25/New Friends made over Hellfire Coffee.

New Friends made over Hellfire Coffee.
Date of Scene:	27 May 2015
Location:	Uminari City - Midori-Ya Cafe
Synopsis:	Hannah and Rurako manage to talk Junpei and Yuko into trying a new drink...
Cast of Characters:	Yuko Minami, Hannah Sharpe, Junpei Matsuo, Rurako Doji

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Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Midori-Ya was a nice cafe. Sure there were the accusations of hipster and such. However Junpei liked the atmosphere and found the people pleasant enough that he had asked, and gotten permission, to hang a few fliers up advertising the eight band jam next week. He was dressed reasonably respectfully as he did this; no hair dye, black cargo pants, black T-shirt, long coat. He hummed softly after tacking up a poster depicting something suspiciously similar to but not quite Godzilla stomping around Seattle titled 'Do Kaiju Dream Radioactive Sheep? Find out June 1st she eight bands fight it out to see who is the best of the best!'

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah, after her rather exhausting accounting class and checking up on that Grief Seed in Tomoe Labs, walks into the Midori-ya slower than usual. She looks absolutely wiped! Sometimes, being the intern at an evil corporation can just take it out of you.

She doesn't notice the whistling young man just yet, and instead is pulled about by Boris. Hop! There's a husky head peer at the person on duty to handle orders today. Woof!

The person laughs. "Hello Boris! Yes, yes, one bacon scone for you! What can I get you today, Hannah-chan?"

Hannah baps her canine companion, who gets off with a whine. "A coffee, milk, sugar, and seven teaspoons of cayenne."

The odd order is taken in stride. It's /Hannah/ after all.

"I will get you a glass of water too." She pays up, and then the pair are over to a table with their drink and scone. Boris noms it rather polite off of a paper plate. Good mannered doggie! Despite the heat, Hannah devours the coffee without any problem. A third of it in two gulps. Not even sweating yet.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Junpei knew that dog. After making sure the last poster was arranged just so and that it was clear that the event was free to the public he walked over to the counter.

"Sir?" The lady at the counter knew Junpei less well than Hannah but still was quite polite.

"Black sweet tea and a couple scones, thank you." As he waited Junpei looked around the small place, quite enjoying the atmosphere and just how homey it felt as opposed to Starbucks.

"Here you go sir." Junpei paid the lady and walked to where Hannah was sitting, "Boris-San, Sharpe-San." He looked from dog to Evil Lab Intern/Student/Kickboxer, "May I sit here?" Politeness to one side, he had noticed Hannah was a fairly popular girl, what if she were waiting on friends?

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah picks up a voice! And turns to it, mid-sip! Familiar! But /where/? Thankfully, Boris mentally pokes the woman. "Ah! Is that Matsuo-san?" Comes Hannah warmly.

Then she kicks out the chair in front of her.

"Please, sit. Coming in to soak the post-schoolday atmosphere?" She asks with a grin. Boris, for his part, is at Junpei's sides. Big blue eyes bore into the soul. His tail wags, the dog looking expectant.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Junpei Matsuo took the freshly kicked out chair and set his scones down, "You seem tired, everything alright?" He knew not of the evil seed of grief or Eclipse. He simply figured fitness nut was going all out to whip kickboxing team into shape post having to take refuge in another school's gym. "Also is it alright if I pet Boris?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Really, Junpei has partially hit the mark. In between punching Witches, class, internship, exercise, and hatching evil Eclipse plots, she has been not only preparing for inter-school championships, but worse, doing the club's financial reports. To say that a club full of ruffians has a poor inventory management and expense reporting mechanism is an understatement. And she can't exactly put 'questionably acquired flammable intoxicants' on the expense report.

She's definitely slumping in her seat as she sips more of that hot drink. She's also starting to sweat, and looks /happy/ about it.

"Life, my dear Matsuo-san, is a swift flame that flickers in the wind. In my case it seems a tornado. Internship, exercise, family, the inter-school championships, school..." She lists. Hannah Sharpe is a busy woman.

"Is it too early in life to be pining for vacations?"

At the question, Boris is trying to clambor into Junpei's lap. The sound has Hannah giggling.

