2022-04-02: Sakura Mankai

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<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

         It's a wonderfully warm spring day this April 2nd: the skies are clear but for a few puffy cumulus clouds, the sun is shining, and a light breeze carries the wamrth into the shadows and keeps the bright spots refreshing. One couldn't ask for a better day to enjoy watching the cherry blossoms--especially today, the day when they're all in full bloom. It's a gorgeous sight, even breathtaking. Standing under the trees and looking up is like gazing upon a portrait of meticulously painted pink on a canvas of blue, and once one finds a spot with friends or family, it would be fully tempting to just stay right there and enjoy the view. A lot of people are doing exactly that, even; after all, it *is* called flower-*viewing*. Watching the flowers is the point!
        
        That said, because of the excellent weather and even more excellent view, there's a lot of people out. A lot of folks have already staked out blankets underneath the cherry blossoms for picnics with their family and friends, though luckily enough there's still some free spots left for people just arriving--including a scattering of benches that are even sometimes empty as people continuously get up and move on. For those who haven't brought their own lunches, street trucks that line the park over on the streets are selling all manner of delicious goods, including savory sandwiches, vegetarian sushi rolls, takoyaki, and rice balls, to sweet cookies, sakura mochi, skewered rice dumplings, and drinks like tea, soda, and simply water (but no alcohol). People are expected to keep their trash on them until they can find trash cans, though. Japan is *very particular* about not littering.
        
        Amid all the chattering and mingling crowds, for some reason, someone has left out an *entire grand piano* in a clearing between the trees. It's unclear why exactly such a huge, expensive instrument is just chilling out, but it's at least covered in a large tarp to protect it from the weather. It's sunny now, but it *is* spring; there's no guarantee there won't be April showers later. Somewhat more reasonably, somewhat nearby, someone *else* has set up a much simpler wooden box with a microphone stand and a karaoke machine, so there's options for both acoustic and full instrumental singing, as long as someone can find someone to play that piano in the first place. Anyone who wants to get up there and belt out either the latest hit by Sheryl Nome or an old classic from Lynn Minmay thus can if they want to. 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        The breeze *is* refreshing, as is the scent of cherry blossoms upon it. Kaworu strolls up to the entrance of the park, hands as usual tucked into the pockets of his casual wear, and turns to his companion.
        
        "We're well into town by now, so you should have bars again. It's a shame that you won't be able to enjoy the rest of your bus tour, but you can at least call someone to come pick you up, Ranka-san," he tells her. He smiles up at the flowers in full bloom and the crowds that have come to enjoy them. "Though it looks as though you could stay here and enjoy your time differently, if you so please."
        
        He looks back at her. "Either way, if you like, I can keep you company until your ride arrives." He lifts his head and gazes further into the park, where the piano and the makeshift stage rest. "Especially since it seems we already have the opportunity to perform for one another, just over there."
Sousuke Sagara has arrived.

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

"Oh! Nagisa, you have a friend?"

There's someone else at the entrance of the park. Zoia took a cab by herself. The cab may have been a Hovergy. Nevertheless, she's making an easy approach, looking up for just a moment at the cherry blossoms before her attention returns to the familiar young man and the less familiar young Ranka. "I hope I'm not interrupting a date," she suggests, her smile just a bit playful above the edges of delicate fingers she's brought up to her lower lip. "And I am sorry if I am! But I thought I would say hello."

Zoia picked her attire with an eye towards the culture. It's a pale cherry-pink yukata with a tastefully minimal sakura blossom pattern dancing across it and a broad white obi. Her hair's been gelled elegantly back with a trailing lock left free to either side of her face, down to the middle of her cheeks. The colours, together with her overall blonde-and-fair palette, make her already pale complexion seem simultaneously porcelain yet alive.

"I thought I would find you here, anyway. I know that music is something you like, isn't it?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.


Ranka Lee takes in the breeze, with a deep breath, before smiling at her escort. "Thank you so much Kaworu-kun. It's... it's possible I'd still be walking back to Tokyo-3 if not for you." It's true, even if she'd just followed the road, chances of her getting lost are still quite high. Tapping her phone, she leaves a quick message on Osanshoo-san, her floppy salamander phone. Which she then deposits back on her shoulder. "We have time, so I wouldn't mind just hanging out for a while. Besides, I wouldn't mind getting to know you better before I have to go back up to the colony."

Sure they can call or text, but it's not the same. And then he points out they have a chance to perform and her eyes whip over to the karaoke machine and microphone set up, "Oh wow - I didn't expect this kind of set up out here!" Her hand hovers over her mouth in surprise, "I wouldn't mind performing a bit - maybe one of Sheryl-san's covers."

It still makes her nervous singing in front of people but she's gotten more confidence in doing so...

Ranka is wearing a striped dark yellow and lighter yellow shirt with red snap skirt, there's a light blue bag slung over her shoulder with a zipper partially undone. It'd take a careful observer to notice the occasional rustle.

And then Zoia comes up, and Ranka giggles shyly at her implication, "No-no! Nothing like that. We only just met, Kaworu-kun came to my rescue when I got lost. Are you two classmates?"

She bows politely to her, "I'm Ranka Lee, from the Macross Frontier Colony. What's your name?" Before smiling, "He was telling me that, so... I'd resolved to perform for him."

And him for her, though she doesn't say that immediately, not wanting to put him on the spot if suddenly someone else's presence would make him change his mind.

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi has never done hanami.

She grew up on Huffman Island, which is the wrong sort of climate to really pull it off in most places (it's a pretty variable island on the weather front, though) and in several other places, equally ill-suited to sakura trees.

Qivi wasn't in Japan specifically to take in flower-viewing, but she was still there after her 'adventure' several days ago in Tsutsujidai, so why not try it?

Unfortunately Qivi had no idea there was traditional clothes for this sort of thing, so she isn't wearing them (and may not have even if she had known, anyway). She is dressed more like a hiker than anything else: sturdy pants, a tank top with a jacket on overtop of that, trail shoes. Thus is life. She still has her headband on, which wraps across her forehead and the tops of her ears, hiding them beneath it... not that the hair didn't do that itself. The jacket has a distinctive patch on its shoulder: a snorting bull's head surrounded with a ring of seven gems in various colours. It may be familiar to some people.

She is currently hanging around near the piano, because she is trying to figure out why the heck it is here. It's not *her* instrument, though. She doesn't play the piano.

<Pose Tracker> Sayoko Shinozaki has posed.

        Amidst the many yukata that are being worn by the many women that have shown up to watch the flowers, those not wearing one are might just end up standing out.

        Of course, Sayoko Shinozaki is likely to stand out regardless, given the full maid outfit she is always wearing, including today.

        The maid in service to Area 11's Ashford family is currently acting as chaperone and all round helper for the group of Ashford Academy students. Her Japanese heritage will no doubt be required by them as they wish to participate in the cultural event.

        More immediately though, Sayoko shows up to the park with the students under her care. She's carrying a large basket with a large amount of goodies inside. Everything one might need for a picnic in the park and more! Glancing around at the sight of the sakura trees, Sayoko briefly takes in their beauty, before returning her focus to her duties.

        Sayoko turns to the Ashford students she has accompanied and smiles softly at them, "I suggest that we first find a nice location to set up. Ideally in the shade of a tree, so that we are not subject to the full force of the sun."

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

         As it turns out, there is someone already there at the tarped piano, craning her head to try to look under the tarp without disturbing it: a Lucine Azul, dressed in a pink print dress, with a loose cardigan to protect against the early spring chill. Or, it would have, but with the temperature being more pleasant, she simply has it wrapped around her waist for now. Her dark teal hair is as it usually is: hanging against her shoulders, with a french braid around the back, pinned in with a metal flower-shapped barrette.

        When she notices some familiar faces coming up, Lucine straightens from her investigation, smoothing out the hem of her dress. "Miss Lee! And Mr. Nagisa! And Miss Surovy as well?" She waves as she walks over. "Oh, were you lost, Miss Lee? Thank goodness you came across Mr. Nagisa."

        She seems more in her element now that she's out of a company uniform and among the blossoming trees. ... As well as among faces she knows already "... Is this your first blossom festival on Earth, Miss Lee? It'll be mine." 

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

Getting to Tokyo on Euphemia's part requires at least three separate shenanigans. One is contriving an excuse to be on the other side of the Area 11 border (today's excuse: a follow-up on the aborted meeting with STORAGE about Britannia's funding commitments). The second is contriving an excuse to be done with that early enough (it turns out Euphy needs to get some signatures for something she can't personally green-light, despite being Sub-Viceroy; this one is an accident that might be happy or unhappy depending on your perspective). The third is slipping away from her guards (actually the easy part at this point)!

Things like this are a necessary part of Euphemia's administration that she is often denied. Most of Britannia wouldn't... accept it -- this notion that to govern a territory that was once Japanese, you need to actually understand the people and the culture. It frustrates her that doing what feels like the bare minimum requires this much engineering -- but that frustration disappears, for now, in the face of the cherry blossoms.

Her sunglasses mark her as someone who's trying at least a *little* bit not to be recognized; the curtain of pink hair falling down her back, along her yellow floral-pattern yukata, marks her as someone who doesn't actually know all the etiquette here. ... still, she seems positively enraptured, looking at the blossoms.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.


All sorts of people come out for the viewing of the flowers. Families, whether found or genetic; individual tourists, denied a dark corner in which to lurk by the springtime light; work groups, temples... and sometimes people who are recovering from medical procedures.

Here's a fun question: How can you tell from the outside?

Two people are strolling around at a leisurely pace through the park, forming a specific and distinct social unit. One of them is a woman with hair that's either a very well-executed gray or a very high-end ash blonde, combed into something loosely resembling a local-style tucked-up haircut. She is actually in a yukata -- it's a pretty basic indigo model. She has a stick of rice dumplings in sauce in a hand that, if you look closely, is artificial.

The other is a man with a close-cropped brownish haircut and the pallid look of someone who's been in the hospital for a while. He looks pinched, with watery eyes and a suggestion of having once been a lot stronger and broader. He is wearing something that is really technically a yukata but was probably actually just "a hospital robe that he got in Japan." He has a bottle of water in one robe pocket and another in his hand. He is holding it tight enough to crumple the plastic.

"Why is there a -- god damn -- PIANO sitting here in the middle of an Eleven park," says the man, having come into the general area of the anomalous object.

"Oh," says the woman, Dr. Dorothy Spartura, "does it look like a piano to you?"

"Don't gaslight me you spacen-- gnh--" the man says, before he squeezes his eyes shut and grinds the heel of his palm against his forehead. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. "Sorry," he mutters. "Sorry, it's the -"

"You don't have to apologize to me, Paul," says Dr. Spartura with a cheerful pap-pap on the shoulder towards the stricken man. "It's like you got all the juices and everything back, right? It's gonna feel weird! (Also this part is still Japan, I'm just letting you know, pal.)"

This semi-dynamic duo approaches the piano, with the doctor taking a bite out of her rice dumplings. She jerks a thumb towards the piano while looking at Qivi, before asking the general area around the piano, "So who brought this sucker here, anyway? Is it an art installation or did some burglars get scared by the robot cops?"

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

They don't really have anything like this back in Tsutsujidai. Tsutsujidai is always sunny and warm, at least when isn't raining, so the local flora always seem to be in the summer of their lives. Rikka hasn't really thought about it before, until now - she knows of the flower-viewing festival, but because of that she's never been to one herself.

Sitting here on a bench, though, surrounded by the beauty of nature in full bloom for the first time... it puts thoughts in her head, makes her wonder. She's glad she decided to go while she was in the area, though.

A lot of people seem to be dressed in traditional clothing, but Rikka isn't - because she's attending alone today, she's dressed casually, with a pink hoodie over her usual white and black outfit. All of her friends are back in Tsutsujidai, and only some of them are aware of the world outside. She does, however, draw out her phone to snap a few pictures of the blossoms. These she can send off once she's back in Tsutsujidai, at least.

For the time being though, she busies herself with refreshments - a plate of sushi rolls and some tea(most of the other beverages had too much carbonation for her tastes).

Her gaze turns curiously to the piano and microphone stand. ...They're kind of tempting, but as much as she's usually a social butterfly that seems a bit too gutsy of a move for her right now. 

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        Ujico Issa has never done hanami before. But it's supposed to be really cool, so why not?

        Nothing she's wearing could be called traditional - denim carpenter pants, a crop top that says HANAMI SHIRT in glaring romaji, and a big pair of sunglasses perched on the crown of her head. Her long ponytails are a few shades darker than the celebrated sakura blossoms, her bright green eyes wander admiringly and unabashedly from one amazing sight to another, and her olive skin is... absolutely covered in ink.

        Uji didn't get the memo about visible tattoos.

        But she's got a backpack full of snacks and a blanket and a guide book and headphones in case she gets a little overwhelmed by all the people and her cell phone in case she gets bored! That doesn't seem very likely, but it's good to have her bases covered. 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Muramoto has posed.


Sho Muramoto was well... not exactly well liked among the Ashford populace, but that was mostly because he wasn't Britannian born and locally born instead. The Japanese high school student is dressed in a more traditional kimono of a deep black with a slightly lighter blue worked in cloud designs. Even the obi is tied traditionally.

The young teen does look slightly uncomfortable because he's surrounded by individuals who he's sure only invited him along because of the attack on the concert of all things. He wasn't even there, having had other duties to tend to, and well... now he's dragged along to this even though he was going solo and could quite well defend himself.

That being said, he did at least look glad for the company. Considering things, he looked around before looking over at Sayoko, "I think I see one over there. A few meters from the next food stand on our left."

That it's a bit near that piano setup might be a coincidence.

<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.


        Emilia Eschonbach is, as she often is when outside of the school, nervous. This time, it's a mix of her usual anxiety about being somewhere her Grandfather would disapprove of, her general fears of being an easy target and for once, legitimate excitement. She's wearing the sakura print Yukata that Kallen chose for her and Milly- well, the student council but the two might as well be one and the same to Emilia- bought for her. Her long lavender hair is done up in an elaborate bun- again, Kallen's idea ,Emilia has to admit she's very good at this- the bangs of her hime cut still framing her face, with that slight inward curl that stops the cut being entirely accurate. In the bun is a sakura ornament, that matches the colour of the print and the two set off the colour of her hair nicely.

        There is also one other source of anxiety- Milly isn't here. And Milly is the main person protecting her from Grandfather's displeasure. His people have to have noticed *two* trips to the orbital ring by now. An Ashford field trip to the Cherry Blossom viewing is less egregious, but it's going to be adding up. Not to mention being so obviously Britannian, in Japan, in a Yukata, with a traditionally Japanese hairstyle. That's going to attract someone's attention. So for now, she's walking pretty closely to Kallen, more in her own head than observing the blossoms, until Sayoko calls a halt. The maid is in charge, and Emilia's used to the staff having more power than her.

        It's then that she finally looks up, as others look for a nice place to sit. Her eyes scan the blossoms in full bloom. They really are beautiful, and she's staring for a moment until the group starts to move. She's still staring as she follows along, occasionally needing to remind herself there is a real world around her.

        She really has seen so little.
POT: Banagher Links is no longer set observer.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

In Tokyo for work matters as part of a team performing regular maintenance and upkeep on Free Japans Photon Power stations (and studying the energy flows between the stations and the Fuji New Photon Power Laboratory) Koji Kabuto finds himself with a moment of downtime, and its been a while since he visited a hanami event (in truth he cant remember the last time he did - maybe when he was a kid?).

Strolling into the park, the veteran pilot turned scientist is still wearing his blue suit, though his tie is tucked away in a pocket of his jacket which in turn is slung over his shoulder, his shirt-sleeves rolled up and collar loose.

Looking around at the people coming and going through the park,he smiles softly at the small peace in the middle of the city, then spots the piano under a tarp and makes a little huh of curiosity, stepping a little closer to the instrument.

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi saw Lucine - they were both looking at the piano, after all - and gave her a slight nod. Qivi hadn't actually tried to look under the tarp, though. She hadn't needed to to guess what it was. Those pianos are pretty distinctive, you know!

"I think someone left it here on purpose, but who knows," is Qivi's response to Dr. Spartura, turning away from it to look at her and her companion. "If someone told me it was a criminal conspiracy, I'd believe that one too."

"But someone sang earlier, and someone will probably sing again, so if that's what you're looking for, this is the place." Qivi makes a sweeping gesture with her hand. "Hell, be my guest, if you want."

It isn't Qivi's piano. She should not be offering it to people!

As she passes, Qivi catches sight of Ujico. The tattoos, the outfit, the... are those horns behind the shades? Qivi knows a rebel's dress when she sees one, and she bursts into a sudden grin. "Nice," she says, in English, loud enough to carry. 

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

        Serinas and her mother have sort of ended up stranded after the concert cruise was forced to land on Earth. Serinas isn't actually a famous ace or anything, and her mother is originally from Orb, so one way or another they've managed to get into Japan as effectively tourists from the Belt and Orb, or at least *civilian* tourists from the PLANTs. It's been a sort of unexpected, peaceful vacation really, the two seeing sights and Serinas getting a chance to just... experience civilian life on Earth. She may not understand Japanese fluently (although, as a young half-coordinator she's picking it up fast) but she doesn't need to to enjoy J-Pop and hotel TV has subtitles.

        Besides tourist destinations, there's getting to eat out and try local cuisine (Her mother, Lani, makes comments like 'I've always wanted to try okonomiyaki' and 'so this is *real* ramen? I've had a lot of instant...' and 'Oh you've got to try sushi, we had a lot of seafood growing up in Orb too...', but to Serinas it's all just hey, here's a new food!)

        And of course, they just HAD to try viewing the cherry blossoms! Serinas is in a bright red yukata with musical note designs on it and a dark sash, and her mother (Mid-30's, an inch taller, hair lacks the blue shine, wears rectangular-framed glasses) has somehow found a white yukata with stylized beakers and atoms and other science designs on it with a sea green sash. Lani's put both of their hair in long ponytails, with sidelocks pinned in loops framing her own face and Serinas's bangs pinned out of her daughter's face.

