Coffee [Social w/ Iroka]

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

Yui hummed happily to herself as she tied her apron around her waist, glancing at herself in the mirror. Smiling softly, she finally felt somewhat ready for the day. And, it only took two and a half hours to prepare! Thankfully it could've been longer, but she couldn't really afford to wait that long in order to get going. After all, today was her first day at work! The worst thing she could've done was show up late to her first shift; lord only knew Ailene would never let the poor girl hear the end of something like that. It sent a shiver down her spine.

Shrugging off those thoughts for the moment, Yui went into her bathroom in order to make sure that everything was absolutely, fully ready for her to show up. Hair was styled properly, makeup looked great, she couldn't really find anything that really concerned her for the time. All seemed to be well! Grabbing her bag, her blade, and slipping on her shoes, Yui started her journey down to Rēgīna! Thankfully the walk wasn't all that far, so she'd find herself there practically in record time. She wasn't going to run or anything - that would've done terrible things to her hair - so instead a brisk fast-walk was more than enough.

As she arrived to the tea shop, with a little 'ding' of the bell overtop the door, she couldn't help but smile. Even despite just leaving her apartment, the girl felt like she was at home. "I'm here~!" she chimed, walking toward the back counter. With a quick glance around the shop, it seemed the place was fairly empty; such was to be expected closer to the evening. After all, Ailene had put her on the later shifts in order to give her that time to get to know the job a bit better. Something she was incredibly thankful for.

Making her way behind the counter, setting the wrapped weapon down behind the counter and placing her back in the back room, Yui let out a soft yawn, followed by an quiet "excuse me!" Throwing her hands under the hot sink water, she took the time to fully scrub her hands to food-handling standards, making sure that she was doing everything as instructed by Ailene from the time she'd spent training. She wasn't going to mess this shift up! She couldn't bring herself to make any sort of mistake like that; such would've been a nightmare for the poor girl's psyche. Regardless! After she finished, drying her hands off and all, Yui placed herself right behind the counter, making sure her stations were clean in preparation for any number of customers finding their way inside during this fine evening.

[Munemasa Iroka]

This was Iroka's first time in the human world. It was incredible. The zest with which humans went about their businesses was remarkable. And they seemed to be always in a hurry. It made no sense to Iroka. On such a lovely evening as this, what better things were there to do than sit back, enjoy life, and watch the world go by? It seemed, for some strange reason, that humans seemed more interested in being the world going by. A strange thing to watch, but no less interesting.

Being a particularly odd one for a Shinigami, she had been allowed to take a moment of free time to have a personal excursion to the human world, so that she could learn what she could by observation of the beings that Seireitei was sworn to protect, having only theoretical knowledge which was a bit lacking, as far as the Shin'ou Academy was concerned. Iroka could not blame the Shinigami Academy instructors, though. Humans seemed to be everchanging, with so many fads and current things that it was almost impossible to be current, in the young Shinigami's opinion. She did not envy humans in that regard.

Well, she was here, and in Karakura Town no less. A good place to perform her 'research'. It was known for its spiritual activity, but at the same time, it was quite a 'current' place. In her gigai, she would easily pass off as a normal human, and it would be unlikely that even a spiritually aware person would be able to identify her as a Shinigami as long as she remained in the false body. But if that was the case, why was she getting stares from many people? She'd looked at herself often in the reflections of herself in shop windows, but could not tell why they stared. More significantly, she could not remember why she was interested in looking at herself. Maybe it was one of those strange human things.

There was a fellow on a bike, watching her. Wasn't he supposed to be looking where he was going? In any case, he did seem quite capable of steering himself with his eyes elsewhere (as he had been doing it for a while now, never mind that there was quite a deal of empty space before him, although that was soon to change with him rapidly approaching a street lamp and a food vendor situated beside it), and so Iroka decided to be courteous, and she waved at him. A mixture of surprise and delight exploded on his face, and as he raised his hand, he ran straight into the pole. There was an attendant series of mishaps which resulted in the street vendor's food all over the fellow, the fellow all over the sidewalk, and general chaos.

