84/A First Trip

A First Trip
Date of Scene:	22 June 2015
Location:	Mitakihara - Karaoke Crown
Synopsis:	Minako wants to karaoke! But it's no fun doing it alone! Enter Shiori Sato and Lena Reiniger, Minako's unwitting victims-- er, brand new friends! It's entertaining for Minako, embarrassing for Shiori, and a quite literal first
Cast of Characters:	Minako Aino, Shiori Sato, Lena Reiniger

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Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino isn't literally grabbing people and dragging them off the street, but it wouldn't be inaccurate to suggest she's figuratively doing so. "FREE Karaoke Bar happy hour evening time!" she shouts, trying to get attention.

This is a lie.

Karaoke is more fun with an audience, willing or otherwise. Just have to get them in the door. In Minako's mind, her experience is that you're less willing or able to leave once you get them in the door. 'Just like a slaughterhouse!' she thinks.

So there she is, on one foot and standing on one of those little defensive poles next to the street, shouting things to encourage attention. Some of it is not appropriate. Some of it are offers of free food and drinks.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Honestly Shiori was going to pass right by until the 'free food' got his attention. There's a few surefire ways a teenage girl can get a teenage boy's attention. One is food. He stops, blinking at a less than appropriate comment. "Er... well... I'm not doing anything at the moment."

The person who answers is probably the blandest teenage boy to ever reach puberty. Brown hair, dusty brown eyes, glasses, t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Well, he looks nice enough anyway, even if it's unlikely Minako will remember him on looks alone.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
Really, she was just going to go out and get something to bring home and throw in the microwave. That, at the very least, is cooking she can't screw up! But luck would have it that Lena's route takes her past Minako and the sight is enough to give her pause. Those are quite some things she's saying too, and the free food is an offer she's finding a bit hard to refuse. Though... karaoke? A singer she is not, and it's not like she really knows anyone that's gathering around.

She's about to head on her way when the bracelet she wears pings quietly at her and she looks down. "You're not really suggesting I--" she's cut off by another ping. It sounds annoyed? Can a ping sound annoyed? "Fine. I guess it can't hurt..." And so Lena heads on up to Minako and somewhat meekly puts her hand up. "I... guess I'm not really doing anything."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino greets everybody who stops for a moment, but most people are smart enough or lucky enough to avoid falling for the ruse. She doesn't recognize Lena but she does recognize the school uniform, and school children love karaoke (or so Minako says), so she immediately pounces on the opportunity. "WELL! If you're not doing anything, here's a chance to do something with me. LUCKY!" she shouts, spinning around on one foot on the short pole.

Shiori, on the other hand, she -does- recognize. They're schoolmates, even if not in the same class.

Name recognition, on the other hand, she does not do. "Shnore-mmn-mnn Sahh-mmnmmmmmm," she says as means of greeting, letting her voice stay just as excited and chipper but dropping a few levels of volume to just above a whisper. "I didn't know you were a singer. And you popped in alone? Such dedication to your craft. I might have to let you have a song first," she declares, gesturing inside.

"I got a booth downstairs where I got all my stuff........ but we'll be singing upstairs where everybody can see us," she says, phrased as if it were some high level brag. She gestures inside, urgently, before jumping down.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori's used to his name not being remembered. He looks to Lena with a smile of greeting. "Hi there. My name's Shiori. I don't think we've met?" The statement will also serve to help jog Minako's memory too! But then he looks to Minako again, a little confused. "Uh... well, I sing a little..." Though not wanting to discredit Minako's words-- teenage girls are SCARY when they're not happy-- he nods. "W-well... uh... y-yeah. You know me, always practicing, eheh..."

Actually no, he's not really too much of a great practitioner of his singing talent. Though he does have some talent. Still, Minako's words confuse him. "Downstairs... but upstairs?" Though he still enters the place as is indicated he should do.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
Shiori gets a slight bow of her head at the introduction. "Ah... Lena. I kind of just moved here this year. Was traveling the country a lot before." Why did she feel the need to tell him that? It isn't really untrue. It's more like creative truth telling! She keeps quiet while the other two talk. They seem to know each other, which is only going to serve to make this whole ordeal more awkward. 'Why do I ever listen to you, Ascalon?' She thinks, giving a glance down to her device.

