people around is helping him."

"Did he say anything truly sassworthy? Or just...in general?" He knows his question is spoken in a light hearted manner but he was more so referring to something more cognizant or pertaining to Morning’s actual reality. Friends...family...

...

"I see little bits of it, sometimes - he's more joke-y lately in general, yeah, but something in him I think kind of lights up and pokes through when he talks about his Akechi."

She's not sure she should tell him about that time Morning uttered I hate that son of a bitch about his own dad... she's not sure how much this Maruki would internalize it and be upset by it.

"We haven't had a conversation as intense as Valentine's Day, but I definitely feel like he's changed since that day."

"Akechi Goro..." he chuckled lightly. "I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise. Akira-kun had mentioned him about two to three times back in my world- and its also a sign that he's becoming comfortable with you. I am glad you two are friends."

He meant that from the bottom of his heart. Even if he's trying to make out how much of what Morning mentioned is probably being kept under wraps.
And if it isn't relevant to his actualization....

...he has no place to think about. He's not that Maruki, he needs to tell himself that- time and again.

"I see- well, again- really I am the one who owes you big time for this," he folded his hands on his lap. "And I am grateful for that. Morning’s getting along with others as well and that's all I can really hope for."

"I think spending time with friends is gonna be key to him figuring out how to shake off whatever's smothering him. And it's good that you give him some place stable and safe to fall back on when going through the whole painful process... that open door means more than you can know, I think."

It was a big difference in her experience for sure. And with how isolated Morning felt, how much he talked about wishing no one would have to remember or worry about him so they wouldn't be sad...

Hamuko's thoughts are cut off by the server returning with the two bowls of ramen and the glasses for the drinks.

"Ohh! Thank you!"

"Ha, counselling me now, are we?" he grins just to keep the mood alleviated both for her but mostly...himself. He really couldn't go into the full emotional bit just yet- he doesn't want to put off how he's feeling about his situation.

"It is particularly difficult to remember I am the one who should be allowed through the door," he scratches his chin. "Rather than being mistook and turned away in the process."

His attention drifts again to server who shows up with two bowls and sees the carbonated drink being placed before him. He grins brightly- thanking them back.

He looks down at the bowl and welp-

There goes his glasses.

He heaves a deep inhale, taking in the smell. "Ah, the aroma's really triggered my appetite," he looks up and there it is. His glasses are all fogged up. He shakes his head, sighing like this was just another cruel twist of fate he was quite used to.

"Too bad I can't see it now."

That has Hamuko laughing - no one really had glasses in SEES, come to think of it, so she wasn't used to how they fogged up like that. And despite the heaviness of the subject, he found a way to still be silly - Hamuko could relate!

"Heheh! Do you have a wipe for your glasses? But I guess they'll get fogged up anyway... you'll just have to dig in and let the flavor take over!"

Takuto ended up laughing along as well, even with his lens all fogged up and fated to concealing all truth for him for the next 10 minutes.

"Life of a four eyes..." he shook his head- remembering what Akira-kun had said when they had lunch together. "Okay to be fair I am not completely blind without my glasses," he adds as he pulls off his glasses- revealing his doe brown eyes. "I can make out the colours and the general boundaries...even letters but only to an extent."

"That said- I am ready to dig in-!" he picks up his chopsticks and prepares to get the noodles and blows on his own. "I am too old to neglect that my skin needs some of that good old collagen."

"Do you use moisturizer after a shower? That helps a lot, too," Hamuko beamed, pausing to slurp up some noodles. Aaaah, that salty punchy flavor, soooo good...!

"Your skin is an organ, you should take good care of it!"

"I know, I know...I have been looking into aloevera as you suggested," he remarked before directly in- slurping down on the noodles with ease of a professional or that he barely had any breakfast. "Mhm! Delicious!"

For a minute or two he focuses mostly on his food and drinks but keeps up with some small talk.

"I am getting to the swing of things. Cycling, walking long distances...maybe I will even pick up jogging. A friend of mine really enjoyed doing that and I have all the time in the world now so," he set the chopsticks aside to drink more soda- letting the warmth settle in with the drink's sweet tanginess.

"Did you often come here?"

"I sure did! This was a favorite spot for two of my senpai, and my friend Junpei and I would come around from time to time. I was either here, or in Wakatsu for the seafood special, or on the ground floor visiting the old couple that ran the book store," Hamuko reminisced fondly, face flush from good food, cozy steam from the broth, and lovely memories.

"Jogging is SO nice - I like to run with Koromaru in the morning or evening. We usually go to the shrine from the dorms, I'll rest for a bit and he plays with all of his animal friends in that area, then we head on home. Did you ever have a dog, Maruki-san?"

Man, she was a busy soul. "You vaguely remind me of Akira-kun's schedule- I was almost mind boggled when I asked him what he's planning to do through a day and you don't seem any different." He paused for a moment to chow down on the egg. "What impeccable time management skills- I am always impressed by it-!"

Which in conclusion basically meant he couldn't even fathom how sometimes.