Frightened that someone was going to get the police to arrest her for causing such an accident, the Shinigami hurriedly slipped into the nearest shop close by. She had some human money, so she could buy a few things, but she hadn't looked at the nature of the shop she had slipped into to avoid the threat of the long arm of the law. The shop seemed quiet an empty, with a young bespectacled woman with pink hair and purple eyes standing behind the counter. "Konbanwa!" Iroka called out, hoping she did not seem too hurried in her desire to escape the commotion outside. "It's a lovely evening, ne? But my, you're really quite pretty!"

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

As the evening continued on, with Yui doing what she could in order to prepare herself for the shift that had only just begun, she quickly began to run through the to-do list that Ailene or Amber had left her - she hadn't learned either of their handwriting yet, so in truth it was quite difficult to tell. Either way, she wanted to make sure that everything had been followed to a tee before she left for the night. Which, was in fairness many hours away, but still. Last thing she wanted was for either of the two to open with a dirty tea house in the morning.

Though, even if she wanted to continue burning through the list while customers were infrequent, it seemed the outside world quickly caught her attention. Through the window, Yui watched rather intently as a series of rather unfortunate events quickly began to unfold. While she naturally wasn't able to hear anything that had gone on from outside, she had a near-perfect view of that poor, poor biker as they'd been forced to deal with a head-on collision. Wincing in phantom pain as the man had been removed from his vehicle, Yui couldn't help but feel bad for him. Though, rubbernecking as much as he had been, she couldn't help but feel that the result of his actions were to be expected.

Speaking of rubbernecking, it seemed that someone was making a rather hurried entrance toward the tea house; someone she'd never seen before. As the front door opened, with the little bell at the top ringing in turn, Yui made sure to give the girl her best customer service voice after her own greeting. "Welcome in~!" Yui chimed. Before she had the opportunity to continue however, it seemed that Iroka had another comment that she'd met Yui with. "It's a lovely evening, ne? But my, you're really quite pretty!"

Almost immediately, the girl quickly found herself flustered as her face quickly reddened to match her hair. In truth, she'd never been the greatest when it came to taking compliments; this much was painfully apparent as a rather silly little smile quickly rose to Yui's cheeks. "I could say the exact same to you!" She exclaimed, sacrificing a bit of professionalism with a soft giggle. Her hands fell toward the middle of her frame behind the counter while she swayed gently from side to side.

Taking a second to collect herself, and giving Iroka a moment to comment if she'd desired, Yui would take the opportunity to respond to the girl's words before asking a question of her own. "So, what brings you to Rēgīna? Forgive me for being a bit new, but might you be a regular around here?" Yui did her absolute best to keep up that same preppy attitude she'd originally spoken with. If nothing else, she wanted to make sure Iroka had been treated with the utmost respect; especially after having given her such a noteworthy compliment!

[Munemasa Iroka]

Perhaps a more normal person would have probably taken note of the blush that had come to the pink-haired girl's cheeks at Iroka's compliment, but Iroka was anything but normal. In the Shinigami's opinion, she had just made a comment which she believed to be true, something as perhaps as straightforward as commenting on the color of the sky, or the temperature of the day. As such, she herself was taken off guard when the compliment was returned. "Indeed?" Iroka asked quite surprised, but not at all displeased. "Why, thank you for your kind words, although I'm not sure I'm anything spectacular...." That last part was more of a mumble to herself. In any case, meeting this girl in this shop (which the Shinigami still wasn't sure what it sold) seemed a much better alternative to the chaos outside. A part of Iroka felt guilty at having been the cause of the fracas, but she did not see any way by which she could probably make the situation any better than it was. So she decided to irresponsibly focus on her interaction with this stranger, who seemed so easy to interact with.

