1598/Ice Cream Rebound

Ice Cream Rebound
Date of Scene:	12 June 2016
Location:	Uminari City - Shopping Strip
Synopsis:	Mopey as ever, Reiko goes to return a gift she bought for Haru. Ends up meeting Eilam Hisakawa and Jiaying Maki. Misunderstandings and Magical Orange Koi Misscommunications leads to Ice Cream. Somehow. Reiko sucks at hiding her blush a lot. Foxgirls don't steal her wallet. Eilam isn't a vampire.
Cast of Characters:	Reiko Touyama, Eilam Hisakawa, Jiaying Maki

---

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama had a lot on her mind. Mister Black appeared recently. For the first time. It'd just been Griselda. And Shades-- but her powerful henchmen showing up posed a problem. Attacks were one thing. Fuzzing your head with quizzes and questions were another- and she failed that proverbial test.

She'd been walking along the sidewalk of the shopping strip with a bag, because something more dour was on her mind. It'd been a lovlely necklace with a flower pendnant she'd bought for Haru. Something nice. Something she saved up for. Of course...

Well it isn't Haru's fault his family had to move suddenly. He'd been as hurt as she was about it. She never got a chance to deliver the pendant so here she was, making for OSA-P to make a return, and perhaps spend the resultant money on herself instead. Yeah...

...maybe some new art supplies.. or--or even playing some video games at the Crown would make her feel a little better. Surely. Her would wasn't going to end over all this right?

She had to try to look up and forward.

But why was it so /hard/.

Following her, in a swirling spiraling fashion was a tiny vibrant magical orange koi in the air. Invisible to those without a spark-- visible to those used to magic in thier lives. The koi came to a stop over Reiko's shoulder and gave her a reassuring pat pat pat on her shoulder. It helped, a little bit--- while she continued her walk, mostly keeping to herself, but eyes scanning around for anyone she knew as she pushed her glasses up along her nose a moment- pushing at the bridge in the middle.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    Today was actually a day out for Eilam! One of those days he decided he was tired of being cooped up. The air was nice out today, it was sunny and it was one of the few days he was feeling 'better' than normal. At least, better in that he'd actually gotten some good sleep the previous night! It was the weekend and all and as a result, he had looked around for some place to go and occupy himself. At the moment the feminine-young fellow was dressed up in a full suit and tie outfit, crisp tailored western-style double breasted suit, black with pink trim matching his long hair. In fact, he very well looked the part of being rich despite not looking much older than mid teens at most. Crisp slacks, white shirt, generally just looking fairly like he was attending something fancy.

    But no, there he was walking out of the jewelry shop, stopping as he got outside and looking down at a watch he had on his wrist. Fancy new thing. Possibly even a new purchase! In truth he'd went there to ask about to where a local place that dealt in watches is, but despite it all it did leave him standing just outside the doorway of the Jewelry shop at the moment, a large walking stave next to him, half held in his other hand as he leaned against it. A bit of an odd look for those that didn't know his conditions.

Jiaying Maki has posed:
Jiaying Maki is back at the mall! Mostly because it's an easy enough place to find. She's wearing something a bit different than usual, what with not being stuck in a school uniform and has instead gone with shorts and a blouse for simplicity. She's here because she's got a sweet tooth, an addiction for things nerdy and because she actually knows how to get to the mall. The last one's really the important one.

She really wasn't expecting to run into flying koi and at first she assumes it's either hunger or one of those projectors maybe. It kind of occurs to her that this place is weird and she should totally investigate flying fish, they might be tasty! Or dangerous! Or maybe she's haunted and she can find another ghost buddy! Not that she's sure koi can have ghosts. There's a passing glance at the rich kid, guy, whatever largely because you don't usually see the whole fitted suit on younger people. The fact that he had a stick was kind of interesting though. At least the crowd makes it easy to hide that she's following, but then again she's short so she keeps losing it too, much to her occasionally audible frustration.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
The koi remains there next to Reiko's head, it's not going anywhere. She gets to the door of OSA-P Jewelers when she blinks at the young man near the door, with a stick. It's the suit that's gotten her attention at first. It's not entirely out of place--- Verone is right over there. The Rich People school--- not too far off.

This guy is....awfully pretty- and for a long moment, she finds herself staring a bit with a blink. Then a blush because she suddenly looks elsewhere- she hopes before she's caught! Oh dear.

Another koi floats out from behind Reiko and it's kind of also making heart eyes and has it's fins up clasped near it's head in an adoring fashion.

Reiko twitches and for a deep long moment, she wishes she had control over her koi friends. Besides. Sure he's pretty. BUT what if he's also a jerk!? and besides, isn't she just getting over a break up anyways!? Ugh! She's literarly here to RETURN something from that!!!

The original koi sort of face palms over this specific emotion.

She clears her throat. "Hey um. Hi!" she says. "Is something wrong with your watch...?" she asks softly, leaning back on her heels a bit. "Or are you waiting for someone?" she asks, grasping her bag in front of her, two handed now at the handles.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    "Hm?"