        Serinas gravitates towards where the music gear has been set up, her mother in tow. In passing, Lani has to stifle a giggle at Ujico's shirt before they end up at the karaoke machine. If Ranka isn't perfoming yet, Lani strides towards it with a smile, and her daughter's eyes go wide.

        "You... can sing, Mom?!"

        "A little, not professionally or anything!"

        She puts on one of Lynn Mynmei's songs and starts into it; doing better than you'd expect for a rando (Coordinator talent?) Her pitch is good, at least! Although a professional singer could probably pick out the occasional barely flat note or vowel that's not open enough, and she could project better, etc etc.

        Serinas doesn't notice, though, staring in rapt attention. Someone she KNOWS is singing!

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Already munching on a sandwich, Banagher chooses to wander about under the falling petals. It was beautiful, to be certain, especially after the stark design of Industrial Seven. Only one thing would improve this experience, but she was far away. He had a feeling Audrey would enjoy seeing the cherry blossoms, she seems to have missed out on little things like this. Maybe next year, they could come together.

The thought of walking hand-in-hand beneath the flowers brings a smile to Banaghers face, distracting him enough that he nearly walks straight into the piano. Oh, sorry. He murmurs to the object.

Memory flashes. He's in a chair. Something blocks half his vision. He was tired. His breath felt uneasy. The gentle sound of a grand piano, brilliantly executed, floats, serene -- until the music crashes with a harsh, discordant noise.

Nhh

Banagher shakes his head, letting his messy hair become yet messier. Maybe it was a good idea to sit down, there must be a bench nearby. 

<Pose Tracker> Orpheus Zevon has posed.

I'm sure she would have enjoyed such a view. . .

Perhaps to some surprise, or a lack of suprise Orpheus was one of the first students who had agreed to sign up for this trip. For someone who never seemed to interested much in such things. . .Or many things in general beyond just getting through classes, it appeared that at least when it came to this trip he was somewhat enthusiastic, or at least curious. Not enough to wear any sort of yukata, though rather than his school uniform he finds himself wearing a white button down shirt, long black pants, and obviously made sure to tight up his hair properly. Even if it's not Japanese formal, at the very least he looks like he's dressed well enough to respect the occasion. Unlike Emilia, there's no form of anxiety on his face. He's someone who's use to travel, and more than that he seems but unbothered by any thought of the locals taking notice of his lineage. Even if in fact, the blonde-haired green-eyed young man was likely garnering some attention towareds himself.

Though that wasn't the point of this trip, and such a matter was trivial. This was an occasion for sightseeing and that was exactly what Orpheus was doing as he began following Sayoko's lead into the viewing area.There's a small sigh that escapes his lips before turning towards the ashford crew. There's a look of mild curiousity as he essentially makes the remark an open-ended question for any and all of them to respond to since well. . .Certain people here would have better knowledge subject than him, "So just to make sure here. . .This Takoyaki, someone said it's literally octopus wrapped in batter. . .Is that actually something people eat here?" The question is asked with just the tiniest bit of skepticism. Almost like he's garnering a bit of disbelief at the thought, even if there were plenty of stands suggesting otherwise.

After confirming that one way or another, a different thought had slowly come into his mind. Even with how busy the streets were, how crowded they were with so many people out flower-watching, he couldn't get the thought out of his mind. "I admit, I know we're on the same land, but it truly is incredible how just crossing the border from Area 11 to Japan makes a world of difference."

For some, this might have been a time to simply indulge in the season. Though perhaps for those in Area 11, could pick up the subtle differences. For one, the people of Japan taking such pride in their country, not leaving a speck of trash around their cities. Even the worst spots they'd seen thus far had been cleanly to a fault. Yet back in Area 11, if one was to walk into the slums well. . .One didn't need to say more.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.


"Is that so," Dr. Spartura answers Qivi, eyeballing the piano. "So it's like an official piano? Or is this an open-mic kind of scenario?" Her arms fold in thought.

The patient with her drinks his water and eyeballs people. He seems to be trying to calm himself on some level. "Hey, watch out," Paul remarks to Banagher, which is gonna be really ironic by the end of the year. "It's just flower petals, kid."

Dr. Spartura had been considering the piano when something entered her field of vision. She looks up then, and then blinks twice, and slowly. She steps around the piano as if to get a better field of view on the target of her attention. And then she says:

"KOJI KABUTO!"

At this point she approaches the legend himself, sticking out a dreadful robot hand. "Wow! Is that really you? If it's not I gotta say you NAILED the hair, though, man. Wow!"

Paul the creepy guy, left alone, looks over at Qivi. He drinks his water. "You play? Piano, I mean," Paul asks Qivi.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Traditional Japanese clothes such as yukata are certainly no requirement to flower-viewing; Kaworu's own clothes are a simple short-sleeved button-up white shirt over a lavender undershirt, each tucked into black slacks tied by a long belt, with white sneakers--his normal clothes, though the metal wristwatch on his left wrist is fairly new. Lots of the people in the crowds are likewise wearing Western-style clothing, from the vendors to the park-goers, so seeing them among those wearing yukata isn't so strange. A full maid uniform *is* still unusual, though.
        
        "You're very welcome," Kaworu tells Ranka. "I certainly wouldn't mind that either." Someone calls his name then, though. Kaworu turns and--well, he was already smiling, but he greets the sight of Zoia in her pink yukata with a friendly nod. "Yes," he replies, and then laughs at her follow-up. "As she says." He nods to Ranka at her response. "Yes, Surovy and I attend Tokyo-3 Municipal Middle School together." Meaning they're at least a *little* younger than Ranka.
        
        His expression turns curious as the three head into the park, over to where the piano--and thus Qivi, Lucine, and Dr. Spartura and her companion--are. "Yes, it is," he tells Zoia. "Ranka-san here is an aspiring singer, so we were telling each other we'd like to hear the other perform." He looks back at Ranka. "I don't mind. Pick whichever song you'd like to sing, and I'll accompany you."
        
        He looks up to smile at Lucine as she approaches. "Miss Azul. It's nice to see you again too. You know Ranka-san?" He glances between the two, remembering what Ranka had told him before about interning for Nergal; then he asks, "Are you two acquainted through the Nadesico?"
        
        Dr. Spartura asks after the piano. Kaworu gives a curious look at Paul before he shrugs at her. "No idea. But--" He reaches out his left hand and lifts the keyboard cover, then strums his fingers along the keys. It's well-tuned. "...It *is* functional." He looks at Qivi in curiosity as she invites people to play and sing to their hearts' content, though his smile remains as is. "Thank you. Then shall we, Ranka-san?" He seats himself at the piano, fingers naturally curving over the keyboard, and nods to her. "Let me know what you'd like to sing once you're ready."
        
        Someone has already taken up the karaoke machine to sing another Minmay classic, so neither of them are in any rush. He takes a moment to admire Lani on stage while waiting for his and Ranka's turn, even--though when Banagher walks into the piano, Kaworu looks his way in concern. Something seems off about him... but he refrains from addressing him directly for the moment. Perhaps a properly played piano would help...?

<Pose Tracker> Sayoko Shinozaki has posed.

        A location has been scouted, to which Sayoko responds, "An excellent choice, Master Sho." Seeing someone make their way to the karaoke machine, Sayako remarks, "It seems we will even find ourselves treated to a performance!"

        Reaching the location identified by Sho, Sayoko places the basket she carries on the ground. Taking the folded blanket draped across it, she launches into a quick flourish. The large blanket unfolds and spreads out, floating softly to the ground completely straight. An impressive accomplishment given the size of the blanket was chosen to accommodate a large group. This is clearly the skill of an expert maid!

        Sayoko begins to unpack the the basket. First off is a tea set, complete with hot plate for preparation, which Sayako starts up first so that while she's unpacking the rest, it will heat.

        Next out of the basket are various snacks which have been prepared, including homemade biscuits and tea cakes. All of which are of course delicious! Though one might notice that they all the snacks appear to have a sweet nature. Could Sayoko be biased that way? Thankfully there are stalls around for other types though.

        Which brings up Orpheus's question, to which Sayoko replies, "Why, yes, Master Orpheus. Takoyaki is a popular food invented in Japan over three hundred years ago! It has expanded out into numerous preparation methods and flavours since then, of course. I'm sure you'll be able to find one to your liking at one of the stalls here."

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

Not quite all of them require too much in the way of help navigating the events. Though the one most aware of the traditions absolutely feels far better about having someone else here who shares that knowledge. And can correct her on the occasions she might have something wrong.

She's keeping eyes on everyone as well. Watching out for their safety. She's not perfect of course; hearing someone shout about Elevens makes one of her hands ball into a fist. She actually almost misses the bright pink hair-curtain, easily recognized from certain mission briefings. It's interesting to her, that the woman is making an effort. Interesting enough that she won't suggest TOO close of a location, where someone else might out her identity. Though it isn't too far away either, so if that girl saw students and wished to join them, it would be feasible. "Miss Shinozaki. If I may, I see a rather perfect tree, with enough space to accommodate everyone we expect, and then some." Oh, that's rather amusing. The additional student they picked up along the way pointed to one only meters away from her choice. She was thinking about keeping slightly more distance from the stalls, to avoid the extra noise, but his choice is just as excellent a location. So it's easy to reach an agreement there.

She's sticking naturally close to Emmy. Watching out for the nervous girl. "Your look turned out magnificently, you know. Stunning, really." Kallen's one to talk. Even though her hair is a bit short, she'd had Sayoko help her get it up into a nice semi-braid that tucks around the back, ornamented with a little set of needle-pins that have floral designs on the ends. Whether she likes it or not, she can absolutely turn heads in this outfit... or most outfits really, but this brings out a particular elegance she typically doesn't have on display.

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

"Ah, yes, Kaworu and I go to the same school!" Zoia confirms, glossing over the more professional aspects of their relationship. "I would go so far as to call him a friend."

She clasps her hands elegantly and dips her head. "I'm Zoia Surovy - I'm an exchange student from Zaftra. It's nice to meet you, Ranka! And I can't sing myself - so if you can, I admire you already."

Barely familiar with Lucine, Zoia tilts her head at her for a second before offering up a mellow smile and just breezing past the curiosity. "Oh, hello. It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about the cherry blossom festival, myself, but I've never been."

The piano's a curious sight, and Zoia gives it a pensive look before tilting her head back towards Ranka and Kaworu. "Oh, you're going to sing? I'd like to hear it too. You must be very talented."

In truth, Zoia doesn't know much about the featured songstress. Her favourite artists are mostly virtual.

...Zoia cried when Sharon Apple went away, not gonna lie.

When Kaworu takes a seat at the piano, Zoia clasps her hands and draws her lips into a little O of wonder. Until someone walks into the piano.

"...Are you alright?" she asks Banagher delicately.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.


        Upon the song's conclusion, Serinas claps and cheers, and Lani curtseys dramatically, then, seeing Ranka and Kaworu eyeing the machine, steps down and makes a little 'go right ahead' hand gesture towards the box and microphone.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

He was expecting to be recognised, being a war hero and all, but theres being recognised and theres having your name yelled dramatically by an approaching individual with a robot hand! Startled out of his reverie, Koji takes a couple of seconds to process whats going. Caught up by the time Spartura says he nailed the hair (there is nothing to be done about that messy shock of brown, it simply Is), he laughs awkwardly and takes the proffered hand.
Ahaha, yes, thats me. I dont think were acquainted, Ms?

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

Euphemia considers the piano for a few moments, turning to face it -- and sees Banagher nearly walk into it and then experience a noticeable mood-crash. There's something about it that gnaws at her, teases at the edges of her perception, like someone tilted one picture frame in her room 10 degrees and walked off.

Euphemia considers approaching Banagher, but Zoia gets there first, having been closer. She doesn't want to crowd him by immediately checking up on him -- she knows that being doted on can grate. It does, every now and again, for her.

That said, Euphemia *is* one continuous problem. While she's made the decision not to crowd, she's also made the decision to reach out, so reaching out is just going to happen. "Is it your first time here, too? I understand it can be a little overwhelming..."

She also notices that gaze toward the microphone stand from Rikka, and gives a little glance back -- then a gesture -- then a thumbs-up. She doesn't know Rikka at all, but life's too short and the world's too big to spend it just staring at a thing you might want to do and then not doing it. Euphy can nudge. Just a bit.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Muramoto has posed.

The 'Master' has Sho blinking before looking to Sayoko, "I thought I said I hated that stuff before?" He grumbles a little good naturedly. "And seriously, relax. You might be our chaperone, but I think this group is fairly reasonable." He motions at the other three with them.

He considers as he looks over at Orpheus, then to Emilia, "Kallen is right. The style came out really beautiful for you." He pauses as he sees a curtain of pink. And blinks a few times. Then he looks to Sayoko before he looks back at the curtain of pink, "Um... and at least you two tried?"

That being said, Sho does at least move to spread out a blanket and some other things so the Ashford group has a decent place to sit. It's just a big white one like classic picnic blanket sort of thing. "And I will be right back. I see some yakitori and taiyaki."

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.


Ranka does note that Kaworu is a middle schooler and thus younger, but she doesn't comment on that. She doesn't like being treated like a kid, so she doesn't treat the people around her as younger either, "Is that so? I'm glad I got to meet one of your classmates then." Before she then addresses Zoia more in depth, "It's very nice to meet you Zoia-chan! An exchange student from Zaftra? That's very impressive! Are you enjoying it here in Japan?"

Lucine calls out to them, and she calls out in turn, "Lucine-san! And aha - it's a little embarrassing... but it's kind of a habit with me." Before smiling and nodding, "It is. It's kind of magical, I never saw anything like this back on the Frontier colony." Before nodding to Kaworu, "We do! I met her during part of my internship at Nergal."

Distantly Ranka looks towards Lani singing Karoke and smiles, perhaps feeling a little inspired by it to try something different than what she thought she might. Getting asked what she likes to sing, she smiles at Kaworu, "I think I have one - I'm sure you'll know this one." She says mysteriously, seeming to enjoy the idea of surprising him a little.

Before Zoia praises that she must be very talented, which makes her sound... nervous, a bit shy, "Aha... well... you can judge for yourself after." Lani steps down, and... Ranka steps up, taking the microphone, and fiddling with the controls on the machine as she waits for Kaworu to step up to the piano, also giving Banagher a look of concern as she sets the timer extra long to give her... and him, time. Setting down her bag, she fusses over the zipper.

It takes Ranka a moment to gather up the courage to start, closing her eyes, feeling the breeze - seemingly reaching out to the pink fluttering petals and the sky above for inspiration. Then at the precise timing for the vocals, she starts to sing. A sweet, yearning, and faintly melancholy refrain - her voice spreading the emotion of the song across the park with a natural talent that's now been backed up by vocalist lessons. She doesn't dance overly much for this one, it's too emotional it feels for the dance steps of a more upbeat pop song.

BGM Change: Do you remember love? - Ranka Lee ver - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnND91h-cgk

"Right now, I hear your voice
"Saying 'Come here to me.'
"Just when it seemed like loneliness had beaten me.
"Right now I see you
"Walking over to me.
"I close my eyes and wait for you to come."

Ranka spreads out her arms as if waiting for an embrace, eyes closing. Waiting until the timing of the next line to bring the microphone to her lips.

"Till yesterday, it seemed filled only with tears."
"But now my heart is...

Clutching her microphone extra tightly, she seems to get swept up further and further in the feelings of the song. And it seems to naturally send them outward to everyone around her in a way that feels like it goes beyond the physical senses to a different realm entirely.

"Do you remember? The first time our eyes met?
"Do you remember? The first time our hands touched.
"That was the very first time I set out on a journey of love.
"I love you so."

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        Nice, a buff blue-haired girl her own age says. To Ujico. She puffs up a little bit, smiling brightly at Qivi. "Thank you! --I like your hair!" she remembers to add, because returning compliments is important to Earthlings. And it is amazing hair. "Is that your piano?"

        People are gravitating around it.

        "I'm Ujico. Do you-- oooooooh," she trails off, head swiveling as Ranka begins to sing.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        "Thank you," Kaworu tells Lani warmly as Serinas claps for her. "It was a lovely song." He turns his smile to Ranka. "It looks as though it's our turn." His smile widens at Zoia as she says she considers him a friend, enough to squint his eyes shut momentarily. "I consider you a friend, too."
        
        He then positions his hands over the keys, fingers curved so naturally that one might imagine that they simply belong there. He's not surprised to hear that Lucine and Ranka are acquainted via the Nadesico, but before he can ask more, Ranka teases him, essentially saying that she'll just go ahead and sing and he'll simply have to follow along. He smiles broadly. "I'll do my best," he replies.
        
        Sure enough, when she sings, he recognizes the song immediately. Carefully, delicately, he intros the harmony to blend in with her vocals as naturally as if it were a professional performance. Still smiling, he shuts his eyes as he plays along with her. While the open air might not provide the best acoustics, it is nonetheless an exquisite acoustic cover.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher pauses in his way to find a bench, surprised at the sudden amount of attention. The gentle sense of care that fills his senses is enough to banish the bad memory, and he smiles. 'Yeah, sorry about that! I guess I was daydreaming.'

Looking around at the people surrounding him, Banagher feels embarrassed at his lack of fancy dress. He was dressed in his simple double-hoodie and jeans, an outfit that now felt terribly over-casual.

'I've never been to one of these things before. I'm a little out of my depth.'

As Ranka begins to sing, Banagher seems captivated, his eyes shining with the emotion of the song. As she finishes, he eagerly claps, smiling. It was almost disappointing as the song ends, to come back to reality.

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi certainly isn't goign to stop anyone from playing. Even if it's not *really* on her to offer.

She glances up when the Meltrandi(s) show up and one starts belting out music. She recognizes neither, so it doesn't matter, but it *would* just be like her to show up... still, there's a lot of Meltrandi in the world so it's not like she had to be worried. "Looks like someone decided to go for it."

Someone else decided to walk into the piano. She assumes that was accidental, but... "C'mon, how do you do that?" She isn't really asking Banagher. She can't imagine making that kind of mistake and walking into an inanimate object! Certainly not.

