"Hey," she says. "I've gone through and done study prep for tomorrow, and now I...  kind of don't have much to do. Would you mind if we chat while you don't have customers? I could maybe help you with prep work or something? Mostly I want something to do so I don't just sit around in the attic all day."

He gives her an appraising look, then nods. "Come back here and grab an apron, then, and I'll show you how it all works."

He gestures at a rack where another two aprons hang.

"Don't expect to get to start brewing straight off, though," he adds sternly.

"Alright!"

She comes and gets on an apron, and stands ready for instructions.

And Sojiro shows her all the various tools, the beans, the grinder, the different degrees of coarseness or fineness the grounds can be produced at, and so much more. This man clearly knows quite a lot about coffee. There are different brewing methods that bring out different things in the resulting coffee. Different grinds are better for different brewing methods. Grinding the beans the moment before you start brewing is always best.

And so on.

They can pass an hour or two like that easily enough. Sojiro's a surprisingly patient teacher, for how gruff he is. 

She follows along. It's interesting to see coffee as a science like this. Always more to learn, huh?

Attitude like that and she might just make it through her probation. 

She passes most of the rest of the day learning coffee, cleaning up the remains of the attic a bit more, and reading a few of Sakura-san's old books. 

Finally it's time to close up shop.

They put everything away for the night. Before they step outside to head Sojiro's place for Akira's shower, though, he tosses her a key.

Holy shit, that's a lot of trust. 

"Thank you," she says. She pockets it.

"You're already sleeping here, kid. Giving you the key doesn't add much more room for you to burn the place down, just makes it easier for you to lock it up if you go out."

He locks the door behind them as they head out to his house, and flips the sign to "closed".

She nods. That does make sense, she guesses.

She'll let herself be escorted for her nightly shower. She's got some nice peach-scented shampoo from the thrift store; that'll be nice. 

(She dissociates the whole time anyway.)

Then it's back to Leblanc to let herself back in and go to sleep.

Morning comes soon enough, as it does. No weird dreams tonight, at least.

She takes her daily pills as soon as she gets up, and a good thing too because she has a headache attack not ten minutes later while she's brushing her hair. It's a little less intense, but not by much. 

She gets on her school uniform, grabs her already-prepared pack, and heads downstairs to try and fix herself a quick breakfast before she hits the train. 

Sojiro's already downstairs and slides her a plate of curry and a cup of coffee as she comes down. They go shockingly well together, even this early in the day. It's almost like the curry recipe was designed to match the coffee. Or something.

Aw, Sakura-san's still looking out for her. 

She'll eat in a hurry. She's worried about those awkward transfers and the possibility of train delays. 

"Good luck, kid."

"Thanks, Sakur- Boss. Thanks boss. I'd better get moving. Tell you all about it after school today."

And off she goes.

She hurries off to the station, catching her train with time to spare. It's crowded, but she makes it all the way to her transfer, and catches the next train on time as well.

The school is that way from her phone map. 

(Malware's back again. Of course.)

She hurries. She's got to make class on time.

On the way, she notices a very pretty blonde girl in a Shujin uniform determinedly ignoring a car that is driving slowly next to her. 

"No, it's okay, Kamoshida-sensei, I can walk. I really don't need a ride."

She hunches a little and lengthens her stride.

The man in the car, Kamoshida apparently, leans out the window toward her. "Come on, Ann-chan. All that walking has to be hard on your feet, and we could spend some time together." His voice would sound strong and confident if he wasn't cajoling an unwilling student like this. As is, he sounds a bit petulant, entitled, despite it.

Ohhhhhhh boy.

She really shouldn't intervene. That's what got her into this whole mess in the first place. She should keep her head down. Be quiet. Like she told Sakura-san she would. 

She really, really shouldn't intervene. 

"Hey," she calls in her brightest, most femme voice. "Excuse me, do you know which way it is to the school from here? I've gotten a bit turned around but I recognize your uniform, so..." 

She looks to see who's calling to her. It's not a voice she recognizes. A girl? In a Shujin uniform?

No, you idiot, you don't know what you're getting into -