Cat Fight at Aiya Diner.

————————————————————————————————————————–

Chinese Diner Aiya

  Some say that this is the only good eatin’ left in Inaba. It’s
this sort of  recognition that allows the otherwise humble
establishment to maintain a     comfortable cashflow against
nearby competitor Souzai Daigaku and the food   court of Junes.

  The diner itself is quite small, but able to seat thirty
people or so       during the busiest weeks, if uncomfortably,
which includes both seats up at  the bar and individual
four-seat tables. The color red is featured prominently through
its decorations in an attempt to invoke an ethnic flair, despite
the head chef and owner actually being a native of Inaba. This
seems  to have no effect on the quality of the food, as it is
favored quite readily  by the local population when they want to
eat out, and not simply because    it’s basically the last place
in town to do so. Either way, 800 yen is all   one needs for a
good hot, fresh bowl On rainy days, the owner offers a challenge: if a person can
consume a      quintuple-sized meat bowl in a single sitting,
their meal is free.  Otherwise, it is 3000 yen. It is
the Rainy Day Challenge, and nobody has     ever succeeded. Not
even all-star speed eater Mamoru Hayase, or the Gourmet  King
Nozomi Suemitsu himself! This doesn’t stop many others from
trying…   and failing miserably.

————————————————————————————————————————–

 <Pose Tracker> Yu Narukami [KDA] has posed.

                It’s a warm, sunny, afternoon in the Commercial District of Inaba… the kind of day where children get outside and play and adults busy themselves with their daily chores. As such, the streets of the Commercial District are alive with people. As alive as the sleepy town of Inaba can muster anyway…

         Outside of the Chinese Diner Aiya, stand a group of local teens chattering with the door to the establishment swung wide and being held in place by one of the taller males. The strong aroma of Aiya’s famous Beef Bowl is wafting out the door quite strongly today…

         …And standing over the hot stove, cooking up the local delicacy for the customers is a tall, thin, adult male with silver hair and matching eyes wearing a Kiss the Cook apron. Only, it’s written in chinese. he’s staring intently into the searing fires of the stove… with a laser-like focus on his duties despite the racous background noise of people chattering.

<Pose Tracker> Yoh Yamagatani [SEES] has posed.

Well then, seeing as Yoh was recovering from an optional boss in the TV world a couple days ago, putting him on the patrol bench, and feeling like he has not done something nice for a certain HORRIBLE GIRLFRIEND, Yoh decided to call his girl, Kaede, to go somewhere nice! The Aiya Diner is never a bad choice. Maybe he will go down the commercial district and shop or something later.

Having called Kaede, and being chewed out about multiple things suddenly for no reason, Yoh made it a point to meet her outside. There the boy stood, 6 foot, sporting a rather pleasant demeanor as he always did. While tall and STRONG looking, he still seemed quite approachable to anyone. Well, he is known for making the most friends ever!

So now the waiting game ensues. The Chariot is wearing his usual descript outfit, with a bandage or two on his person. His hair is almost back to the glory of yore, you know, before it got burnt off by a Ragnarok to the head a little over a month and a half ago. “Hm, where is she….” he says quietly to himself, watching the doors open to the Diner.

<Pose Tracker> Emi Dennou [NWO] has posed.
Emi Dennou typically goes to Aiya to work–she is a part timer there–and today is no different. But she has come a little early so she could get a meal here too and then get to work without running into her shift. She gets discounts, if she eats there, because she works there–it’s not really much of a discount, of course, but money isn’t just about being economical but also about being efficient for your buck.

She spots Yoh hanging out by the Diner and approaches him. This is a pretty bad place to stage a kidnapping and she hadn’t brought her rifle along, but she waves in his direction as she sees him. She is, presently, oblivious to Yoh’s relationship with the girl who tripped her into a fountain, but she hasn’t forgotten the girl who tripped her into a foutain.

“You have come to Aiya, Dennou states.” She glances towards the alreay open door, she’s not quite IN yet, but she’ll be surprised to see that Yu is doing a shift–perhaps she got her days wrong! OH NO!

<Pose Tracker> Kaede Fujioka [S] has posed.