    It would seem Eilam hadn't even noticed her. Not for lack of caring so much as his mind was elsewhere. As she got close, she would probably be able to smell a fairly flowery scent coming from him. A mixture of strawberries and some kind of island fruity smell. Certainly not what one would associate with most fellows. Jiaying even being there also went unnoticed, though it would seem she was trying to keep it that way for the moment. Eilam looked Reiko over curiously, a tired look to his eyes. Even if he'd gotten sleep, some things simply weren't changing. "To a bit. Today was an out day for me as it was and I had wanted to find someone who was capable of doing upkeep on my watches. This particular one is fairly old, and has not been touched up in a couple of years."

    His voice soft, not really trying to speak up, or over, really just speaking to her. His Japanese was fairly formal, almost 'stuffy old person' formal, as if the one he learned it from was some Aristocratic teacher of some form or another. "Ah, I'm in your way, let me move." And with that he took a step to the side, left arm falling to his side as his right arm tucked the walking aid into the crook of his elbow. "Are you lost? If so, I cannot help much, I do not know this place well. Though... You... do not seem like the type I would expect coming to a store like this. Or were you not coming here, but saw me looking at my watch?"

    Something about her got his interest, but he couldn't really pin just what. Perhaps it was the magic about her, but he wasn't aware enough to make sense of what he was picking up on, or put shape to it. Just that something about her was... curious enough to speak with.

Jiaying Maki has posed:
Jiaying Maki has managed to 'sneak' behind the one with the fish. Glancing around quietly, she reaches up to poke at one, wondering if it's solid, if it feels like poking a ghost or if it's something else, or even if they'll let her poke them. It's only after she does this that she realizes that she's both being rude and less than subtle. So she quickly takes a half-step back and quickly tries to assume an innocent look. She's not great at the innocent look yet, there's something of the henhouse analogue about her.

Still, the guy's voice, more the formality of it gets her attention because it's closer to the Japanese she had to learn when she was younger, what with it being the second language and all. Leaning to the side to look around Reiko, it seems she wants to get a better look at him and maybe try to guess if he's local or not... she's awful with accents though. Should he glance at her, she would immediately grin and wave, "Hi!" is offered after.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
The koi is poked. It feels soft. Not scaly. And magically weird. It blinks once--- then arounds-----

And it shakes it's right fin at it like it was telling Jiaying off and looking upset-- almost as if it was wagging it's finger at it. How dare you poke it for no reason!

The one making the adoring face just popped into an orange sparkle. Reiko doesn't notice the poking of her koi friend. She'd probably have something to say about that-- much to Eilam's confusion probably. Also. There is a pretty boy here so is speaking intensely proper aristocratic japanese here. Haru was like that. This doesn't do much to dispell that light blush that's taken up residence on her cheeks.

"Huh?" she asked, as if the words caught up with her suddenly. "Wait, no! I just saw you looking at your watch intently and usually someone does that if they're waiting for someone or something." she says meekly with a swallow. "Actually...I'm here to return something." she admits.

"Someone special to me moved away and I'm returning something I didn't give a chance to give them before he moved." she says with a throat clear- and a bit of sadness.

Then Jiaying says hello and she turns to finally notice her. "Oh.. Hi! Um-- is everything okay? Wait.. are we now both in your way!?" she asks as she suddenly moves out of the way of the door.

"M-my bad, sorry!" she says placing a hand to her mouth a bit, as if she was caught in some sort of scandolus situation.

She peeks back to Eiliam, then over to Jiaying. "Um. My name's... Reiko Touyama. May I ask both your names?" she asks softly. "Please?"

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    Now that Eilam /was/ looking at her, he studied the girl as she spoke only for a small smile to come to his face. He couldn't be /sure/, but she seemed at least a little embarrassed. Just why he couldn't say, but it did amuse him. Then Jiaying came up and he looked at her, and back to Reiko curiously. Was she just trying to steal from her? Unable to see the fish, Eilam couldn't really associate such. So what else had she been doing that close? In fact, Eilam stepped a tiny bit closer towards Reiko and reached to pat her on the shoulder, "I'm not sure why you're here, but I would appreciate it if you would find someone else to steal from. I am not fond of thieves, especially those hanging around me."

    His choice of words were directed at Jiaying. Perhaps it was her fox in the henhouse bit, but she seemed out of place enough to seem suspicious. And Eilam was well enough at reading peoples demeanor. Reiko seemed embarrassed about something, fidgety, and Jiaying... well, she was up to something. "If you have something to return, however, Miss Reiko, by all means do not let me interrupt. I... know how it feels to see others leave, and it is not something I envy anyone. If it would make you feel better, after you take care of that, I could buy you something to help cheer you up with? If you are more familiar with this area than I am, you are welcome to choose what or where. Also, my name is Eilam. Eilam Hisakawa."

    The hand that he had used to pat her on the shoulder remained there, as if trying to encourage the idea that she was there with him towards Jiaying, even if she wasn't. A subtle attempt to offer /some/ protection. ...not that he was remotely intimidating. In fact she could probably blow on him and knock him over.

Jiaying Maki has posed:
Jiaying Maki looks at Reiko curiously when she jumps and thinks she's blocking the path. She shakes her head and starts to ask something, then she's accused of trying to pickpocket by the guy in a suit. With an indignant tone to her voice, "Is that how you greet everyone?" She comes just shy of stomping her feet with her fists balled up like she's about to do something dumb...er. Instead she lets her breath out and turns to face Reiko properly where she offers a polite and very short bow considering her location in a mall and all and says, "I'm Jiaying Maki. I don't know the jerk's name there."