But she's being motioned in now, and she's quick to catch up behind them. "Ah... I'm not really a singer, I just... maybe I should just go?" Looking for a way out like this actually works, right? Though she can't help but think she's only going to strengthen Minako's resolve to get her in the door.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino just nods her head to Shiori and Lena. "I shoulda' introduced him. He's my schoolmate," she says, taking the leadership role since she assumes people routinely overestimate what grade she's in anyway. She also acts as if she knew the name and repeats it louder to Lena, then Lena's name to him.

Once inside, she gestures around to the public karaoke bar and doesn't even pretend to go to a private booth. "Well, if you're practicing," she says, nodding her head to Sato, "And you're thinking you should just go...up on stage first," she adds, nodding to Lena, "Then I suppose I shall have to pass."

"So that you two can do a duet!" she says, clapping her hands with such force her hair bounces about.

"Shall I LoveLove</span> song?" she asks, reaching out to take everybody's things and pile them neatly on an unused table in the mostly quiet and mostly empty Sunday night karaoke bar. She doesn't even break eye contact as she does so.

Shiori Sato has posed:
"Traveling the country?" Shiori asks Lena, with an interested note. "I haven't really ever left Tokyo before. That must be exciting, to be able to travel." Shiori also nods to Minako. "Thank you," he offers to Minako. He's pretty sure Minako doesn't want to look bad.

And then suddenly Minako's suggesting a duet. With Lena. A /love song/, from the sounds of it. He blushes. "Oh now wait... uh... duets are hard, particularly when the people singing don't really know each other well." He's trying to help Lena here too, without making Minako upset.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
"Yeah, um... exciting's a word for it, yes," she nods, not really sure where else to take this conversation. So instead she looks around the place and... hey, the private booths are over there. Hey, Minako you're going the wrong... oh. Oh, this is bad. Maybe she could have been talked into singing if it were just these two, but in front of other people?

She does her best to back Shiori up on this one. "I mean, I'm really kind of bad at singing. And yeah! We just met, so it'd be pretty silly to have a duet together, let alone a love song!" She glances over at Shiori, almost looking like she's begging for help. "And nobody wants to hear my awful voice," she feels the need to add that in, in the hopes it will keep her off the stage at least for a while longer. Maybe once she gets food she can postpone singing by saying she's stuffing her face. Actually... is there even going to be food, or was Minako just saying that to get people in here? Oh... words are going to be had later with a certain device over this evening. And as if sensing that thought, a low ping issues from her bracelet. The sound of someone not looking forward to later in the night?

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino gives a harmless shake of her hands in front of both of her newest singer-friends' faces.

"Don't worry. You don't need to know the other person well when the lyrics pop up on screen," she says, pointing to the set of pre-queued songs.

"Don't worry, I was gonna sing both parts of duets earlier, since it's exciting to sing that way. So none of these songs have any overlap."

In fact, there's a bunch of songs chosen up and ready to go, set to easier modes (just in case Minako got some non-singers to come in).

"Besides, everybody WANTS to hear you two sing. Don't you, everybody!?" she shouts to the 'crowd' of about a dozen people strung out on a few separate tables, snacking or breaking from their private rooms.

Nobody really responds.

"So, if you don't want to sing love songs, what songs will you sing?" she demands, although she's already switching over the genre to love songs and giving expectant stares for answers.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori sends a commiserating look to Lena, but there's also something of a helpless quality to it. He doesn't really know how to help Lena, or he would. Aside from like. Beaning Minako with something heavy and yelling 'RUN LENA'. Which seems a bit excessive, even if Lena /is/ afraid to sing, or is bad at it.

So when he's presented with the list of songs, he looks rather helplessly at the list, mentally ticking them off. No. No. No. GOD NO. No, Shiori is not a woman, even if he does look a little runty.