         Well. There was a bit of wait for poor Yamagatani. While they had tentatively made plans at a very specific time (much with the yelling and accusations of who Yoh may in fact be sleeping with), Miss Kaede Fujioka had not shown up. Nope.

         Except then she does show up. Wearing a blue dress. With her hair done up. And wearing makeup. And holding her purse before her, as a kind stranger opened the door. She nodded a little, looking so curteous as she steps in. In a countryside nowhere like Inaba, who dressed like that to a beef bowl place?

         She walks right up to her quite easilly located date, giving a little curtsey. “I’m so sorry I was late, darling. I had overslept after being so busy late last night back home. Find it in your heart to forgive me?” she asks, eye up and almost sparkling with tears. Though her hair was worn in curly ringlets, half still tended to fall over the left side of her face. She has yet to notice Third Person Dennou that she had accidentally brain damaged before, or that peculiar greying-haired boy.
<Pose Tracker> Yu Narukami [KDA] has posed.
Yu, meanwhile, is still working with a potent focus on that beef bowl when another order comes in from the far back. The restaurant owner screams over the noisy background chatter, “AIYA!! Two fried rice and shrimp combos! Kuai Yiadian!” in his typical japanese-chinese mish mash manner of speaking. To this, the silver-haired young cook offers a simple nod… to the stove… and begins to empty the contents of a pressure cooker into a china bowl.

         Turning around, a monumental Beef Bowl in hand, Yu lays it gently upon the wooden counter top before a customer and bows slightly. “Please.” … He then promptly turns back toward the kitchen, and begins to walk briskly across the old wood floor through a doorway and into the rear room to fetch more ingredients for cooking.

         Returning several moments later with a tray containing thawed shrimp, rice, vegetables, and other materials – he walks right past the three who have gathered at the diner for a date… offering them perhaps no more than a curious sidelong glance. A glance that is, rather quickly diverted to the stove again upon approach. He then lifts the cooking oil container from the left hand side of the stove and begins to pour a bit into another empty pot. He then winces just slightly and blinks several times as the steam from the oven begins to dry his eyes out.. “Mm…”

<Pose Tracker> Yoh Yamagatani [SEES] has posed.

Yoh, while waiting for his date, moseys on inside, but not before spotting Emi!

It was that girl fro mthe Dark Hour, the one who almost shot him. And is plotting to kidnap him, but he does not know this! “Hi!” Yoh states kindly as he waits. “I remember you from the other night, but… I do not recall your–” Wait yes, narration saves the day! “Dennou-san, never mind! So, how are you? I am here meeting my girl to have an ice meal!” A pause. “What brings you here? I love the food at Aiya. Massive portions.”

Then kaede strolls up and is heavily dolled up! Was this the actual Kaede? He will have to check the eyes later. Yoh looks over to the girl and smiles warmly. “Of course.” Now, he has to remember what Masumi said. She starts acting like her shadow self, just deny her being recognized. “So, where would you like to sit?”

As Yu walks by, Yoh watches him with interest! Hey, isnt that the guy Thora talks about? The guy with grayish hair? He met him once, but was so long ago. Almost a year now. Hum! He will have to ask him his name. “Wonder what specials they have today?”

<Pose Tracker> Kaede Fujioka [S] has posed.

         Kaede beams all the more pleasant as she leans closer against Yoh, moving to wrap about his arm. This is an entirely new thing for all parties involved, yet she seems to be going all in with the loouuuvvve.

         “Dennou-san, what a wonderful coincidence meeting up with you here!” Kaede says, laying her head against the somewhat burned boy’s shoulder. “I hope you have recovered well after that /dreadful/ fountain incident. Your head is better?” she asks. Then she frowns a touch more. “Oh my, we still are working on it aren’t we?” she asks after hearing the third person. Such is the way of brain damage.

         “Excuse me!” she politely smiles to Yu. “What is your daily special, if we may ask?” she inquires with a positively radiant manner. “and… do they come in EXTRA-large portions? I do believe my love’s hearty appetite needs hearty sustinance. He needs to eat up, to keep up his… ah… stamina.” she almost giggles.