From her comments, the girl seemed to have just begun working in this establishment. It did make Iroka feel that they were kindred spirits, in a fashion. "I don't think being new is a thing to seek forgiveness for," the orange-haired Shinigami replied, stepping further into the shop and closer to the counter. "If it will be some sort of comfort to you, I'm also new at my-- ah, place of work." Having no idea that the girl before her was also a spiritually active being, Iroka had no idea how to describe the fact that she had just recently graduated from the Shin'ou Academy and become a Shinigami. 'Place of work' seemed reasonable in this setting. "And no, I'm not a regular at all. In fact, I've never been to Rēgīna. That's the name of your shop, ne? This is actually my first time in Karakura Town. Such a lovely place, in my opinion. I'm a very out-of-town gal, so apologies if I don't seem so... up to date." Out-of-town was a very euphemistic way of putting her Soul Society origins, but it seemed a good enough way to present herself honestly enough without having to lie blatantly. Iroka wasn't good at telling fibs, after all.

Remembering that shops did not exist for the mere pleasure of creating avenues of social interaction, the young Shinigami attempted reaching out with her senses, which were certainly not the sharpest in the container, but served her reasonably (she often did think they were duller than they were supposed to be; another proof of her defectiveness). She wasn't sure, but she thought she could smell something that could possibly be edible, but she was scared of jumping to conclusions based on such limited information. Instead, she would engage in discussion, especially as the person holding shop seemed very congenial. "So, what do you specialize in here at Rēgīna? Edibles, I hope. I do have such a shameful appetite, and I must admit I might be getting hungry. But where are my manners? I'm Iroka. Munemasa Iroka. Hajimemashite!"

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

As Iroka thanked the girl for the return of her words, Yui continued to beam with positivity. Giggling in return, Yui listened carefully to what Iroka had to say. As she spoke her reassuring words, Yui continued to maintain a serene smile. "That does actually bring a bit of comfort to me," she spoke, "I can't even begin to tell you how worried I've been since I left my home today!" Her cheeks turned a soft pink tone near-similar to her hair. In truth, the nervousness was by no means an understatement; if anything, it was quite the opposite.

"If you don't mind my asking," Yui started once more, a slight continuation of Iroka's words, "where might you work~? I absolutely understand the stress of a new job, that much I can agree with you on!" This was far easier than the time she'd spent in Shin'ō Academy. Even just thinking back on it made the girl glad she'd left while she had the opportunity to do so. 'Specially after what she'd otherwise been through in the Rukongai. She never wanted to head back, that was for sure!

As Iroka spoke on her experiences - or, lack thereof - when it came to Rēgīna, the girl let out a soft sigh of relief, met with a rather quick-spoken "excuse me!" Truth be told, she was actually rather grateful that Iroka hadn't been a frequent customer. If she messed up an order for one of Ailene's regulars, she didn't think that she'd be able to live that down. Plus, perhaps Iroka would find herself coming back in the future? Only time would tell, but she wanted to make her time at Rēgīna as wonderful as possible!

"It's of no worry at all~!" Yui spoke cheerfully, responding to the Shinigami's experience in Karakura, "I'm still rather new myself, so I promise it's of no concern! It's certainly a nice little town, usually quite busy every now and again, y'know? In all honesty, it makes me tend to miss my old home over by Yokohama." With a faint humming, Yui found herself temporarily lost in thought as she remembered her old home. It hadn't been long since she'd been there; what, maybe two years or so? She wondered how the place had changed since then.

Though, it seemed that Iroka's own words had pulled her from her train of thought before she ended up too heavily invested in the past. Certainly not a bad thing, that was certain. "Oh!" she exclaimed, though keeping her voice down a touch, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Munemasa! My name is Tsumugi; Tsumugi Yui!" If it wasn't a health violation, she would've otherwise offered a hand to Iroka. Instead, she simply bowed her head in simple respect, before quickly readjusting her posture.