"I think you do not have a choice in that matter, Matsuo-san! By all means. He is my friend, and it makes him happy. You are just a little snuggle bug, are you not, Boris?" Can dogs look embarrassed? Because somehow Boris is looking embarrassed.

Yuko Minami has posed:
After that last fight in the academy, Yuko's looking a little winded! Sure, it's been about a day or so, but... Okay, so maybe she's just tired from principle. Going to school and working almost every day after that is hard!

Spotting several familiar faces, she passes by the scone seller without buying a thing (gotta save up for that box set!) and greets the three with a lazy wave. "Hello, Sharpe-san. Matsuo-san. Boris. Is it the weekend yet?" She covers her mouth as she yawns, pulling over a nearby chair and practically dropping into it. She's not dressed in her work vest for once, instead wearing a more casual shirt and skirt combo.

"It needs to be Friday faster. Then we can just sleep in and... Not do so much work."

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Junpei Matsuo chuckled softly as he started scratching both of Boris's ears, "I don't suppose there's nothing I can do to help." Though he gave a rueful smile at Boris as he stage whispered, "Not like a band of wannabe rockers hemmoraging money for shirts, thumbdrives, a web designer, server space, our rythm guitarist a new insturment, and..." Theatrical sigh, "Sucha bastion of financial wisdom are we." Truth be told he practically needed to win this contest, or at the least place in several of the sub-catagories.

Then he heard Yuko lament about it not being Friday, "Wait," He sounded mildly surprised and more than a bit put out, "You get off on Friday?" There was an involentary twitch, "I've got to go through Saterday and cram so i can take a half day Monday so I can participate in the band tournament." Seems there was enough busy for everyone.

He looked from Boris to Hannah then, "Mind if she joins us?"

Rurako Doji has posed:
The door to the coffee house opens and a shockingly clean and well kept Rurako walks in, even if it's common knowledge that she is at the Kendo Club after school, which means it must have just let out, and she must be able to take a quick shower. Moving to the counter, she makes an order for Black Coffee, before moving to an empty table and taking a seat with her legs crossed, opening her iPad, looking over her work assignments and rythmicly tapping the stylus against the table.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah smiles at the familiar voice, confirmed by her favorite fuzzy friend.

"Ah, Minami-san! Beat as well? You sound it. Would you like something?" She asks politely of the other girl, smiling a bit. Then more sipping of Absurdly Hot Spicey Coffee. Hannah's face is red from it now, visibly sweating.

And yet she continues on undaunted. "Order me another Mika-san! And /eight/ teaspoons! I want my tastebuds to know the fires of hell!"

Hannah smirks. "Sleep is for the weak! As are weekends. Maybe you would like to come help me file financial reports with Infinity. I only have eight more pages to calculate~." There's this cat-like grin to her face that outdoes the Cheshire Cat. A sweating red-faced Cheshire Cat.

Ruff! Boris has firmly placed his head in Junpei's lap to receive hallowed pets, looking utterly blissful.

Hannah rubs her head. "I /am/ training to be an accountant you know? If your band is truly in dire straits, send me a list of your assets, funds, and expenses, and maybe I can work a minor miracle or two." She comes more seriously.

Hannah shows Junpei some sympathy here.

"The extra day off is nice, but, the work is brutal. Saturday may as well be a black hole of memory, given all of the sleeping done that very day."

Boris is too busy to alert her to Rurako, and so Hannah hasn't noticed yet. Too busy torturing herself with more spicey coffee. One can almost /feel/ the spice coming from those two cups at her side.

Yuko Minami has posed:
Yuko blinks, actually looking somewhat surprised by Junpei's reaction. "Do you... Not? We get Saturdays and Sundays off to do all our homework and stuff." She gives him a sympathetic smile, crossing a leg over the other while slumping over the back of her chair. "Only having Sundays sounds awful."

It really does. Then again, with as energetic he and everyone else looks, it could just be a balancing factor. Turning to Hannah, she giggles lightly and shakes her head. "No drinks today. If I drink anything now, I'll have trouble falling asleep later."