<Pose Tracker> Emi Dennou [NWO] has posed.
Dennou observes for a few moments, notably Kaede (whom she seems to be frowning at). She doesn’t accuse her of BS or otherwise rise to the bait. She does frown at her, though, there is that–but other than that she rapidly comes to a course of action that will no doubt solve every problem ever. No that’s crazy, it’s just going to make things worse, but Dennou is comfortable with this.

Emi Dennou approaches Yoh and says, “Of course you remember me, Dennou informs Yoh with a wink,” She winks. “We spent the whole evening together~, Dennou reminds Yoh.” She is not exactly the best liar but of course she is not strictly speaking lying so much as turning the truth into a pretzel shaped mess. She approaches Yoh’s /other/ side and grabs his arm, possessively, and hugs it tight to her body. “Yoh-Chan, Dennou flirts brazenly. Have you ever been with a hive mind before? It is multiplied pleasure, Dennou notes as she pours on the heat.”

She nods a few times, running an index finger down Yoh’s arm.

She looks up at Yu and says, “It’s a special day for Yoh-Chan~, Dennou hints to the man currently tending the shift.”

<Pose Tracker> Yu Narukami [KDA] has posed.
…To Yoh’s question about specials, Yu replies promptly… and without turning away from the stove, “Usuals… Beef Bowls, Shrimp Fried Rice with vegetables, Niku Dofu (Tofu and Beef dish, mushroom, onions, etc..), Suan Cai (fermented cabbage), and Wonton.” He glances over his shoulder at the man just slightly, and lowers his voice a notch… “I don’t reccomend the Suan Cai.” He then makes a discreet, slightly disgusted, face. Apparently Yu heard him over the chatter!

         At Kaede’s comment about ‘stamina’, the graying youth blushes just slightly. It’d be hard to tell though, as he doesn’t seem all too flustered. He then turns around, offering a momentary glance to both ladies, and then simply shakes his head in silence. “What can I get you? … Actually, hold that thought for just a moment…” Having said this, he promptly walks out from behind the bar with the latest order and disappears into the crowd behind them for several moments. Bowing to his ‘honored customers’ whilst placing their orders, and producing a check, he scribbles their order and total in Japanese and then sets it down before the eldest male. He then briskly retreats back to the cooking area, and faces them again… stone faced as usual. “Are you all ready or do you need a moment?”

<Pose Tracker> Yoh Yamagatani [SEES] has posed.

Yoh seems to beam a little more as Kaede curls around one of his arms. But then he suddenly looks to Kaede. “Huh, you know her?” he asks. The Chariot looks between both girls curiously. What Kaede says is… unsettling. Actually everything about her is unsettling right now. She was just telling him off an hour ago on the phone. The teen purses his lips and turns a little red as her last little humorous yarn is spun. It sure is awful nice of her to ask. “Yeah, s-sure. something large sounds good.” THe Beef Bowl of course is always a winner.

Yoh then turns and looks down at Emi, who is… suddenly talking wierd. “Well, I do, I am just bad with names… wait huh?” he lets out. Suddenly Yoh has TWO girls on his arms! WHAT JUST HAPPENED. Unfortunately Emi is not a guy, and therefore cannot push Emi away. That would be mean to a girl. Yoh has no idea what a hivemind is, but the mentioned of pleasure as well as ‘pouring on the heat’ he can unfortunately grasp, even with his simple mind.

“I uh, have no idea what that is… Special?” Oh gods, this evening is about to get terrible. A look to Kaede, wanting to say DO SOMETHING, but she is Possessed, and it may turn out to be something like an attack scene out of an alien movie. Instead a look is given to Yu. Ugh, he cannot beleive this is happening in public in front of people! “Beef Bowl here. And a soda. You?” he asks, looking to Kaede. Aw hell, does this mean he will have to get something for Emi too? He would ask Yu if he knew THora, but he knows that would set Kaede off on a tangent. She does not like her.

EVERYTHING IS SO COMPLICATED.

<Pose Tracker> Kaede Fujioka [S] has posed.

         Yoh’s life is a bad dating sim. Choice #1: Shub-Niggurath. Choice #2: The Borg.