She uses bow as an excuse to rock on her heels, then stand on her toes and says to Reiko, albeit in a somewhat hushed tone, "Did you know you've got fish-things following you? Did you make an offering at a shrine or do something nice to someone? I want to see it if you did!" With a scowl she remembers that's kind of weird if she didn't and offers a goofy smile to make it seem like she's joking. Just in case. Really!

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama had managed to begin to get the flush of blood out of her face slowly over the next few seconds. She's used to this because she blushes a lot actually. Heck, she manages to control even when she's called 'Miss Touyama'.

"Yeah. Just. Kind of. My first boyfriend n' all." she says with a soft sighhhhhhh. Oh. Then he offers to take her out somewhere. Then the blush is back. "W--well um! Maybe. Not right now, but maybe another time?" she asks with wide eyes as she clears her throat.

She watches the exchange between Eilam and Jiaying a moment as her eyes trace back and forth.

Then Jiaying leans in and whispers about 'fish-things' and she takes a deep breath. Crap. Jiaying can see the koi. Eilam obviously cannot---or Eliam is so damn used to this kind of thing he hasn't said anything.

"Don't say anything about them if he can't see them." she mutters as she leans back and away.

"Ahahahaha I don't think she's here to steal from anyone!" she says really nervously.

She begins to look towards the door of the jewelers a moment. Oh god. Does she run!? Oh lord, if this girl makes the cute guy thinks she's crazy about her magical koi she's gonna probably curl up and try to die or something like a salted slug.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    "...?"

    It was obvious from the confused look on his face he had no idea what she was talking about. In fact, he just listened to what they had to say before quietly reaching into his suit coat and pulling out a rather /pricey/ looking cellphone. Brand new latest-model (insert magical girl brand letter here)-phone! Some amount of money. Tap, tap, he was almost ignoring them before there was a soft 'click' sound. "Right. So, jerk or not, you must be quite without of your mind. Still, it is your choice, Miss Touyama, if you wish to trust her. We just met after all and I am hardly in a position to press anything upon you." It didn't take too long after the click before a small towncar came into view and parked nearby. "There is an icecream center a couple of blocks east that I am going to visit shortly. You are welcome to show up if you like after you take care of your business here, my treat. If you wanted to talk more. It is always nice to have someone to talk to instead of dwelling on things."

    And with that he turns a little and wiggles his fingers towards her as he begins to walk off, leaving her with Jiaying for the moment, making his way towards the black towncar that parked nearby. As he did, someone got out of the car and made their way around to the passenger side, seemingly intending to open the door and let him in. Perhaps it was a bit more obvious as he started to depart, but he did really favor the walking aid he had with him.

Jiaying Maki has posed:
Jiaying Maki looks at Reiko quietly then shrugs and mutters, "Don't care what some stuffy jerk says, I wanted to know about them." Still that's largely under her breath and instead she watches him pull out a phone and start messing with it. Arms crossed, she steps out from behind Reiko and says to Eilam, "My mind's fine." Mostly she adds to herself, it's hard to remember not to just poke the supernatural, literally, doesn't change the fact though!

When he starts to try to escape, a few wild ideas play out in her head, none of which she acts on because that wouldn't.. go well for a number of reasons, one of which gets her standing on her toes to try and look for dogs, unusually big cats, errant members of her family and religious sorts that might chase her about.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Like three koi appear and prop thier 'backs' up against the front bumper of the car and try to prevent it from it's eventually leaving. Reiko now feels SUPPPPPER bad. The koi won't be able to stop a car. They're more likely just to pop into orange sparkles the moment the gas is pressed. Reiko isn't worried about her temporary magical koi. Not a single one lasts longer than a few minutes. Though some can recreate themselves.

"H-hey!" she says at Jiaying. "That isn't nice!" she says more loudly. "Don't call people jerks just because you were acting shady--and-- and poking my koi! Leave them alone!" she says.

She totally said that all loudly and then she realizes what she said----

And she slowly turns towards Eilam and you can almost feel the sweatdrop that should be there if this was some sort of anime. She swallows.

"Ah---~" she says. "Um... right-- um... Ice cream. S--sounds good right now!" she says as she begins to scramble a moment towards Eilam.

Jiaying is probably gonna want to do something to either stop this if she wants to know more or find her later apparently. She is totally forgetting to return what she came here to return too.

But she is in Panic!Mode right now apparently.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    "..."

    Though he heard Reiko trying to 'stand up for him' as it were, it was her next remark that caught him by surprise again. She, too, remarked something about fish. It confused him, because he had no idea what she was talking about. Eilam paused and turned to look towards her, then Jiaying, as if he was trying to understand something he hadn't quite gotten. He looked over Reiko more carefully only to look back towards the driver, who shrugged, having no idea at all what was going on.

    That led to him shaking his head as if dismissing the idea only for Reiko to approach him. "Oh? Well, if you like, who am I to deny you coming along. I get tired at times walking on my own, no harm in that." and then a pause, "...if you are going to bring your crazy, thief associate there, I am going to ask she keep her hands in her lap. She can pay for herself, though, my generosity extends to those whose company I enjoy."

    Well, that's something for her at least! She's enjoyable company!... for some reason or another. Or maybe enjoayble is simply relative.

