553/You Come Here Often

You Come Here Often
Date of Scene:	05 October 2023
Location:	A Back Alley Sushi Bar
Synopsis:	Dianora is lost in a not-so-savory part of Tokyo and happens upon a food stall where an oddly familiar American girl is eating her chicken donburi. It doesn't take them all that long to recognize one another, and make more plans for mischief. Watch out Adora!
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Double Trouble

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Catra has posed:
Tokyo is a city of many, many places. Most people think about the shiny buildings, the temples, sights, the touristy stuff. But that's just the icing on the cake.

Tokyo is an entire, complete city; with a myriad of places to vanish into and simply not be found, if one were so inclined. Or, perhaps, only be found by a certain type of people. Catra is in one of those places right now, wearing her Rachel Miller disguise, and masquerading as an American girl with dark brown hair, dressed in faded jeans and a plain grey hoodie.

The place is one of those streets that's like a glorified back alley, lost somewhere in between major roads where no tourist would ever go, and packed on both sides with underground shops beneath rows of small apartments, cheap by the usual standards of Tokyo. One of the shops is an outdoor sushi bar, like a little kiosk in the middle where the staff stand under the sky and it's surrounded on all four sides by stools in various states of repair (or disrepair, however you want to look at it).

Catra is seated on one of these stools; most of the other ones are occupied by people who are obviously Yakuza. Catra seems unconcerned by this, as she has a bowl of chicken donburi in front of her, which she's enjoying with chopsticks in one hand and a smartphone in the other, paying absolutely no attention to the Yakuza around her.

Well, anyone who doesn't know her would think she's paying no attention.

Double Trouble has posed:
Who looks _more_ out of place here than an American teen with a hoodie and an attitude problem? An Italian tween who appears to be the epitome of everything cute. Dianora is dressed in a school uniform, but in pink and white, rather than Radiant Heart's usual colors. She traipses up to the sushi stand and climbs up onto the only other vacant stool at the moment, which happens to be the one next to the girl who clearly doesn't care about all the Yakuza.

She reaches into her little bedazzled, pink clutch and pulls out some yen, putting them down on the counter. In fluent Japanese, she orders a bowl of unagi donburi. Then she looks around at everyone else sitting at the stall. It makes her feel a little homesick, really, like sitting at a table at the cantina in the Crimson Waste with nothing but ruffians around.

Then, as if she weren't the one who stuck out more, she looks up to Rachel Miller right there next to her, and says, brightly, "Hello, I'm Dianora! Do you come here often?"

Catra has posed:
Catra is... what *is* she doing on her phone? Doesn't look like she's scrolling through Facebook, like you might generally expect people to be doing. Honestly it looks more like she's trying to figure out how to purchase illegal weapons or something. But she couldn't possibly be doing that, right?

...Right?

The Disguised feline looks sideways at the... small... person who takes the seat beside hers, and is instantly putting up the obnoxious exterior. Hey, it's part of her disguise, afterall.

"Aren't you a little young to be here?" she asks, as if she herself weren't also in that category. "And, like... small?"

Even disguised, Catra is only just over five feet tall herself.

The feline plunges her chopsticks into her bowl, and stuffs what she comes away with into her mouth, continuing to eye Dianora with a general air of suspicion as she eats.

Double Trouble has posed:
Dianora Lagorio does not quite even make five feet, measuring at just an inch shy herself. She's smol. She giggles and shrugs, looking toward the big bowl of unadon that is set down on the countertop in front of her. "Doesn't look like it," she replies, with a giggle.

She picks up her chopsticks and unwraps them, breaks them apart, and takes a bite of her food, getting a bit of eel and rice all together. It's a perfect little morsel. She pops it in her mouth and then makes a pleased sound as she eats it.

"I'll admit it, though, I got lost," she says, sounding ever so innocent about it. Maybe she really did get lost. "I've been wandering around for a little while, trying to get my bearings, but then my tummy rumbled and I realized I was so hungry. Then I found this place."

Catra has posed:
If Catra had come from a later point in her life than just after her pull of the lever to open a portal, it's possible she might've conflated Dianora with Flutterina. As it is, all that happened... afterwards, and Catra hasn't experienced any of it. So, she just kind of stares at Dianora, looking the clearly suicidal tween up and down for a moment, before she shrugs and turns her attention largely back to her food.

"Rachel Miller," she ansers, tacking it on as a bit of an afterthought. "You got lost and found food? Could be worse I guess." She pauses, stuffing a bit more in her mouth, chicken and rice and all.

"Do I come here often? First time I've ever been here." She glances at the Yakuza, a couple of whom are watching them back. "But I might come again. I like the ambience."

Double Trouble has posed:
As one would expect from a ravenous, growing tween, Dianora turns to her unadon bowl and eats several big bites in quick succession. She's all but shoveling it in to her mouth. She did say she was hungry. But she's listening. She's always listening.

