It was one of those...butterfly kind of feelings, if that makes sense.

You drift off into sleep, your body is floating away, and then suddenly things seem a bit...weird.  You're not sure if you're dreaming, or if awake.  Your immediate thoughts and surroundings are mired in confusion, as you don't know what to make of them, at first.  It wakes an old man with a big nose to set you straight.  That's the kind of sensation that card imparted.  It wasn't just a message.  It was an invitation, an initiation back into those strange times, back then, changing hearts and putting to rights what's wrong.  It was a familiar feeling, an uncertainty of the situation, that indication...that things are about to get interesting.  Most importantly, though, it was the way to seal the deal and show that this was not a prank or a [i]phan[/i] or anything like that.  It was real, and that meant it needed to be addressed.

So, he had come here, to the club at Dotonbori Canal, where the nearby running water, the open terraces, and the ceiling fans make an effort to keep its guests cool in this stifling hot evening.  He didn't have to wait [i]too[/i] long.  Anyone pulling Ren out of his apartment with a card like [i]that[/i] wouldn't keep him waiting.  The footsteps were light, not really giving much away before he looked.  As he did though...

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xDWVh0W83s[/youtube][/center]

You never know what to expect in a situation like this, but in this case...  [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/7a9c5cd7-d852-437f-a368-021ca71fb6fc.jpg]A woman[/url] came to the terrace area.  Dark hair and eyes of similar color to his own, though her hair went straight down hear her waist instead of his on head's jungle disaster.  From this perspective, it was hard to tell, but either she had an inch on him in height, or perhaps the other way around.  Slim and built, wearing a loose shirt and pants that would breathe in this heat, she looked like she trained, as she was very fit, and very easy on the eyes.

As Ren laid eyes on her, though, there was something else: A flicker in his vision, a faint image of a younger - but siimilar - figure, in like a racing jumpsuit and helmet?  It began to fade as the helmet was pulled off and a mane of black hair cascaded down.  It was her.  He knew her, but he [i]didn't[/i] know her.  It was one of those tip-of-your-tongue things.  It was there in his head, somewhere.  More than deja vu evoking the [i]idea[/i] of something happening before, he was sure of it...but knew not why.  The most important factor was that the memory felt [i]exactly[/i] like the card.  This was his caller, no question.

All of this processed in the few seconds it took to look him over, for her to be satisfied that she herself had the right person.  Her wait had been longer, in more ways than one.  Stepping into the terrace proper and taking a seat across from him, the woman addressed Ren in a familiar fashion, not like a stranger, at all.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting.  The coffee in this place is alright, but you have to ask for anything special to be done to it, and it takes a little while to fill the order."

She said this, looking down at the cup she had brought with her, paralleling his own.  It was a little more up to the Sojiro standard, by the smell of it.  At least, it was an attempt by the Cafe Paris employees to make it so.  She regarded the pair of cups for a moment, processing something only known to her, along with the look she'd receive upon walking in here.  Then, she lifted her gaze over to Ren, as though searching for some hint across the table, looking for indicators of reaction as she spoke on.

"It's been a long time, though...you don't remember me, do you?"

It wasn't that she was so much as disappointed as...possibly expecting it, maybe prepared for it?  Her eyes wandered now to the nearby bag, then, and she added...

"Either of you."