Then he sees it. It's a duet, but as far as he knows, both voices sing exactly the same part, so all Lena's got to do is follow his lead on the chorus. Which will be easier after the first chorus. Plus the song is pretty short, only about two minutes long. Should make things as painless for Lena as possible. On top of that, Shiori's English is pretty bad, so everyone will probably be too distracted trying to figure out what the heck he's saying to notice if Lena's really bad.

"Okay um... how about this one?" He points to the Beatles' song 'It's Only Love'. He looks to Lena with a grim, but reassuring nod. It's the most painless one he can think of, all things considered.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
She's not saying you -can't- or -shouldn't- tackle Minako while she runs. Lena would always remember your sacrifice, Shiori. Really! She'd be okay with that! But it doesn't look like her savior is going to make a move in that direction. So it seems she's resigned to singing. She's just going to stand here and wait for the song to be picked, like she's hoping for some sort of stay of execution to happen so she doesn't have to.

She looks at the selected song when Shiori finishes and... she doesn't know any of these words. Her Japanese is bad enough! Surely she can't be expected to know any English, right? "I don't suppose I could, you know, sit this out?" She has to ask, even though she already knows the answer. But with a sigh, she shrugs and hangs her head in defeat, leaning over to whisper at Shiroi. "I can't read any of this, you know..."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino leans forward into the secretive pair, her hair potentially a sneezing hazard once she interposes herself. "There shan't be no secrets on the stage of song," she insists, pushing her nose towards the screen to peer over the words of the song.

"Awww. I can't believe you guys are doing a luuuuurve song after all," she says, giving a huge wink with her whole body.

"I'm gonna let you guys conspire, I guess, while I go get a snack and a drink," she says, bumping her hips into each of you in turn and smiling. "Put your hearts and souls and throats into it. I promise to clap no matter what! After all, it's only a love song~!"

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori winces a little. "Sorry... it's a really simple song though," he reassures her. "Besides, my English is bad, so I won't be much better." Oh yes, this is going to be interesting, the two of them trying to sing this song. Good thing it's vocally such a simple song. Someone would have to be anime-level bad at singing to seriously mess it up beyond 'they're amateurs at a karaoke place'.

... OH WAIT.

Regardless when Minako leans in, Shiori blushes a little. She does have really pretty hair, sneeze hazard or not. In fact, so does Lena. You don't often see red-haired women in Japan. Then again Lena's clearly not Japanese, so there's that. European maybe?

Well. Anyway. Minako's words get a chuckle. "Heh... well, we can try, right? I can do something solo for you later, if you want." No, he won't tackle Minako, but he will take the brunt of the bullet, so to speak, for Lena if she chooses. And when Minako's out of earshot, Shiori looks again to Lena. "I'll face you, and try to make what I'm about to say apparent, all right? The song is pretty simple... I can text you a link to the lyrics in some other language real quick if you need it. Or a link to the song itself?"

Lena Reiniger has posed:
"It's not your fault. I should have just kept walking, but I got some bad advice from a friend...' she says it with a hint of annoyance in her voice, and there's that low ping again. It even sounds like it's trying to shrink back against something. "No choice but to suffer it, huh?" She tries to laugh it off, only to get that laugh caught in her throat when Minako butts in. She leans back some at the invasion of personal space. "I'll try my best to not make it sound too awful..."

When they're left alone again, Lena takes a moment to compose herself, hand on chest and deep breaths. And then she's calm and collected again and doing her best to just smile it off. "Um... text, yeah. That could work. Um... if you can find it in..." oh what was that language that was like Belkan? "German! That's it, in German." She said that maybe a bit louder than she'd wanted, but right now she doesn't care if people are looking over at the silly girl shouting things. She's at least seeing a way out of not understanding what she's saying, though actually singing in English is another matter. Well, she'll just do her best to mimic what Shiori says. "And uh... I'll just go get a drink real quick before we start?" It's definitely to get a drink and not at all so Ascalon can translate those lyrics for her. Nope.

Minako Aino has posed:
"Oooooh something solo later!? So bold," she sings before spinning away to fetch the mentioned snacks and drinks, spoken at a volume more for the benefit of other patrons in the bar than anybody else.