         “…ah. Well.” Kaede says, completely surprised by none of this. Except you know, the hive-mind part. Multiplied pleasure. Thoughts of—. “My, Dennou-san. There’s no need to be uncivil about this.” she says, so ever politely even as she STARES with her eye. As Yoh seems to be totally fine with the weird, brain-damaged girl. “I’ve come to accept my love’s eccentricities.” she says, head tilting just a touch.

         She looks to Yu with a smile, ignoring the situation for the moment. “As big a beef bowl as you can for my love. I’ll have a small please.” she says. “And oh… did you know my love is so kind even to the unfortunate? He once dated a girl with the apathy syndrome.” she says, in a quaint voice. “And after that, a girl who looked like she played with dolls at age 17. And then this grunting mannish-one. Uh Ho hooo hoooooo..” she gives that horrifying mouth-covering laugh.

         Kaede tilts her head back to Emi. “We can share him, Dennou. There’s more than enough for the both of us.”

         Subtitles: Challenge accepted, collective-bitch.

<Pose Tracker> Emi Dennou [NWO] has posed.
Emi Dennou is pretty ruthless sometimes. Nevertheless, she isn’t too well trained in the art of seduction, she has watched television and naturally is a bit too weird to have stumbled upon a relationship. She’s really only in this to cause Kaede grief. If she really wanted a relationship with Yoh, she’d have insisted on bringing her ‘sisters’ along and make comments about a sixsome or something.

Dennou’s face returns to it’s passive neutral after having engaged in Operation: Flirtation. She looks to Kaede and adds, “You are much more magnaminous than I had thought, knowing how to share is a difficult trait to foster, Dennou talks while paying for her own meal (because she has a real job).”

She draws out a small wallet and carefully counts out the money. “Yoh-Chan is truly kind, Dennou explains to the employee who clearly doesn’t wish to know the details (but she brings them up anyway). He would be anybody’s friend, regardless of their personality flaws, Dennou notes that she is hinting that the girl who tripped her is the one with these personality flaws, in case it wasn’t clear.”

She is pulling out the full sassafrass today.

But she can’t help but wonder if the grunting mannish one is Thora. And so she asks, “Did you date Nee-Chan?” Pause. “I mean Thora-Chan, Dennou inquires.”

<Pose Tracker> Yu Narukami [KDA] has posed.
…whilst he waits for an order or three out of the convoluted mess that is his latest customers, the graying youth promptly begins to search the pockets of his apron for scrap paper and a pen. After patting himself down sufficiently enough to realize he’s got nothing, he then turns away from the group momentarily to fetch the needed instruments from a nearby overhead cubbard.

         The heavy wooden door of the cubbard creaks audibly as it opens, indicating its need maintenance, and Yu’s right hand disappears into the cubbard to produce a sheet of notebook paper and a royal blue ball-point pen. Closing the door back after finding what he needed, he then proceeds to tear several strips from the sturdy paper and begins to write down their orders — seemingly completely unperturbed by what would be an otherwise strange discussion behind him. “…” He’s also, typical of Yu, nodding silently to himself with every single order as opposed to offering any sort of confirmation.

         When he’s finished, he turns toward the group again and offers another simple bobbing motion with his head. “Right.” He then casts a rather intense, prolonged, sidelong glance to Kaede as she mentions Yoh’s previous lovers. He then notes to himself that something seemed familiar about her demeanor… and averts his eyes silently to look at Yoh again — even as Emi speaks to him indirectly. It’s a look of great pity he gives, and its pretty visible.

         Nodding as Ms. Dennou gives her order, he writes all of it down on the sheet of paper he’s holding and then offers simply… to both girl’s comments, “I’m sure he is. Your orders will be ready in twenty or its free.”. He then promptly retreats back into the kitchen for a few moments before returning with another batch of ingredients, setting Yoh’s soda infront of him on the way out.

<Pose Tracker> Yoh Yamagatani [SEES] has posed.

Yoh lets out the biggest sigh when Kaede decides to not lash out and attempt to destroy Emi. “My ecc… eccen… what?” Yoh asks his girlfriend who is plotting to kill him. SHE IS REALLY. “What is that?” Haha, he does not even know what that word means. The teen just frowns ever so slightly at the mention of dating others. “I uh… I haven’t dated anyone else before you. Those are just people I know.” But he has tried telling her this before; it is not like it will sink in at this point.