Then again, she could always stay up late to watch anime or something. Not that anyone could really stop her in her own dorm room. She watches Hannah's spicy coffee binge with mild worry, sparing Rurako a brief glance before turning back to the former. "Are you okay drinking that? Uh... Have you tried whatever that is. Matsuo-san?" She leans around a few times to peer at the drink, trying to get a better idea of what it is by appearance alone.

"I'll.. Pass on the accounting thing. Too much effort. And... Guh. Homework's going to be fun this weekend." So much sarcasm in one little sentence! She looks about as excited about that as she sounds. "Anything fun planned for the weekend, at least?"

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Junpei Matsuo dares take one hand off of Boris to take a sip of his tea. "Your generosity is appreciated, but my father is quite insistant I learn the back end of how things work if he is going to continue supporting this.... Hobby." The dismissive tone of that last word held the potential for wholevolumes about Junpei's family life complimented by his slumped over body language and rolled eye. More steaming hot tea is drunk a he watches Hannah order what he would consider something a half step shy of drinking pepperspray straight from the nozzle. "I.... you're enjoying your coffee Sharpe-san?" His voice held clear disbelief to it given he could smell the spice rolling off of Hannah's drink from where he was sitting.

He looked over to see if anyone else was having similar problems with Hannah's firebomb concoctions and spotted Rurako and gave a nod of recognition. He hoped she wasn't going to be put off by Hannah's choice of self immolation methods.

Rurako Doji has posed:
Rurako Doji looks up to finaly notice hannah, granted, with all the comotion of the spicey coffee, well, if you could call THAT spicey. "I find that the best blend of spice is a ghost pepper sauce pickled Jalapenio with a wasabi dip." Yeah, no punches pulled on that concoction, but what do you expect when you're raised on south american, AND japanese food that has enough spice to put an indian chef to shame.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah laughs at the pair. "This is merely a warm up! Just you wait until I get some proper curry!" Comes Hannah to the duo. She raises one to Junpei. "Would you like to try some?" Grin. Griiiiiin!

Slowly, she turns as Rurako's voice hits her ears. Boris finally lets off of Junpei's lap, trotting over to wuff in her direction! Wet doggy nose to the leg! Woof!

"Ah, is that Rurako-san? Good evening!" Then her kind voice dips upwards.

"...Is that a challenge, Rurako-san?" Peeeeer! With a little help from Boris, she's peering in Rurako's general direction.

Pause. "D...do you have a good recipe for that?" Which quickly turns to giddiness at a potential new spicey food.

"Ah, yes, introductions! Everyone, Rurako Doji-san, captain of Seishou's kendo team! Rurako-san, meet Junpei Matsuo-san and Yuko Minami-san!"

She makes a sound to the others for confirmation, then pushes out a chair.

"Care to join us?" Never let it be said that Hannah Sharpe shies away from gaining and making social connections.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
"W-whaaaa?" Junpei was somewhere between surprised and horrified at this new person being even more extreme in their tastes. "I apologize but I must ask," deep breath from the confused and more than a little concerned rocker, "how have you not scorched your taste buds out?" He swallowed, looking from Hannah to cup of hellfire-lite then back before shaking his head, "No chance." All attempt at politeness dropped. "Not a chance of getting me to drink that." He will willily, and possibly gleefully risk destroying his hearing, yet this? Not a chance in the frozen pits of viking hell of him making the attempt.

Yuko Minami has posed:
Ordering an iced mocha for herself, Yuko has to be considering her life choices when she orders an espresso cup mimicking the unholy firestorm that is Hannah's drink. She can't help but giggle lightly at how excited Hannah's getting with that and the prospect of an even hotter drink from Rurako, offering the latter a lazy wave in greeting.

"Good to meet you, Rurako-san. You two know each other, then?" Grabbing both of her drinks and bringing them over to the table with Junpei and Hannah, she takes a deep breath while looking at the tiny cup of death.

"It'll probably be fine, right? Don't worry, I'll be... Uh." She can't even finish that sentence while staring at that drink. Between Hannah sweating so much and turning that red, Yuko's looking a little less than confident about trying to even take asip.

"... This is safe, right?"