"To answer your question, though; we tend to specialize in tea predominantly, but we've got quite a few different edible options as well~!" Swiftly sliding to her left, Yui stood directly in front of a small glass display, showing off various foodstuffs. It wasn't anything outrageous, but it was a well-organized display of pastries, snack foods, and general compliments to a plethora of different beverages the teahouse tended to specialize in. "Feel free to take your pick! As a 'Welcome to Karakura' of sorts, cost is absolutely on me!" With a wink, Yui took a small step back. She figured Ailene wasn't going to be too upset with her all things considered, given she had no problem covering the costs for a new customer!

[Munemasa Iroka]

While this girl was quite friendly, Iroka was not expecting that she would ask about the Shinigami's place of work. It was probably not at all a strange question, especially as far as small talk went, but seeing as Iroka had little to no working knowledge on how to navigate general social events, the question caught her by surprise. "Huh?" she asked, her brain racing through possible options. Another person would have just lied, and no one would have been the wiser, but Iroka was not given to lying. It was not that she didn't know how to do so, but for the young Shinigami, it was not falsehood that came first to mind. "I ah-- I'm a nurse!" she stated. Yes, there could be no better answer than that. She had not lied, and at the same time, Iroka had managed to not say anything which she thought would put her in trouble. She hoped.

Iroka unconsciously grinned at the girl when the latter excused herself for simply sighing. She was so polite. Why wasn't everyone like her? If everyone was polite, the world would be such a better place, and everyone would be happy, right? Iroka had absolutely no idea where Yokohama was; it was probably going to be some other place in the human world. She had heard that the human world was quite big, but the carrot-haired girl had no idea how big it was. She'd always been forgetting to read up on the size of the world. She was sure she would forget to do so before she got back to Seireitei.

She was sure, however, that she would not forget the name Tsumugi readily. 'Tsumugi Yui' sounded so simple and elegant, thought the Shinigami as she returned the bow. To her delight, it seemed that this shop did not only serve tea. Tea was great, and Iroka was definitely going to have some, but there were pastries! Pastries! Rich, beautiful, wholesome calories. Most people would wonder why she never got fat, given the amount of calories she consumed, but everything did come with its price. Iroka had more trouble than the average person dealing with warm weather, and it really could get annoying when one got hungry all the time.

"Cakes!" the Shinigami girl exclaimed with joy, before quickly placing a hand over her mouth. "Forgive my rude outburst, Tsumugi-dono, but I must admit I have been cursed with a sweet tooth. Before I continue, I must thank you for such a kind offer to a stranger such as myself." Iroka gave a deep bow to accentuate her words. Thanks to her poor knowledge of human social dynamics, Iroka tended to refer to most people she was just meeting with the 'dono' honorific, which was not common, and usually used in rather official and formal settings, despite the fact that she herself was not in the least bit a formal person. "While I could never accept myself being a burden to you, it would be rude of me to refuse your offer, so I shall humbly accept. I however must refuse to let you pay for absolutely everything I am going to eat here. Let us split the responsibility. I shall pay for whatever solids I will eat, and rely on your generosity regarding the tea, for which I most gratefully offer my thanks again."

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

Nodding softly to Iroka's words, Yui smiled to herself. Seemed that the woman specialized in the medical fields; certainly an interesting idea! She would've never expected that at a first glance. Though, that's not really saying all that much, given there wasn't anything in the girl's opinion that stood out and really gave her that idea of something else. Regardless, she was still rather excited to meet someone with medical experience like that! She'd known Ailene had dabbled in it, but it wasn't anything extreme as far as she could tell.

"Oh, quite a noble path!" Yui spoke somewhat cheerfully, "I've always thought of those helping others like that are so very admirable! I-It's really wonderful that you're in a field like that!" Giving Iroka another smile, Yui practically beamed with what almost looked to be appreciation. In truth? She was quite appreciative of that fact. Especially given that there was somebody with that kind of expertise in Karakura Town now! Perhaps she'd end up seeing her at a later date should she end up hurt? Only time could really tell on that, but suffice to say she was certainly interested in the potential for that somewhere down the line.