A little later, from a distance, she can't help but notice all the stressed little whispers and playing around with cell phones. "Guuuuuuys, come on. Such a silly super-serious sempai, ha! It's just a song. You know they won't kick you out if you're a bad singer, right?" she shouts, getting a look from her server but not a warning (not yet!).

She saves everybody a trip to get drinks by showing right up with a huuuge strawberry shake and four sodas, one without ice. She just drops it neatly in the middle of everybody's stuff on the table before nosing her way back into conversations.

"Oh wow, somebody sounds like they're getting a million text messages," she says, pulling out her own phone (she has two of them) and punching in a few buttons. "I'm gonna need your guys's numbers, since it sounds like you're trading phone numbers already coo coo romantic! But I don't wanna be left out," she explains, before urging the singing to commence as immediately as possible.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori nods to Lena, with a reassuring smile. "Good idea. I'll see what I can find. Hopefully it won't be singable German lyrics, because the meaning would have to change." It's true, they'll have to exchange cell phone numbers before he can text her the lyrics. After that, he'll reach in his pocket to retrieve his wallet, with intent to ask Lena to get him something on her way while he looks for the lyrics.

Though Minako's reappearance with drinks gets a blink. And the he blushes as her words. "What? W-wait wait, no, I think you're misunderstanding," he says, raising his hands in defense before him and looking sheepish. "I'm looking for lyrics for her, because she can read them in German better. I thought texting her a link to the lyrics or the song would be a good idea, so she'd know what she's singing. That's all." He looks to Lena apologetically. He didn't mean to make Minako think that he and Lena were... well.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
She doesn't seem too bothered with passing out her number for it, and pulls out her phone without hesitation. "It's okay, as long as I can understand what I'm going to butcher. You know, so I can feel properly bad about how terrible it was." She laughs some, starting to loosen up a bit. Well... she was, but then something happens!

Minako returns and completely cuts off her excuse for leaving and moves back in with no consideration for spacing. Really it should be obvious that's how Minako is, but Lena just can't get over how free she is with getting right up in other people's faces like she knows them. It's completely counter to what she's experienced in her admittedly brief time here. "Ah... yeah, it's entirely so I know what I'm singing. I mean, what else do you think it'd be? We just met after all..." Her eyes meet Shiori's and all she can do is shrug. Somehow she just knows this whole encouter is going to come back to haunt her in some way. Rumors or something that'll end up making it to school. The new kid's hitting on some guy at another school or something. That's how these things go, isn't it?

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino wrinkles her nose a little. "Methinks thou dost protestant too much," she says, winking to Sato with all the subtlety of a solar flare.

"But it's ok. I know what else I THINK it could be, but don't worry about it. Lots of boys and girls exchange information for all sorts of reasons. Your secret is safe with me," she says, before sitting down, flouncily crossing her legs, and clapping her hands like a princess as an indication that it's time to sing.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori nods to Lena's statement. "Yeah," he agrees. Catching her look he gives a sheepish glance of his own in her direction. Though he does hunt up those lyrics. Not singable, no, just a translation. Running them through a search engine's translate function would probably render them useless.

Minako's words, however, get a deep blush. "N-no really... that's all it is," he says weakly. Oh man, he can feel the rumors starting already. And his blushing probably isn't helping. He's a little miffed about the inability of the public to not believe that a male and a female can't be doing something romantic together, too. Not necessarily miffed at Minako, no, just at the public in general. Lena's pretty, yes, but he would never make a move on /anyone/ on such short acquaintence!

Fortunately the lyrics text should go through relatively fast. "Got 'em?" he inquires. He knows Minako wants to start, but Lena needs her info.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
Besides, she's not sure if Minako having a means of contacting her is a good idea! She's sensing texts and phone calls at odd hours while she's trying to sleep might become a normal thing in that case. So for now she kind of just tries to play off like she didn't hear Minako asking for her number and instead looks over the lyrics she's been sent. "Yeah, I might be able to work with this..." Though with any escape cut off, she can't entirely rely on Ascalon for that translation. She does kind of hold her phone over her arm though, letting her device get a look at the words in passing. But there's silence... and then a quick, high tone. Nope, seems her device is just going to sit back and enjoy the show since apparently it's already dug a hole too deep to get out of just by getting her to follow Minako in.

