[PolarStarQuote]

The sounds of a Bell would ring quite audibly, as Akira would walk outside, admiring this small Hole-in-the-wall he had made. Something Sojiro would honor, no doubt. Akira, after a few missions, realized he needed himself a place to stay after all of these missions. He needed a Cover-up, so the enemies he no doubt made by robbing, wouldnt notice him. And after all...Who would suspect a humble Cafe owner?

Having bought this property from Rave Toad (After getting the drunkard to give it to him for cheap after a binge drinking session), Akira began sprucing the place up just as he could remember it. Heck, it even had an Attic for him to sleep in.

"Le Blanc" The Sign above the door said, Painted white with a black mahogany filling the rest of the sign, as Akira threw on an Apron, settling down a few bags of Coffee beans he had bought earlier. They weren't perfect...But, They'd make a fine roast no doubt. As well, he put down a giant pot, Cutting a few potatoes into it, as well as some peppers, and a few secret ingredients, as well as putting the Rice Maker on. The cash register would flick on, suddenly shooting up the letter "A" On its screen, As Akira sighed. "so, Guess your on the Fritz, Hm? Ah well..." Akira would say, closing the door to it, and putting the lid on the curry pot.


Walking to the front door, Akira smiled as he flicked the 'CLOSED' sign, to 'OPEN', Akira would smile to the people walking by...

"Welcome to Leblanc. Please, Take a seat~"

[Deleted]

Elliana had been dying to get a good coffee place ever since she got here. The poor inventor needed the joe in the morning to keep on those mine schematics she'd been dreaming up, and so far she had no dice as far as the deal went with her permits to buy higher grade explosives, so the black market was where she went sometimes. Right now she'd been following the Rave Toad closing story on Ballyhoo's down time, a shame that show didn't air daily, but whatever! Elliana had slitered right up and awaited for the door to open, parking her mech just across the road and locking the controls unless someone would punch in the 35 number access code. Digressing from her genius use of the machine's locking mechanism in her mind, Elliana had a rolled blueprint and pencil in her tail's curled grasp, and sliding on in, she got right up to the counter, took off her hat, and coiled nonchalantly around the chair.

If there was one thing she didn't want to destroy, it was this place. It smelled so nice in here, each flick of her tongue or sniff of her tiny little nostrils brought the flavor of fresh coffee into her mouth. She could get energized by just sitting in here! Regardless, she was gonna order. Unrolling her blueprints and laying the tiny scraps out, she put down a few coins on the counter, and gazed at the menu. Everything looked so tasty! "Can I just get a plain latte with some creamer? Not a whole lot." She asked, before getting right on down to scribbling all over those design charts, gazing up to Akira every now and then to get a good look at him. "...You're pretty young, by the way. Good on ya for applying before opening! Need more people like you." Elliana didn't sound too much older... Was she?

The eager snake was still writing every now and again, more and more of her focus shifting to Akira. She only hoped he didn't mind seeing the big words 'MINE TEMPLATE' and the various graphs and charts of detonation angles, clamping, and the obvious calculations of explosive forces on those papers she brought with her. Elliana didn't seem like the type to drink coffee... "Can I get a straw, too? Having no hands make it hard to drink."

[Coolshaymin]

There was also another early customer to the cafe. A Detective known as Naoto Shirogane, though she was in much more casual ware contrary to usual since there was no work for her for the moment... A rare case in such a world but she had another reason for a break. A Cafe was being open with a familiar name by a name she read in reports.  Leblanc, a fairly obscure cafe but one she visited from time to time while she was in the area. She doubted the coffee here was the usual stuff but the name was the interesting part. Akira, a boy that was arrested and put on parole under the Cafe Owner. The two names could not be mere coincidences. Especially when you add in the Phantom Thief Leader had the same name. She wished to investigate the thieves but had other cases at the time. Still, she wanted to at least make sure they weren't a proper threat.

In her blue shirt and tie she walked in and sat next to the snake and inspected the owner for a bit, not really paying Elliana much mind. "I'll take a curry and some coffee. Anything sweet but still a bit bitter," Naoto stated, really only ordering the food for an excuse to talk... And the energy helps. "Nice place you have got by the way. Shares a name with a Cafe back home. The food was made with care, that's for certain," she states simply as she looked to the Cash Register for a moment... Something... Did not seem right there. She had no certainty what, just a gut feeling from the letter.