As she continued on to answer Iroka's initial question regarding just what there was to offer around the shop, Yui found herself almost surprised to see the woman's reaction. Though, surprise quickly faded away into another lighthearted giggle as she apologized for her excitement. "Oh, there's no need to apologize~!" She said softly, though with a similarly chipper tone, "I'm very glad to hear that you're excited at what we have around! Truth be told I do very much understand your having a sweet tooth; I'm somewhat similar in that regard!" As her cheeks took a rose-tint to them, Yui simply continued to smile.

Hearing Iroka's words once more, Yui placed a finger to her cheek. "Hmm... That seems pretty fair!" Smiling softly, the girl took a quick look around the shop; it didn't seem to be anything particularly busy, thankfully. If nothing else, it gave her the opportunity to prepare something for herself as well while they were there. Quickly moving to wash her hands once more, Yui returned to the counter shortly thereafter. "And, it's of no worries!" She continued, "I'm more than glad to offer what I've got the ability to~! So then, what might you like, Miss Iroka?"

[Munemasa Iroka]

Iroka did not understand why Yui seemed to be so impressed with her being a medic, but to be honest, the Shinigami did feel warm and fuzzy inside. As someone who was often faced with the scathing opinions of her parent, Iroka was quite pleased to find someone admiring her line of work. She did worry that Yui might not be so impressed if the pink-haired girl discovered how much skills she had as a medic. Fortunately, there did not seem to be any emergencies here, so Iroka could relax. Truth was, she did know enough about medicine to be impressive among human health workers, but this was Iroka, and she was never easy on herself, for she did not know how to be.

"Thank you for feeling that what I do is wonderful," Iroka replied demurely. "It honors me." That last sentence was spoken with all honesty. Perhaps if people felt that she did have quite a useful place to fill in society, she could begin to feel better about herself. "The work is hard, but on some days, it is rewarding indeed." Sadly, she did not think she could describe more of her work in detail without seeming a crackpot to this wonderful shop keeper.

The fact that Yui was also a sweet tooth made Iroka's eyes brighten. There was something they had in common. Maybe they could be friends. She couldn't remember how humans made friends again, or maybe she just never knew how they did it. Perhaps it was similar to how Shinigami made friends too, but seeing as she had none, Iroka was sure she was probably doing something wrong. The Shinigami was glad that Yui had not tried to push for her to accept the offer of her fare on the house, seeing as her appetite was quite large for someone of her size.

And now came the problem. What to choose. Iroka looked helplessly at the plethora of foods in front of her. She knew what cakes were, and she would certainly be able to identify what was a cake and what was not in the show glass facing her. But that was it. She had no idea what these cakes were called, and the same could be said for many other of the foods there. She turned to look at Yui, clearly embarrassed. "I'm so sorry to be such a bother, Tsumugi-dono, but I'm afraid I--" she did not know how to explain her quandary, so she simply said, "which of these would be your favorite? Apologies once again, but I don't really know what to choose."

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

Yui couldn't help but chuckle to herself after Iroka had spoken about the work being difficult. She definitely didn't doubt it! After all she'd heard of the medical fields in general -- both in the Human World, and during the short time she spent in Shin'ō Academy -- it was quite an intensive field to work in. Certainly not something she wished to invest herself in, but in turn that only further deepened her respect for those that worked those fields regardless.

Nevertheless, she decided not to linger on that topic. Perhaps she'd ask about it a little later, but for now she wanted to help the girl find something to eat! Especially after her mentioning of having a sweet tooth, she certainly didn't want to keep her waiting. In truth, it seemed that Iroka was way ahead of her, asking about her favorite choices. Another soft smile rose to Yui's cheeks, as she pointed to one of the cakes on display, currently missing a single slice.