Instead she does reply to Paul. "Nope," Qivi says, shaking her head. "I play drums. Not exactly the kind of instrument they leave sitting out around here, and if they did you'd have kids banging at them all day and night. Unless there's a taiko set or something hiding."

Ujico responds! Qivi isn't really buff - just athletic - but she's right; that is amazing hair and Qivi is at least somewhat proud of it. "Hey, thanks," is her response. "It's not actually my piano, but..." Does she what? She doesn't get to find out, because Ranka is singing.

"...okay, she's good." Not entirely Qivi's usual style, but hey, that doesn't mean it's *bad*.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Someone does approach the microphone. It's not Rikka, though, it's someone else. Rikka does applaud politely, though, once the song is done... but in the meantime, it looks like someone else has spotted her looking at the microphone, and offers a gentle nudge in that direction.

She considers it... but before she does, someone else takes up the stage and begins to sing. Ranka's song hits her heart in a way she didn't expect, her voice striking. She can't really place what it is.

...Needless to say, though, she'd feel a little awkward going up on stage after that kind of performance. She does, however, offer the helpful stranger a smile.

"...Thanks for the encouragement." She says to Euphemia. She doesn't recognize her. It might not be the disguise, though - even without it she probably wouldn't. She still has a lot of reading up to do!

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        As Zoia tilts her head at Lucine, the teal-haired young woman bobs her head. "Oh, ah, you may not recognize me since I'm not in uniform- I was the representative from Nergal, about a month back," Lucine says to Zoia. "You and Mr. Nagisa made an impression on me, since I was, ah, very nervous. I'm glad to meet you both in a better context, now. And I've met others from NERV too! Miss Lanley and... Mr. Ikari, I think?" It's strange, how both were intense, in their own ways.

        Kaworu asks about how she and Ranka are acquainted. "Yes, through the Nadesico! She's a wonderful singer--"

        Lucine clasps a hand over her mouth as Banager walks into the piano. "... Ah...." Zoia is faster on the uptake, seeing if he is alright. "... It's alright," she says, nodding to him. "It's my first time here as well..."

        The sky's almost too blue, even if she's used to an artificial sky.

         But maybe, in listening to Ranka sing with the piano accompanying her, the sky is as blue as it needs to be.

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

Zoia knows enough world and regional politics to immediately recognize Britannian nobility. A thought immediately rushes to mind:

        ugh, hereditary aristocracy

She shoves it aside and clasps her hands, inclining her head politely the Princess's way with a gentle smile. "Oh, hello. You're Princess Euphemia, aren't you? It's an honour, Your Worship."

It took her a split second to remember that, as far as she recalls hearing, the pink-haired princess is basically the only member of the Britannian royal house who isn't a garbage human being. And even if she were, a diplomatic incident is not something she'd like to cause. She's fourteen and here to be polite.

Besides, there's Ranka to consider. Zoia looks back to her, adjusting her glasses with a delicate touch. "Ah, yes, I have enjoyed Japan a lot! The culture is a little different -" Understatement of the century there, gal - "but I really do enjoy things here. The food is good, too...!"

Zoia answers Kaworu with a gentle smile and a blush. "I'm glad. You've been very nice! I've appreciated it." She won't say it outright, but Kaworu's seemed like the most normal of the Children around her - he expresses emotions that aren't cynicism or arrogant rage, anyway, a rarity in circles NERVward.

Her gaze flits to Banagher as he seems to re-center himself. "Well, it seems like you're quite welcome here. What's your name? Mine's Zoia...."

But, music! When Ranka takes the microphone, Zoia folds her hands again and turns to listen. Her teeth catch around her lower lip. There's something oddly wholesome about the girl's voice that she finds herself compelled to listen to.

"...She's really good," Zoia observes with a soft blush before flashing Lucine a gentle smile. "I'm sorry for not recognizing you... I feel very rude now."

<Pose Tracker> Sayoko Shinozaki has posed.

        There are some nice smells wafting out from the location where the Ashford students have chosen to set up. It would seem that the tea being prepared there is of considerable quality! And Sayako sees to its preparation with absolute perfection. Though at Sho's concern, Sayoko smiles and replies, "Thank you for your consideration, Master Sho." Yup, looks like that isn't stopping any time soon! "But I'm more than happy to do my best to ensure you and the rest of the students have a wonderful time." The smile on Sayoko's face backs up her sincere words. Perhaps she's just that kind of soul.

        "Miss Emilia, Miss Kallen, would you like some tea?"

        Sayoko's attention is briefly diverted as another person starts singing. With some significant impact at that. Just looking around at those who listening intently, it's fairly obvious. "Oh my, what a wonderful song."

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.


"Wow!" Dr. Spartura repeats as she takes Koji's hand and shakes it. To Koji's relief, probably, there is no follow-up injection of deadly poison into his hand. It's a prosthetic. She raises the hand up afterwards, and says, "I'm Dorothy," which is true, "and I want to tell you that I'm a huge fan of your work. Like, on multiple levels. This is really a surprise! There's what, ninety million people in Japan?"

She looks over towards where other people seem to be zeroing in on the piano and even that pale kid moving to play it. "Well, that settles that. You play an instrument, Kabuto? God, I want to get you a drink or something. Making me feel like an old woman! anyway, what brings you out here?"

Paul answers Qivi. "Taiko. Is that like, the big ones? I saw 'em. On TV, in the hospital." Someone else comes up, which is lucky for Paul because he ran out of words.

Paul finishes off his water, caps it off, and immediately gets the other water out of his robe pocket to start drinking it. His eyes track over Ujico. The tattoo. It vexes him. He can't say why. Fortunately, a musical performance begins. His fingers clutch the bottle hard enough to splat water out fruitlessly. His eyes track over the arriving Meltran.

When Ranka's singing hits a lull, Dr. Spartura cups a hand to her mouth to call, "Do Angel's Paints!"

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.


        Lani smiles and nods her head to Kaworu at the praise. Serinas gives an excited little gasp as the song starts. Lani sets down a blanket and sits next to her daughter, closing her eyes and listening, smiling.

        Like Banagher, Serinas is captivated, and bursts into applause at the end. "That was *great*!" She shouts.

        Lani's clapping is a little more restrained, not because she doesn't like the music but because she just doesn't have boundless teenage enthusiasm. "It *was* beautiful."

        Serinas approaches the singer. "Did he say earlier, you're an aspiring singer? How do you... become one? I'd... I might like to do that... one day."

        Lani looks over at Kaworu. "Being the accompanist is never as glamorous, is it? But the song wouldn't be the same without you. Your playing was lovely as well."

POT: Zurvan Zevarist is now set observer.

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.


Despite being caught up in the song, she listens to Kaworu's accompaniment, understanding just how good he actually is in mere moments - and appreciating it all the more as she gets further into the song.

"Right now, I can feel your gaze though you're not here with me.
"And in my body a warmth begins to glow; right now, I believe in your love,
"So won't you please watch over me from so far away?"

"Till yesterday it seemed filled only with tears."
"Now the world is..."

"Do you remember? The first time our hands touched.
"That was the very first time I set out on a journey of love.
"I love you so."

After she repeats the verse, she starts closing it out, her eyes are adorned with sparkles of water.

"I'm not alone anymore.
"Now that you're here with me..."

Finishing up - the applause from several and request for an encore seems to snap her out of it, she laughs awkwardly at Dr. Spartura. "I should... let someone else have a turn first!" As she bows quickly, blushing a bit as she sets the microphone back on the stand. "Thank you very much for listening!" Looking over to Kaworu, she mouths 'Thank you' in his direction.

Reaching into her bag which is rustling right now, she says quietly, "Shhh." The rustling stops almost immediately as she grabs a tissue.

Dabbing at her eyes, she smiles at Serinas, "Oh! Well - usually... you get discovered by a manager, or audition. I participated in Miss Macross not long ago... though my manager, Elmo-san actually found me while I was singing at a mall."

Reaching back into her bag, she hands out a business card with both hands her way, "Here's his number. I'm sure he'd give you an audition if you called!" A beat, "I'm not sure I caught your name?"


<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Oh, good, no deadly neurotoxin injected directly into his hand. Koji takes a second to wonder why exactly that kind of scenario pops up in his head, but Dorothy is already continuing to speak about the rarity of this chance encounter, prompting another awkward chuckle.

Lucky coincidence, I suppose. I was here for work and took a break to drop by here, as it happens.

But then there is singing, a beautiful song that was retro by the time Koji was born but even so stirs something strangely nostalgic within him. He pauses to take in the moment before returning his attention to the intensely enthusiastic individual in front of him.

Ujico_Issa---------------------------------

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Ujico_Issa---------------------------------

    Ujico wasn't expecting anything in particular, but when it turns out that the green-haired singer is actually really good, she's entranced. She doesn't notice when she starts swaying back and forth gently, ponytails waving behind her.

    She is blissfully unaware of Paul's rising vexation. For now.

    It seems like the song is over all too quickly. She claps, making sure to stop when everybody else does too. "I wonder if she's an idol singer or something?" Ujico says alound to Qivi, who is her New Friend now. "I like idols. They're so good at communicating their feelings to people." It must be nice. Is it something they do naturally, or can it be taught? They make it look so easy!

finished---------------------------------- 
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        Ujico wasn't expecting anything in particular, but when it turns out that the green-haired singer is actually really good, she's entranced. She doesn't notice when she starts swaying back and forth gently, ponytails waving behind her.

        She is blissfully unaware of Paul's rising vexation. For now.

        It seems like the song is over all too quickly. She claps, making sure to stop when everybody else does too. "I wonder if she's an idol singer or something?" Ujico says alound to Qivi, who is her New Friend now. "I like idols. They're so good at communicating their feelings to people." It must be nice. Is it something they do naturally, or can it be taught? They make it look so easy!

<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.


        Emilia blushes a little at Kallen's compliment, but given it's about her looks, it's one of the compliments she can mostly take. Sho following up on it also makes her blush a little, but she looks away. "It was mostly Miss Kallen's idea," Emilia responds because she doesn't feel on the same level as her upperclassman. Emilia's a member of what is reportedly the seediest club in Ashford, she's used to looking good in other people's ideas. Still, it means she has a use.

        Sayoko offers tea, and Emilia nods. "Y-Yes, thank you." Something to drink might be nice. And the treats... Emilia kneels down to grab one, careful to make sure her yukata doesn't touch the ground-

        And then the singing starts. Emilia's eyes track over to the singer and pianist, with something slow and sweet and... Well it's not the state she was in during the concert, but the music still hits something she can't fully explain. The lyrics hit hard, and she turns to stand up, and walk slowly towards the performance, watching intently. Her expression is complicated, but she is a little awed.

        One might start to wonder if she's a time displaced meltrandi.

        Very cautiously, Emilia claps- she knows that how you show appreciation for a performance. And then rapidly she becomes self conscious if no one else is- even if someone else is- and she stares down at her feet.

        Idiot. Don't make a scene.

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

The performance grabs Euphy's attention; her heart is big, and it's easy to move. She's not spellbound -- she's still chatting -- but she feels like it was definitely worth it to slip away to see this.

"It's okay," Euphemia says to Banagher. "I am too. I've never been off the Britannian mainland until recently." Giving him a gentle smile, she says, "I think it's important to try these kinds of things, though. You need to be curious about new things to move forward in life."

Rikka not recognizing Euphy allows her a few moments of relative relaxation. For a moment, she looks like she has something smart to say; she smiles, and opens her mouth --

-- and then the shape of the situation changes. "Ahaha... I suppose sunglasses and wearing my hair all the way down has a limit," she answers Zoia, reaching up and pulling those sunglasses off. While she was already kind of obvious, those expressive blue-purple eyes would give her away in an instant. "The pleasure is mine," she says, her tone shifting back just a *hair* toward reserved. The situation is back to business, now. There are some things you just don't get away from with a yukata and a pair of sunglasses... "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Her gaze sweeps back out to the blossoms.

<Pose Tracker> Orpheus Zevon has posed.

        "Three hundred years? Sounds like quite a delicacy then. Perhaps I'll take my time of it later. Though, I admit, I'm rather more keen about some of the tea. I hear the Japanese can brew some rather exquisite stuff. Though we'll see that. We do have quite a few hours before we need to head out."

        It's at this time of casual chattering, this time where this group finds themselves simply looking for a spot to sit amongst the cherry blossom trees to relax that he realizes something. When was he truly done something like this? Beyond his mission, beyond being under cover, when has he really taken the time to enjoy such moments like these? It's a question that actually brings a moment of contemplation and confusion on his expression. There's another more pressing topic concerning the group though and that appears to be how well the girls in their yukatas were. It's something that he figures he should say something on perhaps. Some sort of gesture? Kallen's comments about both of their outfits were correct. The two were surely stunning. Kallen honestly seemed more in element wearing something like this, and Emilia with the aid of Sayoko and Kallen's guidance had really seemed to take to the culture. Something that definitely would have been a bit peculiar to other Britannians to see. In fact, he could imagine that perhaps he could have been a cause for such a thought. Ultimately though the words he offers to them about their look is just. . .

        "You both look very peaceful. . ."

        It's a very peculiar compliment, perhaps a bit too random, though it's the word that comes to him when he sees the two in this moment. He's seen the masks they put on inorder to enact violence, the faces they'd have to wear to steel their resolve. Though this, there were no masks at the moment. It felt genuinely sincere, and for that reason he found those words to be most appropriate for the two.

        At this point though, Sho's already talking more words he's got no idea about, "Taiyaki? Yakitori?" Another group of foods he's unfamiliar. Truly out of his culinary culture depth so far, though when it comes to music, even he could appreciate that. Listening to the calming voice, the sound of that piano play so elegantly that--

        "--?! Kaworu. . .?" He lets loose the name unintentionally under his breath.

        As Sayoko had brought their attention to that song, Orpheus had turned to his attention in the same fashion, and it'd be easy enough to assume his attention was perhaps caught by the songstress in the distance, though the one that truly catches his eyes is not the singer but the pianist. Even in the distance, even if his voice doesn't reach that person past the vocals of the song, there's no way he can mistake that person. It's a surprise for certain even more so in that. . .Well, he's surrounded by so many people. So many that well. . . The group may not know why but Orpheus finds himself giving a rather genuine expression of his own as he looks into the distance. A humbled, grateful smile.

        Euliya, I'm sure this too was something you wanted to see. . . He'd bring his attention back towards the others again that look that almost seemed unusual on his face as he spoke, "I think I'll be following Sho's example and check out some of the stalls. I'll be back by the end to join everyone." As he says that he starts following in Sho's direction, albeit his attention still from the corner of his eyes focuses on the pianist and vocalist duet currently playing.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Sorry." Banagher says, again, shyly ducking his head. He doesn't know what to do with his hands, wishing he'd brought Haro along. He settles on laying his hands on the top of the piano, feeling the fading vibrations from Kaworu's playing.

"My name is Banagher." He smiles to Zoia. The conversation pauses as Ranka continues her song, Banagher once again entranced by the music. Ranka was so capable with expressing emotion through her voice, and the piano accompaniment brought it to another level. Though the sound tickles the back of his mind, making him feel as though something important is just beyond his reach. Banagher raises a hand and covers his right eye -- quickly lowering it to clap with the others, as the song ends.

Looking back to Euphemia, Banagher blinks, and then nods. "I've spent my life in space. I'm glad to be here. Moving forward... Yeah. That's important. We should all go together."

<Pose Tracker> Sho Muramoto has posed.


Sho happens to be passing by and stops for a moment to listen. He's even one of the ones that ends up clapping for the singing once it ends before he continues on.

He comes back with a couple of large disposable plates of goodies for the Ashford group. And that has him blinking, then looking back the way he came, then back towards the group as he approaches again after a minute or three.

"So, turns out being Japanese and who I am has some small benefits? The stand owner recognized me from when I came with my grandparents and well... I ended up getting one thing after another when he got another one involved and they got another involved... and one said he even knew one of my uncles." He shrugs.

"In any case, have at it. Variety of stuff. Mostly marked. I think."

Looks like the Ashford group has some grub among them!

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi does not keep her voice particularly lower when Music Is Happening. When you just show up and start singing you have to expect people to talk over it! "Yeah, the big ones, I think. Not that I use them much; I'm from Huffman," which is half OCU and half Britannian (and good luck guessing which part Qivi grew up in) but not Japanese, "but I figure I can at least manage something and they won't exactly have my kind of drum kit out and about."

Qivi played drums in a garage rock band. Her grasp of taiko solos is going to be a little bit limited.

She applauds, a little roughly, when the song comes to a close, but does not immediately crowd the performers. Even though she'd kind of like to meet them. But where Qivi was less smiling before, she's more so now. She seems in a good mood, and since she has no poker face at all, that's obvious.

"Well, if she is, I don't know her, but that doesn't mean anything," Qivi replies to Ujico. "I wonder if she's worked with the guy playing the piano before, they can't have done quite that well together if they'd never met." Half right. "Oh, and I'm Qivi. I don't come around here much, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I saw a look like *yours* when I did." Another grin. She's debating if she can ask about the horns or not.

Her good attitude changes slightly when Euphy takes off her sunglasses. Apparently the disguise (at a distance, from an odd angle) worked on Qivi but her no longer hiding gives the game away! She tries not to scowl, and fights down a moment of frustration.

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

Kallen, unsurprisingly, would love some relaxing tea. Also she has to imagine it would do wonders for Emmy's nerves, even if she has no immediate proof of such. It's always helped people in her experience. Well... almost always. There's ONE person she knows who sorely needs her tea laced with a triple dose of livestock tranquilizers. But that person is so very far away from here right now, and miles away from Kallen's active thoughts. "That sounds perfect, thank you."

Whatever else she was about to do is swiftly derailed by somebody else exposing what she had no plans to. That's unfortunate, though... at a glance, the park isn't exactly full of Britannians and press figures who might go nuts over a princess being here. A small blessing at least. The actual music isn't hitting her quite the same as the concert did... though that's not to say she dislikes it. It's quite relaxing in fact, and like Emmy, she offers a modest clap for the talent on display.