Jiaying Maki has posed:
Jiaying Maki watches the fish appear in front of the bumper. She ignores the urge to go poke them again, largely because this has gone very silly very quickly and she's tempted to duck out just to see what happens. Well, that was the case until Reiko turns on her and accuses of her not being nice, to which she points to Eilam and replies, "He jumped to conclusions that I was a thief and then didn't apologize when corrected! I just wanted to know about the fish because seriously, kiiinda weird." So is she, but they don't know that.

Bristling after Eilam's comment, losing her cool and her focus briefly with her fists balled up. Once more she catches herself, lets out her breath and says, "You know, maybe I will. I can't go on having someone think I am a thief and I might even be able to do some nice calligraphy on nice little uniform pieces of paper."

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama smiles at Eilam. "A--ahaha." she says. "I don't know why she's talking about fish." she insists. The three koi dissapear through when Reiko makes towards the car proper. "I mean seriously, do you see any water near here!?"

One appears next to Reiko again. It's also wearing a scuba mask and a snorkel. It waves teasingly at Jiaying. Reiko has no control over this. Reiko just knows she's lying and the koi are being cheeky about it.

"I'm sure she'll behave." she says shooting Jiaying a HARD GLANCE and leans in and whispers to Jiaying.

"'look, I can't control them, please drop it about the fish ask me another time, not now!'" she tries to whisper sharply to her before leaning back and trying to smile bright and nicely.

SHE is happy. Just a little panicy and nervous and embarassed too. Hey, you can be all four of those things at once! It's possible!

Off for Ice Cream!! Right? Yeah she's moving to get settled in the car now unless Eilam stops her.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    Maybe it's just a language thing he doesn't get! But, Reiko tries to defend it, so instead of bringing it up he simply offers to let her get in first. The towncar is quite nice, not quite new but close enough to still get that feeling that it's well taken care of. Plush seats, a large backseat area with a single long seat and even a paif of seats facing the back seat, enough room for probably five comfortably. "Is there something I should call you other than thief, thief?" Eilam needles towards Jiaying, at this point having adopted the phrase as a name, stepping into the car himself and pulling his walking aid with him. Completely not worrying about where Reiko wound up sitting, or where 'thief' was going to be sitting, Eilam moved to sit in the middle of the back seat and relax, letting out a small sigh as he did, apparently quite comfortable sitting down(finally).

    That scent about him was more readily picked up in an enclosed space, the straawberries and fruit scent. Cologne or shampoo it's hard to say but it was something of the sort. Once Jiaying was in, though, the door would be shut and the driver would get back in, starting to drive towards the afforementioned Icecream parlor a few blocks down. "So, would either of you care to tell me what this... fish you keep talking about is? I do not speak Japanese by birth, so... I thought it might be a local reference, but now I am unsure."

Jiaying Maki has posed:
Jiaying Maki crosses her arms again and mutters, "My mother never would have let me run around with uncontrolled... whatever those are." She rolls her eyes though and adds, "Fine, I'll stop talking about your fish actively trying to distract you." That's said low as well, like most things she's said about the fish!

To Eilam she smiles sweetly and says, "I already gave my name bai chi. It's Jiaying." For once, this one is easy to lie about and she replies to the question about the fish with, "It's a nonsense phrase, she has a feel of good luck about her." Which is.. what koi are noted for at least.

She doesn't comment on the scent in the car, instead, she's fishing around in her satchel, pulling out a rather nice pen and a stack of sheets of paper. There's other things in the bag of course, but she doesn't draw attention to them. As an after thought, she asks, "Bai chi, what languages do you speak?"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama crosses her arms. "Yes, that!" she says matter of factly. "I feel lucky!" well. It isn't a lie. Like. A pretty, cute boy is taking her out for ice cream. That's lucky. That's SUPER lucky. "Nonsense phrase meaning luck." she lies. Ugh she feels horrible. Lying. But.

This guy doesn't see the fish. He isn't magical. He'd think she's strange or weird like lots of others that'd seen her 'bat at her fish' before-- batting at the air like an odd orange cat.

Still, she clears her throat. "Thank you, Hisakawa-san, for letting me come with you." she says giving a soft bow.

She frowns at Jiaying, just a little as she sighhhhhs out. Oui. Reiko isn't trying to be mean to her. Just.

Nrg..

She's going to feel bad when this is all over regardless now.

Still...

Eilam seems to smell lovely. That fruit scent... strawberries. Haru used to smell like flowers. Perfume... and that pretty make up he wore... she's tapping her bottom lip. Ugh!

Her thoughts keep going back to Haru, she looks down. She wishes it wasn't so recent compared to that. Maybe that wouldn't be happening then.

Now she feels guilty with that in her head now too.

"Oh. Um. Like I said. My name is Reiko." she sas to Jiaying. "I go to Seishou Public School." she says gently. "I'm a very good artist." she insists.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    "Languages? Hm... Xiao Tou, Gauner, Voleur, Thief..." Eilam rattles off the phrase Thief in several languages, and says it in a few more after that, Mandarin, German, French, English, Greek, then he simply smiles towards towards Jaiying. "Not so much a Bai chi, hm?" Despite it all, her attitude amused him, even if he turned his attention back towards Reiko, eying her a moment, "Seishou? I looked at that when I came to Japan not long back, but I settled on going to Infinity University. It offered a little more flexibility for my needs and, well, I tend to prefer lecture-style studies which are more common there. I never cared much of art, though. ...nothing to draw I suppose. Little that I imagine. I much prefer music, and stories. I did not think I would enjoy Manga terribly much but I enjoy the long serializations."