Rurako Doji has posed:
Rurako Doji blinks a few times and Give Boris-kun his pats on the head. She finishes her coffee and puts away her Ipad before moving over ot the table with the other three. "Konichiwa, it's a pleasure to make your aquaintances." She says as she takes a seat, and gives a smirk to Hannah. "Sharpe-san, if it's spicey food you like, i could get some of my Abuella's cooking recipes." She says with a soft smirk before looking at Junpei. "My mother's family is from brazil, spicey is what we do." Well, that and beaches. She orders herself a cup of that spiced coffee, as spicey as Hannah's. "You have to build up a sort of resistance, otherwise, it might tear up your stomuc." She states, the whole time still in a deadpan tone. Once her own spiced coffee arrrives... "Itadakimasu."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah visibly wilts at Junpei's reluctance. "Have you no sense of adventure, Matsuo-san? Come, broad your horizons! Your esophogus is a small price to pay for such an eye opening experience!" Eggs on the woman with a smile.

To Yuko, she triple nods! "It will be perfectly fine. Do not worry, it has not killed me yet!" Surely it's safe for the uninitiated!

"Why, yes! We met the other day at P.E. With our gym still trashed, myself and a few other students had to use Seishou's gym. She proved an interesting companion, and quite the trick at running the track!" Grin.

"Oh, please do! I can get Mother to make me a copy. Brazil, hmm? Ah...no need to answer if this is too personal, but do you miss home?" Comes Hannah, voice softer than usual.

Her coffee is raised enthusiastically! "Itadakimasu!" Then she tilts it back and chugs it like a champ.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Junpei Matsuo gave Rurako a nod as he took another drink of his tea, "Apologies Rurako-San. I mean no disrespect, it is just... just..." He dry swallowed as he sought proper words to describe the terror going through his mind. "Hello, I am Matsuo Junpei of Seiyou, pleased to make your aquaintance." He offered Rurako a small bow from his seat before glancing backat Hannah, "Regretfully I need use of my voice in the next few days. While I do not normally do lead I do the occasional backup vocal and.... being able to breath would be helpful." Then he continued, teasingly, "As Rurako-san said, one must build a tolerance. I drink that my head is liable to catch fire... and while that would make a neat on stage trick now.... juuuust doens't seem like the venu." Says the guy drinking tea stout enough that it's threatening to use a straw to pole-vault out of the glass to murder the nearest person. Not like they needed to know anyway,

Then in a lightly more serious tone he looked in Hannah's direction, "You are one I had hoped to see Sharpe-San. I had wanted to hang posters around Infinity's campus andr was concerned such would be considered overly rude given I am not a student there."

Yuko Minami has posed:
Yuko raises an eyebrow at the unfamiliar words, staring at Rurako for a few moments before stroking her chin lightly. If she had any inklings that the girl wasn't fully of Japanese blood, the statement about Brazil definitely confirms that. "I like spicy sometimes. Not if it's hot just to be hot, you know?"

Eyeing that drink again, she takes another long breath to psyche herself up before finally taking a sip! She swishes it in her mouth for a bit, her face slowly turning red from the heat. "This... Nn. Th-this isn't that bad, actua..."

Okay, so maybe it's a liiiittle too hot. It's definitely waking her up, if the tears forming are any indication. For some unexplainable reason, Yuko's also holding it all in instead of just freeing herself from the pain with that iced mocha, even going further to sip a little more of the spicy hot death concoction. Is it a challenge to Junpei, perhaps? She's giving him an oddly strained look, although it's not clear if she's grinning or biting her lip to hold in pained noises.

Rurako Doji has posed:
Rurako Doji drinks hers and sets the empty cup down, the only expression that it might have been spicey is a gentle exhale from her lips. "My home is Japan Sharpe-san, I was born and raised here, though, I do visit Brazil on holiday for two weeks during the summer." She says with a smirk as she turns and looks at Junpei. "I don't bite Matsuo-san, that is uncivilized." She states, keeping with perfect manners fitting someone of her academic and leadership stature. Looking to Yuko, she blinks a few times. "I would drink somthing to soothe the spice, if you fight it to much, you might make yourself sick." She says, and a bit of a muse pops into her head, so she takes out a drawing pad, as well as a pencil, one with the heavier lead in it so that the drawing raises above the paper abit, and thus, she is lost in her drawing for the moment.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Junpei Matsuo met Yuko's challenge by sliding his half full almost american sized tea glass over to her. This tea was black, not 'if you shine light through it it'll look brown.' Black, and there was an ominous smell about it. Wait he ordered black tea right? Stuff's served everywhere. So what was off about this cup? Oh right the stuff didn't move right, somehow thicker than tea had right to be. What was going on here?