There's an instant where the part of her that learned to play piano as a child yearns to perform alongside them... but none of the music she knows the notation for by heart, feels especially fitting for the occasion.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        It truly is euphoric to play, and Kaworu's body sways to the gentle melody as his fingers craft it, eyes shut--but once Ranka's sweet voice brings the song to the close and he follows her to its end with a rising trill of keys, he finds himself the recipient of some of the praise and applause that rose for her. He smiles over at Ranka as she's approached by a new fan and asked for an encore, but looks over at Lani as she addresses him.
        
        "Thank you," he says warmly to her, a hint of a laugh on his breath. "Music truly is the language of the soul, isn't it? It's gratifying to see so many people enjoy our performance."
        
        He glances over at Banagher, who looks to be in better spirits too now that the song is over. His smile softens. That's wonderful to see, too. It appears that Zoia and Euphemia (whom he does recognize as herself, and is unfazed by as he so often is) are handling him, so it should be fine now. But... with Banagher's hand on the piano, it seems like there's something he could convey without words. No one else is interested in the piano just yet, so he lets his fingers trill several bars into the classical piece by Debussy, Claire de Lune. A song honoring space for the man from space. If Banagher looks his way, Kaworu simply gives him a friendly smile.
        
        Emilia applauds for Ranka and him too, and he gives her a gracious nod of gratitude before meeting Ranka's eyes. She's got a brand-new fan chatting her up, so he simply grins back at her as she mouths 'thank you' to him.
        
        Past her, though, there's someone whose attention fixed onto him as he'd played. Kaworu lets his gaze meet Orpheus's, expression gentling as their eyes meet across the park. As much as he enjoys playing, it really does make him happy to see Orpheus hear to hear it--to know that he can listen on Euliya's behalf too. He gives him a subtle, fond nod, and lets him live his life--a life that seems quite fully and happy from where Kaworu is seated--in peace. 

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.


        Serinas takes the card, stares at it for a moment, and very carefully so as not to bend it tucks it away in her purse. "Ah... I'm Serinas! Serinas Nikola! I'm uh..." She reaches up to awkwardly brush a bang aside but it's pinned right now so she just ends up tracing her fingers over her pointed ear. "I'm from the belt. I grew up in a Zentradi mining colony. The Earth Sphere is so beautiful, and lively, and musical and, and more, it's wonderful!" She smiles.

        Then realizes, "Oh, I forgot to ask *your* name! And um... did I see you on the cruise? You look familiar, miss...?" She holds out a hand to shake.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.


"Aw," Dr. Spartura says when Ranka demurs from her called out request. She tells Koji, who may not have desired this knowledge, "I love that one. Had it at my wedding. Anyway, that's wild. I was walking a patient over, that's him over there. Used to be in the service, I had to do a heavy rebuild. Anyway, shouldn't talk more without his consent; laws, you know."

She looks at Koji then and asks, with wonder and an easy too-wide smile, "So what are you up to these days?!"

Paul, meanwhile, answers Qivi. "Huh. Yeah, drums... drums are gonna be straightforward." After this deep thought, he listens to the rest of the song. Obscurely, it eases a heart, but this hurts in its own way as well. He breathes through his mouth for a moment, and his eyes close shut. He doesn't listen to the heart of people around him; it is something else, interior. He drinks his water, and he looks up to the sky.

His jaw sets and he breathes out with force.

"Hey," Paul then says, much less crabbily than before other people showed up, and towards Ujico. "I gotta ask you this or it's gonna bug me. What's the uh, the little guy in your ink there?" he asks her, indicating with the water bottle. "I don't recognize it."

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

Look, not many people have pink hair and a regal demeanor! And Zoia's fairly good at seeing through disguises. Quattro Bajeena might fool her, but not for long.

She does blush a little as she realizes she probably outed Euphemia against her will, but there's not too much she can do about it, just folding her hands and nodding to the princess politely. "It really is. Both the singing and the cherry blossoms." With a look out, she smiles wistfully. "There are a few cherry blossom trees in Moscow, but nothing like this. Seeing the real thing is... very inspiring, I think."

Banagher makes his introduction, and Zoia favours him with a gentle smile and another nudging-up of her big round glasses. Her eyes widen slightly behind them. "Really? Is it strange for you, adjusting to things on Earth? It was curious enough to do it here from another country - one can only imagine what it's like from space." She winces sympathetically.

"Is the gravity hard? I've heard it's hard, if you're not used to it. Microgravity does a lot of things to your bones and tissues - or I suppose doesn't do them, may be the better way to put it...."

zoia no it's a festival stop flaunting your science studies

She adjusts her yukata subtly before turning a pensive look to Euphemia once more. "...Do you play any instruments?" she questions suddenly, eyes alight.

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.


'It's all thanks to Kaworu-kun.' she might have said if someone asked her about this moment, and indeed in many ways that's true on this day.

"It's very nice to meet you Serinas-san." Smiling at her, as she nods, "Wow! That must have been very interesting growing up there. This is my first time visiting the earth sphere myself... I'm really enjoying it. I grew up on the Macross Frontier myself."

A beat,

"Ranka Lee! And you did. Aha... it was quite a welcome to Earth. Though I'm glad I did get to listen to Sheryl-san's new song. I'm a big fan of hers!"

Some strange instinct causes her to look Emilia's way, like she felt... something in the sudden emotional shift. The look on her face sweet as she grabs an extra pack of tissues from her time passing them out at the mall, then she puts up a finger as if to ask for just a moment, and takes just a few steps over to her.

"Thank you for listening." Without saying anything, she puts her hand out, and discretely tries to place the tissue pack in her palm. "I'm working my way up to my debut as an idol. So I'd appreciate your support." As she talks, trying to offer a distraction at the same time... maybe she'll be unable to... but that's what the tissue is for.

"Ranka Lee by the way." She says to her quietly, just in case she'd been too caught up to hear it before.

Not far away she spots Qivi, but decides not to immediately disengage, perhaps to try and make sure everything is alright first before doing so.


<Pose Tracker> Sayoko Shinozaki has posed.

        It seems that the things that Orpheus has heard about the tea in Japan is not an exaggeration, as Sayoko proceeds to serve out some, which she has finished preparing, to Kallen and Emilia. The nice smells in the area only increasing in intensity. Though as Orpheus heads out to check out some of the stalls, Sayoko nods, "Of course, Master Orpheus. I will make sure there is some tea left over for you to try some."

        The song ends and Sayoko applauds Ranka with some restraint. It doesn't look like the maid has realized the significance of any disguise removals at this point. Though to be fair, Sayoko doesn't watch a lot of TV. She does listen to a lot of radio though! Though she's not exactly all that close enough to pick up any significant conversation right now.

        Sayoko's attention once more returns to her duties as Sho returns, laden with additional food, "An impressive find, Master Sho!" She helps him spread the additional food across the large blanket. Looking at the combination of homemade sweets and stall food, Sayoko remarks, "I imagine even all of us having some trouble finishing all of this. Perhaps some of you would like to take some of it and offer it to others in the park?"

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Koji glances over to the pale man clearly struggling to keep himself together. Is he okay without you supervising him, Doctor? Paul seems to be doing okay for now though so he doesnt make any urgent moves, instead listening to Dorothys next question.

Well, as it happens, after - he waves a hand - everything, I went and got a doctorate of my own. There is a small, proud smile on his face, which not even the sudden revelation of a Britannian princess in the midst of the gathering can abate (though he does notice Euphemia - shes hard to miss, after all). Following in my grandpas footsteps and all. 

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Lucine quickly shakes her head at Zoia's apology. "O-oh, no, don't be! My dad used to say that I can have that effect on people."

        Of course, when the baseline is 'charismatic bounty hunter', a lot of things are mundane. And, in some ways, a better way to live.

        It makes it a lot easier to fall back and listen to the music.

        At the end of Ranka's performance, Lucine enthusiastically claps. "That was wonderful, Ranka! So much emotion packed into your singing..." How long could she be on the Nadesico, with a voice like that?

        Kaworu settles into another song, this time a piano piece, which Lucine immediately recongizes.

        "... Claire de Lune...."

        Listening, she is transported back to a world that no longer exists-- where her mother's hands would settle over the keys of the piano after a long day, and Lucine would listen, looking up at the artificial blue sky among the grass.

        That piano, exposed as it is now, how long could it last?

        She suddenly feels homesick, her lips fighting to keep from showing it in her face.

        It's a bittersweet feeling, like biting into a cold apple that is just on the edge of being just a little too tart, but not quite. But pleasant, all the same.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Koji glances over to the pale man clearly struggling to keep himself together. Is he okay without you supervising him, Doctor? Paul seems to be doing okay for now though so he doesnt make any urgent moves, instead listening to Dorothys next question.

Well, as it happens, after - he waves a hand - everything, I went and got a doctorate of my own. There is a small, proud smile on his face, which not even the sudden revelation of a Britannian princess in the midst of the gathering can abate (though he does notice Euphemia - shes hard to miss, after all). Following in my grandpas footsteps and all.

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.


        "They work really well together," she nods. "The piano player is really talented too. I guess since it's a classic song it wouldn't be unheard of for two people to improvise. But that's supposed to be rally hard." Ujico does not play an instrument. All of her theories are just that - theories.

        "Qivi!" she grins, parroting the syllables carefully. "I'm Ujico. Nice to meet you! --Oh, you mean the shirt? I thought it was appropriate!" It is technically seasonal; it is also an affront to at least two senses. Qivi's good mood suddenly evaporates and Ujico follows her gaze. ...That's Euphemia-something-Britannia. In Japan. Wearing the local clothing. "..."

        ...So is the Britannian Crown just encroaching on everything, even festivals? Ujico is staring. Like, super staring.

        Paul, weirdly enough, comes to the rescue. "Ah-- oh, uh, this little guy?" Ujico twists her arm to get a better look at the opposum tattooed on her tricep. "It's an Earth animal called an 'opposum'. They're pretty big on the internet right now. They eat pest insects and scream!" Ujico beams. This is an important science fact. "How come you're in a wheelchair? Are you okay?"

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

'Princess Euphemia'? Rikka supposes that must be the person she was talking to - judging by the way she removes part of her disguise - though Rikka finds she doesn't worry much about titles, herself.

There's a few people gathered around now, it seems - she scoots over just a bit, in case anyone wants to take a seat on the bench.

Rikka looks briefly out to the stage, then out again at the blossoms.

"...I haven't really been to one of these before. It's all really pretty. The flowers don't really bloom like this where I'm from..." Rikka comments. She pauses, realises that might be a bit hard to explain away so she excuses it a little lamely with a, "...I'm a city girl, so..."

She trails off.

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

"Oh -- a spacenoid," Euphemia says, brightly. "I hope you have a nice time on Earth. I know it likely isn't what you're used to, but I think the interchange between Earth and space is one of the treasures of our era." It feels almost hypocritical to even say. Euphemia thinks about the official NIA stance on the matter; her irritation tickles at the back of her neck.

She moves past it. This is still a nice day.

Zoia asks if she plays any instruments -- and she has to concede, "I don't. One of my half-brothers was learning before he was disowned..." It sounds like a memory that *could* be tragic, but it isn't; Euphemia seems to feel terribly fondly terribly fondly.

Euphemia notices she's being stared at; she glances back to Ujico, and -- slightly confused -- gives a wave. (She can make an inference. Even if she would like to, it's pointless to be upset here; she has enough freefloating political imagination to understand the general shape of the feeling.)

Rikka explaining that she hasn't seen this type of thing before gets Euphy's attention. "Pendragon doesn't have this kind of thing either... it's really magnificent. Britannia doesn't have a lot of room for the beauty of something fragile." *That's* a melancholy thought, so she pinches it off before it gets too far.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.


"I'm keeping an eye on him," Dr. Spartura says easily. "You know how it is, I'm sure. Sometimes you've got to just jump in there and get going. I think he's really making a great recovery. Probably be flying again soon!"

Her eyes flick to the side, as if following where Koji is looking. "It was great to meet you, *Doctor* Kabuto; I'll drop you an email later. Be seeing you~." And with this she steps away with a cheerful wave of the non-prosthetic hand.

Paul answers Ujico, "Yeah," and then looks. "... Huh. I don't go on the Internet much. Never heard of 'em, but cool. Thanks a lot," and with this he raises his water in salute. Then there's a pause, and he says, "Oh, yeah, I'm in rehab. Big shit. Doctor hauled me out here since I'm on the up swing."

Glug. "Kinda sucks, but I got a job lined up if this all heals," he continues. "Japan isn't so bad. Everything just looks like trash in the winter all around."

At this point Dr. Spartura gets back over there. "Hey there," she says to Qivi and Ujico. Then she looks to the side. She has the discretion to say, "Check that out, it's a real live princess," in a like, normal tone of voice, instead of shouting out 'REAL LIVE PRINCESS' the way she said 'KOJI KABUTO.'

"Is that right," Paul answers with indiference.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.


        "It's nice to meet you too, Ranka!" Serinas answers with a smile. "Yeah, her new song was so good! It got me really pumped out there, fighting off those jerks!

        You grew up on Macross Frontier? That's one of the ones that actually has full-size Zentradi accomodations, right? I wish I could have seen it, humans and Zentradi living together that way...

        Ha, you must get the 'what was it like having giant people around' question all the time from people too, right? I get that when I tell them where I grew up..."

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

As Kaworu begins to play this new song, Banagher looks over at him, returning the young man's smile. There was an odd feeling around Kaworu -- he wasn't scary, or bad, Banagher thought, but something was... Banagher struggles for a proper word. Unusual? Unearthly, maybe? Banagher keeps his hands atop the piano, pleased to be absorbing the music with more than a singular sense.

"It's a big change." Banagher answers Zoia, clearly a little distracted. "The people feel different, somehow. Not that that's a bad thing."

Princess... The word catches Banagher's attention. For a moment, he looks excited, glancing around hopefully -- but after a moment he shakes his head. Turning his attention back to Euphemia, he smiles. "You remind me of someone. You're so kind." Banagher blushes, softly. "Thank you. Is it... safe for you here? I know princesses can... attract a lot of attention." He finishes, a little lamely.

Once Kaworu's song finishes, Banagher glances around for a bench. Rikka's movement catches his eye,and he approaches. "Is it alright if I sit with you? I'm not used to talking to so many people."

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

"No, it's more that it's been a bit of a whirlwind month," Zoia admits with a faint smile back at Lucine. "Settling in here, getting used to a whole new culture... it's taken a lot of mental energy! Especially settling into a new school and all that."

She's tangentially aware of someone staring daggers at Euphemia, and once again she kicks herself mentally for not realizing others didn't see past the Glasses of Epic Disguise. Learn to read the room, Zoia. Closing her eyes briefly, she sighs, then looks towards Euphemia again as her eyes open once more. "I'm sorry for bringing it up." Not that she gets much of a regret vibe from the pink princess. Britannian politics do be like that, apparently. "In fairness, I don't either."

A beat, then - "Do you play chess, by any chance?"

Back to Banagher with a glance - Zoia flashes a curious smile and an arch of her eyebrows. "Feel different? I suppose I can see that... every place is a bit different...." But he's drifting off to talk to Rikka, leaving Zoia to carry on a conversation with Euphemia in bits and pieces. For now, anyway.

"What sorts of things does Pendragon have? Festivals and such, I mean, and nice places to spend the spring...."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Kaworu doesn't linger at the piano. Lucine breathes the name of the tune he plays, and Banagher smiles back as he absorbs the melody, until he wraps up the melody. Kaworu offers them both a nod as he continues to offer them gentle, genuine smile--though when are his smiles ever not?--before he pulls the keyboard cover over and down to protect the keys. After that, he slips off the piano bench, leaving it open for someone else, should they decide they wish to play.
        
        A soft jingle sounds from his pocket. As a courtesy, he pulls it from his pocket to read its contents; his smile turns bittersweet. He looks up at Ranka, then sends her a brief text: 'I'm very sorry, but I'm needed at work, so I need to go. Will you be all right?'
        
        Once he's confirmed that she will be, he strolls off for the park exit, hands back in his pockets, offering no farewells in his wake. Even if his time here was brief, it was truly satisfying--much like the cherry blossoms in fragrant, delicate bloom all around him. 

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi catches Ranka's eye, for a moment, and she gives her a slight nod. It's not clear if she knows Ranka's a hopeful idol yet, though she did appreciate the music.

Ujico doesn't like Euphy either, which puts her up slightly in Qivi's view. When Euphemia waves in Ujico and her direction, Qivi glares back. No, she's not going to start something here. Not even yelling, much as Qivi likes yelling. But she isn't going to like having Euphemia around, either.

"I like the winter," she says instead, to Paul, "but where I'm from it doesn't get *that* cold, so I guess that's a difference. Once you get into inches of snow, I'm out. That's an advantage of space, I guess. The weather's better, or at least the forecasters are accurate. Glad to hear you're doing better." She seems to mean it.

She cranes her neck to look at Ujico's tattoo. "I never got a tattoo," she says. "Never could decide what to get, or where, and that's not the kind of thing that it's real easy to change your mind about later on."

Dr. Spartura comes back. "Yeah, we noticed," Qivi says, her irritation coming back again. Her emotions are still open.

<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.


        Emilia's not sure whether they're clapping because they like the artist, or to make her feel better. She definitely hopes it's the former. Besides why would anyone want to make her feel better. At least Milly's family's dislike of her Grandfather justifies what she's doing a little, at least. That's what Emilia tells herself.

        She is briefly distracted by the talk of a boy who spent his life in space, Emilia's eyes track towards him, and there's a flash of curiousity and jealousy at once, able to be picked up by those who can. Now why would a Britannian want that?

        But her attention is refocused immediately, as Ranka walks up to her and Emilia is worried she offended the young singer. So 'thank you for listening' catches Emilia off guard. But it's not hard to palm the tissues for her, even if Emilia is unfamiliar with the situation. "My... support?" Emilia seems a bit confused, but it's not like anyone has ever asked for such a thing. Or wanted to ask for such a thing. But she's... there's a complicated feeling there. Like she wants to say no, like her support would only be a bad thing. But...