There's something about Rachel Miller's voice that is entirely too familiar. Dianora recognizes that voice. Dianora has _used_ that voice. That's _Catra's_ voice. She looks at the girl, for a moment as she has one more bite of unagi. And then decides to test her hypothesis.

"It makes me think of the cantina back home where Tung Lashor's crew always hung out," she says. It's a weird thing for a twelve-year-old Italian girl to say. But if it lands, well, then Dianora will know she's right. Of course, Catra will know she's more than she seems, but that's okay. They're coworkers. "Honestly, it makes me a bit homesick."

Catra has posed:
Catra's gaze snaps sideways; and that, most likely, is hypothesis confirmed. Just the same, the person calling herself Rachel Miller glares for a moment, making a show of keeping the same attitude towards the small person beside her for the benefit of all the Yakuza, before she turns back to her bowl of food.

Well. Double Trouble would certainly know that Catra is not being nearly so unobservant to the world around her as she might appear.

"Yeah, I kinda miss home too," she muses. "But it doesn't matter. Home's gone, I'm here, and that's that. Might as well just get used to it."

Catra leaves the other half of that equation left unsaid, leaving it to hang in the air for a moment before she continues.

"Of course there's people here I don't need who I could've easily done with continuing to miss, but I guess you just can't have everything, right?" She shrugs. "Except some good back alley food. This place *is* good. I will be back."

Double Trouble has posed:
Somehow, through the power of her youth, Dianora manages to finish every last morsel of food in her bowl in the time it takes Catra to get to her declaration of intent to return. She was very hungry. She gives that empty bowl a look like she might order another, but instead she turns to look at Catra.

"You know, I did manage to meet her at school," the smol girl says, finally. "We bonded over being foreigners. And she told me all about the love of her life who just happened to move here too." She leans in a little. "She's really messed up about you." She did promise to keep Catra in the loop, after all. Even if she didn't go to any great lengths to do so. They're here now, together.

Catra has posed:
Catra takes a gulp from her drink -- a can of very American Coca Cola -- and snorts loudly. "Of course she is," she replies. "She'd lose a math contest against a box of rocks so of course she can't add up a relationship. Or figure out what being 'friends' actually means," she grouses. She sighs, picking up the can and draining it.

"There's this thing on the menu called 'sake', she adds, "Don't bother, it tastes like the chemical the Horde used to clean sewer pipes." She lobs the can towards a trash bin -- perfect shot -- and picks up her bowl once more, which she's eating a lot more slowly than Dianora ate hers. Though, she does seem suirably impressed with Dianora's eating prowess. Even if she's not going to show it.

"So who's she chumming with? Anyone who matters?"

Double Trouble has posed:
Dianora Lagorio shrugs. "I honestly haven't seen her much. We ran into each other in the cafeteria around dinner-time, when it's just residents mostly," she says. "But she's been busy starting clubs: Boxing Club, Equestrian Club. I got the impression she hadn't made very many friends yet." But then she shrugs. "But it's been a little while, so who knows."

Then the girl gets the most evil grin. It's an expression of pure chaos and mischief. It's just a flash, and then she looks as sweet as ever. "She invited me to come hang out at her room sometime, though, so I'm definitely going to do that," she says. Then she grins. "Which could give us an opportunity."

Catra has posed:
Catra looks... it's hard to say how she looks, really, at the news that Adora is starting clubs and making friends. It's a sort of dismissive, sad, hurt, angry look, all at once. There's definite emphasis on the angry part, probably something of an effort to hide the rest.

"...Yeah, that *does* present an opportunity," Catra muses. "Steal her diary, if she's keeping one. I... Actually she won't be, she can barely read. But we *could* definitely listen in on her. ...I wonder if Takashi could give us a bug to listen in on her or something." Catra humms, tapping her lips lightl.

"We'll have to ask him about that. You do good work Dianora."

Double Trouble has posed:
"Aww, thanks, Rachel," Dianora says, blushing just a little and making bashful eyes. "If you can get me a bug, I can definitely plant it," she says. Then she considers. "If you can get me several, I could certainly make use of them." Her eyes cloud with mischief and she giggles, and it almost sounds sinister.

After a moment of giggling she takes a deep breath, and then leans in a little closer to Catra. "I was not lying about being lost, earlier. Can you help me get to somewhere I recognize?"

Catra has posed:
Catra bobs her head, "Sure, I'll ask Takashi and see what he can make. If I tell him it's for keeping an eye -- or, well, an ear -- on magic girls from the academy, I'm sure he'll at least give it some thought."

The feline shrugs her shoulders, and picks up her Donburi to polish it off rapidly -- proving that she can indeed eat quickly when she wants to. "...Sure," she adds.

Catra hops off her stool, and collects her phone, stuffing it into a pocket. She tosses a small handful of rumpled bills onto the counter to pay for her food, and gestures for Dianora to follow her. "Come on, come this way. I'll get you at least to Obsidian Tower."