That laugh was disconcerting, as well as the fact they are going to SHARE him now. Right about now Yoh wishes his mommy was here. She would be bubbly enough to solve this! YOH NEEDS AN ADULT.

The girls both seem to be taking cheapshots at each other disguised as compliments. Yoh is none the wiser. He is beginning to feel like they are getting along! Emi’s comment on Yoh being kind does make him smile a little! That is good, he wants that noticed by new people! He loves to make friends. Like this? Uh… not so much, but friends are friends! “Actually yeah,” Yoh comments to Emi. “She is my boss in a way. She helps me out a lot. Again, didnt date her, as I know who she really likes, and he’s my friend. But… yes, Kaede-chan is referring to her.”

Yoh sees that look, Yu! It is pretty obvious what is wrong with Kaede. if she is not in control, the one exposed eye is that glistening gold. Everyone knows what that means. Emi, he cannot really explain, as since he has barely met her… but she is odd in her own right, though the narrating is really neat.

“Alrighty,” he says nicely to Yu. Though he hopes he finishes it in less than twenty so he isnt forced to make it free!

<Pose Tracker> Kaede Fujioka [S] has posed.

         Date Integrity: ======= 70 Percent.

         Kaede seems to watch with an amused look as Emi pays for her own food, and she leans all the more on Yoh. “Right. You’re so funny! I love your sense of humor.” Kaede smiles, giving Yoh a completely light and totally not-hurting punch in the arm.

         “Oh, you know Kobyashi…-san?” Kaede says, eye on Emi with extra interest now. “Yes, we’ve had problems before. You know, incopatible personalities. I’m /sure/ you know how that can be.” she says, nodding simply, looking up to Yu.

         “You’re doing such a great job. I’ll make sure my love leaves a good tip, like what foreigners do.” she magnanimously says.

<Pose Tracker> Emi Dennou [NWO] has posed.
“Your boss?, Dennou inquires.” she has heard, of course, about her sumoning an army of ogres in Mikage Cho, does that mean Yoh is an ogre? Or part ogre? She doesn’t think so. Or an Oni for that matter.

70 percent is a pretty optimistic estimate.

Now Emi wouldn’t blame Yoh for being uninterested in her but she has a hard time figuring out what exactly she’s seeing in this lady. So insincere. So cruel! Emi can be cruel too. She has gone along the indirect battle route so far, but Emi prefers to handle matters directly.

“Who does she like?, Dennou inquires.” It couldn’t still be Shirou, right? That would be pretty wild. He was giving away mementos of her, so it couldn’t still be him, so it must be someone else. She’s very curious about all details regarding her sister.

She is not shadow possessed, though she is pretty odd. Nevertheless, Emi Dennou pays for her own meal (discount!) and adds, “I hear that a lot about Nee-Chan. So you serve her don’t you? That means we are closer than I anticipated, Dennou says seriously this time. That means one day you would be working for Father, after all.” Hope is a wonderful thing.

<Pose Tracker> Yu Narukami [KDA] has posed.
Adjusting the temperature of the oven eyes to their appropriate settings, chopping ingredients, dumping them all into various pots and pans after water has been added… all of the things are done very, /very/, quickly. Also, without even the slightest error. These orders will definitely be done in twenty, and not just because Yu is fast… but because a lot of the preparation has already been done by other cooks. Yu basically just has to cut up vegetables, throw in some prepared meat, spices, and other things in and its a done deal really.

         Whilst he’s working several pots and pans at once, Yu offers candidly to Yoh’s question about eccentricities… as if he’d been asked, “Eccentricity: an odd or peculiar habit.”. This was stated rather matter-of-factly, almost robotically… “She’s saying you have strange habits.”. … All of this without even turning his attention from work, as though it were perfectly normal to do right out of the blue! There’s several loud clanking sounds immediately following this, coming from the stove before Yu. Rushing in to Yu’s right, possibly cutting off any immediate replies from the customers, the owner of the establishment practically screams “AIYA!!! We’re filled to capacity now! THREE more beef bowls!” He then promptly runs into the rear of the kitchen screaming the same business, causing three more aids to walk out of the back to help Yu. One might be able to hear a Japanese teen with hair dyed blonde amongst them say, “Man… there goes my smoke break.”