        But maybe this is an opportunity to change, however small.

        Emilia gives a small nod. "O-okay." She's... not sure how, but she can ask someone how after... Milly had the concert tickets, so maybe she would know. Or... Idols are a Japanese idea, right? Maybe Kallen would know... urgh.

        She looks stunned for a few moments. "I... um..." She pauses. The words are hard. "Your song was..." It's a logjam in her brain, and her mouth struggles to move. "I really liked it..." She manages to get out, before her mouth locks up for a few more moments.

        Oh, right, her name... Ranka Lee, she'll need to know that if she's going to... support her. However that works? "Um, I'm Emilia. um. Eschonbach..." She's *much* quieter saying her surname. She looks almost ashamed. Or for those who can sense the emotions, definitely ashamed. And angry. Really angry. She's good at hiding it on her face, though.

        Sayoko provides Emilia her tea, and she's careful to hide the tissues in her Yukata sleeve. "Thank you." She looks to Ranka, feeling rude all of a sudden, "Um... Would you...?" Like it's just polite to offer, right. Even if she's offering Sayoko's work.

        And then Sayoko suggests they hand out excess treats and... "You um... you mean like... at a cafe or something?" That's a frame of reference she has. She's done that work. But putting Kallen or Sho through it.

<Pose Tracker> Sayoko Shinozaki has posed.

        As Emilia proceeds to offer some tea to Ranka, Sayoko speaks up, "There is more than enough to go around!" She demonstrates this by pouring another cup and placing it, for Ranka to take if she wants.

        The picnic has been set up, the food placed, the tea prepared. At this point Sayoko's immediate responsibilities are complete. As such she proceeds to step back just a little and stand off to the side of the Ashford group. From there she simply observes, keeping an eye on things and waiting for another opportunity to help. All the while with a soft smile on her face. It's a wonderful sight to her, to see them all enjoying their time here.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

'Spacenoid' - Rikka doesn't really respond at all to the term as it flies between Euphemia and Banagher. It seems like that's something she doesn't worry too much about, either.

Pendragon, Britannia... she's read up on what they're like on this side a bit, so she can understand a bit why Euphemia feel the way she does. 'The beauty of something fragile', though... The words resonate with her, somehow.

"...That's a nice way of describing something like this. I like it." Rikka replies. She can tell that Euphemia doesn't want to pursue the prior train of thought further, so she doesn't push the subject. Instead, "Have you tried any of the festival food yet? It's pretty good. Some of it's a little much for me, though..."

At this point, Banagher approaches. ...He kind of reminds her of someone she knows, somehow. He seems a little overwhelmed, so she nods in response.

"Yeah, I don't mind. Hang in there, alright?" She offers encouragingly.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        "They're *beautiful*...!" a lyrical voice breathes.
        
        Hurrying into the park, and never mind the crowds, is one young woman with long blonde hair. She's wearing a sun hat that she has tipped up so she can gaze in wonder at the cherry blossoms in full bloom over her large, tinted sunglasses, and a loose, teal top drapes over her black shorts and under a heart-shaped golden pendant and a matching purse. Gold bangles adorn her right wrist while thigh-high black stockings adorn her legs, and thick heels raise her a couple of inches taller than she'd otherwise be. She twirls around, a single dangling earring twirling with her as the light glints off its purple crystal, and faces her companion with blue eyes sparkling with excitement.
        
        "I *knew* it was a good idea to come again!" she utters, voice just loud enough to be heard over the crowds without reaching an outright shout. With the voice training she's had, she *could* easy speak over it, but that's not what she's here for. "This is on a completely other level compared to before!"
        
        Her steps light and bouncy, Sheryl adjusts her (potentially?) identity-obscuring hat and shades, returns to Alto's side and--assuming he doesn't dodge her--grabs onto his arm playfully. "Now why don't you treat me to some delicious local delicacy~? You're the one familiar with the local culture, after all!"
        
        The fact that Sheryl could easily straight-up buy a street cart of her choice with just the money in her purse doesn't matter. The point is making *Alto* buy her something that he picked out himself.
Kaworu_Nagisa teleports out.

<Pose Tracker> Orpheus Zevon has posed.

        Orpheus nods to Sayoko as she promises to save him some of that tea. He'll be keeping her to that if anything. As for the others, it already seems like they're caught up in the moment, enough so if he's not sitting with him that they won't be too bothered by it. At least, that's what he believes. After all, even if he can enjoy peace now and again. . .It's not something he thinks he should get too accustomed to. After all, just because something looks good for some, doesn't mean it will for all. And even if Kaworu believes that to be something that he has in the moment, it's not something Orpheus could maintain.

        He recalls a certain promise, a promise that's gotten him this far. A promise to live. . .It's the reason he believes to have decided to come today. To try his best if only for a moment in time. So even if these moments are fleeting, he'll try to live them preciously. For that reason. . .

        "Were you always able to play that well, Kaworu?" A stranger from amongst the crowd speaks to Kaworu so casually, as if they've known them for ages. At first, the voice seems so familiar. A voice that he's only recently heard recently, a voice that he could put a face to immediately. Although if he had ended up turning around to see that face well. . .It wasn't. Though perhaps that was to be expected from that *that* person. The face of the person Kaworu would see is one he's never seen before. In fact, it honestly looked like a face that could have ever so easily been lost to the crowd. A man who almost seemed in his twenties, dressed as a would-be salaryman. Uninteresting in appearence, unimposing in demeanor as he speaks, "If you're planning to leave, I should at least try to properly send you off this time. After all, don't you think you deserve to be properly said goodbye for once?"

        The voice that had called out to him from behind had even changed now too. That somber voice having overlapped with the one most familiar with. The true owner of this mask could only hope Kaworu would forgive him enough for not showing himself properly. After all, Kaworu still truly did have quite a crowd with him, and especially when it came to those who could have been watching him. He can only hope that one of the stall food snacks he offers to the young man might be enough to appease him, as he give that offer to at least walk him out towards the park exit. The young man didn't have to offer this stranger a farewell, but if anything this stranger felt the need to be the one to send him off for once. 

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.


Ranka takes a moment to actually focus on Kaworu's song. She didn't understand how right she was by pegging his mastery of the Piano and Violin as very classically minded. It's perhaps the best rendition of the song she's ever heard. And when she closes her eyes, she feels like she can feel moonbeams on her face. Even though it's bright as day.

"Aha - I'm-I'm not a pilot, but I understand. It was very inspiring." She says gently to Serinas, before grinning and nodding, "Island-3!" Before clasping her hands together, "Well, all the time now since I've been to Earth. Some people even ask if I'm one of them. It's an honest mistake."

Being one of the few of the third generation about her age, it's easy to imagine all kinds of people mistake her for being half-Zentradi.

Emilia though seems confused, though she seems patient, gentle, smiling at her. "I'm glad. Hearing you liked it made the performance worth it." She says that with a kind bright sincerity, "Part of why I want to be an idol is to convey my feelings and the feelings in the song like that to my listeners." The sudden spike of anger upon naming her family is one she feels certainly, though she's not certain why. So she calls her instead, "Emilia-chan." Without bringing up the surname. It's like she's inviting her towards familiarity. "It's very nice to meet you."

As Sayoko offers her tea, she bows to both her and Emilia, "Thank you very much." She takes a sip from it, and her eyes grow wide, her hair raises just... subtly, "Delicious!"

When Kaworu winds down his song he texts afterwards... she checks the floppy Salamander phone(Osanshoo-san) on her shoulder. She starts texting back back.
>i understand
>thx again!
>that song really made me feel like the moon was in the sky with the cherry blossoms fluttering down
>im glad i got to listen to you perform

Still holding her teacup, she goes to hoist up her bag on her shoulder - an act she can fortunately pull off due to her time as a waitress. Though she almost spills her tea when she sees Sheryl grabbing Alto's arm.


<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

Kallen has a faint smile cross her face, seeing Emilia start talking to the young singer. At least, Ranka looks young to her, arguably younger than herself or Milly. But obviously such things are hard to judge, and given she's looking to become an idol, maybe she's already through school? She gives Emmy an obvious gesture of support, encouragement to make friends with the girl.

"I think it would be good for you." She's aware of course, that Emmy's insecurities might make her believe Kallen just wants an excuse to slip away. It's not true, of course. She's trying to help the poor girl gain confidence and ability to talk to people. To take initiative on things she wants. So once she feels sure Emmy is fine there with Ranka, Kallen slowly climbs to her feet with a few food offerings, to find someone she can approach. ..But who looks approachable, and not involved in a large conversation? There's a few moments of her looking around, potentially seeming lost to an outside observer, as she's considering her options.

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

"Well -- Memorial Day comes at the end of May," Euphemia answers Zoia, after a little thought. "For the nobility it's a very stuffy holiday... for everyone else it's a chance for a family outing and a nice meal, but I haven't seen that up close, myself." Chess, though... "I do play chess -- I'm not very good. I'm too aggressive with my pawns and not aggressive enough with my higher-value pieces."

Banagher asks if she's safe, and she concedes, with a little sadness, "... I might not be -- but my security detail wouldn't let me come here, and I'm happy to be here." With a smile, she says, "We'll keep it our secret," before Banagher moves to sit with Rikka. Rikka mentioning she likes the turn of phrase gets a faint giggle, and her follow-up meets with, "I have! I want to get a little more before I head back... it's all very good. I had some ikayaki earlier -- the texture is incredible..."

Speaking of which -- Euphemia is getting looks that escalate to glares now. ... the passive violence of the world is a lot, and it's hard not to feel complicit, a bit. Still -- her feeling, overall, remains 'Let them glare. I know why I'm here.'

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.


        Paul salutes with his water; Ujico raises a hand to her forehead in a fair imitation of a salute of her own. "You're welcome! I'm glad you're feeling better. I hope your new job is good and you don't get hurt again." Dr. Spartura joins them, and Ujico nods back. "Hi there."

        It is in fact a real live princess. Ujico isn't entirely sure what to do about this information. Euphemia isn't... slapping people out of her way or passing restrictive legislation or anything - oh no she's waving!! At who??

        Without permission or thought, Ujico's hand raises itself and waves back. Monkey brain, go.

        "Well, I thought that if I didn't get anything too big I could just keep getting more of them, so if I found something new I liked I could just add that. And I guess you can get them removed if you really really super regret it? But it hurts." But so does getting the tattoo in the first place! 

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

Smoothing her hands across her kimono, Zoia tilts her head to listen to Euphemia. "It sounds like a nice time," she muses.

The chess talk evokes more of a smile. "If you'd ever like to play, I would like that," she invites. "Not that you have any obligation. I'm just a high school student." Who happens to fly a giant horrorterror robot when she's not at school. "But I think I'm fairly good at chess."

Zoia routinely beats supercomputers at chess. 'Fairly good' undersells it. But bragging about it in front of a foreign dignitary-slash-official would be rather gauche.

With Euphemia moving on to chat with Banagher and Rikka, Zoia doesn't pursue her any further. She takes a couple of steps back and turns to look up into the cherry blossoms with a faint, wistful sort of smile. It's pretty - prettier than most scenery from back home.

Enjoying it feels almost illegal. Her other duties seem like they carry a requirement to be depressed, miserable and anti-social. Being otherwise, even here, feels oddly isolating.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Might not be safe? That gets a frown. Who would want to harm such a sweet, kind girl? "If you're in trouble, come sit by me. I'll keep you safe." Banagher says, his golden eyes serious. "I won't let anyone hurt you." With his messy hair, and simple, casual clothing, Banagher certainly doesn't appear to be any sort of person who could protect someone else. But there's a sense of conviction in his eyes that speaks otherwise.

"Thanks." Banagher says to Rikka, sitting down. "I'm Banagher. What's your name? I heard you say you're from the city. I know how that is." He falls quiet, after that, watching the people nearby. Banagher seems comfortable with the quiet -- though not in a closed-off way. Almost certainly, he would be amenable to further conversation.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

        Serinas looks over at the other person Ranka's talking to. So anxious, nervous, and angry... though the half-zentradi doesn't think about how she notices that, when it's hidden on her face... "Yeah. It couldn't be bad to like such a pretty song, right?"

        She looks back to Ranka. Piloting is mentioned. "Ah, well, I..." Now it's her turn to be awkward. She can't admit she's a ZAFT pilot in Feddie territory... "I learned how to pilot industrial equipment on the colony... a-and Queadluun-Raus... so I was able to manage! Although the Alto was so much slower than a Rau, it kept throwing me off..." Serinas, you're babbling!

        "Ah, well, I know how that is, kinda! Like, what are you supposed to say? It's just normal, that's how life is! There's big people around sometimes, and sometimes it's your turn to be big to operate some of the equipment! Well, maybe you didn't have *that* part. But it's like, what are we supposed to compare it to? Uh, most of the Earth Sphere, where... people *aren't* giant sometimes? Like what can we say? Hahah, heheh..."

        At the mention of idols, Serinas clasps her hands together in front of her chest, eyes sparkling. "That sounds so wonderful! If everyone could just share in those feelings... understand that others feel that way too... then how could there be war, and dividing the world??? I hope one day everyone will get along, and Natural, Coordinator, Zendtradi, everyone just contributing their own part to a wonderful Earth Sphere culture! And maybe song is the way to do that... I hate that everyone is fighting eachother like this, it just makes me think of the Zentradi and Meltrandi before the war..."

        Oh hey, Ranka has a phone! A very weird phone.

        "Ohh, what a funny phone! Oh, uh, swapping numbers is something people do here, right? Uh, mine is..." she rummages in her purse for a phone to get a number to offer Ranka.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        As Kaworu slips through the crowds, a voice calls his name. He pauses, that smile still on his lips, and bows his head slightly. There's no need for him to turn around--he knows that presence very well indeed--but he looks anyway, to smile at a face he's never seen before and will likely never see again.
        
        "How well do you remember me playing?" he counters. He didn't get to play *often* back in the day, but he did a few times, with a small but captive audience. He'd certainly played at least as well back then as he did just now. He laughs at the sentiment as if genuinely amused by it. "What we deserve and what we receive are two very different things. But I'm happy to receive this from you, deserved or not."
        
        He of course forgives Orpheus; he understands very well why he's doing this, and would rather Orpheus stay safe than endanger himself. His smile is fond, thus, when he accepts the plastic-wrapped rice ball the extremely ordinary salaryman slips into his hand. "Thank you. I'm glad I had a chance to see you again," he murmurs, slipping it and his hand back in his pocket. "Take care."
        
        And with that, he'll stroll off as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, to return to where the shackles of duty bind him. It doesn't matter that they do. Knowing that Orpheus is out here, having even an ephemeral chance to be happy, keeps his soul free.

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi does not continue glaring at Euphemia. Though she does get a glance now and again, as if making sure she hasn't wandered off to cause trouble. If it was from a friend, it might be reassuring. As is... Not so much.

"It's not the regret I'm worried about, just changing my mind. I used to be real bad that way about dyeing my hair, so I stopped." Qivi's purple hair is, apparently, natural, if she's not dyeing it anymore.

Not that that's exactly unheard of around here.

"Still, maybe I will sometime, if I decide I need some art. In the meantime I'll stick to patches on my jackets." She tugs at her sleeve, displaying the decorative patch (which is also the symbol she uses on her wanzer, but it's fine, it's still a reference).

A moment later, then: "I think I'm gonna poke around a little more, explore. You're welcome to come if you don't have anything better to do, otherwise maybe I'll catch you another time." You never know! It could happen.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.


"Yeah, I grew up North Europe," Paul explains to Qivi. "Inches of snow is right."

He takes another swig of his bottle of water -- which seems to be the last swig in it. He stares at the empty bottle for a few long moments, even as Dr. Spartura glances over towards Ujico, having heard her good wishes.

"I'm all for it," she says. "Just make sure you plan out your look, alright? Because it's not quite forever... but it's close enough."

"Doc," Paul says, a little cryptically - he sounds strained. He seems to be staring at the bottle of water as if it has some secret in it.

"Great to meet you guys - Qivi, Ujico," Dr. Spartura tells them both, and this may be a question later, because she was over-> there when they introduced themselves. "You enjoy the rest of the season." And with this she pushes the man with the empty waterbottle off and down the path, back towards the road.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

It is a little concerning that Euphemia might not be safe here... Rikka hasn't really noticed the looks that have been thrown her way, but now she mentions that, she can see a few of them. ...Are things that bad on this side...?

Well, it's not like Rikka wasn't prepared for it. She listens, though, as Banagher extends an offer to Euphemia. She didn't expect that kind of seriousness from him.

"Ikayaki, huh... Maybe I should try some." Rikka considers, as Euphemia. The only thing she's had so far is a plate of sushi rolls and some of the sweets...

Banagher sits, though, and Rikka responds to his thanks with a nod.

"Rikka Takarada." She replies. He knows how it is... "You too, huh...? Glad I'm not alone there."

She draws out her phone, taking another quick shot of the blossoms now that the lighting has changed. 

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

"I wouldn't mind playing," Euphemia agrees with Zoia. She straightens out her yukata a bit, and says, with a smile, "... Give me your contact information? I haven't had a chance to play in a while."

Of course, that will end up getting her a lot more information on Zoia than just a phone number, in the long term; Euphemia's detail looks into *everyone* she considers spending time with.

The staring... maybe wasn't a glare after all! At least not from Ujico. Maybe still from Qivi. Euphemia gives a slightly strained smile, despite the awkwardness. She doesn't approach, since she can sense that irritation rolling off of Qivi just a bit... but even so, it's best to show that Britannians don't have to be ogres.

Banagher... really radiates reliability. Euphemia recognizes that trait -- and she responds to it. It's not quite the same as with Suzaku, but even so... "I hope things won't come to that, but I do appreciate it. You seem like a kind person, Banagher. You too, Ms. Takarada." She notices Rikka taking pictures.

She decides to take a few of her own. If nothing else, they'll be a lovely memory -- and Suzaku will probably like them, too.

