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Hana’s eyes shot open, wearily looking around her dark room. She couldn’t work out why, but it seemed way too early to be up. Then it hit her, it was that damn ringing again. Only this time she actually made an effort to get up and answer it at a decent time.

“Hello?” Hana groggily called.

“Gasp! Could this be the great Hana has awoken from her slumber without 10 missed calls and a coffee bribe?”

Yeah, that was Ren, definitely.

“Well, now I’ve got a reason to be up...at...” Hana glanced at the screen of her phone, squinting in the bright light. “Why am I up at 5AM?”

“You’ve got a big day today! And so do it, but not the same big day as you. Plus no one else can wake you up and this is the only time I have free...so yeah. Bye!”

Ren hung up before Hana could even reply.

“...Right then,” Hana grumbled, stumbling around until she found a light switch and flicked it, finally having some sort of idea where she was going. “I guess I’m awake.”

It was way too early still to head to the café, so she grabbed a quick shower and tossed on some clothes afterwards, deciding how to pass the time. She was kinda hungry. And there was probably some leftovers or cereal in here somewhere. Or maybe some bread.

> Cook some breakfast.
> Eat something ready-to-eat for breakfast.
> Skip breakfast.

>>2422748
>> Skip breakfast.

>> Skip breakfast.

Writing.
Man maybe this was a bad time to post...

> Skip breakfast.

Hana made the choice to skip breakfast, instead resorting to laying on her bed staring blankly at her phone for an hour or so. No wonder she never woke up this early, there was just nothing to do. Eventually she got up and left nearer to the meeting time to slip into some nearby 24 hours convenience store, grabbing what was probably an unhealthy amount of coffee going by the half-asleep cashier’s face and slowly walking towards the cafe.

The walk was completely uneventful, no one in sight save for maybe a couple old people or people walking a dog here and there. Hana was right in this being a ridiculous time to be awake. Even reaching the cafe it seemed absolutely dead, and trying the door did nothing. Not even a peep from inside. With about 45 minutes left to kill, no wonder no one else was here yet. Hana just sat on the ground and chugged two cans of coffee, looking around before spying a small pathway that must've led towards the back of the cafe.

> Follow the path.
> Just sit and wait.

>>2422799
Sit and wait.

>>2422799
>> Follow the path.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>2422816
> Just sit and wait.

>>2422829
> Follow the path.

Tiebreaker roll! Then writing!

File: Ayame2.jpg (106 KB, 850x638)

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> Follow the path.

Getting to her feet, Hana peeked around the corner into the...fairly dark path. It was kind of creepy, getting a good look at it now. But it definitely led somewhere. So following the short pathway it led to a small paved pathway along the back of the building, but every single inch of available space everywhere else was filled with flowers. In the middle of it all was Ayame, arms full of pots filled with flowers from a freshly dug spot in the garden all balanced precariously as she tried to carefully step her way out without crushing anything underfoot.

Surprisingly she made it with a sigh of relief, only then catching sight of Hana and chuckling.

“Oh, you’re here early. I didn’t expect anyone else to be here for another...well, until around 5 minutes before it begins,” she spoke, gently passing some pots to Hana and beckoning to follow through a small door at the end of the building. Straight ahead were some stairs leading to another door but instead of heading up those she hip bumped another door open which led into the cafe. “I was just...replacing some flowers...that got crushed by the brick yesterday...” Ayame carefully put the flowers onto an empty table, patting them gently before beginning to dig out the casualties from the mass of flowers at the window.

> Help.
> Just watch.

>>2422945
>> Help.

>>2422945
>Help

> Help.

Writing.

> Help.

Stepping forward, Hana reached forward to pluck a damaged flower from the soil before Ayame grabbed her hand, a panicked expression on her face.

“You can’t just rip them up like that! I might be able to save some of them!” Ayame then went and grabbed Hana’s hands, gently guiding them to scoop the flowers out of the soil whole and place them in a large tub filled with more soil. “I’ll check them later, some might be salvageable,” she mumbled, going back to moving more herself when she was happy with Hana’s work. Together it didn’t take long to fish out all the damaged flowers and replace them with fresh ones.