[PolarStarQuote]

Akira would smile at Elliana's appearance, welcoming her to a seat up to the counter as he moved to behind the Counter, producing a perfectly sized cup for coffee for the smaller snake before him, as well as a coaster for it. "Not a problem. your actually my first customer here..." Akira would say, smiling happily as he produced a bag of Mexican Altura Beans. Quite a fancy bean blend, for a Post-apocalyptic cafe, coming out of a highschoolers pocket. Hmmm. How suspicous! Akira would start up an Open Flame Coffee Siphon, Which seemed to look like some kind of Chemical science. The Boiling coffe would do its thing in the Siphon, before produced out, and put over the glass in a goose-neck spout, Poured and Filtered right into the cup, filling the Cafe with yet another great gas of coffee aroma, as he slid the coffee over to Elliana, with a Coffee straw inside, and a creamer pack set to the next.

It was kind of amazing how Akira could afford all this fancy stuff. It was almost totally unheard of for anyone to have this kind of wealth, Unless they were somehow getting so much money from a hidden source. Regardless, Akira smiled "Actually, I own this Cafe." Akira would say in a matter of fact way, Smiling as he would look to see Naoto coming inside, smirking. "Greetings, Welcome to Leblanc." Akira would say, nodding to her order, and getting some fine looking beans, starting to boil water in the Siphon, and then grabbing a Plate, Getting a sizable portion of Rice, and another portion of the Leblanc Secret recipe Curry.

He would slide the plate to Naoto, Smiling as he relaxed against the wall, awaiting the coffee to properly boil. "Hehe, Yes, Le Blanc is a cafe i admire quite a bit." Akira would say, nodding to Naoto.

*CHING!*

Akira would sigh, as the Register once again opened up, shooting up another set of letters. "K  I".  "Sorry guys, Im not charging you for this meal. Its on the house, My Register is just on the fritz..." Akira would say, closing the door once again on the register, the letters shooting down.



Meanwhile, Mona would curl up on a table behind Naoto, also watching the Cash register, as the Cat seemed almost confused as it tilted its head at the sight. " (( Akira told me to keep quiet, but, is he really not seeing what im seeing here?! He asked me not to blow his cover but...But...)) "



"((IS HE SERIOUSLY NOT SEEING THAT?!))" Mona would ask, as Naoto and Mona, both being Persona users (sorry Eilliana!), could see and percieve what looked to be a Shadow of a sillouhete, Staring its bright red eyes at the Register close by, and placing its hand on it once again, though it seemed to wince in pain in doing so, Making the register pop up with a sudden...

'A'

[Deleted]

"Ooh it smells fresh!"

The snake would giddily lean in and take a looong sip of the coffee through that straw, her nostrils flaring and throat bulging a bit as each surge of coffee from those gulps went down. The arrival of Naoto was a fascinating one, and to know that Akira worked here no less! It got Elliana dreaming about all the sorts of things that could be waiting for her in this world, all the opportunities she could be taking advantage of right now. As she couldn't see the register's phantom that attacked it, the snake rose her brow when she saw the 'A' appear. Hackers, great.

"Oh, jeez. Is some hooligan hacking your cash register? I'm used to seeing dumb things like that pop up in stores sometimes. Someone should really get to the bottom of it. I'd love to crush whoever's doing that with my mech."

Elliana insisted, before going back to her coffee and schematics for mines. She was a slow drinker, but a fast writer, having now put those blueprints away, and settling in to listen to the conversations going around. Given that she couldn't hear Mona or see the apparitions, the snake sat eagerly and watched these two, unaware of what dangers were already brewing and boiling in this place.

[Coolshaymin]

Naoto ate some of the curry... And yeah, it's not as good as the owner, but it's clearly his style. Naoto was about to compliment the chef before she looked up and noticed IT! Was... That a... ghost? A phantom?... Possible here, but then why was she the only one to see it? From Elliana's response she defenitely did not notice that and neither did Akira. Looking around she saw... A cat? He also noticed the creature that was putting a message into the cash register... If she could see it... The only exception she can currently think of is... She's a Persona user. But Persona users were usually a group. If the cat was too, didn't that make the owner one?

"No, it's not... Akira, right? Someone is sending you a message on the Cash Register. Keep an eye on it. A Phantasm is trying to tell you something," Naoto stated simply and firmly, no sign of a joke whatsoever as she was completely serious. "If you don't believe me, ask your cat," she went on to add, from how the cat was acting, he looked like he was holding back something, what she could not say.

[PolarStarQuote]

Akira would raise a brow at the two conflicting answers before him. "...Uhm...? Im not sure what your talking about, Its just an old piece of hardware, Its pretty old--" Akira would say, as the Cash register would suddenly ring up something new...


'P R I', with a Ding, the Ghost would stare at Akira rather forlornly, as Akira would close the door, not paying attention, looking to Naoto. "I seriously dont understand what your talking about, There's nothing--" Akira would say, until suddenly, Mona would jump onto the Bar, suddenly lighting in Blue fire, and appearing in a form completely unknown!