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Alto wanders into the park with a lot less overt enthusiasm than the one he arrived with. He also apparently didn't get the memo-or ignored it-about what they were doing as he's not exactly dressed for a tourist outing like this. He's currently wearing what is essentially his work uniform. Namely light brown utility pants, tucked into some heavy boots, and a light shirt beneath an open black and red jacket. The stylized SMS logo is on the jacket's chest along with what looks like a badge of some sort, with the number '25' and a set of wings, on each arm.

        As Sheryl remarks on the other levelness of the sight, Alto has to admit, "It certainly beats the single tree we have at home." He probably means his specific home, since Frontier itself likely had more than one in certain sections of the city. But even those wouldn't amount to the sight here.

        Alto doesn't seem all that upset when Sheryl proceeds to bounce up to him and grab his arm. It's the kind of behaviour he's starting to expect from her, though he certainly doesn't seem opposed to it either. There is a brief 'Urk!' of surprise though. Followed by a mild sigh of resignation. He then points out, "You know, if any of the media-or worse your fans-sees you doing things like this, there's going to be a lot of trouble. For me. I see a lynch mob with torches and pitchforks in my future..."

        While he doesn't seem all that bothered by the arm grabbing, the 'suggestion' of treating Sheryl does actually get more of a reaction as he sputters, "W-What? Remind me again who's the one here with sold-out concerts!?" There's probably no surprise though as he gives in.

        As Alto proceeds to over to a stall to order some spiced takoyaki, he clarifies, "I'm only knowledgeable in second-hand. If you'll remember, until a week ago I'd never set foot on Earth let alone Japan." True, he did grow up in a home environment with a very strong Japanese culture to it. But that was basically the extent of it as the rest of Frontier has a much more western nature to it.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

        Oh right! Distinctive pinkish hair...

        Serinas also glances back at Emilia. "Say... were you on Sheryl's concert cruise too?"

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Yeah, I've only seen this many trees before once." Banagher smiles, watching Rikka take pictures of the flowers. There was something charming about that simple action. How strange, to know these ephemeral flowers would live forever for these two girls. Maybe he could take some petals back for Audrey...

"Do you want me to get some food? Both of you could keep taking pictuers of the blossoms. I've wanted to get some sweets, myself." Banagher offers, looking at Rikka, and then Euphemia.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Muramoto has posed.


The idea of spreading the food around has Sho looking thoughtful, then he smiles and goes with it. He looks at Sayoko and nods, mouthing at her 'Great idea' before he heads off. It's not long before Sho himself has a plate of samples as well, eyeing the different groups.

That curtain of pink hair has him curious, though. Not many people have pink hair like that, after all! And there's only two that he knows of possibly being close or somewhere on that height to public knowledge. So, he gravitates towards that, giving out a few portions here and there. Eventually he makes his way to where Euphemia's group is at with a smile, "Hello. Would you like some free food? I accidently picked up a larger amount than my group can handle." 

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.


        "I hope you find something you like enough to get put on you for mostly-ever!" Because that's a pretty special thing, Ujico thinks. She doesn't recognize the specific symbol on Qivi's jacket but Ujico doesn't recognize a lot of things. Maybe it's a band she's never heard of. Or a military unit!

        Qivi's going to go explore some more. "Okay. I'm going to stay here and see if someone else wants to sing. See you next time!" Because sometimes people run into each other again. It'd be fun if Ujico ran into Qivi again.

        "Uh-- nice to meet you too," she calls after Paul and his doctor. Maybe he wasn't as okay as he said...?

        Ujico frowns, and slides her sunglasses down.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.


        Underdressing is a way of avoiding the media, too. Sheryl doesn't mind it--though those yukata are *extremely* cute and she is *definitely* wearing one the next time she goes to an outing like this in a professional manner--and neither does she mind Alto's casual garb. It feels a little like they're a normal couple, and she enjoys indulging in the fantasy. Besides, doesn't Minmay's hit debut song say so? 'My boyfriend is a pilot'~!
        
        "Really? Just one?" she wonders, tilting her head as she looks up at him. "Somehow I imagined you having more..." She doesn't explain *why* she would have that impression. After all, she'd rather he figure it out for himself.
        
        She smirks, though, when he points out--rightfully so--that doing this is a risk. She leans in to whisper sing-song into his ear, "Then you'd better not slip up and spill who I really am, hmm? With a crowd as big as this, *no one's* paying any attention to us."
        
        Well. Ranka's paying attention. But Sheryl hasn't yet spotted her across the crowd, and even if she did, she might just hug Alto's arm *harder*. She genuinely likes Ranka... but she has no intention of losing to her, either.
        
        "That's still more knowledgeable than me!" she counters when he points out his knowledge is secondhand. She naturally ignores his protests. "Anyway, wouldn't you rather have the opportunity to impress me with how much you know?" She pauses a beat, then giggles. "Just kidding~! You don't care at *all* about impressing me, and that's one of your charming points." She leans forward at the stall he brings her to, though, to look over the sign with interest. "So what's this 'takoyaki' stuff? It smells amazing!"
Alexis_Kerib teleports in. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"You think so...?" Rikka says. It's a little awkward, having someone she just met say she seems like a kind person... She smiles, though, as Euphemia follows suit in taking some pictures of the blossoms. It might not be the same as viewing them in person, but at least it'll help them carry the memory of them to those who might not be able to view them in the moment.

And, Banagher's only seen this many trees once before...

"Then I guess I hope we all get this chance again sometime." Rikka replies. Banagher makes an offer, then, of going to get some food.

"I wouldn't want to put you out... We can go together?" She offers. She's about to stand up when someone - Sho - approaches them with offers of free food. She looks at Euphemia and Banagher.

"...What do you think?" She asks.
Sho Muramoto has connected.
Ouka_Nagisa teleports in.
Sayoko_Shinozaki teleports out. 

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        'Really? Just one?'

        Alto nods, "It was the center of the garden, of course... I used to sit under it with my mother and stare up at the sky." He looks up at that point, before correcting himself and saying, "Fake sky." It seems he is completely ignorant as to what Sheryl is actually hinting at.

        Alto tenses a little as Sheryl leans in. He can never tell what she's up to. Though when she points out that no one is looking, Alto glances around for a moment to look and it does indeed seem like no one has noticed. Though there does seem to be quite a group gathering around what looks like... A piano?

        Wait, was that a flash of green hair? Nah, probably a bush.

        Once they've received their order, Alto explains, "It's a famous Japanese stall snack. Give it a try." He offers one of the round battered balls to Sheryl. He waits for her to take a bite, before continuing the explanation, "It's minced octopus."

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        The Yamato Nadeshiko, the Japanese ideal of a woman, seems very much to have inspired Aurum-1's handlers during her creation. From her hime-style haircut to her poised, gracious, and patient nature, she seems like she was almost like she was made from an injection mold of the stereotypical Japanese woman of old. Albeit as with all things one doesn't want to know the answer to it's perhaps not to question what the mold was injected with in Ouka's case. Pretty though she may seem, she very much serves at the beck and call of cruel masters... which is perhaps why it'd be very odd to see her hanging out in the middle of a Hanami festival.

A Few Hours Earlier:

        'This is a secret assignment...' Dr. Cuervo explains in a stern voice, 'Go to these coordinates, and blend in until you meet with your rendevous to receive instructions. To that end an outfit has been prepared just for this occasion.'

        Ouka Nagisa holds up a fine yukata, fashioned of pink satin. She frowns, 'This isn't a combat outfit, and there's no pockets for hidden weapons or for carrying secret items.' She lowers the yukata and stares at Dr. Cuervo. The kindly School associate administrator's face briefly shows a hint of pain, before he just sighs and places a hand on Ouka's shoulder.

        'Don't worry, your instructions will be delivered on site. Just perform to the utmost of your ability, Ouka. I believe in you.'

Back in the present:

        Dressed in the silken pink yukata, and her hair tied back in a simple ponytail leaving her side-tails and bangs free, the Boosted Child named Ouka Nagisa walks through the scattering cherry blossoms. She is surrounded by music, chatter, and laughter. All rare, but welcome, sights and sounds within the boundaries of The School. Her golden eyes scan the scenery before she spots a gathering of people nearby. She maintains a graceful stride as she approaches, looking for all the world like she had stepped out from some Japanese historical drama. When someone finally takes a moment to regard her, at which point she will offer a polite smile and say: "Excuse me, my name is Ouka Nagisa. I've been looking for someone... perhaps you can help me?"

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

The mere idea of accepting free food from a stranger -- a prompt presented twice, back to back -- would probably make literally everyone in Euphemia's security detail anxious, unhappy, and potentially terrified of consequences sliding onto them.

Naturally, Euphy first tells Banagher, "I'd love to try some of the festival sweets, if you're offering." She feels for a moment like she ought to be paying -- but the twist is that she doesn't have *nearly* the budget for casual expenditures that she has during specific functions. It might not put 'the Britannian treasury' out, but *she* has little control over her purse, and it's good to accept a gift given freely. Such things open the heart of the giver as much as the recipient.

When *Sho* offers, Euphemia gives a small nod. "Certainly." She reaches out to take one of the samples -- candied fruit, specifically. She's had the proud Britannian candied apple, but these are smaller and more citrusy, and --

"Ooh, this is really good," she says, smiling; it's a full, enthused smile, the kind that crinkles your eyes and almost goes down to your shoulders. It makes her look a lot more natural next to Banagher and Rikka -- like she's just another teenager enjoying a festival. If she'd kept those sunglasses on, no one would ever have seen it.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

It is likely that the first 'free' person Ouka runs into is Koji, who in the wake of Dorothy and her patient's departure has been quietly sitting on a bench a little apart from the groups coalescing and breaking apart in the park, watching others come and go to share in the fickle peace of hanami. He greets the girl with a smile, sitting up a little more to pay proper attention to her, aware of the number of younger folks present here in the park.

"Looking for someone? I see. How can I help?"

There's a bit of time before he has to report back to the team, he thinks.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"What lucky timing." Banagher says, with a nod to Sho. "Thank you." He has no reason to suspect foul play from such an innocent offer, blithely accepting it at face value.

Looking over the offered food, he, too, picks the candied fruit. Banagher has never been picky with food. He pops a few into his mouth and smiles. "Yeah! These are great. Thank you again. And please thank your friends, too, for choosing to share so much."


Banagher Links says, "Do you two know of any way to preserve these petals?" He asks, as he finishes one of the candies. "There's someone who I want to share this with, but she's far away.""

<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.


        Is that... how it works? Convey your feelings... Emilia wishes she could do that. But she's no singer. Certainly not. She's not anything more than a pretty face, really. Emmy gives another cautious nod. "Nice to... um, to meet you." Emilia-chan? Is she even *allowed* a nickname like that? And then Milly notices Ranka's hair move, and she blinks. It's.. kind of cute.....

        Serinas asks if she was at the concert, and Emilia blanches. She was noticed. "...Yes. It was, um..." She looks dreadfully embarrassed. "...my first concert."

        It was also one of the defining experiences of her young life.

        Kallen catches Emilia off guard- she had frankly almost forgotten about other people for a moment there, so it was a startling notices. She looks, again, confused. What would? Supporting an idol? Or what did she mean but... Kallen has wandered off, and Ranka is moving on. ...Emilia is not unfamiliar And she sees with those movements. Even idols have to do work like that? "Oh, u-um, good-" The startled almost dropping of Ranka's tea startles Emilia in turn, for reasons deep in her heart. Her eyes follow Ranka's to see-

        OH

        Emmy's eyes go wide again, at the source of one of the first good experiences since Christmas 0089. The Galactic Fairy, whose music cut through Emilia's own walls. Is that what Ranka means? To do that... to be able to communicate like that... she wishes she could.

        She wishes someone could listen, really, to what she can't say.

        She also wishes she weren't a starstruck moron right now, but she absolutely is, staring at Sheryl in awe.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

>It was my first concert.
        Serinas gushes with excitement, almost squealing out "It was MINE TOO!" with eyes shining. "It was SO COOL! I mean until those jerks tried to attack us but we showed 'em off, didn't we?!" She blinks. "Oh hey, you were the other one that got in an Alto... How'd you do?"

        "I do look forward to getting to go to concerts that *don't* get attacked, though..."

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.


        Oh well. It's not like someone would get it with just that, anyway... Sheryl follows his gaze up to the heavens and lets herself smile a little. "Your mother, huh... She must've been a very beautiful woman," she muses. "How do you feel, now that you have a real sky to look up at?"
        
        The spicy takoyaki comes out, hot and fresh, with plenty of bonito, laver, and kewpie mayo on top! Sheryl stares at it in wonder--the heat makes the bonito flakes look like they're dancing, and it's *fascinating*.
        
        "Don't mind if I do!" she chirps, grabbing one with a toothpick sticking out of it, blowing on it for a moment, and giving it a hearty bite. Aside from just being hot in the sense of being fresh off the griddle, the batter has a nice kick to it that she enjoys. "It's really tasty!" she says, covering her mouth with one hand as she speaks. Once it's cool enough, she eats the remainder, expression turning thoughtful. "There's something really chewy in the center though, that doesn't taste like fried batter..." She swallows. "What is that?"
        
        Alto explains. Sheryl chokes and turns red. "What're you making me eat, Alto?!" she demands, before spearing another spicy takoyaki and attempting to shove it in *his* mouth.
        
        This is exactly the moment that Emilia is staring at her in awe, much to Sheryl's ignorance. Maybe she won't be starstruck for that much longer.
        
        Over his shoulder, though, she spots a beautiful young woman in a pink kimono and long green hair tied up in a ponytail. She blinks at her, then smirks at Alto, whether that takoyaki hit home or not. "Oh, Alto, you didn't mention your twin was coming by too!" When he inevitably expresses confusion, she just points over at Ouka, his would-be doppelganger.

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.


"Ah! Was it really your first?" Ranka says effusively at the idea of it was her first concert, "I wish it hadn't been attacked - though I'm glad your first concert was one of Sheryl-san's. She throws on such an incredible show. It's life-changing!" She actually rubs her cheek with her hand, "I feel so fortunate to have been able to see her twice."

And well more than that if one counts outside of concerts but... she's not bringing that up.

Ranka is still watching Sheryl and Alto on occasion though she's trying not to make it too obvious. She doesn't intend to lose to Sheryl either but... ... ... she also doesn't want to sabotage her. She likes Sheryl - and wants to be her friend. She also considers her her biggest fan. She doesn't feel jealous in malicious ways.

Emilia though... seems to follow her eyes to see... and Ranka seems to spot it.

She then looks Emilia in the eye, and puts a finger to her lips in a gesture for quiet, and winks. Before putting her hands together as if in a gesture for please. It's like letting her in on the conspiracy. Sheryl deserves her privacy too. Without a word, she points to her phone, as if to offer her a means to chat about it more privately if she wants her number.

Ranka gets this odd feeling from Serinas as she starts to babble, though she chalks it up to the nervousness of meeting someone new. "Oh of course! It makes sense that you'd pick up those skills on a mining colony." She doesn't know she's a ZAFT pilot of course - so she can't understand the context of why she's nervous, just trying to validate her to assuage those feelings. "Aha. I didn't for that part, but Island-3 is still a lot of fun to visit. And I get most of my advertising gigs there. A lot of businesses are willing to give me mascot jobs, singing jobs, singing mascot jobs. You know? Every single job is a small step to fulfilling my dreams."

And then, she smiles as Serinas said she just wishes everyone could just share in those feelings. "I feel the same way. I... I don't like violence. It terrifies me. I hope maybe... my music will be able to bring people closer together, so they won't feel the need to hurt each other like that."

Her dislike of violence is perhaps a small understatement, though she frets on the final line. She doesn't want people to think she has an arrogant opinion of her music. After all, she doesn't want them to believe she thinks she's the next Lynn Minmay or something. She doesn't - she just feels inspired by her.

"Oh! It's a popular brand in the Colony - Osanshoo-san! Isn't it the cutest?" It's not obvious where the keypad is as she accepts the phone number, she simply squeezes its body and somehow her muscle memory is enough to get the response she wants. Each time she squeezes it its face contorts and its eyes bulge a bit.

Eventually she hands in her drained teacup to prevent her from breaking someone else's cup, then tries her hardest not to giggle at what little she's overhearing (not on purpose!) from Alto and Sheryl. 

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        If there's one advantage on Ouka's side in this situation it's that her look of being lost and confused doesn't need to be faked: It's real. Dr. Cuervo was vague (someone might think intentionally vague) when it comes to who she needed to rendevous with at the flower festival. She was just told it would be a young man, by himself, who would ask her to watch the flowers with him. She was to agree to watch, and to stay with him until she received further instructions.

        ... really it's just about the strangest secret mission she has ever been sent on.

        Indeed, it's so vague that when she is approached by Koji she's not at all certain that HE isn't he one she has been sent to rendevous with. She looks him up and down with a brief, appraising look. Her painted lips tighten momentarily in consternation. She's been out here for hours now though without any hint of success, and at this point she believes a more direct tact is warranted.

        "I am supposed to meet someone, a young man, to watch the flowers with. But I've never met him in person before. I'm worried that if I don't find him soon I might miss my chance..."

        'You didn't mention your twin was coming by too!'

        A shout rises through the din, and Ouka sees a hand raising out of the corner of her eye. The young woman turns to face the noisy girl and her companion, a handsome man... and her twin? Ouka's golden eyes fix on him and her expression once again becomes one of consernation...

        That's strange, she doesn't think they look anything alike. Could this be the signal she was looking for?

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Well, if Euphemia and Banagher are taking one, it'd be rude not to... Rikka follows their example, taking some of the candied fruit and taking a bite.

"...You're right, it really is." She remarks with surprise. Maybe it's the festival air that's making something so simple taste so good...

Banagher offers thanks to Sho, so Rikka nods along.

"Yeah, thanks. Wish we could return the favor somehow..." She agrees.

Banagher asks a question, then, and Rikka has to take a moment to think about. Her mom would probably know, she always seemed to know little bits of trivia like that...

"I don't know much about that, sorry..." Rikka says. "I've heard you can press them, maybe - I think you just... stick some in a book and put a heavy weight on top...? Hold on, maybe I can find something that'll help..."