“You did a good job! Let’s take these to my house, I’ll sort through them later.” Ayame headed back through the door from before, this time taking the stairs up and opening them to reveal…

“This...this isn’t your house, is it?”

“Oh it is! It’s small but I do like it here!” Ayame ignored the floor space entirely filled with flowers save for a small path throughout the place and in the kitchen and somehow found a place to put down the tub. “Anyway it’s not much but we can do a tour later, if I’m guessing right,” Ayame paused to read a nearby clock on the wall. “Kane should be arriving right about...”

Ayame counted down from three on her fingers before the roar of a motorcycle came from outside. She nodded before walking out to the back once again, and as Hana joined her a sleek red motorcycle appeared from the side path and said cook appearing alongside it. After making sure it was safe and out the way, Kane joined the two.

“Man, I thought I was gonna end up late. I wouldn’t take you for an early riser though...” Kane glanced to Hana.

“I’m not. I’m surprised I’m still standing. Thank god for convenience stores.”

“...You’re not eating crap like convenience store food are you?”

“Well not this time but they have this really good instant--”

“Don’t say another word,” Kane interrupted, storming inside and almost instantly the sound of pots and pans started up. Ayame could only laugh, resting her head in the palm of her hand.

“You’ve actually set her off this time. I’d go take a seat before she ties you to a chair and force feeds you,” Ayame warned.

> Listen.
> Don’t listen.

>>2423154
>Listen.

>>2423154
> Listen.
I'm not against the Delinquent Chef force feeding us, but that's less desirable with company around

>>2423154
>> Listen.

>>2423154
>> Don’t listen.

>>2423154
>> Listen.

> Listen.

Writing.

> Listen.

Hana nodded and slipped back inside, taking a seat at a table and taking note of the soil covering the table from the pots before. It seemed even Kane noticed this when she walked out with a tray full of breakfast food, eyeing it for a moment before putting the food onto another, cleaner table.

“Aya! What have I told you about getting the tables dirty!?” Kane yelled out towards the back of the cafe, seeming to just...pick up the chair Hana was sat on, Hana and all, and turning it around to the cleaner table. She then walked off to the back without a word, probably to hunt down Ayame.

Well...that was unexpected. Hana just loosed her death grip on the sides of the chair and began to eat the food, remembering how hungry she was the more mouthfuls she took. By the time the familiar face of Tsubaki showed up, Hana had eaten her fill, leaving plenty for Tsubaki to pick up the slack. Seems she wasn’t planning to leave any of Kane’s cooking behind.

Eventually Kane and Ayame returned, Ayame hurriedly tidying up the soil with a nervous chuckle and they all took a seat.

“Well we’ve got a bit more time, just one more person. Not really a regular staff member but she might have some input, since she does help us with supplying ingredients.”

So there was time to kill.

> Ask Kane about her motorcycle.
> Ask Ayame about the flowers.
> Ask Tsubaki about the work.
> Ask about the final person.

>>2423330
>> Ask Kane about her motorcycle.

>>2423330
>> Ask Ayame about the flowers.

>>2423330
>Ask Ayame about the flowers.

>> Ask Ayame about the flowers.

Writing.

> Ask Ayame about the flowers.

“So...Ayame. Why are you so interested in flowers?”

Hana swears she almost heard a collective groan from the other two present as Ayame dashed forward, pulling up a seat and sitting almost uncomfortably close, eyes sparkling.

“I’m so glad you asked! It’s great to have someone else with an interest in my little babies! You see, I used to actually be a florist! But people only really go to a florist for the flowers themselves, and I just felt so heartbroken parting with them...” Hana swore that Kane held back a laugh there, but Ayame paid no mind and continued. “So I shut shop and decided a cute little cafe filled with flowers would be so lovely, and then no one would take the flowers! And here we are!” For extra emphasis, she waved her arm around the shop. “Or...it was a good idea to begin with.”

“Yeah, we used to get plenty of couples on dates, or just girls wanting to hang with friends. But once all this crap started they all stopped coming,” Kane added.

Everyone went silent for a moment before Ayame coughed and continued.