    He closed his eyes a moment, leaning forward with his forehead against the back of his hands, hands holding onto his stave as it kind of leaned at an angle in the car in front of him. "Also, to warn, I often seem tired because I am. When I was young I became quite ill and it has... carried with me since. Nothing I can spread, I just get tired very easily. Just to clarify that in case the question comes to mind." It was actually a bit more than that, but Eilam was quite straight-faced and even when lying. A practiced quality, a sad truth that, with him. "What do you draw?"

Jiaying Maki has posed:
Jiaying Maki says just as sweetly, "Oh you speak Chinese! How many years did you study Bai Chi?" Which seems an innocent question, you know, insult aside. There's also the fact that she's not really hiding that she's just curious to see what she can get away with. That does change her plans for the calligraphy though. She'll have to be more creative.

However, the mention of art gets an actual grin from the diminutive fox-girl. "I go to the same school, I bet you're in the art club. I was thinking about joining that!" There's another comment about his comment about not liking art, but that's more her being grumpy and not being great at maintaining that straight face.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Eilam brings up Infinity University. Great. Another sore spot for her to think about. "Infinity. I keep getting approved for a scholarship there. My parents really want me to go." she says. "It's my art, that keeps getting me in, you see-- aswell as my grades. I'm the best in my grade right now." she insists. "I study and work hard." she insists.

"But..." but. "I can't just leave my friends behind." she says sheepishly. "...and it's not like my parents actually care. They're not even home ninety percent of the time I'm home. It's just me and grandpa..." she says silently.

She shakes her head and tries to smile a bit. "I draw lots of things, I draw skylines, I draw fantasy from my head, still life, landscapes..." she says softly. "I draw a little manga..." but she stopped when it became real and started attacking people. "Um. Sorry. I don't have any work with me, else I'd show you." she says sheepishly. "I carry a sketchbook usually, but.. I just intended to go from home to to the store and back." she admits.

"It's fine, though, Art isn't for everyone." she smiles, appearing not to take offense to the matter.

She looks back to Jiaying. "Oh! That'd be neat." she says. "Yeah I'm in Art Club, though I tend to go to the more advanced class the teacher holds on Saturdays..." she says. "I still go to the weeklies though when I can!" she smiles.

A koi appears , in fact, over near Jiaying and gives a firm, hard, matter of fact *nod* at this statement. It has it's tiny fins crossed in front of it.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    Eilam listened to both, letting Reiko speak and not interrupting. Finally, though, he nodded. "Well, that is good, you should follow what you want, not what others want. If you want to be with your friends, then your friends are what is important. While you do not have all the time in the world... that is all the more reason to spend all of your time how you want, right? It is your life after all, haha. My own parents..." he trailed off, as if remembering something. "...well, they are not around anymore. So I take care of myself. Not that I mind, I have others around me I enjoy the company of." Raising up properly, the driver stops after pulling up next to the sidewalk and as he got out, Eilam looked towards Jaiying. "Not too long." A very vague answer. Which was entirely true, for him, actually. Relative to other things. "Good luck, though... maybe your good luck reached out to me, letting me meet you today, Miss Touyama. It is not every day I get to meet a cute girl near my age who might have eyes for me." That was said so naturally and straight-faced that as the door opened courtesy of the driver to let them out, he didn't even bat an eyelash, probably having said it just to tease her/embarrass her further.

Jiaying Maki has posed:
Jiaying Maki raises an eyebrow at the description of the classes being taken and all of that and says, "I... see. I have not had a chance to fully sign up yet, I've only been in classes a couple of weeks now." She shrugs a touch and adds, "What does the club actually do? I mean is it like theme month?" To Eilam she nods and says, "Do you read many hanzi?" Hey more fishing, though at least he hasn't called her thief in the last few moments that's a step in her getting over the flash of anger, which currently is being replaced by hunger. When the door opens, she lets herself out after Reiko, brushes herself off while saying happily, "I'm hungry. I'll want to ask you a few questions more Reiko. Good luck with.." She shrugs and doesn't continue, instead laughing and making her way towards the smell of food. They meat kind if she has her way.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama steps out and then----oh yeah that's a severely hard blush when Eilam starts making assertions of having eyes for him. She swallows. Oh, he also calls her /cute/. Yes this is a lucky day. This is a surpremely lucky day and Reiko expects to wake up in bed in any moment from this dream.

And it isn't a dream. She sighs a bit, oh yes, happy day.

She looks to Jiaying as if he bumped out of some reverie. "Oh! Um. We practice. We have a theme every class, yet--- like 'Landscape' or 'Fantasy'." she says. "It's fun! Come on by! Just ask for me! People know me around there." she says. "I mean, the Art Club and Clubs around the schools." she says sheepishly, and apparently Jiaying is off. She takes a deep cleansing breath and looks back to Eilam. More confident!

"Oh--um.." she bites her lip. "Was it that obvious? I'm sorry." she says softly.

"I just. Well." she kind of tilts her head.

"I guess it'd be a little embrassing to go into the details." she admits. She turns around a moment.