She sighs, head hanging a bit in defeat before she takes one of the drinks, a soda, and does an impressive job of guzzling a good portion of it. There's determination in her eyes now. "Already got one foot in, might as well jump in the rest of the way!" And so she sort of nudges Shiori up ahead of her. Time to go suck.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino nudges Lena immediately after, since she sees that nudging is on the table as an acceptable thing to do amongst this particular group of friends.

"ALRIGHT! You guys be the singers, I'll be your adoring fans," she says, to explain how this is all going to go down.

"But first, let me have your phone number," she adds. "I wouldn't want to miss you in case........ something happens during your song." She says it somewhat dramatically, a little dark, but without any of the tell-tale Minako smile that would suggest she's just joking.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori nods. "It might not be completely accurate... but I'm not sure, I can't read German, I'm sorry," he offers to Lena meekly. She indicates that he should go first and he nods. "I can still face you, so if you can read what I'm saying it might not be too bad." Then again... Engrish. This is going to be interesting-- a Japanese kid trying to sing in, and sound out the words of, a language he doesn't speak very well to a Garman woman. THIS CANNOT POSSIBLY END BADLY.

He also gives minako a rather odd look. "Uh... we're just singing, right? It's not over a pirahna pit or something..." At least he hopes not. But nonetheless he does give his number ot Minako. He's OK with weird texts and calls in the middle of the night.

Now. the song itself? Shiori has a lighter, higher voice than it might have initially appeared. Softer, too. Though that might be because he's either nervous, confused, off-guard... or all of the above! All in all though his voice isn't really that bad. What /is/ really bad? His English. He's not really saying English words as saying Japanese characters that vaguely resemble the English words he's supposed to be singing.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
There is no way this will end in anything but success and make everyone think they are professionals. Well, a person can dream, can't she? In the end, she's just going to level with Shiori, for the first time not coming off as overly distant or shy in her speech. "It's gonna be bad," but hey! she's smiling now. If she's going to do something embarrassing, she might as well enjoy it! It'll be like basic training all over again! You would not believe some of the humiliating things that get done to new recruits in the TSAB. This will be nothing in comparison. At least, that's what Lena's going to tell herself to keep the embarrassment at bay.

But she just couldn't get away before being reminded about the phone. "Yeah, it's not like our lives depend on how well we do." With a bit of reluctance she gives up her number to Minako. She supposes it won't be that bad, and Ascalon hasn't really shut up about making friends and being more social if she wants to try being a normal girl.

And then the song. Oh the song. Maybe she'd have a passable voice if she has lessons, but it really is kind of bad. She's definitely really soft, doing her best to cover up the fact that she really has no idea what she's saying. It's to the point that sometimes the best description someone could give it is 'yeah... those are sounds she's making.' Of course now that she's standing in front of people and at least a few are paying attention, her face has decided to become a bit red, to match her hair.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino doesn't have anything to say once the singing is about to start except 'thank you for the phone number', which she verifies by sending a bunch of texts and calling before hanging up and getting back to karaoke concerns.

"First off, sing your hearts outside. Secondly off, there's no such thing as a pirahna pit. They live in the water," she xplains.

Minako's singing is a combination of adorable and professional, singing and shouting to be encouraging as well as to disrupt and derail any sort of progress that might have happened.

She also fills up the song with incorrect lyrics every time the word 'hard' comes up, which immediately results in an explosion of giggles.

Shiori Sato has posed:
That's a little embarrassing! Not Lena, no. Lena's doing the best she can with an odd, uncomfortable situation. What's embarrassing is Minako's antics. It doesn't help that he has very little idea of what he's actually saying, if he's saying it right, or... well, anything really. It's English, and English is hard!