         The cacophony of chatter in the background now has risen to an almost defeaning volume. The ‘customer circus’ might now find themselves flanked on both sides of the bar by lines of customers waiting for a meal. Yu, meanwhile, has managed to produce Yoh’s meal already and promptly carries it over to the counter… setting a rather massive bowl of curried beef before him. He then offers another sidelong look at Kaede and shakes his head slowly, “No, please don’t. It is always an honor to serve our customers.” Of course, this is a customary line Aiya employees ALWAYS offer to foreigners who try to tip. That is, when they actually come. “Your courtesy is… appreciated.” He bobs his head again slowly, this time less of a nod and more of a very shallow bowing gesture.

He then promptly returns to the stove to help the two aids with the cooking duties.

<Pose Tracker> Yoh Yamagatani [SEES] has posed.
And Yoh is praised even more. For being… funny? Okay, something is afoot. Yoh is not supposed to be funny! He is not usually the one to crack a joke. Then Thora is talked about, and thankfully a fight does not break out. It is obvious Kaede is irritated iside. She shares no joy for her at all.

Yoh is indeed a general in her army! The only other human among her tribe! And he has many demon friends as such too! A lot of them are nice too, in their own little… vicious way. “Just this guy. Knew her a while. THey do not get along much these days, but the guy is still my best friend, and I can.. just tell.” That is about as simple of an answer he can give in public. Maybe he will explain it more another time. “I do, in certain locations,” Yoh mentions. Technically Mitsuru is Yoh’s boss, but in Mikage-Cho, Thora is his boss. “Father?”

“Oh. Oh!” Yoh says to Yu’s comment. “Well that does make sense. I do do strange things. Haha. Some of which probably people will not believe.” Besides the contstant training, friend making, and saving the world, he does have his own quirks. Among the yelling in the back, Yoh perks when a /certain voice/ speaks. “Huh, must be that guy.” A look down at the food Yu brings. “Thanks a lot!” he says kindly, and without another work, literally ATTACKS the beef bowl. He will leave a good tip of course. He only does good tips here and at Cafe Chagall. He would tip at the Lucky Seven but… they dont take tips. He has tried.

Yoh is also a very voracious eater. He always has the napkin closeby to clean up his messes he makes.

<Pose Tracker> Kaede Fujioka [S] has posed.

         “Is that what she’s been up to? Must keep you quite busy.” Kaede says, looking with only passing interest at food brought towards her. She picks at it most daintilly. As fitting her current done-up hair and dress. She still was leaning quite a bit of Yoh, even as she watched him voraciously devour his beef with stars in her eye. She just listens for a good bit of the conversation, looking to Yu as he works so dilligently.

         “Dennou-san, I’m so surprised that I haven’t met you long before. You seem to travel in the same circles as we do.” she says, lips just past Yoh’s ear. “No wonder you have such a good working relationship with my darling, right?” seems safe enough.

         “…I mean, just like how Kobayashi and him have a /strong working relationship/. My Yoh’s an ever-/loyal/ minion, and does what he’s told by smarter women. It’s his real weakness, you know.” she smiles again, still having not eaten anything. “Being you know, alone with her, in that terrible and weird place with those scary demons. He’s such a gallant knight. When alone. With her.”

         Date Integrity: ===== 48 Percent.

<Pose Tracker> Emi Dennou [NWO] has posed.
Emi Dennou shakes her head at Kaede’s comment. No, she doesn’t seem to think they are in the same circles. “I have only met my Nee-Chan once, Dennou explains.” She opens up her phone, checking the time briefly, before lowering it again. “Nee-Chan and I share a Father, Dennou adds.” She is comfortable with sharing that much, even to Kaede.

She claps her hands twice, has a bit of her meal–only a bit–because she soon lifts up a napkin and, with practiced care, dabs the sides of Yoh’s mouth with it. She was waiting to use that one.

“I wouldn’t mind sharing with Nee-Chan either, Dennou says. She seems awfully lonely, Dennou laments.” Though of course everybody seems ‘lonely’ to Emi. Individuality is such a horrible thing.