"So...what flavor of ice cream do you like, Hisakawa-san?" she asks softly. "I like orange sherbet the best." she admits. "But it's hard to find. So. Usually. I just like Chocolate." she winks a bit with a blush still.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    And Jiaying the Thief was off! As soon as she came. Eilam glanced at the car before saying, "Do make sure she did not lift anything, would you?" To which he reaches down to pat his pants pocket as if checking himself.

    Then Reiko begins to speak and he looks towards her, smiling a bit as he reached to get his stave and pulled it out, beginning to make his way along towards the entrance of the place. "I tend to enjoy Vanilla, or Cookies and Cream. Though with the latter I have a taste for a specific companies brand. It is hard to go wrong with vanilla. I would not mind chocolate so much if it was not as heavy a taste. Too many companies make their chocolate tastes strong."

    And then he thinks about something, and looks back towards the car, then her, "Would you like to leave your things in the car, Miss Touyama, or take them with you? They are safe either way, just asking in case you care to hold less with you." and then he started to walk again. "Though I would enjoy hearing the details if you care to share? I take some measure of happiness in my own appearance and demeanor, so it is always nice when others seem to enjoy it as well. After all, the fastest way to earn my attention is to be cute, and speak kindly of how I look." It sounded like a tease, but perhaps it was a tease with the truth? Hard to say. At the moment, as they came to the entrance, it was suddenly obvious there was a line. Not a /long/ line, but a good few students and couples were waiting to get into the parlor. "Shall we wait, or would you like us to drive elsewhere?"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama checks her pockets, and the bag she's carrying. Yup. Orange wallet with the koi sticker, check. Bag. Check. Bus Pass? Check. She's good. She whews. "No, nothing stolen. I just think she was super odd about things." She then says. "Vanilla. Can't go wrong with Vanilla, if a shop screws up vanilla, there's a problem!" she insists with wide eyes and that blush is just there under her cheeks a bit. It isn't going away for the moment. Eilam really knows how to stoke that fire it seems.

Wether that's on purpose or not seems to remain to be seen. Reiko can't tell.

"Oh. Um..." she just sort of presses two fingers in front of her. "Just. My last boyfriend- he was um. 'fancy', too. Liked to dress up, had nice long hair. Liked to wear a floral perfume-- he worked as a florist with his parents. Elegant. A little older than me, but I don't really mind that or care much." she says sheepishly still. No reason to express she actually likes older guys. Better to say she just doesn't mind it.

At least Reiko herself comes off as a little more mature herself. At least at the moment. Lord knows that isn't the truth at all.

She peeks at the line. "Well. It seems waiting in line is bad for you. So maybe we outta look for someplace less busy." she muses. "I forgot summer is a busy time for this..." she says with a sigh.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    "No, no, it is okay. You're worth waiting for." he said, completely straight-faced, with a smile. At this point he really was just amusing himself by teasing her. No harm in having fun poking fun at someone. Though as he went through her remarks about her previous boyfriend, it left him curious. "I do wish to ask you something, given what you just said made me think about it. You seem to have a taste for older, pleasant-looking types who might or might not have money. An attempt for compensated company, or do you actually just seem to enjoy those things about me? Not that I mind either way, I am more than happy to associate with you one way or another. As I mentioned you are pleasant on the eyes and you, yourself, have quite pretty hair. ...not that it is the only reason I would want to be around you but I was bringing up points. Regardless, Miss Touyama, would you like to tell me a little more about yourself?"
    For the time being, Eilam is, indeed, perfectly content it seems to stand there and wait in line like everyone else. Though he is holding onto the stave with his hands, leaning against it lightly, taking some weight off of himself. "For instance... do you like dressing up too? Or have you ever even tried it? Could always go find you something you think is 'fancy'..." Eilam said using her phrase, "...and put you in that too. Let me show you off instead of the other way around?"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama blinks once. She's trying to untangle those first words Eilam says. It sounds like the underlying tone is 'I like rich older boys.' and she has to blush a bit some more as she clears her throat. "Huh!? No--I mean. I'm well off too.. my parents work hard and all that." she says. She lives in a /house/ afterall. Not an apartment or a floor of some skyscraper. A house with a big enough back yard for a nice treehouse.

That may or may not be a headquarters for a bunch of color themed magical girls.

Just saying 'I like older pretty boys' seems like a lame way to put things. It'd be honest. But lame. "I like older boys who put time into thier appearance, is all. And I guess people from wealth and taste think about that more." she insists. That's.. close?

She clears her throat. "I like dressing up." she says. "But it's hard to find good times to do it." she says gently. "Parents don't want me dressing like an Oujo though. I do dress up for dances though as best I can." she says matter of factly.

When Eilam mentions 'showing her off' this gets a REALLY super severe blush from her. W-wow. This boy works pretty fast. Doesn't he, she thinks? "I--um. Thank you. for the Sentinment. Maybe another time?" she asks with a swallow. Her way of saying 'let's talk and meet some more maybe' politely.

"...I'm hoping there's another one soon." she says a little softly.

She clears her throat. "Well.. My dad's a pharmaceutical scientist and my mom's an archivist for the same. Both science fields. My grandpa takes care of me mainly, an old veteran n' stuff. We watch a lot of documentaries and stuff. He tells me stories." she says.