“But anyway! If you ever want to visit my babies, feel free to come upstairs! You’re always welcome! Just don’t touch any without my permission, ‘kay?”

Hana was sure despite her smile that was definitely some sort of threat. She didn’t have time to think on it, though. A small van pulled up in front of the store and out hopped...oh, surely that tiny girl was not capable of driving that. But there she was, hopping out and locking up before approaching the front door. Hana watched her bright red mop of hair bounce before a loud knock on the door had Tsubaki jump to her feet.

“Well now that everyone’s here, let’s get this started! But first, introductions,” Ayame clapped her hands together, welcoming the red head who gave a silent greeting and plopped down in a chair.

> Introduce yourself first.
> Let the newcomer introduce herself.

>>2423547
>> Let the newcomer introduce herself.

>>2423547
>> Introduce yourself first.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>2423553
> Let the newcomer introduce herself.

>>2423573
> Introduce yourself first.

Rolling tiebreaker! And writing!

>>2423553
>Let the newcomer introduce herself.

>>2423595
Late to the punch but oh well, it won anyway.

File: Himawari1.png (1.47 MB, 845x1200)

1.47 MB PNG

> Let the newcomer introduce herself.

For a moment, everyone sat in silence, looking between Hana and the redhead before the latter sighed and sat up.

“...Oh. You...wanted me to say something? Right,” she held out a hand, offering a handshake which Hana takes and almost gasps at the sheer strength of the grip. “Himawari. I don’t do the whole waitress thing or whatever, but I bring the veggies and fresh junk like that.” At that, she let go and Hana resisted waving her hand a little to gain some feeling back.

“I’m Hana. I decided to be generous and help this place. It’s really nice here, and all. Seems a shame to just vanish and all.” Himawari raised a brow at that, but said nothing else. Things sank into a deep silence once again, and this time Kane broke it with banging two pans together.

“Well let’s get this whole meeting underway!” Kane looked to Hana. “Do you have money to even do this or not?”

At that, Hana triumphantly grinned and held up her phone, watching as Kane’s face turned pale.

“H...how the...fuck?! Ten...thous...and…?”

“Family connections and being the dear only child.”

“Are they willing to adopt?” Tsubaki joked.

“A...anyway. Let’s discuss what we wanna do?” Kane snapped out of it, keeping things flowing.

> Keep the current flower cafe theme and just fix the place up.
> Change the theme to something else and reopen. (Suggest themes. (Maid, butler, cat, etc.))

>>2423625
>Keep the current flower cafe theme and just fix the place up.

Flowers are perfect, no need to change it.

>>2423625
> Keep the current flower cafe theme and just fix the place up.

> Keep the current flower cafe theme and just fix the place up.

Writing.

> Keep the current flower cafe theme and just fix the place up.

“You know, I liked this place and actually came in here because of the flowers. I’d vote we keep it this way,” Hana suggested, meeting a general agreement with everyone else there. With that sorted, Kane began writing down various things onto a piece of paper and tallying it up.

“The windows will be about 300. Going through little repair jobs and buying replacement furniture,” Kane paused a minute, tallying things up. Meanwhile, looking around Hana could understand the need for new chairs and tables. These plain wooden ones were nice but something a bit comfier could be appreciated. “Will we say 2000? That should get something better for now.”

Hana nodded, once again everyone agreeing with this. “What about the menu?” Hana shrunk back, eyeing Kane’s expression.

“What about it?” It seemed like Kane was very protective of that menu. She looked ready to pounce if Hana said one wrong thing about it.

“...Nothing. Moving on! How about...promotions? Or how about security, since you seemed to have issues with vandals?”

“Well, the security...hm...” Ayame seemed to ponder it before moving to the other. “I’m totally for flyers and stuff. It’d be nice to get word out past this little quiet area now!”

Everyone else seemed to be in about the same boat. So maybe no security for now, how odd, but promotional material sounded good.

> Print flyers. (-50)
> Use the internet.
> Walk about and spread by word of mouth.

(Current Funds: 8000)

>>2423792
>Print Flyers and walk around town distributing them

>>2423792
>Use the internet.