With a frown Rikka draws out her phone again, and begins tapping through pages. If she doesn't know something off the top of her head... she can just look it up! While she does, though...

"I'm sure she appreciates the thought, at least." She comments.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Muramoto has posed.

Sho seems to consider, then snaps his fingers. "Flower pressing. I do not know a lot about it, but I have heard of it. Um... our chaperone might know about it?"

He uses his free hand to point over at Sayoko. "Just look for the maid."

He eyes Euphemia. "Do I know..." That has him blinking a few times. He didn't hear the name drop, and well... yep. He sighs. Casual, right. Then he seems to consider. "Ah..."

He seems to consider things, "Flower pressing is pretty interesting. It does preserve the petals, and I think you can do full books if your friend appreciates flowers." He says towards Banagher.

The offer of repayment has him looking at Riika. "Oh, no trouble. Honestly, it was unexpected as I ended up meeting a lot that knew my family. It was entirely unexpected, and I ended up buying from them as we talked."

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Alto mmms in agreement at the comment about his mother. Though after thinking on it a moment he wonders how Sheryl came to that conclusion. Wait... Was that a comment about HIS looks? Alto is distracted from the thought that as their snack arrives.

        Sheryl digs in to it while Alto saves the punchline for afterwards. Then when Sheryl starts to react to learning of the contents at the heart at the takoyaki, Alto starts laughing.

        The laughing doesn't last long though as he suddenly finds one of those octopus balls shoved into his mouth, distracted as he was by his amused reaction. However, he takes it in trade, bitting the part in his mouth off and then eating it. He then hmmms approvingly, "Pretty good. Better than you can get on Frontier. Helps to go to the source, I guess?" At the resulting sour look from Sheryl, Alto grins, "What, the great idol herself brought down by a little local food?"

        Twin? Alto turns around to look where Sheryl is pointing. All he can see is a young woman in a yukata. Basically the complete opposite of how Alto looks. How could she possibly be his tw-

        Alto gulps in realization, "You... Ah... You learned about that, huh?" Alto sweats a bit. It's not like it's a secret or anything given that it just takes some brief internet searching of his name... But he does go to great lengths to not mention it himself and was dreading the day that Sheryl would bring it up.

        It seems that day is today. A revenge far more sweeter than the spicy takoyaki.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

        Serinas nods at it being her first. "It *was* life-changing! Not just the concert... I wouldn't have ended up getting to see Japan for a couple weeks otherwise... although *why* that happened was bad... Because of it I'll get to see the concert she's holding here in a week, too!"

        Violence... terrifies her? Serinas has a confused look of uncomprehension. It's not that she doesn't feel fear... She can imagine all too clearly a Federation Gundam delivering the deathblow to her cockpit, or Blue Cosmos invaders kicking down the door of her family's home and gunning everyone down... But to fear violence *itself*?

        Battle feels so... natural. Zipping around the battlefield, anticipating, reacting, faking out, attacking, it feels right, comfortable. Is that the warsong of her Zentradi ancestors Baron Ashura was talking about?

        And then she remembers. Her first time sitting in a Queadluun-Rau for training to defend the colony. There was the feeling of rightness, but also the fear that she could accidentally kill an innocent with a 30-ton war machine if she made the wrong move. Ah.

        Phone contact get! Serinas beams as she stares at the contact newly entered into her phone. Ranka Lee. The first phone contact that isn't her family or a way for ZAFT or its academy to contact her. This... is an important milestone in her life!

        Oh, and she can advise on the other thing. "It's scary that innocents might get hurt... but if you learn to fight, then you don't have to worry about that. You won't move or attack carelessly, once you know what you're doing! Caution is a good instinct if you haven't, learned yet, though. Better than *not* worrying about it." Serinas nods, advice cheerfully dispensed.

<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.


        Emilia nods. "...I don't understand why..." She says, not quite finishing her thought. Why someone would ruin something so... so...

        The anger comes back, briefly. That was her first happy memory in so long...

        Ranka pulls her out of the starstruck zone and... Emilia can read those signs, at least. She blinks, and nods. She's not meant to know it, but she does, and Ranka's asking her to keep a secret and... Emilia nods, and with a very small movement, crosses her heart. The way her mother got her to do, when she had to keep something secret. It's the first time she's done that in a long time. It hurts a little but... it's clear.

        When Ranka goes to her bizarre salamander phone, it takes her a second... and then she nods. She fumbles in the sleeve pocket of her yukata, and pulls out a phone- a new one, by the looks of it. A slide/flip-style popular amongst Ashford students, and she's still getting used to it, but if Ranka will share her number well... that's the whole reason Milly got her phone, and she can't say no here. She agreed to support her, right? Ugh, she still doesn't understand. Is this what Kallen meant?

        It's also when she looks around and the rest of the group have all split off and Emilia is... Nervous? Feeling mildly abandoned? Not sure what to do? Ranka was getting ready to go, after all, and she doesn't want to keep her.

        Serinas, however, says something that pulls her off. "...Is that so?" There is venom in her voice. "I've... I've seen what happens," The anger is rising, she needs to find the words and get it out. "When people who learned..." Loss too, bitter, brutal crushing loss. "Stop worrying..."

        December 21, 0090 is etched in her brain forever.

        The day she lost the only good thing in her life to Getter Robo.

        "...Fighting means people get... get..." Nope. She can't say it anymore. Her mouth moves but words don't come out. She can't even finish the thought... 

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

Euphemia nods to Banagher. "Sometimes things work out." She gives Sho a somewhat more robust, "These are very nice -- thank you. I'd like one more." ... She's *definitely* going to either get put through her paces or get a rib about all the festival food she's eating from her sister when they next have a spare minute. She doesn't comment on the question of how Sho knows her -- he puts it together, and she gives that strained smile again.

Flower preservation! That's something Euphy knows a *little* about, at least. "If you have the time, resin works wonders, but that's... a lot of time and it can get expensive, if you don't have something you can use to protect yourself from inhaling the fumes." Then again, he's a spacenoid -- he probably already has that.

Rikka offers the simple solution of pressing them, and Euphemia offers, "That's a really good idea... does it preserve the color?"

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.


        It's definitely a comment on his looks. Alto's a very handsome man, after all, and an even more beautiful woman.
        
        Sadly, he takes the takoyaki attack in stride. She thought she might at least get him with the spicy part...! But if this is a snack he's used to, then it figures he'd be used to it. Sheryl scowls at him, lower lip stuck out in a pout. She doesn't actually toss out the takoyaki, though, for exactly the matter of pride he brings up. She outdid him when it came to spicy hotdogs, so she's not going to get beaten by a little thing like *this*! ...even if the idea of eating octopus is creepy. She already did it once, she can do it again!
        
        But for now, there's that green-haired girl in the kimono. She was really talking about the fact that she has the same haircut as him and hair and eyes of a similar color as his, but it looks like he connected the dots in another way. Well... that's fine too. Her smirk widens. "How hard would it be to find out when you didn't even change your name, 'Princess'?" she taunts.
        
        And, maintaining direct eye contact with him, she stabs another takoyaki and eats it in one bite. Poor Ouka might be left pretty confused, as Sheryl's gone from pointing directly at her to having no more interest in her. But then, maybe that's also part of the mission! After all, Ouka was supposed to approach the handsome man on her own. Maybe this is supposed to be a prompt?! Maybe he's a princess in disguise?! And the Princess Euphemia over there is just a distraction from this, the *real* Princess Euphemia...!
        
        Or not. But that would be a trip if it were true, wouldn't it?

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I wouldn't want to trouble anyone." Banagher says, looking at the oddly-dressed woman. Was maid dress another tradition for the festival? "I don't think I could get any resin... My living situation is a little up in the air. Pressing them seems like a good idea, though. Did you find anything, Rikka?"

Banagher stands, offering his seat to Euphemia. "I haven't asked your name yet. It's alright if it needs to stay a secret." He smiles. "I'm Banagher."

Staying nearby the bench, Banagher bends down, beginning to collect petals. The flowers still on the trees were undoubtably more vibrant, but Banagher didn't want to harm them. The ones on the ground would have to do. Banagher is extremely particular with the ones he chooses, comparing petals, carefully dusting off any dirt they might have collected.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Wait, 'supposed to' meet someone to watch the flowers with? That is a remarkably strange way to phrase it. Koji's brow furrows and he wishes Sayaka were here to cover this for him. Then again, if she were here they'd probably be arguing. Again. He sighs, involuntarily, and drags himself back to the present, about to reply to her before -

'You didn't mention your twin was coming by too!' He looks over at the speaker, and her date, and seems even more confused for a moment, though perhaps he immediately recognises Alto's plight, one kindred spirit to another. He looks back at the young girl apparently on 'a mission' and considers her words.

"I'm not sure you're 'supposed' to do anything at a hanami festival other than enjoy it in whatever way takes your fancy. Even if that's just sitting and appreciating the peace for a while."

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.


Ranka smiles as Emilia crosses her heart, though - maybe she feels that the gesture hurts a little. Phone number get! Yet, Emilia still says she doesn't understand why it happened, "I think... it's because they didn't understand the feelings of those that wanted to be a part of Earth's culture. They resented us, and hated us as a result."

Ranka remembers that resonating cruelty off that Zentradi towards her. "I think maybe now, some of them understand a little better... though I wish it hadn't taken that special moment away from so many people for them to.

It is interesting that violence terrifies her, she should have some of that Meltrandi battlelust shouldn't she? Even just a small amount. And yet, no. Not at all, and she isn't exactly saying more as to why. As the contact comes her way, she smiles and holds up two fingers in a V.

Though as Serinas tells her that if she learns to fight, she won't have to worry about that, and Ranka gives a small, awkward subdued laugh, putting up her hands, sounding uncomfortable, "I... I really think fighting isn't for me. I don't like it when anyone fights." Yet she doesn't condemn it either, the venom in Emilia's words though causes her to look her way, then quietly as Emilia becomes speechless, she moves over and puts a hand over her hand in a small moment of contact.

It's perhaps bold given that they don't know each other well yet, yet all the same, she looks like she needs someone to do this for her.

The look in her eyes... perhaps she doesn't know why Emilia feels that way... but maybe she knows how she feels all the same. It's not that Serinas' feelings aren't valid but... "I think I'd always worry." She says with an apologetic smile her way, "It's just the way I am."


<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        All of this just helps to further confused the first Boosted Child. She was, after all, told to look for a man that would be on his own. Alto is not on his own and in fact appears to be accompanied by an attractive, is noisy, young woman. However as she watches the interaction between the two she receives new inputs and thus reaches new conclusions: The blonde seems to bothering the young blue haired man with her behavior. His increase in perspiration and reflexive swallowing seem to all indicate distress, after all.

        Perhaps this is why she had not made her rendevous earlier: The agent was detained needlessly by this blonde woman. Perhaps she is merely a civilian who had gotten in the way of the operation . . . or perhaps she is on some level involved in this clandestine operation. A rival field agent perhaps?

        If only Dr. Cuervo's instructions weren't so vague as 'meet a young man on his own at the festival and watch the flowers with him', she'd have an easier time working out what she was supposed to do.

        At this point, Koji is lowered from the primary prospect for Aurum-1's rendevous to secondary. Especially when Koji doesn't seem to express anything that signals that he is the one she needed to rendevous with. She turns back to regard him with a formal, if brief, bow and a polite, "I see. Thank you for your advice. I think I might see who I'm supposed to meet with though, so please excuse me." before setting off.

        So with this conclusion in hand, the young woman in the pink yukata starts to maneuver through the crowd and straight towards Alto and Sheryl. It is also another time to witness the grace of the first Boosted Child. Even out of her combat gear she is able to move through the milling individuals like a leaf floating down river - elegantly floating around obstructions and flowing swiftly through narrow spaces. Thanks to the way she is dressed it might even harken back to kabuki stage plays...

        ... well, if she weren't a woman anyway.

        Once she arrives to where Alto and Sheryl are standing, she gives the woman a stern faced look up and down. The stern expression melts into mild disdain. No. This isn't a rival field agent - likely some civilian who had gotten involved on accident. It's unfortunate for her. Aurum-1 doesn't take any real pleasure in silencing civilians.

        "I was told to expect you to come on your own." The yamato nadeshiko explains to Alto with a slight frown. "I've been waiting for a while now. Is she the reason why? Do you need for me to get rid of her for you?"

        It seems there might have been a slight misunderstanding.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

        "They attacked us because of that? Then it's good that Sheryl's song eventually reached them... most of them..."

        Emilia is practicially giving off a venemous aura. Serinas wonders what she said...

> I've seen what happens when people who learned stop worrying.

        Ah. Serinas frowns. She looks between Ranka and Emilia. "Not... I mean..." She struggles to word it less ambiguously, thinking back over so much training and safety procedures drilled into her. "Being unable to do anything because you're afraid you'll mess up, is bad, but caring so you try *not* to mess up... is good. Not caring at all is even worse... So... it's better that someone worries because they care, than doesn't because they don't. Learning not to worry too much isn't the same as stopping caring."

        "If someone stops caring... that is terrible." Serinas nods for emphasis, looking at Emilia with concern.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"I didn't think about that, that's a great idea." Rikka replies thoughtfully, as Euphemia brings up the use of resin. "They'd probably last much longer that way. You sound like you know your stuff."

But as Banagher points out, his living situation is up in the air so it'd be hard for him to get some. She's curious about the story behind that, but doesn't want to press the issue if it's a sore subject

"I bet they'll fade eventually, but it should be long enough," Rikka starts replying to Euphemia, before glancing to Banagher. "For you to get them to your friend."

But, has she found anything?

"Yeah, I found a list of steps... I can write them out for you?" She offers. She shifts aside just a little, so Banagher can have an easier time reaching some of the petals.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Muramoto has posed.


Sho reaches over to put a comforting hand on Emilia's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. No fighting here. Anyone does and I'll handle it." He smiles.

"Come on, we can give out more food. People don't die over that, right?" He's at least trying to get her mind off of things. And well, he's at least got the sympathy for her.

Sho looks over to Kallen to try to get some help with this one. Or way over at Sayoko if she's still paying attention to them.

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Alto's head snaps back to look at Sheryl at the 'Princess' comment. But whatever annoyance he might be feeling is subdued as she proceeds to snatch up another piece of takoyaki and eat it in one go.

        Alto is clearly defeated. His shoulders slump as he sighs in resignation, "I think I'm ready to go back to Frontier now..."

        Things get a little bit weird though as Alto's supposed 'twin' walks up to them. Did she hear them? It's probably best they apologize and-

        -Wait, what? Alto looks confused, "Uhhhh... Sorry, do I know you?" He doesn't recognize this person, resemblance to his past profession aside. Though the way she's speaking suggests they have some kind of business? Alto asks, "Are you from SMS?" It's a big company with a number of offices. And Alto hasn't been with it very long. He definitely doesn't know everyone.

        Though when asked if he wants her to 'get rid of' Sheryl, Alto blinks in surprise, "What? Oh, uh... No. It's fine?" He's still thinking that she does have legitimate business with him, even if he doesn't know what that is.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Koji watches Ouka divert herself to attach herself to Alto and - hang on, is that the new singer everyone's talking about now? Huh. A war hero, an idol and a princess walk into a park. What is this, some kind of joke?

A quiet beeping from his jacket pocket interrupts his train of thought before he can refine a punchline, and he pulls out an earpiece, hooking it on and tuning back in. "Kabuto here. You have the readings from our first batch of tests? Right, I'll be there in - " a glance at his watch, "twenty minutes."

Putting his jacket back on (he'll handle the tie later), he looks around at the park one more time, smiling softly, before heading back into the city proper. A beautiful, if transient peace. A reminder of what he stands for now. It'll do - for now. 

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

Kallen was already coming back anyway. She'd given out some of the food, with mixed successes. And not really any particular conversations worth noting. But she'd noticed some of Emilia's struggle. At first she tried to cheer her on from a distance. Now she's coming back to support her in person. She did manage to catch a little of the conversation at least. "Emmy. Deep breath in, then out. Take it slowly... You're here with friends."

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        Victory. Sheryl smiles sweetly at Alto as his shoulder slump. "Awww, already~? But we're just starting to have fun, 'Princess'!" she declares. "Or do you think you can't beat me as the Queen of the School?" She's about to lean in closer with a new tease, but...
        
        The record of Sheryl's mind skips a beat, and not in the dokidoki sort of way, when the Yamato Nadeshiko-type approaches the two of them and--offers to get *rid* of her?! She'd just pointed her out as a joke; does she actually know Alto after all? Is she *actually* related to him?! No, that can't be right, their looks are only superficially similar. More importantly, what the hell does she mean, get rid of her?
        
        "Ex*cuse* me?" she thus utters with all the danger of a rattlesnake's warning rattle. But it seems like Alto doesn't recognize *her*, though he does seem to think she might be a coworker. She *is* beautiful and carries a certain predatory grace--as a dancer, Sheryl can recognize and appreciate her litheness. She appreciates that look of disdain *significantly* less. Obviously this woman doesn't know who she is, but it rubs Sheryl the wrong way all the same.
        
        All the same, she's not going to bruise her pride by fighting over him in public with a stranger. Tossing her hair over one shoulder, she attempts to push the carton of takoyaki off onto Alto. "Well, far be it for me to interfere with your business. I'll just be over there whenever you're done, Alto," she says with a venomous smile before she marches past him and further into the park.
        
        If he doesn't chase after her like she mid-key hopes she will, well. At least the view of the cherry blossoms is there to cheer her up. 

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

        'Are you from SMS?'

        Everything comes to a screeching halt when he says that to her. Given the ambiguity of her instructions Aurum-1 believes that this is a clandestine mission. While a rendevous with Strategic Military Services, a private military contractor most often employed by the LAI Corporation aboard the Macross Frontier, wasn't out of the question... his behavior (particularly mentioning which company he is with in front of a civilian) indicates that he isn't any sort of agent.

        The initial shock causes her golden eyes to widen considerably, and by the time he is suggesting that she need not remove Sheryl her expression has darkened from the realization.

