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It would seem, at first sight, that Joker's not exactly the mothering type, but, as with all things to do with Rin Amamiya, looks are deceptive. She's extremely mothering, extremely protective, indeed she's so protective that she won't let her adopted daughter take the train to school, or anywhere else for that matter. Sojiro and even Futaba don't really get why she feels the need to drive her around, but it doesn't matter how weird other people think her behaviour is, she's not going to allow what happened to her to happen to Futaba. Also, she'd rather not return to prison for eviscerating random perverts on the subway.
It must be said though, that she looks extremely cool leaning up against her black muscle car in her black cyberpunk dress, being a bad influence on high schoolers by making smoking look epic and badass. Beside her on the roof of her Trans Am sits her old Shujin bag, out of which the bright blue eyes of a cat peer. Rin stays in this awesome pose until Futaba skips down the steps of her school, a friend tripping along beside her. Said friend's jaw drops when she catches sight of the Phantom Thief numero uno.
“Wow, Futaba, is that your mom? She's so young!”
Futaba rushes through something like a PR statement. “Yeah, yeah she is, and she is young. She's only a year older than me, but she's way more mature. She's saved the world three or four times already. Believe it or not, but she's the hardcore parental. My dad lets me get away with everything, but not Rin."
“...Wait, what?”
“Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow.” Leaving her friend, Futaba sprints over to Rin and grabs her hand, swinging it around, back and forth. “Hey! Your arm's waaay more flexible than my Featherman figure, and looong.”
“Yup.” says Rin, while her arm continues to be windmilled, without, however, disturbing her epic pose. Students stream past, but even though she's only eighteen, it's feels like it's been at least ten years since she attended school, and she cannot relate.
“It's all the battles, hehe. Keeps the joints flexible.” chuckles Morgana, from his bag.
“So, do we have to be back immediately, or can we do something fun first?” asks Futaba, busy using Rin's arm as a jump rope by this point.
What amounts to her second mom stuffs the burnt out filter of her cigarette in the box it came from, then stands up straight. “We can do something fun, Mrs Watanabe has the children till six. What do you have in mind?”
“Claw machine!! I wanna win Pooki-chan, please, please, please!”
Since she's been watching a lot of spaghetti westerns lately, Rin looks at the cloudy grey sky, wishing she had a piece of grass to chew on. Maybe she'll mutilate Sojiro's plants later. Or, alternatively, grab a toothpick from a table at the cafe.
“Fine, arcade it is. Get in.”
“Yay!!” Futaba throws herself into the car with wild abandon, while Rin climbs in like she's a spider cosplaying as a human. A spider that's only recently learnt to drive. That's not the case, but occasionally she's unable to tell left from right or determine distance, but hey, we all have our quirks.
“Let me just text dad, quick…aaand there, sorted.” Message sent, Rin flings her phone into a doohickey with one hand and turns the ignition with the other, swinging her beast of a car out amongst the little metal minnows and plastic cubs littering the road. Almost immediately they end up in traffic, however, instead of freaking out, Rin merely uses the opportunity to light another cigarette and change her playlist.
“You know, you're really super awesomely cool.” says Futaba, sitting normally in her seat for once.
“Yeah, but you guys have been telling me that for years. You can stop now.”
“Stop doing cool things then, silly!”
“Sadly, I suffer from chronic coolitus, ‘Taba. It makes my life hell.”
“Hahaha! Naaaah. Seriously?”
“Yes. It's become terminal.”
The pair park on the other side of the road from the arcade, necessitating that they cross it. Now…despite being epic badass phantom thieves, neither one is especially confident at crossing the road, although no one would believe it of at least one of them.
Rin holds her hand out to her best female friend. “Here.”
The girls cross the road after checking many times, their hands clutched tightly together. Even after making it safely to the other side, they don't let go, walking around the bright and bustling arcade like that, up until they reach the case containing hundreds of Pooki-chan soft toys. Pooki-chan, a cow pat with heavily made up eyes…not something Rin would ordinarily go for, but it's true that she'd do almost anything for her friends, including winning literal shit. And it's her that has to win the thing, because Futaba claims to have no patience.
Rin feeds the machine money. "The things I do for you guys..."
Her companion sways back and forth, her hands held behind her back. “The face you make when you concentrate is seriously funny. It's like a pug, all scrunched up.”
Black eyes follow the wibbly-wobbly claw as it jerks down its track. “You’re harming my self esteem, ‘Taba.”
“Aww, come off it, Rin. You're real pretty, even when you're concentrating.”
“Yeah, sure. I'm built like a bull with the face of a pug. Maybe I should wear a prize bow.”
“No, I mean it. Everyone knows you're real pretty, except you. Why do you think there's always customers now? And by the way, Sojiro only goes for tens, so do with that what you will.”
The dark eyes reflected in the glass of the claw machine cease to see the game and the piles of prize cow shit ripe for the winning. “Cheers.”
Winning a single cheaply made googly eyed cow pat consumes thousands of yen, but eventually the duo get lucky, and the weak as water claws manage to hold onto a light cardboard box as Rin carefully carefully!! manipulates the controls, dropping the box in the chute.
“Here. One pet cow turd. What are you going to name her?” asks the champion, once she folds in half to fish the box out of the opening and hands it to Futaba, who hugs it like it's one of her infant siblings.
“Bold of you to assume I'm going to rename her! Her name's Pookie-chan! Gee, it's like you don't even watch anime.”
“I don't watch anime. I'd rather go back to prison.”
“Tch! Now I get why Morgana named you Joker, joker.”
“Hey! Uh? What are you guys…zzz.” Muffle-meows the cat from his bag, waking up, only to fall asleep again.