We gonna be WEB SAVVY

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>2423801
>Print Flyers and walk around town distributing them

>>2423804
>Use the internet.

Rolling to break the tie and then writing!

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> Print flyers and walk around town distributing them.

“How about we print off some flyers? Try hand them out? You see those kinds of people about all the time and I mean people seem interested enough in those,” Hana suggests, Tsubaki instantly agreeing with the idea.

“I can make one! I took lots of pretty pictures of the flowers, and stuff!” She’s practically leaping out of her seat at the prospect of making a flyer, and Hana agrees.

“You can do that, then. How soon can you finish them by?”

“Tomorrow! I totally got a printer we can use too!”

“Alright, then we’ll meet back here tomorrow...not so early though...please.”

“Got it!”

But who to take along? Hana will definitely go, but is taking Tsubaki a good idea? Or maybe someone else.

> Invite Tsubaki.
> Invite Ayame.
> Invite Kane.
> Invite Julia.
> Invite Ren.

(Current Funds: 7950)

>>2424050
Sorry I typo'd I meant Himawari...not Julia...wooops.

>>2424050
>Invite Tsubaki.
Go for it. What's the worst that could happen?

>>2424050
>> Invite Ayame.

>>2424050
> Invite Ren.

>>2424050
> Invite Kane.

Rolled 5 (1d5)

>>2424050
DICE, LEAD ME TO VALHALLA

....Well then, I guess that roll-vote means.

> Invite Ren.

Writing.

> Invite Ren.

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to phone up Ren for this. Hopefully he’ll be able to get time off of work to come lend a hand. Plus, I’d rather not pull you away from this place,” Hana spoke, waving her phone.

“Not a problem! I’ll make sure to bring plenty flyers!” Tsubaki yelled, not bothered that she couldn’t go.

There wasn’t much else to discuss, surprisingly. Things were relatively in order for some newbie cafe owner (though Hana had a feeling Kane ran most things and Ayame just decorated). Hana just hung around drinking an unhealthy amount of coffee until Ayame confiscated her coffee privileges and she went on her way home, planning to sleep even earlier to make up for that ungodly hour she had woken up at that morning.

On her way home, she made sure to call up Ren, who answered after maybe her third attempt.

“Hey Ren, wanna go out tomorrow?” Hana cut right to the chase.

“...Hana, if this is some joke you’re planning with those girls...”

“No seriously, I told them I’d hand out flyers and take you with me. Are you really going to deny your best friend a little favour?”

“...Well fine. Meet me at the station at 10AM. Can you be up for then?”

“Oh please, I was up at 5AM today. 10AM sounds easy.”

“See you then,” Ren said his farewells and hung up, Hana heading back home. She’ll need the rest for tomorrow.

Be back tomorrow, say around 5PM UTC? For a more exact time nearer to the time, just follow the Twitter and catch you all tomorrow for the totally-not-a-date adventure!

https://twitter.com/Clue_QM

>>2424236
>I missed my chance to vote to hang out with Kane
Awwwww
Thanks For Running Clue, See ya tomorrow

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“What happened to meeting at the station!?”

“I knew you’d never wake up in time, so I did you a favour!”

Hana huffed, crossing her arms and refusing to look at Ren who was finding it a struggle to not laugh. Hana didn’t find it funny at all. She was enjoying a good sleep until someone pressed an ice cold can of coffee onto her neck in her surprise she fell out of bed.

The two walked in silence to the cafe to pick up the...heaping stack of flyers packed into multiple boxes. They were super cute and girly, covered in pictures of the flowers. Even a group staff photo from what must’ve been when it first opened. Hana was definitely impressed...Ren not so much. The former was definitely appreciating the wakeup call a little more now, imagining carrying all these to the station.

They took the train into the busier shopping centre at Hana’s suggestion, having spied plenty people handing out flyers in the area before. They found a spot to put the boxes down and took a small pile each.

> Just hand out the flyers.
> Be loud and get attention from people passing by.
> Compete against Ren.

>>2425972
> Be loud and get attention from people passing by.

>>2425972
>> Just hand out the flyers.

>>2425972
>Be loud and get attention from people passing by.
Gotta show initiative.