"I promise you there's no need to apologize~" Yui spoke in a rather singsong voice, "I do appreciate you asking my thoughts quite a bit~! In truth, my favorite probably has to be the sponge cake that we serve! It's made fresh every morning when my boss comes in, so it should still be super good~! It's quite light, all things considered, but I promise that only makes it that much better!" Her smile growing ever wider, Yui made no effort to hide her thoughts on the food that Rēgīna served.

If this was what Iroka had wanted, Yui was more than glad to get her as much as she wanted! That simply depended on what Iroka was looking for, and Yui was glad to serve! Assuming she'd decided against the sponge cake, Yui was more than glad to continue to aid in pointing out what they had in terms of cakes; there were a few slices of cheesecake remaining from the rather busy day that had occurred before Yui arrived, a number of assorted brownies, and different types of sliced pound cake rest in the display as well! If need be, Yui was more than glad to go through them for Iroka, sharing her own thoughts on each of them; all positive, of course, as Yui tended to enjoy most everything they had to offer.

Giving Iroka the time to find something she might've liked, Yui simply hummed to herself, reaching under the counter and pulling out a small box full of fresh tea leaves. "I'm going to prepare a cup of green tea for myself, seeing as it's a bit on the slow side here," she giggled, "might you have a preference on types of tea~?" Assuming Iroka gave an answer, Yui would make sure to have enough in order to prepare both cups; her customer's first, naturally.

Placing leaves into two separate strainers for both of them, Yui quickly slid over toward the back of her little workstation in order to begin boiling some water. Moving back to the counter, if Iroka had been ready, she was more than glad to serve her choice of edibles, neatly placing said choice onto a small dish with appropriate choice of silverware, before gently handing it to her with a smile.

[Munemasa Iroka]

One could never go wrong with sponge cakes! Iroka could not say she had eaten every type of cake before, but she had eaten a sponge cake, and she was definitely going to agree with Yui on that. Still, since there were many different cake types, maybe she could manage to sample a bit of everything! "Sponge cake it is, then!" the Shinigami announced exultantly. "Uh, and maybe a slice of all the other cakes as well." That last sentence was said with a bit of uncertainty; Iroka was not familiar with human etiquette, and could not say whether asking for a bit of all the cakes was in bad form. But she was going to pay for them, so that would be fine, right?

To Yui's question, Iroka shrugged. "Honestly, I'm fine with whatever tea you have. I don't particularly have any favorite brands of tea, but I do remember drinking Shintai tea quite often in my younger days. But I don't know if it's around these days. So anything you have is fine!" A regular human would have probably never heard of any such thing as Shintai tea, but it did seem to be quite common in Rukongai, and while Iroka had drunk different brands of tea, it was Shintai she remembered, because it had had the strongest flavor of the lot. Having no idea that Yui had been in Rukongai before, Iroka considered what to say if the shop attendant asked her where Shintai was from. Lying was troublesome.

Of course, if Yui had decided to grant her request concerning the choice of cakes, it would be a rather full plate she would be handing to the orange-haired girl. Taking the plate and bowing deeply in thanks, Iroka took the plate to the closest table and set it down, before returning to the counter, her purse at the ready in her hands. "How much for all the stuff?" she asked, before smelling the scent of the tea. A happy smile crossed her features as she inhaled deeply. "The brewing tea does smell really nice, ne?"

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

As Iroka affirmed her decision on cake, Yui beamed rather brightly. "An e-excellent choice, if I do say so myself~!" As she finished speaking, and Iroka went on to ask for a slice of everything, Yui's demeanor hadn't changed. "Ooh, certainly an interesting choice! Give me jus~t a second and I'll get that ready for you!" And, as she had planned, Yui immediately began to focus her attention toward preparing Iroka a dish with a slice of everything the house had to offer! After a few short moments, each slice of cake had been arranged in a circular fashion; not quite meticulously, but enough to at least make the display worthwhile.