He twitched involentarily as he caved in to peer pressure and ordered Hannah's spiced murder deth coffee. And a glass of milk, because milk scrubs capsasin right?

Death-Coffee in hand he sat back down and took a breath, cursed his inability to stand up to three women pressuring him into this creative form fo torture, and drank. Not a sip. Not a taste. He upended the entire cup in one go. Maybe he thought it would be better if he got it over with all at once? Empty cup sat down and he sat there, waiting. Sweating. Face growing red and his eyes watering even as he put the milk in the exact halfway point between himself and Yuko.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah 'ooooh's' at Rurako's explaination, leaning on the table after she puts down her empty cup. She's still sweating, and looking now slightly jittery. Someone probably isn't going to sleep much tonight.

"Oh, my apologies! I tend to assume. Bad habit." A wave of her hand.

"A child of twin nations, love brought together from across the seas to lovely Japan! Your parents must be /so/ romantic!" A good natured smirk here as she teases.

But Rurako gives sound advice, and she sobers somewhat, after looking jubilant at both Junpei's and Yuko's attempt at it. Both fists go into the air.

"I believe in you both! Mind over matter! Strength of will versus your weak flesh! Let not this shell rebel against your strong, focused, powerful mental faculties! Overcome all before you! Even this trial is but the first amongst many!" /Definitely too much caffeine in this woman.

"Yes, please, do not become sick." She finally adds. No mention of the drawing for obvious reasons. Boris has managed to drape himself half into Hannah's lap, and half on the floor. Full, sleepy old dogs are sleepy. One hand sneaks under, and is ear-scritching him to sleep full of woofs and happy dreams.

Yuko Minami has posed:
That's the only sign she needs. After Rurako mentions getting sick from the spiciness, Yuko wastes little time in sipping the iced mocha to cool down her everything. She lets out a satisfied sigh at her throat not being on fire any more, shivering for a few moments at the sudden temperature shift. Neither Junpei nor Hannah seem to be doing much better, at least, and she eyes the milk with a mischievous grin.

Should she, or shouldn't-she's already doing it. Even after cooling herself down, she starts nudging the milk away from Junpei slowly just to see how he'll react as the drink kicks in. "That's some really strong stuff... Don't think I'll be trying that again."

She doesn't hold onto the milk forever, at least, eventually sliding it back to Junpei and taking more sips of her own drink. "Are there really so all those forests in Brazil? I heard it gets really hot over there."

Rurako Doji has posed:
Rurako Doji finishes her drawing and places it on the table. She nods at the drawing and then moves to take Hannah's hand. "Please Sharpe-san, allow me to show you somthing." She asks with a very polite tone. The drawing is actualy of Rurako as a feudal Samurai-ko, and Hana is a Feudal princess, with very Anime style cestus covering her hands. "Here.." She says, the lead she used is raised, so hana can actualy feel, or 'see' the drawing.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Junpei Matsuo sat there, sweating, watching Yuko tease with the milk glass for a moment before sliding it back his way. As his eyes watered he didn't trust himself to speak even as he made a grab for cold milk and practically inhaled it. "Hooooooboythatwasstupid." He managed after a moment, glowering at all three women. "I'm not even kidding, if I did actual singing monday I'd have told all three of you to stuff it." Then even as he smiled he took his black as pitch tea back, "But yeeeaaaa spice isn't really my thing."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah looks tickled at Yuko's reaction. There is a shining smile of triumph upon her face.

"Yuko Minami-san." A dramatic pause, and she fumbles about for the woman's hands.

"You pass. Well done. May this be your first step along the road of spice!" A shake, and then she lets go.