        'Ex*cuse* me?' The anger in Sheryl's voice is apparent even to the Boosted Child, and she quickly flicks her gaze back towards the blonde girl. Civilians can still be dangerous, after all, and she'd like to know before one of those takoyaki skewers became a projectile aimed toward her face. Someone trained in close quarters combat, like Alto, may notice how the green haired woman's body tenses just enough to prepare to counter or evade an expected strike.

        The strike doesn't come. At least not a physical strike, and not aimed towards her. The venom in those words, and that smile, were not lost on Ouka. She doesn't understand emotional interactions of this sort: The only kind she has ever had was to be the comforting, nurturing presence of a Big Sister in the lives of other Boosted Children.

        That said... she knows enough to feel like this is all her fault.

        "There seems to have been a misunderstanding..." The first Boosted Child says with a sigh, her body relaxing slightly from an active combat posture. "I think I must have been confused... I hope I haven't caused you too much trouble." She gives the SMS pilot a formal bow, this time a much longer and polite one than she had given Koji.

        Speaking of Koji, now that Alto has been removed as her primary suspect for a rendevous she looks back to where he was standing. He's not there. In fact, he doens't seem to be nearby at all. A sinking feeling hits the pit of Ouka's stomach. Maybe he was her contact after all... maybe this mission has ended in failure.

        Which it has, given Dr. Cuervo's true objective, but not for the reason she's thinking.

        With a pained expression, one that looks nearly on the edge of tears, she looks back toward the handsome former kabuki actor and bows her head, "I'm sorry..."

        Not knowing what she can do to help repair this situation, or recover her mission at this point, she resolves to simply leave the flower viewing area and contact Dr. Cuervo for updates. In a swirl of forest green hair and pink satin she turns on her heels and begins to once again flow through the crowd with the intend of heading back to the city center proper.

<Pose Tracker> Euphemia li Britannia has posed.

"Hmmm, pressing does sound like it'd be easier, then," Euphemia agrees. She remembers to give Banagher her name, though it's a surprise to her to have to give it. Then again -- he *is* a spacenoid. "Euphemia li Britannia," she says. She might have just given 'Euphy' if she wasn't unmasked, but...

The Japanese seem kind, Euphemia thinks, as she looks from Rikka to Sho, the latter of whom has made his way over to Emilia. This moment... ought to inform how she approaches Area 11.

Speaking of which: Euphemia's peripheral vision spots familiar double-breasted uniforms moving at about 300 feet. "... It seems our meeting will have to be cut short," she murmurs. Her expression sours. "I had a very nice time. Thank you. Please excuse me."

A beat, before she realizes something important: "... If any Britannian soldiers ask you anything, please be honest about which direction I went. Don't try to divert them." Britannian soldiers are often *somewhat* better behaved in other countries, but... she really doesn't want to risk it.
I don't understand that.
The housekeeper moves Orpheus Zevon to the quiet room.

<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.


        It's so easy for that knot of feelings to become overwhelming. And Ranka is the first one to act, and hand on Emmy's hand is a surprise, and her first instinct is to try and pull away- For all she may need it, something in her mind tells her she shouldn't.

        Serinas words come across as meaningless platitudes- fighting means people will die, and not always the target. Whether you care or not. The world doesn't give a damn if you care...

        Sho's hand on her shoulder makes her jump, and suddenly she's surrounded, pulling away and trying to back away. She doesn't need *more* food, there's already been so much they had to give it away, because the people like him. He's just been given extras like it's nothing, because his family aren't dead or monsters. He just has things given to him, he wouldn't understand it.

        And then Kallen's here and she's getting pitied by a sick girl... or whatever Kallen's deal is. And there's a nickname now? She doesn't deserve that, that's something friends do not... people who have to check in on you because the School Council President said they had to.

        Why? Why now? Why so many of them? It's all too late anyway, now it just hurts. It's too much. There's too many. No. No no no no. This isn't... It's not...

        Outside her head, Emilia seems to be completely shutting down, backing away for the group. She doesn't dare run, if she runs they'll chase after her. Just to bring you back. If she storms off they'll hate her. They already hate you. If she walks away, they'll follow. When did you get so arrogant? And if she stays here, they'll keep suffocating her.

        She can't find the words to communicate, she can't move her mouth. So she backs away, shaking her head, looking for somewhere to hide. A hole to die in. Somewhere, anywhere, that isn't here, until they remember that it's too late, and she's not worth it.

        Her feelings are a knotted mess of hurt, loneliness, despair, fear and that anger that is always there, all loud and clear.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I'd appreciate that Rikka, thank you." Banagher returns to stand by the bench with his little handful of petals. "Would you like any of these, Rikka? You've been so helpful and king, I would hate for you to go home empty handed."

Banagher is about to repeat the offer for Euphemia -- did princesses always have such long names? -- when she suddenly seems to be leaving. Instead, Banagher steps forward and presses a few petals into her hand. "Here. It won't be as good as a photograph, but maybe you can find some resin, and try out presering them that way?" Banagher follows her gaze, frowning. "Be safe, okay? I hope we can meet again."

"I should probably head out soon myself." Banagher says, reluctantly. "This has been really nice. Thanks for spending time with me, Rikka. I hope we'll meet again sometime, too."

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.


"Yes." Ranka agrees quietly. "I'm glad too." Even if part of her never wants to see that Zentradi again - because she won't stop being scared.

Kallen arrives, and Ranka lets her take over - because it feels like she knows her far better. Plus, she understands the panic attack brewing. So she lets Kallen handle it as she'd probably know best what would help her. When Emilia backs off, she doesn't chase her - despite so many feelings radiating off of her.

Serinas though explains and Ranka nods again though her expression still looks embarrassed... though there's something else growing too in it, "I... think I understand. And I... respect your feelings." She's in fact, many arguments with her brother about him having his own reasons for fighting - and him saying many similar things though.

"It's just... I can't fight. I don't want to fight... I don't want anyone to fight... and it's not just because I'm afraid I'll mess up if I do..." Even though there's that too, "I just..."

Unfortunately that knotted mess of feelings of Emilia, so close... strikes a chord in her, plucking upon a part of her that is the real reason she doesn't want to talk about fighting.

The Darklops crashing across the Nadesico's distortion field.

The Macronized Zentradi's hand reaching for her.

A Vajra that just crushed a man to death looking right at her.

Her brother in his cockpit - blood. So much blood.

And something deeper.

A small subtle change to her voice as she looks down, her pupils dilate, with a shake of her head, "...please... I can't... I can't..."

It's hard to notice, this small tremor runs throughout her body, "P-Please... excuse me!" Immediately looking down, she all but flees to the other side of the park, hoping Sheryl and Alto don't see her.

She can't. She'll apologize to Serinas and Emilia later over the phone. But she can't. It's impossible for someone like her.


POT: Ranka Lee is now set observer.

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Alto is not surprised as Sheryl proceeds to react rather explosively to the suggestion of 'getting rid of her'. He was expecting this. And it's definitely not making his life any easier. He gets the takoyaki pusshed onto him and watches with concern as Sheryl proceeds to storm off, "Ah-" She's gone.

        Alto sighs quietly, looking back at Ouka, "Sorry about that. She's a bit of a..." Drama queen? "Strong willed individual." Evidently it does seem like there was a misunderstanding, "Yeah, I figured it might be something like that." He then quickly waves a hand to dismiss any concerns about trouble, "It's fine. Nothing I'm not used to at this point."

        However, as a pained expression forms on Ouka's face, Alto starts to get a little concerned about her. He doesn't know her, but it does seem like something's wrong. But before he can ask 'Are you okay?' the somewhat strange Ouka proceeds to beat a hasty retreat. In a strange repeat of just moments before, Alto starts, "Ah-" But Ouka's gone.

        Alto scratches his head, getting even more confused. He starts to look around the park. Only to spot yet another young woman, this one very familiar looking, also fleeing in yet another direction, to which he wonders to himself out loud "R-Ranka?"

        Alto stands there in the middle of the park, some unfinished takoyaki in one hand, looking around in confusion and asking, "What the hell just happened?"

<Pose Tracker> Sho Muramoto has posed.


Sho frowns a little, trying to process what he's seeing. Some things click finally, and he seems to consider, "Emilia, come over here. Sit down for a bit, okay?" He keeps his voice as soft and caring as he can.

Then he sees Ranka disappear pretty much. He blinks a few times before looking to Kallen, then turning back to Emilia to keep his attention on her.

He glances to Kallen for more help. He seriously wants to help Emilia but well... not about to let her run either, or just shut down.

He calls over to Sayoko, "Ms. Shinozaki! We need you over here!" 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

With a nod Rikka rummages through the pockets of her hoodie, eventually drawing out a notepad and a pen. It's largely normal... though it has the logo for the Junk Shop Aya in the top margin. Must be personalized. She begins to write out the instructions, though she pauses and looks up as Banagher makes an offer.

"...Oh, sure! That would be nice." She says, with a smile. It's a polite offer, it feels like it'd be rude to turn it down.

But, the moment doesn't last forever, as soon Euphemia spots a problem. Rikka notes the sour expression... and then, her serious warning. On one hand, Rikka is the sort of person who'll put herself at risk for the sake of people she barely knows... but on the other hand, she can tell that Euphemia really means it.

"...Right." Rikka says with a nod. Banagher says he should be heading out soon too, so with that, Rikka stands up.

"...Yeah, me too, probably." She agrees. But as for meeting again... "Sure, I hope so too."

And with that, she'll make her leave too. She's gotten her fill of the flowers for now, and she'd prefer to avoid run-ins with soldiers at all, if possible. 

<Pose Tracker> Sayoko Shinozaki has posed.

        Sayoko is of course still here. It would go against her maid's code to abandon the Ashford students. So when Sho calls out to her, Sayoko makes it over to him in a surprisingly quick moment.

        Seeing poor Emilia having what could be some kind of panic attack, Sayoko briefly considers her options. Unfortunately she's no doctor and isn't exactly trained in the psychology of teenagers, despite being around them a lot. So she does the only thing she can think of.

        Sayoko reaches into a pocket in her maid's uniform and proceeds to pull something out of it. She squeezes her hand, causing some quiet crunching sounds. She then moves her hand closer to Emilia, all the while saying, "You'll be alright, just breathe." A pleasant smell begins to waft out from Sayoko's hand, hopefully having a calming effect on Emilia.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        As Sheryl strides further into the park, she peeks subtly over to her shoulder. That other girl who'd approached bows to Alto and walks off, leaving Alto looking very confused. He looks off in a different direction, though, and when she follows his stare she sees--
        
        "Ranka-chan?" she murmurs, eyes widening behind her tinted shades as Ranka hurries off towards the park exit, looking upset. Instictively, she starts follow her, but then she slows. Sometimes a girl just needs space, and Sheryl doesn't know anything about why she might be upset. If in fact she's upset about having just seen her and Alto... but if it's just a coincidence and it's about something else...
        
        Well. It can't hurt to poke in her nose, just a bit. Just to make sure she's okay. In which case, Sheryl picks up the pace and hurries after Ranka, just to be sure she'll be all right. Regardless of whether Alto follows, well, she can enjoy herself and these beautiful flowers either way, can't she?
        
        (If he doesn't, she and Ranka can be disappointed *together*, and that's worth quite a bit all on its own. And if he does... three might be company, but Ranka always does help cheer her up. Maybe they can both do that for her, too.)

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

Kallen isn't a newtype, or anything of the sort. She probably doesn't even know what those things ARE, honestly. Maybe she's heard the occasional mention of them, or something's been covered in a history class. But she doesn't need to be, to recognize the emotions blasting off both Ranka and Emmy like loudspeakers at a metal concert. But she's only just met Ranka... and she ran for the hills anyway. She could catch up, if she revealed her true self here. After all, there's little risk of it. A few classmates, but... they'd all be focused on Emilia. But that's the catch. Emilia's hurting too. And Emilia is somebody she does know a little better. What's more... she can make out the familiarity in the shape of those emotions. The hurt, anger, and loss. She motions for Sho to back off a bit. Crowding the girl won't help. That was their mistake from the start, crowding her with too many people, when it needed to be just one or two.

She doesn't grab for Emilia's hand either. She'll just give the girl a slight distance. Give her an amount of space, while still being there. After all, there's plenty of trees Emmy could 'hide' underneath if she chooses... really, if she needs a lot of space, that's fine too. So long as she doesn't run out in the middle of a busy highway or something. She's not doing this on Milly's orders either. She hasn't been from the start. This has always been because, despite being a serial liar, and a terrorist in disguise... dammit, Kallen has a good heart! She wants to help people who need it, even if they're not able to reach out on their own.

Maybe it's because she knows that feeling herself. How much she can get wrapped up in her anger and hate. How she'd probably have already gone out in a flaming wreck, or been captured and tortured if it weren't for that little, struggling cell getting taken over out of the blue by a charismatic and insane masked figure with dramatic style on lock. Two of them even! Maybe when Emilia's able to calm down some, she can talk to the girl, a little. A personal conversation between the two of them in the near future. ...But it doesn't need to be right away. She's just putting the note in her mind, for them to sit down and talk. 

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

Sometime Later, Somewhere Else:

        Ouka Nagisa has returned from her mission and is standing before Dr. Cuervo Cero, her expression remorseful. She has just related the full details of what had transpired: A lot of her wandering around, a lot of confusion. A lot of people coming up to her with the intent to chat her up, and then very quickly being weirded out by the intensity and oddness of her behavior. All of which culminated in a situation where she even ended up breaking apart what may have been, for all intents an purposes, as a civilian couple. While the intricacies of civilian life are mostly beyond her she is not so far removed from her humanity to be unable to recognize when damage has been done.

        ... some of which has just been done to Cuervo himself. But it's not her fault, he reflects while pretending to be stern toward her after her report. It was perhaps a foolish hope of his that the Aurum would be able to experience something as simple as enjoying a hanami festival together with someone. He knows about as well as anyone all that has been done to her after all.

        'It's unfortunate...' he begins with a sigh, '... but don't worry we'll figure something else out." He then gives the young woman a fond smile, "There's no reason to let Dr. Koch or Setme know. I'll take care of everything." Really there's nothing to be taken care of, after all. He just doesn't want her to get hurt by either of them.

        'Arado is almost finished with today's recalibration. Would you like to see him? It's been a long time since the two of you had a chance to talk.' The mention of the young Boosted Child instantly brightens the first's disposition. She agrees enthusiastically, excited to be there for her little brother after what was no doubt a week of grueling training to try and get his scores to catch up with that of Seolla. Well, Cuervo thinks to himself, it may not be much ... but at least he can give her this.

        With that, the two of them walk out of the debriefing room and down the corridor together.

<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.


        Sho asks her to come back, and sit down, and she starts backing even faster. The knot in her heart is getting louder, messier, more desperate. Sayoko tries to close again, offering a handkercheif. She backs away more. For a second, when Kallen gives her space, she seems to stop-

        Only for Ranka's own overwhelmed state to cause her to run, and Emilia- having enough distance- runs. Difficult in a yukata, but not impossible. She vanishes past the trees and... seemingly disappears. This is twice now that Emilia has disappeared during a class outing, if you count her 'freezing up and getting separated' during the evacuation of the concert. It's a bad record- maybe the girl just can't handle crowds at all.

        There's clearly a commotion or two back there and the festival is big. It's easy for a muffled 'thump' to go unheard, a few minutes later, several hundred meters away.

        It's an expertly made pit trap, after all. Designed not to alert the enemy of the loss of one of theirs. Why would there be one of those out here?

<Pose Tracker> Sayoko Shinozaki has posed.

        Sayoko blinks as Emilia proceeds to run off, "Oh my..." She opens her hand to reveal what looks like the crushed leaves of a herb of some kind, "And I usually find rosemary to be so calming."

        Sayoko briefly considers chasing after Emilia, but that would mean leaving the other students behind. And she can't do that. It would not do to leave behind the many to go after the one. She would call for reinforcements. But unfortunately pretty much everyone she knows is back in Area 11.

        Sayoko decides that once she has assured the safety of the rest of the students, she will return to track Emilia down. That seems like the most obvious solution.

The housekeeper moves Dr. Spartura to the quiet room. 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Muramoto has posed.


Sho looks about ready to chase after Emilia, but then there's the crowd getting in the way, and well...

That has him staring a bit as his hesitation causes him to be unsure whether to go after Rank or Emilia. Emilia's his first choice, but by the time he looks back she's already taken off.

Sho looks to Sayoko. "If you plan to look for her, let me know?"

He seems to be considering how best to track people already. Then he sighs and considers before shaking his head. "I hope she will be fine. These sorts of festivals, no one's going to try robbing or anything else, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Sayoko Shinozaki has posed.

        Sayoko smiles confidently at Sho, "Not to worry. If she's not back by the time we leave, I'll take care of it. This is a safe part of the city, she'll be fine on her own for a little while." Sayoko certainly does not seem worried about Emilia running off. So she'll probably be alright! Sudden pitfalls not withstanding.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.


        Serinas's words get no response but a bad feeling. Now Serinas is feeling it too. Run, hide, get away. She starts backing away from Emilia... And then Ranka speaks up. "Mom... mom says something like that too, sometimes..." And then, more bad feelings...! The urge to back away gets stronger, and it intensifies in Emilia as more people ask her to come back... Ranka and Emilia turning to run... something makes Serinas feel she has to turn and run too.

        She's not sure why she ran, but eventually she snaps out of it, still feeling shaken. Hunched over, looking around like a scared animal. Some of the other people in the park are starting to stare...

        "Serinas?"

        She looks over at her mother's voice, Lani's concern only heightening at the haunted expression on her daughter's face. "M-mom..." she croaks out.

        "Wh... what happened?! Are you alright??" Lani approaches with arms out, and Serinas runs to her and they embrace.

        What *did* happen? Why does she feel this way? "I... don't know... They were freaking out, and I felt... bad..."

        Lani doesn't understand, but, she doesn't need to, to give her daughter a hug when she clearly needs a hug. "There there... it's okay... Mommy's here..."

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