"All righty~" she practically sung, "One of everything, perfectly ready for you!" Giving the girl a soft smile, and placing down a simple set of utensils next to the plate, Yui practically beamed behind the counter. In truth, this job was one she enjoyed quite a great deal. She wouldn't've traded it for the world; lord only knew it beat the alternative! Being able to spend her time as she saw fit within the World of the Living, without a worry as to what those back in Seireitei thought about it? This was the life. Though, it seemed that she was going to be reminded of where she'd lived not a few short moments after these thoughts.

"Honestly, I'm fine with whatever tea you have. I don't particularly have any favorite brands of tea, but I do remember drinking Shintai tea quite often in my younger days. But I don't know if it's around these days. So anything you have is fine!"

Shintai tea. Now that was a name she hadn't heard in a while; she had no idea that the Human World- Oh. Oh. Panic immediately set in, and while the girl made effort to hide it, it still very much made itself evident painted across her face. Lord, she thought she'd done a good job of hiding this! It mattered not. Yui took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down. If nothing else? She wasn't going to run away from something like this. Not after everything her and Ailene had dealt with not a week before; she was strong! Or, at least, she was trying to be.

"W-wow," she spoke, trying to give the best smile she could given the situation, "Shintai Tea... I'm not sure any place I've been to serves it out here. T-though, I agree; the other folks in the Sabitsura District loved that stuff~!" As she finished her words, Yui gave Iroka another playful smile, though one with a distinctly different 'feel' behind it; almost as if to say 'you've found me out'. If she'd been wrong? It was likely that such a district likely meant nothing to Iroka. But, it was a theory she was willing to test the waters with.

Not wanting to linger too heavily on that topic, though, Yui went back to making tea. Given Iroka had been a fan of stronger tea, Yui knew exactly what she was prepared to make; one could never go wrong with a cup of oolong! As Iroka went to place the plate down on a nearby table, Yui focused her attention toward preparing both cups to the best of her ability. Hearing Iroka's words, Yui nodded her head. "Sure does~!" she spoke somewhat energetically, "I really don't think there's a better scent in the world!"

Prepared to leave the tea for a short moment, Yui made her way back toward the register, and prepared to check out Iroka. "All righty~" she started, tapping away on the machine for a short moment, before directing Iroka's attention to the screen on the other side. "Six slices of assorted cakes is going to run you about ¥3,000~!" Giving the girl a soft smile, Yui still felt bad about charging the girl, but she wasn't exactly in a place to argue over the fact. Last thing she wanted to do was upset Iroka, especially with the rather... interesting revelation that had made itself present a moment earlier.

[Munemasa Iroka]

Iroka watched with delight as Yui made her cake selection ready. She was sure that if she was even just a bit less in control of herself, she would be slobbering on the counter. This was practically one of the best days of her life. And while she didn't say that out loud, it was a testament to the fact that Iroka was one who had lived a not so enjoyable (and not so long) life. It was best to enjoy life as it came, and today was surely a good time to do so.

"Yes!" Iroka exclaimed in glee, punching the air, as Yui announced in a singsong voice that Iroka's cake of plates was ready. Her delight at the plate of treats before her was almost childlike, but the orange haired girl still remembered to bow to Yui. "Thank you for all your efforts for my sake." Normally, a shopkeeper's job was to serve the clientele. Iroka wasn't sure how shops in the human world worked, and Yui was so nice, so she simply assumed that the pink haired girl was doing her a great favor.

Being the strange person Iroka was, she immediately noticed that something had frightened Yui, and she herself became alarmed. She had definitely done something to worry such a pleasant person, though for the life of her, she didn't know what it was. But even though Iroka was socially inept, she was quite intelligent, and quickly realized, when Yui mentioned Sabitsura, that Yui had been to places outside Karakura, places that Iroka as well had been to. She had been sent a few times on errands by her parent, having been made in Eastern Rukongai, and having spent some years there. She remembered the names of some of the districts: Sakahone, Sabitsura... Sabitsura! Yui had been to Rukongai!