"Um, I spent a lot of time drawing what he's told me before." she says. "I draw a lot! It's my favorite hobby. I draw and paint and I got into chocolate sculpting recently, too!" she says... though, for Haru-kun, she doesn't add. "Um. I used to draw a manga about this silly game me and my friends used to play... called 'Prism Keepers'." she says.

She doesn't go into why she stopped. "Um...." she taps her lip. "I think that's all the intresting things." she says sheepishly, yet again. She gets sheepish a lot actually.

She does wait with Eilam easily enough. Hopefully this isn't too stressing on him.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    There was a couple of points where he seemed to chuckle, or even laugh, though most pointedly when she seemed to get flustered about things. "No need for another time, we're here and now after all. You might not think it, but all eyes are on you today!" Well, really only one set, his, and he was primarily teasing her for the moment because he could. A lot less fast than she might think so much as he just enjoyed the chance to actually have someone to spend time with. Just the conversation was nice. Smiling was nice.

    "I would quite like to see you dress up sometime, even if it's just in something you made. You like art, so maybe you would enjoy making your own outfit too? Draw up something just for you and have it custom made? Combine the two tastes, art and fashion.

    For the time being, he doesn't directly volunteer anything about himself. At least, not about his parents. "I live in a manor just outside of Tokyo. A comfortable place." Comfortable. That's probably an understatement if it can be considered a manor. "Just me and those who work for me, though. Sadly a bit empty. I trust them and all, but I rarely have anyone else over. So it's nice to have pleasant company to talk to and laugh with. And tease." The line sinks into the parlor a bit more and by this point they're just outside the door, the cool air from inside wafting out as the doors open and close every now and then. "Since you draw Manga, I should ask, how do you come up with your characters? Are you going to pencil me into one of your works as the love interest for the heroine? Some beautiful young fellow she comes across outside a jewelry shop that catches her eye and turns out to be wistfully cursed or something? Secretly a vampire. Maybe I am too. Careful, I bite."

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama is having a hard time keeping her composure. She's been blushing since she exited the car. There probably are some people glancing over. There's probably already assumptions being made. Probably some can overhear the conversation. Reiko is used to this because there was rumors around school for a few weeks when Haru gave her White Day chocolates. Really fancy chocolates of the non-friendship kind.

"Well." she says softly. "The characters I drew came from a game we played. So they're based off my friends... and me... and stuff like that. Magical girls.. protecting color." she says silently. "I stopped drawing it though due to um. Reasons." she says. Reasons she seems too shy to bring up, at least maybe from Eilam's point of view.

"L-love intrest!?" she says with wide eyes. Nonono--- the last thing she wants to do is draw some stupid love story and end up cosmically forcing someone to love her by accident. She has no idea if the whole Prism Keeper story coming to life was just a fluke anyways.

"What, you can't be a vampire. You're too nice." she insists.

"A manor. But yourself?" she purses her lips, a little sadly. That sounds like... Mamoru almost. "...did something happen to your parents?" she asks a little sadly. "Sorry if that's a blunt question..." she mutters looking down a bit.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    "...they have not been around for a while. When I got sick when I was young they decided they did not wish to deal with me and that was that. Though considering they also went sailing shortly after and vanished off to somewhere, I was left with their income. So yes, by myself. Mostly. I have those who I trust that work for me, help take care of me and the place. I enjoy my space, and I admit I enjoy buying things too, so while I could just... get a tiny place just big enough for me, I would wind up filling it up quite quickly, haha."

    Despite the conversation piece, he didn't seem sad. Ancient history. Literally! Not that she knew that.

    "That's a bit rude of you though, assuming all vampires aren't nice. I am quite tempted to bite you right now just to prove my point!" In fact, he takes a moment to lean forward and down a bit towards her as if he was leaning in to do just that, only, Ding! The door opens and an employee says, "Hello, you can come in now! Our apologies for the wait, several of our employees had to take some unexpected time off!" and then just stares at the two, Eilam stopped in the middle of his teasing as he raised back up at that point and nodded, "Non-vampires first. Well, I guess that's me, since I'm too nice to be a vampire." And with that, he steps inside first!

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama thinks magic is weird. She has a friend who's a doll who is possesed by the spirit of an abaonded doll. She knows a werewolf, and a kitsune and she herself protects color from some 'Grey Kingdom' and lots of other craziness like catboys. So when she's accused of being rude about assuming all vampire aren't nice...

"W--well!" she says. "I always assumed Twilight was fiction." she insists, crossing her arms matter of factly- severe blush still. Notably, when he leans down----

And down.. and---

Saved by the door opening.

Reiko has NO idea how she'd handled whatever Eilam was gonna do and now she's intensely glad she doesn't need to find out. She follows Eilam into the shop.

"Still..." she says. "That's sad." she says lowly. "I'm sorry your parents were like that. I rarely see my own. They're always so busy with work. And meetings. I'm lucky if I see one of them once a month..." she says with a soft moreose sigh.

But that's okay. Because ice cream exists and it's right over there! Is it time to order!? She lets Eilam order first before she speaks up of course about what she'd like.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    On the way to the counter, Eilam takes out his phone and takes a few seconds to send a text message to someone, presumably the driver as that was the same thing that happened earlier when he took it out. Then he tucked it away again, smiling a little. Once they finally got to the counter, he looks around at the flavors before saying, "I suppose I will take a mix of vanilla with a little chocolate and... do you have any orange-flavored ice cream? I have never tried that before. Sherbert maybe?" The woman shakes her head, "Sorry! We might can stock it in the future, but we do not have any right now! The Vanilla and Chocolate, though, we can." And with that she goes about preparing his order before looking towards Reiko, curiously. "What about yours? What will you be having."