<Pose Tracker> Yu Narukami [KDA] has posed.
…aaand Yu is still cooking. Though, by now, the food he’s been preparing is nearly done. Without error, hopefully… a challenging thing to do in a fully packed diner with a twenty minute policy. It’s times like these, Yu thinks to himself, his manager is slightly crazy. Though, he had to admit… it rarely got this packed. He finds himself thankful the diner has more than one cook… even if he finds himself still doing most of it.

         After a couple more minutes, no more than five, Yu lifts a plastic tray of orders from the counter nearest the stove and turns back toward Yoh and his passive-aggressive duo of quarrelsome females. He watches, briefly, in amusement as they continue to pander to Yoh whilst simultaneously stabbing one other subtly… and shakes his head silently. He then treks off away from the counter toward the door and a pair of lonely tables, and proceeds to dispense with the orders… bowing, clapping hands, dispensing pleasantries to an elderly couple and then picking up the tray and departing for the kitchen with it again.

         Thank god his shift is almost up, he sighs to himself.

<Pose Tracker> Yoh Yamagatani [SEES] has posed.

It is not long before the Beef Bowl is already dwindling. But unfortunately there would be no way to attempt what he did before. A single bowl is good enough. With some still left, he looks up and pats his mouth with a napkin. “Yeah, really busy. It is insane some of the stuff that happens out /there/,” he comments to Kaede. “But knowing how to fight is a big plus there.” A look to Kaede again. “We actually just barely met a day or two ago.”

Yoh makes a rather shriveled up face at Kaedes final comments. He got that. Surprisingly.

Yoh’s eyes suddenly focus on Emi intensely for a few seconds. They share… a father? But Thora was… created. By…! “Oh. really?” he asks, seeming quite surprised. “Small world, I guess.” Yoh’s voice seems too waiving to acually seem calm about it. He is terrible about hiding emotions.

Another wave to Yu as he drops off the ladies’ food. He should cook something for him sometime if indeed this is the guy Thora talks about! Or maybe just hang out somewhere with him. Yoh is a very… bland cook. Doesnt stray from recipes, things taste like they are supposed to and nothing more.

<Pose Tracker> Kaede Fujioka [S] has posed.

         “You only met your sister once?” Kaede asks the curious girl on Yoh’s other side. Her eyebrow is raised at such an acute angle of surprise at that. She nods slowly, before pausing a little in realization. “Oh my! You’re related to Kobayashi?” she says, still not touching her food. Her eye goes wide as a plate at such a realization.

         “…but you’re so much more feminine. I wouldn’t have th—-” she says to Emi of all people, cutting herself off. If she even can be counted as people. Feminimity must be relative. Or recessive or something.

         She leans further on Yoh in that blue dress right after, as if to express HER femininity, watching the cook it would seem more than her boyfriend-apparent. “Isn’t it a small world? For meeting just a day or two ago.” she says to Yoh, then leaning over to peck his cheek and check on his food. “You’ve… eaten a lot.” she says, rather surprised. “Here, have some of mine. We can’t have you running out of steam for our late night ac~ti~vi~ties…” she says, looking right at Emi the whole time with a cheerful smile. She takes half of her bowl, and adds it right to Yoh’s.

         To Yu however, Kaede winks. Or maybe that was a blink. It’s hard to tell with her hairstyles. “Excellent by the way. Absolutely excellent. See the flush on my darling’s face? Surely from your cooking.” she says as Yoh makes another face.

         Date Integrity: ==== 42 Percent.

<Pose Tracker> Emi Dennou [NWO] has posed.
Thora too said they didn’t really look at all alike. “Likely by design, Dennou hypothesizes.”

And then she doesn’t add anything else. Her mind is distracted from disrupting the date at this point, though Yoh might be able to get that progress bar down all on his own. Of course, she DID remember to dab at Yoh’s cheek, purely to be disruptive, but she wonders what it’d like to actually have a boyfriend, or a girlfriend–or, really speaking, a friend friend. She has of course had people agree to be friends but she hasn’t really experienced friendship–maybe with Akari, she thinks, she seems like a nice person but she suspects that while they have been friendly they haven’t, precisely, been friends.