That would be difficult enough, but then Mina's shouting and whatever she's doing over 'haado'-- what /is/ she doing there? Whatever it is, it gets him to laughing, and he /further/ flubs lines before he can get himself under control again. Then again, it's also probably a pretty effective distraction, so Lena shouldn't feel too embarrassed.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
She just doesn't even care anymore. There's nothing else that could make this any more embarrassing, so now she's just going to try to make the most of a bad situation and enjoy herself. Or she would, but Minako seems to think it's funny to get people giggling and now she's not sure if people are laughing at her or something else. And why is she even singing loud enough for people to hear anyway? Lena's pretty sure by this point that they're just there to be teased by the other girl.

Just finish the song. It's almost over and then she can sit down, have something to eat and go home. And now she's looking at Shiori with a questioning expression. What is he saying now? Of course she couldn't really understand it before, but now that he's messing things up, no thanks to Minako, she's even more lost. In the end she just gives up and goes with whatever she thinks the words should sound like, which gets her... kind of close, sometimes? Eventually she has to scoot a bit closer to Shiori so she can get a better look at the words. Don't mind her, not invading personal space because she wants to. This probably isn't helping budding rumors, though.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino spends the next few moments after the end of the song clapping and cheering like she's just witnessed a child on a trapeeze or sixteen men on a single bicycle. It's cheery and almost as obscene as some of the clever lyrical references she made earlier (which she's intensely sad that a lack of English knowledge on behalf of her singers results in nobody else appreciating her lyrical aptitude, but she hides underneath ferocious clapping and cheering).

"Hurray! Yay! HUZZAH! You guys are great. The LoveLove</span> has gotten the both of you from strange night time city walkers to singers and cuddlers," she says, bringing a finger on her left hand right next to a finger on her right hand, obviously stand-ins for the closeness of the singers on stage.

Her antics and enthusiasm encourages the polite clapping to escalate a step higher into some cheering, although it is short-lived and not nearly to the level of Minako.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Ultimately it all turned out pretty well, Shiori thinks. Though he does blush a little when Lena scoots closer. He knows it's for the lyrics. He's not worried about that. He's worried about what Minako's going to think about the scooting closer. What other people are going to think about the scooting closer. he does send an apologetic look to Lena. He's doing his best, but... English.

Once the song /is/ over, though, he offers to Lena. "Sorry about that. "I should have looked for the lyrics for me first, shouldn't I?" though minako's statement of 'closeness' gets his blush to get worse. "H-hey, wait a minute, it's not like that..." And then applause. Wow, that's an interesting color of red. He'll end up kind of sliiiiinking off the stage in that way that embarrassed teenagers have-- that thing where, with a bit of imagination, on can visualize him just sliding off to one side without having to move his feet.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
She'd apologize, or at least look like she wants to if it weren't for her concentrating on trying to make the best out of these words. Moonrunes, this English is! So she doesn't entirely catch the look he gives her, even though she's practically cheek to cheek with him.

But it's all over! And she can relax, and even looks a little bit less nervous. She even manages a bit of a smile for Shiori when he feels the need to apologize. "It's okay. It was surprisingly fun! If a bit embarrassing..." well, a lot embarrassing, but let's try to downplay it as much as possible. Even though the comment of closeness and the applause serve to further embarrass her. Somewhat sheepishly, she gives a little wave to the people watching and once Shiori decides it's time to slink off-stage, she's more than ready to follow... and miss a step down from the stage. It's... probably alright though since Shiori's there in front of her to catch her! Or rather, there for her to stumble into the back of. No, she's definitely not holding onto him now. She's definitely not taking him down to the floor with her. Nope, definitely none of that happening!

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino stops clapping so she can turn her cheers into chastizements. "You're both upper school students in prestidigitatious schools," she says, tisk-tisking and shaking fingers on both of her hands.

"I know that music can make a cow out of a savage beast, but you should calm your cajun hearts, take a deep breath, and not jump all over each other!"

She secretly approves, though.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Yes. It's over. the embarrassment can end, so his face can return to its normal coloration--

OR NOT!