Her chartreuse eyes widened in delight, but then she caught Yui's almost guilty smile, and the joy died instantly. There was something wrong about Yui having been in Rukongai; Yui had probably not wanted Iroka to know, she realized. Was she a runaway? She was most likely a Shinigami, because it was almost impossible for a Rukongai soul to find their way to the human world, just in the same way it was practically impossible for a human soul to find their way to Soul Society. That was it: Yui was a runaway Shinigami.

An atmosphere of discomfort descended on the little shop. Iroka was sure she was somehow to blame for this, but she wasn't sure how to rectify the situation. While she knew that Seireitei would probably attempt to arrest any defector from their ranks, she was also aware that while a loyal Gotei 13 member, she was very unlikely to attempt to turn in any discovered defectors. For starters, most people treated her like a freak, and even though she pretended not to notice, it hurt that she wasn't treated like 'one of the others'. Yui had been so nice to her, despite her being a stranger, so she couldn't turn such a lovely person in. Also, her parent, Kimyou, was somewhere in the Nest of Maggots. While Iroka had no hard feelings towards Seireitei for throwing Kimyou there, if Kimyou managed to escape, and Iroka knew where they were, she would remain mum on the issue.

Even though Yui tried to sound enthusiastic, Iroka could still sense the undertones of worry. And for all that, Yui was still being accommodating. The more Iroka watched her, the more the orange haired Shinigami was convinced that she was most certainly not going to do anything about the discovered defector from Seireitei, if for the only reason of having a friendly face to see when she came to Karakura Town again. As Yui returned to the counter, Iroka pulled out her purse, getting ready to pay, although her mind was running through how to defuse this situation. And she decided: she would just be straightforward with Yui, and hope the girl wouldn't get freaked out.

The 4th Division Shinigami suddenly dropped her purse and grabbed both of Yui's hands (there was no intention to shock or scare Yui, but Iroka was built different). Her light green eyes stared into the girl's purple, full of honest intensity. "Please don't be scared of me, Yuyu-chan," And thus Yui had been bequeathed with a nickname, whether she wanted it or now; such was Iroka's way. "I can guess that you're originally from Rukongai, ne? But you don't have to be frightened that I'll turn you in or anything. If you must know, you're one of the very few people to ever have treated me with such courtesy in my entire life. And you offered me free cake. Free cake! I can't repay that, I truly can't. But I will promise you this: if Seireitei finds out you are here, it will not be because I told them. You can count on it!"

A subtle motion caught Iroka's attention. Had Seireitei already figured out something was amiss and sent personnel to investigate? Iroka turned in the direction she had sensed the motion, and realized there was nothing to be potentially worried about. It was apparently a bespectacled fellow, walking by the shop, who had stopped to watch a bit of drama when he had seen what looked to be... well, Iroka had no idea. What she did know was that it was quite awkward. Apparently the fellow thought so to, or was ashamed at being caught, for he quickly hurried on and was gone.

Iroka released Yui's hands, a slight blush on her cheeks. "I'm so sorry for embarrassing you. I'm just stupid; my parent always says that," she apologized, fumbling with her purse. The price of ¥3,000 was not at all expensive, and Iroka was glad to pay it, although she wished she had extra money. She would be able to buy more with extra money. Pulling out the required amount, the orange haired girl placed the notes on the counter and slid them towards Yui. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable with me; you have made me feel so at home in this shop. The least I can do is put your heart at ease. So do not worry, I will tell no one about you, unless it is to advertise what wonderful cakes you sell here. That wouldn't be an issue, ne?"

[Kitai Yoru]

Yui Tsumugi: 31 paragraphs, 30% bonus towards a thread with Iroka

Munemasa Iroka: 28 paragraphs, 20% bonus towards a thread with Yui