>Be loud and get attention from people passing by.

Writing.

> Be loud and get attention from people passing by.

Starting by handing out a couple flyers here and there, eventually the two got more into it as they began calling out and attracting the attention of small families and girls who ate it up.

“Come and visit the Rosebud Cafe!”

“View beautiful flowers while you have one of the best meals you’ve ever tasted!”

They weren’t very good at this, but it seemed to catch the interest of some. They felt it was going pretty well, but as a bunch of nearby screens changed to promote a TV show, Ren paused before his eyes lit up.

“Hana look! That’s it!” He directed Hana’s attention to the screen where...some sort of live action show was on? Some girl in a cute pastel outfit with pink and blue hair looked pretty beaten up and angry before it panned to what had to be some sort of villain...was that?

“Ren is that...that can’t be you, can it?”

Ren puffed out his chest with pride, watching the footage with sparkling eyes and barely contained childish glee.

“It certainly is, dear Hana! Somehow they loved my audition and cast me as a...villain of the week. I mean, it’s a start! And the Magical Girl Kira actress is so sweet and nice!”

> Congratulate him.
> Act uninterested, go back to handing out flyers.

>>2426237
> Act uninterested, go back to handing out flyers.

>>2426237
>Congratulate him.
Be nice to our friend.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>2426241
> Act uninterested, go back to handing out flyers.

>>2426254
> Congratulate him.

Rolling and then writing!

> Act uninterested, go back to handing out flyers.

“Huh, that’s cool, I guess,” Hana spoke, turning around and going right back to handing out flyers, leaving Ren to stare at her back before chasing after her, joyful expression looking a lot glummer.

As it continued, the two somehow handed out almost all the flyers and decided to take the leftovers to hand out as they made their way back to the station and then the cafe. The trip back was relatively silent, Ren eventually parting ways with Hana as they neared the cafe. He definitely seemed less chipper, Hana was thinking maybe she should’ve shown some interest. Those kinds of shows weren’t her thing, but he sure seemed proud. Maybe she’d phone him up later about it.

She put the spare flyers out of the way in the back of the cafe, Tsubaki happily making her a coffee and passing over some cake she had brought in as a snack, directing Hana to sit furthest away from the broken windows as some men worked to replace them. They were sure here fast.

“Good job on the flyers! But...didn’t your friend go with you? Where did he go?”

“Oh he had...things to do. He just split with me once we got here.” Tsubaki frowned, tilting her head to the side.

“Hrmmmmmmm...” Tsubaki kept humming, Hana tempted to check she wasn’t broken or something. “How abouuuut, you call him? Maybe you hurt his feelings? You seemed so friendly before, and allllll, he just doesn’t seem like he’d ditch you without telling you whyyy.”

“Maybe...maybe you’re right?”

> Call him up now.
> Call him later.

>>2426586
>Call him up now.

>>2426586
>Text Ren " Come by later and I'll watch your stupid show while you gush about about"

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>2426598
> Call him up now.

>>2426605
>Text Ren " Come by later and I'll watch your stupid show while you gush about about"

Rolling to break the tie and writing!

> Text Ren: " Come by later and I'll watch your stupid show while you gush about it."

“You know, I’ll not give him a call right now, but let me just text him real quick. I’ll catch up with him later.”

Tsubaki gave a nod as Hana rapidly typed a message to Ren, Tsubaki continuing to eat the cake and humming a random tune as she glanced around.

‘Hey Ren, how about you come by later and I’ll watch your dumb show you were gushing about?’ Hana typed, throwing in some goofy emoji for good measure and to make sure he knew she was seriously wanting to watch it with him. It took seconds for her to get a reply made up of mostly yelling and emojis of popcorn everywhere. Seemed he was quite happy to make it happen. Eventually Hana coaxed a time out of him, confirming 8PM as the time he would make it to her house. Sounded like a sleepover night. It was about 2PM by now, so she had time to kill, but preparing early wasn’t too bad an idea.

> Head back to get things ready.
> Hang around and chat. (Tsubaki, Kane or Ayame)

>>2426713
>> Hang around and chat. Kane
Maybe we can gleam some cooking knowledge from her

>>2426718
Second.