Ah, Koramaru was the dog who was also a persona-user, wasn't he? That animal fascinated him so much just as much as he would have love to pet him if he gets the chance. He sounded just as adorable from what Hamuko described, making Takuto smile just so.

"Alas no, I never got the time to take care of one. One of my friends in my hometown did when I was really young but never after that. My research ended up taking most of the time," he rubs the bottom of his nose with an index.

"That said- I do always carry pet food on me. Especially for the stray dogs or cats I find on my way from work."

"Oh my god, me too! Hehehe, there were always strays around a couple of the stations... Theo even asked me once to make sure one of the kittens was fed, and I had already been working on getting her comfortable enough to approach when I had cat food!"

It was funny, sometimes, how much they shared in common. Maybe that's why she saw the best in him, and wanted to try and bring it out.

With an amused hum, she ate one of the eggs in her ramen.

"If you're jogging, there's no better jogging buddy than a dog, I swear. Especially one as smart as Koromaru - he's the best listener I know! And I swear he definitely understands Japanese... then again, Aigis could talk to him and a lot of animals, so animals in general are probably way smarter than we give them credit for."

"You just have to make sure they are comfortable and you aren't scary enough that they will scratch you if you push them too much," he shook his head fondly as he gazed down and caught hints of some scars left by a kitty for almost...ages ago. It's still pretty noticeable through his dress shirt that he had rolled up to his elbows paired with the usual pair of trousers.

"What if I told you that a quite a lot of animals, especially dogs are known to mirror how you feel?" he points out, literally with a pair of chopsticks aimed her way. "If you are excited, they become happy and if there's a negative emotion involved, they whine. Kind of like a 2 year old child."

"That said...I have seen and heard of the general group of phantom thieves but your group looks so much diverse. I don't want to pry at Aigis's situation just yet but I have to ask- what exactly prompted Koromaru to awaken? I only have distinct theories about awakenings so far so it makes me curious."

Edited 2025-05-28 00:37 (UTC)

"Koromaru used to live at the shrine I'll be taking you to... he used to belong to a priest, there. He kept guarding the shrine even after the priest had died in an accident, and the neighborhood regularly took care of him - one night, he ended up fighting during the Dark Hour and defending the shrine from shadows. We think that's how he Awakened - Akihiko-senpai was there to catch the tail end of it and fend off the shadows before Koromaru was overwhelmed."

She pauses to pick up her bowl, tipping it to sip at the warm, cozy broth.

"I'm not surprised about the mirroring thing... I bet a lot of social animals work really similarly, just like us humans. And dogs have evolved and changed to understand us so well, too - if there was ever going to be an animal awakening, I would've guessed a dog, too. They're the closest to us, with cats coming in a close second."

A dog standing by a priest's side and then guarding the shrine when the time comes. It sounded like something out of a story but perhaps he really shouldn't underestimate how loyal dogs can be. There was the dog in Akira's neighbourhood he remembered petting and his owner had in a grievance admitted that their dog had fallen ill. His gaze drifts, a solemn look passing over his eyes as he tried to recall how does he remember all of that. He simply does. He remembers another passed away pet that a young employee in Kichijoji grieved for. Or even one of his neighbours...

He slurps down on more noodles, mind slightly distracted as he looks at Hamuko to focus on her.

"...by that logic wouldn't a dolphin be able to awaken to a persona as well? They connect really well with humans after all or those who walk on land simply have more of an advantage," he jokes as he goes for his glass of soda.

Wasn't Akira's cat a persona user? His expression lowered again as he remembered the little gap where...didn't he wish to be human? Morgana- he knew what his wish was.
That certainly isn't something an animal would wish for.

Where is his mind going to?

He keeps his confusion concealed to the best of his ability by regarding Hamuko again. "Do you get along with the Koromaru here?"

"I do! Maybe because he comes from a world where another 'me' was his leader, so the scent is probably the same. We go on walks all the time," Hamuko laughed fondly, resting her cheek on her palm.

"You know, maybe dolphins and orcas do have Personas... maybe they're having deep-sea world-saving adventures that none of us have any idea about!"

"Hmmmm, you might not be too far off with that theory. Only 20% of the ocean has been explored so far and seeing the extent to which a cognitive location can exist- maybe the reason why we can't explore beyond could be more...supernatural rather than the scientific answer that you are being crushed by of the pressure." He grinned teasingly, entertaining her thought.

"It sounds more fun anyway. I haven't looked that deeply into animal cognition- mostly because a lot of animals fail to pass the mirror self-recognition test, which basically pinpoints recognizing your own identity-"

"You think Igor would let us deep dive into the Pacific? That is- if we end up avoiding me not becoming a sea snack."

"Do you think Igor has a secret contract with some humpback whales? Do they know the tarot and use fusion to unlock new Personas, too? Is there a dolphin Wild Card?"

MAN... it was getting funnier and more fantastical to think about by the minute.

"But maybe he wouldn't tell us because he's respecting utmost secrecy for his dear aquatic guests...!"

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tw: mentions of animal death in head

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