The first sign that anything's wrong is the squeak from Lena. Had someone tried to get close to her on the stage? Did Minako tease her again? But just as Shiori turns around to see?

WHAM.

"Oof!" The impact shock of a very not-Japanese girl taller than he himself is knocks the wind out of him, and sends them both down the stairs. Once at the bottom, he can't quite stand up immediately, because he's dazed. Also there's a girl on top of him. Which he hasn't quite registered yet. When he does there's going to be SO much blushing.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
The only thought running through her mind as she falls is that her father would be so angry with her for doing something stupid like tripping down stairs. But at least there's something to break her fall! Not that she really sees that at first. She's really just closed her eyes to the world and grabs tight to whatever's in front of her so she can use it to break her fall.

After the thud, surprisingly less painful than she'd expect ramming into the floor to be, she's just going to continue holding onto whatever she's got her arms around and sit there for a few seconds. Need to collect herself, after all! But soon enough Shiori is released for the hold and Lena at least gets her hands under her so she can push up to a sitting position... only she gets about halfway through the process of pushing herself up from the floor when she opens her eyes and sees what she landed on. And then Minako doesn't make it any better! Once it finally registers that she's making a scene, Lena practically bounds up to her feet without any wasted movement. You'd swear she just kind of floated up and flipped upright with how quickly she stands up. "I... I'm really sorry! Um..." Yes, Lena, it's embarrassing, but maybe you should swallow that right now and make sure Shiori isn't hurt. "Are... are you alright?" It might help to actually look at him.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino clucks her tongue and gives much more matronly advice punctuated with the sort of expressions grandmas would use, but inside she's fuming. Nobody jumped on her despite singing 39 songs today and the only boy who talked to her told her she 'had to clean up her mess'.

"Are you guys alright? You shouldn't be commotioning a scene, but... I hope nobody's hurt!" she says, in between huge mouthfuls of her shake, wide eyes staring interestedly at the both of you as she very specifically makes no move to help but more importantly no move to interrupt whatever is about to happen!

Shiori Sato has posed:
Thankfully Shiori's glasses are not actually broken. Shiori doesn't appear to be broken either, but one might be forgiven in thinking there are very distinct swirls in his eyes. In the moment that Lena remains where she is, Shiori regains his awareness-- he didn't get hurt, just a little dazed and surprised. That's when he realizes exactly what and who is on him, and his face goes red.

ACK don't nosebleed, Shiori!

Thankfully before his nose can start to act up, Lena's getting to her feet. He follows suit, face still deeply red; as he stands he winces, though more out of wounded pride than out of any real physical pain. Lena's words get his attention and he blinks, looking in her direction. "Ah... y-yes, I'm okay," he replies. "Just surprised. Are you okay? I imagine I'm not too much more pleasant of a landing point."

Minako's words don't help that blush go away either. "S-sorry. I should have been more careful."

Quicker reflexes would have probably let him catch Lena instead of being a skinny, lumpy pillow! Though he does slide over in Mina's direction, hoping to take cover over there.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
Wounded pride is the worst kind of wound! And one that she can't do anything about. Once he's confirmed that he's okay, she's ready to leave things at that, but his concern over whether she's okay or not catches her off-guard. She finally turns so she can see the two of them and after a moment nods. "I'm fine... tougher than I look." She's tempted to say Shiori is a lot more pleasant than the floor for landing on, but her rational mind catches her before that escapes her mouth and instead she just shuts up and makes her way to the table for her drink. "No, I'm the one that tripped like an idiot." She looks over at Minako and shakes her head, laughing quietly.

"You know... I didn't expect to go out tonight and embarrass myself," she admits, shrugging and smiling inspite of her embarrassment. "I think I probably needed this..." and as if in vindication, there's a quiet, but satisfied ping from her bracelet.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino responds to pings as if they're text messages. "Ooooh, I'm starting to realize why you're such a popular girl," she says with a wink, pushing her shake over for Lena to have a sip of.

"BUT! So long as you both are OK, I won't press the matter any more. So do you guys come here often? Should I add you both to my weekly visit invite list?" she asks, already adding you both to the list before any answers are made.

