Fandom Persona: Non Grata

[Father Gigantor]

As much as he would've liked to, laying down on the comfortable, brilliantly waxed floor of the Serenade wasn't much of an option especially with the unnervingly large quantities of feet surrounding him. He motioned to get up, placing his palms square on the floor at his sides, pushing himself upright and back on his feet.


At least, that's what he would have done, had the heel of a shoe not came crashing down onto his left shoulder, just a few centimeters shy of pulverizing his collarbone.


The fury of his leathery assailant was mercifully brief, with the shoe being retracted a few seconds after it had found its mark. The damage had already been done however, with Kousuke letting out an embarrassing, girly yelp of pain in response, and being forced back onto his back on the floor. He dazedly looked up in between his groans of misery to identify the pair of legs now just a few centimeters away from his head. The legs donned the heels that had struck him just seconds ago. A lady obviously, a dark haired one wearing a waitress' uniform and with a very distinctly not-Japanese look, a foreigner perhaps?


"Sorry, I'm so sorry!"


She bowed deeply as she blurted out an apology, almost low enough to smash her head on the floorboards had she tried any hard. Dropping to her knees, she stretched out her hand to help him up, a look of genuine worry in her eyes. "A-are you okay? I'm so, so sorry about that..." Kousuke quickly gestured with his hands and waved her away. "No no no! I'm good really... Just give me a minute to lie here a bit longer," he said, trying to play it cool and act as if his feminine outburst had never happened.


"A warp portal behind a curtain and now a cute girl helping me to my feet. Oh merciful lord I think I'm coming down with the vapors."


As he finished muttering, Kousuke got himself back on his feet, successfully this time, and looked around the cafe, now filled with patrons he had never seen before. Judging by some of the stares, his sudden entrance had clearly not gone unnoticed, but thankfully it seemed that the conversations that they were holding held their interests far better than a fool falling through a doorway did. Six girls and two guys, he counted, with Samuel not among them, all absorbed in their conversations with one another. Perhaps, only he was the new one among them?


He turned back to face the waitress girl right next to him, clutching a bag full of what appeared to be Onigiri and sheepishly looking back at him. "Sorry, I didn't get your name. You work here, I guess? Thanks for the help with uh, my predicament."


Christ this was awkward.


As he mulled over what next to say to a girl who had just stepped over him, his thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the guest of honor himself, Samuel, clad in all his pink, garish glory. Kousuke watched him and his partner in crime, Rei it was if he was correct, go through their little spiel to all their audience, like a comedy gag show.


"In any case, please, dig in! I’ve made all your favourites! Even yours, Gertrude!”


"I guess that means all of us?"

 

[Turnip]

Saori cast a glare at Rui. Unpleasant. That was what she thought as he scoffed at her and made his way back to the other side of the room. It was obvious to her now how she had forgotten who he was. This wasn't the first time his personality shone through, with some concerns coming in from students and staff from time to time. For his case, though, she simply left him be. She didn't like to waste her time helping people that didn't want it. In her usual cool manner, Saori simply tossed the rice ball into the trash.


A few moments later, the mysterious part timer, introducing herself as Rei, made her way around the room to serve drinks and finally get to explaining their situation. Or would try to, before Samuel's entrance interrupted the scene in his usual boisterous manner. It seems that would be a common occurrence here...


Saori only watched as he placed the plates of cookies on the counter and offered it to the group, with a few of them getting up from their seats to try the delectable desserts. She would only take one afterwards, snagging a hazelnut cookie set to the side of the plate, and returned to her original spot like clockwork.


"Huh, not bad..." Hazelnut, her one weakness... She took a bite of the cookie, which quickly melted in her mouth. Of all the things to expect from Samuel, being good at baking wasn't the first to come to mind. Nevertheless, the duo now had her full attention, and she listened to them with open ears, and hands preoccupied with cookies and soda.

 

[QuestingBeast]

Gertrude Crantz (Empress)


Relief washed over Gertrude when the man refused her hand. Oh, he was quite generous in heart to not hold that act of unintentional violence against her.


She would have insisted on helping, but an explosion of laughter that was impossible to disregard bade her leap to her feet. Gertrude rose up tall and over her shoulder sent the origin, beanie man, a wide-eyed stare. It was the look of a Preschool teacher when one of her students runs with scissors across the room. Now, now, child. Behave, it seemed to say. You'll only hurt yourself with that attitude."


"Calling this a show..." she tutted.


"A wrr--p--tle... girl --.....oh merciful lord... hers." She heard the words, then saw the open, closing lips of the young man that she'd stepped on and knew it was he that spoke subtly.


The muttering under the fallen man's breath was like a weight on her ear. Indistinct, uncertain phrases that she imagined hid some string of hostility that had escaped his mind by way of language.


Shame made its way through her, painting her face a deeper red, bunching up her shoulders, drawing her eyebrows in an upward arc and there knotting them taut. Gertrude managed another apology, and stopped herself from saying anything more. An overabundance of sorries never attracted compassion, though it may gain pity, which was no real gain against offense.