Then her own hand is taken. She feels along that raised drawing, caffeine-laced brain working overtime. Hannah Sharpe sees that beautiful drawing, and takes quite a few moments to process it. Her hand trembles. Throat gulps, and her cheeks manage to grow a shade more red.

And then the woman lets out a nervous breath. For all that she can be energetic, Hannah is a student of manners from so many countries.

"Wh...Rurako-san. That is an absolutely beautiful drawing. It humbles me that you would put myself in such a central figure." Her voice is quiet, and a few implications are hardly lost on her. She only goes a shade more red, and she hasn't touched her coffee again.

Then she's standing, and it's all too much, her heart racing even more. There's a legimately nervous look to her.

Junpei proves a welcome distraction as he follows Yuko's lead.

"Eh. Hah! Well, I shall have to torture with such more when a championship is not on the line!"

Then, just as sudden, Hannah is backing off towards the door. Being blind and fleeing is a bad combination, the woman tripping up and generally scrambling. Then she reaches the doorframe.

She is being a coward. It hits her, and she slumps, both hands squeezing hard enough on the cafe's doorframe to cause it to audibly crunch. She will owe a certain fellow Device user for this. But she slumps, still hanging on, and breathes heavily.

Relationships are utterly frightening. Even a fight to the death would be easier. She straightens, with visible effort, then turns around. Her hands are behind her back.

"...Rurako-san. I want to learn more about you, alright? And show you more about myself." She suddenly smiles brightely.

"...I want you all to know me. What I dream of. Everything. But that is a hard thing, for a young, ambitious woman! I...my apologies. Draw more, Rurako-san, alright? I want to see what your mind is capable of. Until then!" She offers a deep, if stiff, bow to all involved.

"Good day!" She spits out, and it's all too much, and she runs off out the door.

"MY CLUB NEEDS ME!" She yells back to the three.

Boris has his muzzle in his paws at this point. With a long-suffering woof, he trots out after her.

Rurako Doji has posed:
Rurako Doji blinks at the retreating Hannah and tilts her head, she does take in the full range of emotions, and processes the implications, to come off with a neutral expression, though, a twinkle hidden under her glasses as she stands as well. 'I must make my leave also, I have chess club early in the morning." She says and gives a formal bow to those still present, before walking off, she also, eather because she is curious, or just plain evil, sends Hannah a Text. 'Saturday night, allow me to cook you a spicey dinner.'

Yuko Minami has posed:
Giggling lightly at Junpei's reaction to hotness of the drink, Yuko takes a moment to peer at his drink before grimacing slightly. "Think I'd rather drink the hot stuff than... That. Besides, it wasn't that bad." She giggles again and wipes her mouth off. "Easier to handle spicy than bitter, at least... I don't know how you're drinking that stuff, Matsuo-san."

She blinks in confusion at first as Hannah takes her hands, eventually laughing as she returns to grip firmly. "I'll have to keep learning from you and Rurako-san, then." Turning her attention to the picture next, the green-haired girl lets out an impressed noise as she looks it over curiously.

"Did you draw this just now? That's really impressive, Rurako-san. It'd take me days to get anything half as good, if even." She looks from the drawing to Rurako, then to Hannah with a curious look in her eyes. it takes her a while, but she does let out a low "aah" as Yuko looks between them again, a slight grin crossing her face.

Not that she'll say anything about it, though. No, that's best left to linger in her head for now. She does glance towards Junpei briefly just to see if he's caught it as well, eventually standing with her drink and stretching a bit. "Yeah, I should get going, too. Take care, everyone!"

Time to start plotting.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Junpei Matsuo quirked an eyebrow at Hannah's commentary on arts and... just didn't bother commenting on this inconsistency. Maybe she could feel the raised bits? Sensetive fingers and all. At her outburst he just stared, "Sharpe-san..." He sounded exasperated and a bit worried. "Take care of yourself."

He then turned attention to Yuko before taking a long drink of his tea, "This is nothing compared to what I wake up with." Tea strong enough it will probably murder people who drink it. "I am glad to meet you Rurako-san," He offered a bow evens he pulled a business card stamped wit ha winged guitar, website, and email address out of his pants pocket to offer up. "Bassist, Taiko player, and general busiebody."