Shiori Sato has posed:
"I think we were both in a pretty big hurry to leave the stage," Shiori reasons to Lena's statement of 'tripping like an idiot'. "Don't worry about it. We're both okay right? That's the really important part." As for needing this? Shiori smirks. "NOthing like a mutual kick in the pants to make friends over, yeah? Reminds everybody that everybody else is human."

Oh if he only knew!

He shakes his head to Minako's question. "First time ever been here, actually. I don't really do karaoke very often. This will be like... the second time I've ever done it, really." He doesn't realize what he's being added to, either. Poor, poor Shiori. And poor Lena too!

Lena Reiniger has posed:
She can't really help but laugh and nod, finally reaching over for the soda she'd already taken a sizable drink out of so she can nurse it properly. "Yeah, a nice firm, unintelligable kick in the pants." She's still not sure she ever got any of the words right. When Minako offers some of her shake, Lena hesitates for a moment, as if looking to make sure it's okay before she samples the offered drink. A nice, cool treat is more than welcome after everything she's been through tonight. "Oh, no. I'm not really that popular. I just got to Tokyo this year, and everyone I know isn't even in the country." Well, that's not entirely true. Surely some of the others she came with survived that accident. It's just a matter of getting in contact with them.

"I've never really done anything like this before," she admits, sipping on her soda. "I never really had time for it." And then Minako mentions adding them to some list and Lena's putting a hand up. "Oh, no that's okay, I don't think I'll be showing up here that oft--you just added me to some strange list, didn't you?" She doesn't sound particularly upset over it. Just a little surprised that Minako apparently just does what Minakos do. "If nothing else, I'll try to show up every now and then. But no singing from now on." If she knew better, Lena would probably think she's gotten herself into something she doesn't want to be involved in.

Minako Aino has posed:
"Right right, lots of singing from now on. You're on the official invite list!" Minako Aino declares, putting it right into her phone. 'Red hair' and 'schoolboy'. "It's all nice and official. And safe."

"Although generally we don't jump on our boys on the stage, it's not that kinda' establishment, but I guess late night silly stuff is ok," she says with a big shrug before collapsing dramatically into her seat.

"I'm tiiired. How many more songs shall I sing, guys? Or is it food time? I could go for some food. Or for some food being brought to me," she says, dramatically falling the other way onto the table, spreading her arms out and moving drinks out of the way so she can collapse safely.

"Also, I introduced you two, so no sneaking out when I'm not looking in the future. Remember Minako-chan!"

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori's completely unaware of any kind of accident in Lena's part. Probably just as well. Questions would be weird. But that also means he can't display concern for them. He can, however, offer a sympathetic, "Oh man. It must be pretty overwhelming to be alone in a foreign country. Or maybe it was at first? You seem like you've adjusted pretty well."

Minako's mention of 'jumping on boys' gets a blush. and there's that nosebleed threatening again! Though he does manage to stave it off, barely. "I don't think that was intentional on anybody's part," he says with a sheepish smirk. He does think about her question though. "I'm actually curious as to what you sound like when you don't have someone babbling horrible English behind you," he notes. He's speaking about himself, really, not so much Lena.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
What's she suppose to say to that question? Lena thinks for a moment, contemplating her drink in the meantime. "It was... it was pretty unexpected. And I've been here a bit longer than I'd planned on." She shrugs, though there's a hint of defeat in her tone. After all, she knew there was the chance she wouldn't be going home. Just as well, she's starting to make a new home for herself! "But I'm getting by and... um... I guess I finally found some friends?"

"I tripped, alright!" She pouts and looks down at the table. "Let's just forget it ever happened, alright? I think everyone not named Minako has had enough embarrassment." She wants to continue, but there's a familiar ping and for a moment she just sort of stares at her bracelet. Oh wow, it is getting late. "Um... well, I'd like to stay for food, but I kind of need to get back home. It's getting a little late and there's school to worry about." It doesn't take Lena long to stand. "It was fun, really. I'll see you two around?"