"Ah, no, no, I don't work here. I only visit... now and then." The humor seemed hollow when she said the jest twice.


He asked for her name. She answered with a cautious smile. "Crantz Gertrude is my name. Um... What's yours?"


Though his reply was friendly enough, she could not meet his eyes, instead taking account of his clothing, with some relief noting he was taller than she (it would not be easy to step on him again). Atop his torso, a button-down dress shirt, loose third button, the fabric white, some stains washed and pale. Bleach would solve it, but only if applied correctly. Blue jeans stretched down in two long poles capped at their base by a pair of sneakers.


In silence, she awaited some request or chance to redeem herself, but instead, Rei traipsed on in with a tray full of drinks, and Samuel followed after, the air turning thick with fresh-baked cookies.


When the cookies were placed, and Samuel with his "Even yours, Gertrude," promised the arrival of one cutting-edge baking achievement, the cookie croquet, her jaw dropped.


"I guess that means all of us?"


"I believe it does, yes," she said with more breath than voice.


Kousuke went first, and Gertrude followed a step behind.


Tiptoeing along the outskirts of the other visitors, her hopeful stare caught sight of the wondrous oddity, which poked out in the pile conspicuously.


She zipped through an opening in the crowd, her hand shooting out and snatching up the sweet pastry.


The top layer of the cookie crinkled at her touch. Gertrude's mouth watered. In a daze of euphoria, she drunkenly clodded back to her booth.


As she sunk her teeth into it, a muffled cry of exultation escaped her. "Ohhh..! So yummyyyy..!"


Closing her eyes against the warm, wondrous taste filling her mouth, Gertrude all but fell into her seat and let the red-cushioned back support her weight.


Whatever more Samuel had to say, she would be content with this.

 

[Veradana]

Well, the waitress certainly looked the part, blue hair and all. Between her and Samuel, this place was feeling more and more like an actual anime café. However, their comedy act left much to be desired. Yuzuki had to stop herself from sniffing at the drink handed to her for alcohol. The fruity scent was strong enough that she almost had to hold it away from herself. Both actions would have been horribly rude, and she could hardly refuse the offered cookies for the same reason. Besides, they had peanut butter.


Yuzuki edged her way to the plate, sidestepping out of everybody’s way as they all went for the counter. Don’t get underfoot Yuzuki; she scolded herself in her head. Her hands twitched by her sides at how it sounded. She avoided people’s eyes as she grabbed a couple of peanut butter cookies, pulling back her hands before they could get in the others’ way. Besides, she shouldn’t eat too much; she’d get in trouble if she stuffed herself with junk food and didn’t eat her supper.


She shuffled her way back to the end of the counter where she’d left her drink. As she ate the snack, she looked over to the tall glass. At this point, when they were already magically transported to the place, or whatever, eating the food and drinking the drinks were probably the least of their worries. Even so, Yuzuki ignored the kitschy plastic straw and sipped it directly from the cup. She failed to hide her grimace at how sweet it was.

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

Cute. Friendly. Even if the girl was younger than her, Suzuho couldn't help but be a little jealous. She was kind of like an idol, with the way she was carrying her body and tone, bouncing from place to place and word to word with enough to energy put a hopped-up rabbit to shame. Haha... Maybe she should ask her for advice sometime. They were going to be clubmates for... Whatever they were supposed to be doing here, right?


Then again, wouldn't asking a high-schooler for advice be kind of sad?


Ah...


Without even noticing it, Suzuho had already drifted off into her own little world, as she did all too often. A symptom of working in a place so uneventful and boring as a book store, to be sure. She'd been lost to all but herself, not noticing as her focus slipped away from the events around her and tread along the chain of random, loosely connected thoughts that stemmed from her impression of the would-be idol she'd engaged with. Or, in other words, she spaced out. So lost was Suzuho to the world around her that she wouldn't even notice as the yet-unnamed waitress laid drinks throughout the room, or even when she set one only mere feet away from her herself. Though, the well-refined professionalism with which the girl moved probably had something to do with that.


Her reverie however, if you could even call her ever self-doubting daydreams that, would be short lived, the sound of the young waitress's words ringing throughout the cafe dragging her attention back to the world of the living. The long awaited introduction. Rei Satoh, the waitress announced herself as such, her voice carrying itself throughout the cafe as if it knew it's way around just as well as she did. Her affair... Wasn't something that she could quite put her finger on. The words the girl spoke, the way she spoke then. She certainly gave off an odd expression. It was like she was stuck, between trying to be serious and formal, and trying to lighten the hearts of anyone who had doubts about the place. But it only ended up coming of as some sort of... Weird deadpan comedy act.


That act however would be aptly broken into, by none other than the proprietor of this event himself. Samuel had arrived at last. Suzuho could practically feel the atmosphere lighten as he stepped into the room, clad in a pink apron, and equipped with a platter of cookies that even a grandmother would be impressed with, he struck a stark contrast to the mood that hung over the room. Or at least, the mood she thought hung over then room. Even Satoh's comedy act was brightened by his presence, what had come off as bizzarely awkward- at least to her- now seeming more like something she'd see in some old buddy movie.