Dennou communicates with her sisters silently for a few moments. It goes something like this.

E: So what would a real date be like, Dennou inquires?
A: It’d be…nice, Dennou mumbles.
O: We don’t have time for this, Dennou rolls her eyes, noting this so Dennou knows it is being done.
U: We could experiment, science! Dennou suggests enthusiastically.
Ooooh Science, the Dennous agree.

“Yoh,” Dennou provides a lesson, “it is alright to have some pride.”

<Pose Tracker> Yu Narukami [KDA] has posed.
As Yu makes his way back toward the kitchen, he offers another quick bow of his head to Yoh’s waving and a silent, hurried, smile. He definitely felt pretty bad for that guy right now. He seemed nice enough, perhaps they can introduce themselves properly some day when he’s not flanked by estrogen-crazed hens. On that note, he immediately disappears into the kitchen again to gather more ingredients for the still-coming-in orders before an even more crazy chinese man comes out of the kitchen after him.

         Returning from the kitchen after a few, very brief, moments… Yu makes a beeline for the stove where the other three employees are working. Working is a subjective word, of course… they’re accomplishing less than half of what Yu does by himself. One can almost hear the blonde japanese teen manning the right side bemoaning the loss of his much needed smoke break earlier.

         As he walks by the threesome again, he does catch Kaede’s following words and gestures at least… though the wink likely goes unnoticed. The half-way, almost nervous, smile he offers in turn… while friendly seeming enough on the surface… arises more out of courtesy (and confusion!) than anything. He doesn’t know whether to blush subtly again or flee the kitchen in the event she might be flirting wih him. Turning his backside to the three again as he nears his space at the stove, he sighs softly. He’ll assume for his sanity’s sake it was just a compliment!

<Pose Tracker> Yoh Yamagatani [SEES] has posed.

Yoh is willing to be it is a recessive gene.

Yoh find Kaede to be rather… warm. But that was obvious due to body heat. Then he gets kissed on the cheek! Yoh turns a bright shade of red. “Well I uh… you sure? Okay then…” Then something strange happens. Yoh eats the offered food much differently. He gently and neatly eats the offered food slowly, a polar opposite of what he did to his. Huh.

The Emi dabs at Yoh’s cheek… cleaning it? The heck? Why is this happening? Yoh was fine with women and ladies until he told some friends ‘I should start dating’. Then BLAM all these ladies and problems with hanging with them. So hard to hold a real relationship! Though he probably could have picked a better girlfriend. But she is a nice person, and Yoh knows what she is really like. “Pride? Hum. Well, prideful people tend to end up selfish too, so I guess I sort of left it behind.” Wait why is he suddenly talking about Pride.

GET OUT OF HIS HEAD.

Another look over to Yu. man the poor fellow seems busy! Yoh hopes he gets off work soon so he can relax. Look at him go! Though Yoh is almost as busy at his job, the Build-A-Jack Workshop.

<Pose Tracker> Kaede Fujioka [S] has posed.

         “Yamagatani has a lot to be proud of.” Kaede adds back in, watching Dennou clean the man’s cheek. She peers only faintly. Two can play at that game. She takes her pair of chopsticks, and dips them into her own bowl to pick up a clump of beef and sticky rice.

         “Oh my dear, you have to try this. I think our chef prepared mine a little different.” she says, waiting for Emi to dab a little more before thrusting the chopsticks forward, as if feeding her beloved.

         Of course, with only one eye probably able to see anything given her haircut, her depth perception is a little off at times. Now is one such time, as it jabs right into his cheek, leaving a smear of sticky rice and beef as it messes up right that spot where Emi had finished dabbing!

         “Oh, my sincere mistake. Dennou-san, why don’t you clean up for him? You’ve done such a fabulous job so far, and are such a loyal friend to Yamagatani.” she professes.

         Yu’s in and out franticness at each appearance is not missed by the girl however. That poor boy must be shocked at Emi’s forwardness and impropriety. The hive-creatures from her planet must surely not have dinner etiquette.
… and the dinner discussion continued in this manner for a time before dying out and all three customers left the Diner. Followed shortly by Yu. (Sorry guys, this scene got LOOOONG and people got tired. The scene literally ended here.  -Yu.)