"Akira, You cant be serious!' Mona would say, sighing. "Naoto can see it, and so can I! You have a persona, so you should be able to see that ghost too!" Mona would say confrontingly, as Akira looked back to the cash register, still seeing nothing. "I...I seriously dont know what's going on...Erm, this is my cohort, Mona." Akira would say, Explaining to the two, Especially Elliana, What was going on.

"Akira, there are more important things than maintaing an identity right now!" Mona would plead, suddenly swiping his paw at the ghost, to which Mona's paw would just phase through. "Are you not seeing this?!" Mona would say, Fur starting to spark up and get long standing from the electrical interference the ghost caused. The Cash register rung again...

'S O N'

[Deleted]

"...Uhm..."

Elliana sat in shock for a bit as she witnessed this... whole thing unfold. Watching as the two claimed something invisible was there, and now the cat turned into a bipedal creature of some sort..! Whoa! This was amazing. For a second, Elliana looked into her now empty cup, and back to Mona for a little bit, ensuring that she wasn't hallucinating this very thing. Sure enough, even after nipping her own tail, Elliana confirmed that she was indeed seeing this, and wasn't dreaming, or drugged for that matter. 

"Okay, I know it's not really my business but ah... slow down, slow down. Is... what is a Persona? Why's there a ghost here? You sure it isn't some hacking hooligan? Most importantly, why did the cash register there jut spell KIA Prison?"

Observant and motor-mouthed as always, the sharp snake would have already tucked her self up a little, leaning over the counter to eye more carefully to the cat and two humans. The wide eyed anarchist would feel her brain beginning to pinch at the thought of all of this. Capable of quick rationalization, but without the wisdom to truly feel these things take shape until later, Elliana sat perplexed for a bit, but sat back, asking no further questions in hopes of getting some answers instead.

[Coolshaymin]

The cat transforming did not shock Naoto too much. Animals with Personas are something she is familiar with and as long as he wasn't spouting Cat puns... "How did you know my name?" Sure, Naoto's name was famous in her world but she did not recall saying it on entering and to recogonize her so easily. Wait, that was not the important thing right now, nor was it her hunch being right. "I have no quarrel with Phantom Thieves but I don't think he can see it," Naoto stated. "A persona is a source of power that awakens under.... stressful conditions is the easiest way to put it. We also can see some things other can't. I think it's because we have some ties to Shadows. And just because you can't see it, does not mean it does not exist, so no, it's not a hacker," Naoto explained as she put her hand to her chest and pulled out a card she crushed to summon a Persona out of blue flames, holding her other arm up all the while. Her butterfly boy like Persona grabbed her arm and hoisted her over the counter so she can get a better look.

".... It actually says Akia Prison. I think they might of missed an R for some reason so I'll go under the assumption it refers to Akira. So, Akira Prison.... Mona was it? Tell me, is there anything with your group that involves Names and Places?" Naoto requested as she deduced. She was familiar with the fact that different groups of Persona Users often had different rules from the Shadow Ops. So, this may be some means the Phantom Thieves have to fulfill their fate given to them by the Velvet Room. If she had the correct line of thinking... "Akira may not be able to see the ghost because it's tied to him..." Naoto added, it had little evidence so it was a guess at how their team opperated.

[Deleted]

Neku stared down the coffee shop exterior for seemingly forever, until he had almost memorized the fresh sign advertising the shop's name: Leblanc. The shop was a hole in the wall, but a big reason why Neku was so entranced by it was because it reminded him of home. Hell, it reminded him of WildKat. The place both fit in and stood out from the surrounding area, and Neku really wanted to go in but--

People.

Neku could admit he cared about other people now, but the he still had tried his hardest to avoid every day interaction with other humans. Still, Neku took a deep breath, grabbed the knob of the door and stepped into the place. Of course, the moment he did, he saw a normal cat transform into a cartoony, super-deformed cat in a blaze of blue fire. In Shibuya he'd think it was a sneaky form of Noise but now-- now, it was just the everyday. The barista seemed to be about his age, maybe a bit older, and there was also a blue-haired effeminate boy (Neku wasn't sure, not that it really mattered) and a purple snake.

Neku took off his head phones and placed them on his neck and leered over the group of people. Great, he had stumbled into one of Zi's many weird situations- always a charm.

"Er- Am I interrupting? Should I leave?"

After a slight pause, Neku sighed and took a seat on the bar and took a look at one of the paper menus on the surface. All Neku really wanted was a decent cup of coffee, and he wasn't planning on walking on eggshells to get one. After all, he honestly couldn't tell what was normal and what was weird in this place: why bother trying to differentiate now?

"It says you're open so I'm not gonna leave. Keep to... whatever the hell you're doing and I'll bother you when I'm ready."