She couldn't help but let out a not-so-small laugh at how radically the mood shifted. Though with how she tried to hold it in it sounded more like she was halfway choking. And coughing. Coughing because she'd somehow almost coughed up a lung.


Smooth


Doing her best to recover, Suzuho's hand shot out to the glass Satoh had so stealthily placed in front of her, perhaps even in preparation for this very moment, and flushed half of it's fizzy, bubbling contents down her throat. Now, in retrospect, using a violently carbonated drink to soothe her throat may not have been the best idea...


...But it was better than nothing.


It was enough, at least, to subside her coughing fit for the time being, though the concoction sizzling down her already vulnerable throat only served to irritate it once it's job was done. Rubbing her throat, Suzuho slowly turned her gaze towards the platter of cookies that lay oh-so-temptingly out in the open. She couldn't help but grimace a little. There they were... And they looked so good. But if she ate any of them new she was just going to kick herself for it when she could barely swallow her dinner tonight. Great job, she thought, five minutes into the meeting and she'd already managed to act like a fool. Pulling her eyes away from the plate, Suzuho cast her gaze around the room as she tried to figure out a way to play this off.


...Her eyes fell onto Rei


"Oh, um, Satoh. Or Rei. Can I call you Rei? You seem pretty uh, well adapted here. You can't have been working here for long right? I mean, I wasn't here that long ago, and Samuel was still sniffing about for you..." She cast her eyes up to the ceiling in thought, for a moment. "Hey, does Samuel have like, a uh, last name, or something? Isn't calling him by his first name all the time kind of awkward?"


"I er, assuming you're just co-workers, I mean."

 

[Emiya Shin]

Miyako Kagiyama

[18th February 2016 / The Velvet Serenade]


Saori greeted Miyako after she picked the onigiri that the four-eyed guy named Sakamoto Rui and extended to him. She were also asking them what was going on in the Velvet Serenade. However, the Rui guy glared at the president of the student council and turned away from her. All in all, he acted quite rude to Saori. In return, she simply disposed the dropped onigiri to the nearest trash bin. Seeing all this, Miyako simply shook her head.


("Even when you get yourself mysteriously teleported to a peculiar establishment and being served with free food from an exhausted waitress who just stepped on to someone, one still have to act like a spoiled kid.")


Then, the light blued girl with a waitress outfit cleared her throat, before serving iced soda in tall glasses to everyone in the Velvet Serenade in a professional manner. The waitress eventually apologized for her rudeness earlier on, and introduced herself as Rei Satoh. With the ditzy music in the air, Rei continued to speak to everyone, stating that she understood everyone's plight with a smile. As for Miyako, she simply took the drink and placed on the table behind her.


“Now, to answer the biggest question you have in your heads: What am I doing here?”


Then, the familiar voice that the dark-brown haired girl has heard within that particular vivid dream can be heard beyond the deep blue curtains behind Rei.


“The answer is quite simple, my friends, but we'll get into that matter later.”


In response, she turned around to the direction where the voice is coming from and sighed. It was this moment that the scent of baked cookies become even more stronger. Of course, it was that goofy and yet mysterious Samuel guy, with his out of place pink apron. After laying 2 plates of cookies on the counter, he welcomed everyone to the Velvet Serenade and asked Rei about the soda drinks which she prompted said that she did so. At this part, Miyako remained distrustful to the pair. She felt like both of them are trying to goad them to do something... bad perhaps?


After a clap of his hands and a nod, Samuel spoke again.


“Ah, right, of course you did. Thank you, Rei. In any case, please, dig in! I’ve made all your favourites! Even yours, Gertrude!”


It seems like that weirdo also knew that klutzy, exhausted Gertrude. At this moment, Rei positioned herself near to the plates of cookies, posing herself as some kind of promoter, gesturing everyone to take a bite at the cookies. The aroma emanated from the baked cookies was undoubtedly tempting, showing that Samuel is a skillful baker. But Miyako remains skeptical, even though she finished that onigiri that Gertrude has given to her.


("Go, or not to go...")


Everyone seemed to be quite enjoying themselves, especially that younger school girl who in front of her, fully enjoying herself with the cookies and the sweet scent of the iced soda drink. Miyako sighed once more, before taking a stare at her own glass of soda. With a suspicious stance, she took a sip of it, and realized that this is no mere cheap soda. It is too sweet for her own taste, but Miyako felt it is different than any canned soda sold outside.


("I think I'll just settle with the soda.")


Then, Miyako managed to hear from that pink haired girl speaking to Rei, questioning her why she was got quickly adapted to the situation, before awkwardly asking about Samuel's last name.


At this point, Miyako wondered what she would do, as she glanced at the younger school girl eating away her share of cookies, and Rei.