> Hang around and chat. (Kane)

Writing!

File: Kane2.png (321 KB, 600x800)

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> Hang around and chat. (Kane)

Finishing off the coffee, Hana rose and left Tsubaki to finish off the cake and her staring blankly at the flowers, instead choosing to go and find Kane. Of course, she was hiding in the kitchen with a phone in one hand and a magazine in another.

“Hey Kane, what are you--?” Hana froze as Kane fumbled with the phone, slamming the magazine shut and clinging to the device to avoid losing it again.

“Give me a warning next time you’re going to just walk in!” Kane snapped, gently setting the phone down on a surface not filled with various furniture magazines.

“What are you doing?” Hana picked up one of the magazines, flicking through it and seeing small circles on things Kane must’ve taken an interest in.

“What does it look like? I’m trying to find us some decent and inexpensive furniture! I’ve already got the repairs done and all I need is to replace that old stuff out front.” Kane leaned over another magazine, beginning to circle more things before calling again. After a short conversation, she hung up the phone again, looking pleased with herself.

“So give me an opinion here, bank. Should we go for those soft, comfy chairs? Or just stick with the plain wooden chairs, maybe stick cushions on the seats?”

> Comfy chairs. (-500)
> Wooden chairs with cushions. (-250)

Current Furniture Funds: 1000
Other Funds: 7950

>>2426882
> Comfy chairs. (-500)

> Comfy chairs. (-500)

Writing.

> Comfy chairs. (-500)

“Go with the comfy chairs,” Hana suggested, Kane giving a nod and making another phone call.

“Our brand new chairs will be arriving in the next couple days. Once those windows are fixed there’s just a couple minor repairs and touchups and we are good to go!” Kane held her hand out, pausing a moment before looking at Hana. “High five?”

“Oh...oh! That’s what...OK,” Hana awkwardly returned the high five before stepping away. Kane just turned back to the phone, dialling another number and quietly shooing Hana away. Guess that conversation was over as Hana exited the kitchen. It killed some time, and it seemed Tsubaki was locking up the door, examining the newly repaired windows with awe as the workers left. It was about time for Hana to leave too, thinking her house needed a little more order to find a place for Ren to sleep.

> Go pick up snacks.
> Head straight home.

Current Furniture Funds: 500
Other Funds: 7950

>>2426988
> Go pick up snacks.
>Make sure we Ren's favourite, as an apology for being a jerk

> Go pick up snacks.
>Make sure we pick Ren's favourite, as an apology for being a jerk.

Writing!

> Go pick up snacks.
>Make sure we get Ren's favourite, as an apology for being a jerk.

Heading to the convenience store on the way home, Hana grabbed a handful of sweet treats along with some chips and drinks. With a full basket, she paused on the way to pay, her eye catching a collaboration snack to do with that show Ren was on, though she could only tell by the pictures covering it starring that pastel girl. Hana picked it up and tossed it into the pile along with some gummy candy that Ren enjoyed before paying for it all and heading home.

By the time 8PM rolled around and Ren arrived, Hana had already changed into comfortable nightwear and thrown a heap of pillows onto the floor and couch, snacks littering the table in front of the TV.

“Damn, I didn’t think you’d go this overboard. I brought some pizza from that place you like,” Ren joked, holding out the boxes which Hana gratefully took anyway. “I mean, even if you don’t eat it all you’re set on leftovers for days...don’t let Kane know, though.”

They settled down and Ren plucked the first of a stack of BluRays from a bag he brought, slipping it into the player and beginning the first episode. As soon as the theme song began, he wouldn’t sit down, going from singing along to the song to jumping up and down, explaining some fancy effect they used and how it worked. Or explaining some confusing magical plot thing to a lost Hana. Eventually Ren sat down and began to quietly watch, both of them gradually working their way through the snacks, Ren over the moon at the themed snacks plus his favourite snacks being there, and episodes until the early hours of the morning.

End of Episode 2

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Clue_QM

Please follow the Twitter for next episode. See you then!

>>2427284
Thanks for running, Clue.

>>2427284
Thanks for Running Clue