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama walks up to the counter and peeks in the case as she draws her hand back and taps her chin a bit in thought now. The cold of the case feels good, too. It's hot out, afterall. Nice and spring and summery out. No orange sherbet? Darn.

She's kind of feeling like something tangy and fruity though. But no sherbet at all? Hrmmmmm.

"I'll have the strawberry." she says softly. It's an easy enough flavor, and it's fruity and ice cream and not sherbet.

She smiles up at Eilam a bit. "Thank you." she says softly. "That's what I'd like." she says softly.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    Eilam moves towards the register to pay and takes care of the cost for both of them, nodding towards Reiko. "I am happy to treat. Thank you for the smiles." And once the ice cream is given, Eilam looks around before walking carefully over towards a nearby booth and taking a seat with a soft breath escaping him. "If I knew you preferred Orange Sherbert, I might have been able to find a place for you ahead of time. Still, this is at least something, right?"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama smiles a bit. "Ahead of time?" she asks softly. "We just met. Next time though, if it intrests you." she says. "To uh. Meet again. That is." she says with a blush. Oh she's gonna either have to get his phone number or give her his before they part ways today-- or her koi are gonna be on a MANHUNT later for pink haired boys until they find him again.

Yeah she doesn't want swarm of magical kois searching in the city for anyone. It'll be hard to explain!

She swallows.

"Yes, it's something, and thank you. It's been well..."

"It's been a hard few weeks... you know?" she says sheepishly.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    "A hard few weeks? You mean with your previous fancy boyfriend moving?" His teasing didn't sound really like an insult so much as poking fun at her, using the small scoop stick to poke at the ice cream and eat a little of it at the time. "Why not mail it to him? Whatever you were going to return? Or hang on to it? If it meant that much to you that you purchased it, no reason to return it just because he's gone."

    Rather quietly he pushed his ice cream a little towards her, "Would you like any? I would offer to feed it to you but somehow I think you would bite my finger instead of the scoop because all the blood in your body would go to your cheeks. So perhaps it best you got some for yourself if you have any interest. That was why I got the Chocolate after all. Get you something extra."

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama kind of wants to tell Eilam everything. Why it's so hard. How she first met Haru as this mysterious phantom magical boy who saved her a few times, who danced with her at a dance in her pretty Princess-form on the ice--- how this boy came to her party that was a setup by a possessed doll. How it was just so perfect because it was everything she'd imagined wanting--- and then it all came crashing down.

Because moving to a better demographic to sell flowers. She takes a hard cleansing breath as she finally speaks. "It's just. Well." she mutters. "Things were great you know?" she says quietly.

She does look down at the bag in her lap and sighs misterably. "He was supposed to text me with the address. So I could write. But. It's been a couple weeks. And he doesn't reply to my texts. I don't think he's ignoring me. But it's possible he moved out of some sort of service area. Or maybe they moved out of the country." she mutters.

She eyes the ice cream and hesitantly dips her sppon in and comes out with some chocolate.

She blushes a bit at the words. Yeah, she blushes a lot.

"Y-yeah I blush a lot. I'm sorry. I'm usually the quiet girl in school, you know? Rather listen to the teacher... then try to talk and pass notes..." she says softly.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    As she talked, Eilam listened, taking another bite of his. As she finally apologizes, he shakes his head. "You have nothing to apologize about, Miss Touyama. Also, just so you know, I am teasing you because you being easily embarrassed amuses me, not because I am coming onto you. You need a smile more than someone trying to take advantage of you being sad. Just wanted you to know I am happy to oblige. I enjoy my distractions too, at times. Buying things, treating others... going out to take care of things myself. I needed a break today too, because I had some measure of energy earlier. I do not have too many energetic days, so when they come, I simply... go."

    Reaching forward, Eilam gently pats the table in front of Reiko. "I do not think I can give you too much advice without sounding like I am old, but people can simply vanish sometimes. You can try to hold on, but I think you should be happy with what you have and enjoy it while you can, right? Instead of missing the past, enjoy the now, and look forward to the future." Which was a terribly hypocritical thing for him to say specifically as he kind of just wants to sleep. Forever, at times. He, himself, who doesn't really /have/ plans for the future beyond what he might want to eat or wear the next day.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama shakes her head with a blush. "I know that!" she says. "But that doesn't mean I don't like compliments and admittedly handsome boys paying attention to me." she says ever so innocently. "Besides....it's too soon after all that for me to be thinking of that stuff too heavily." she says.

She sighs and just nods. "No... I get it. Just because I have more time in front of me and I mean sure they're be others and I'm young and all that..." it's like she's heard this all before-- maybe the first time when she was fawning over Tadase.

"---doesn't mean it hurts any less for the moment." she admits.

"I'll get over it. I just need a little time." she says with a meek smile as best she can. "Right?" she asks.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    Eilam simply smiles back. "No need to get over it. Time heals everything. Even things you do not want it to. What you feel? That is what you feel. Only you get to decide if you want to feel otherwise. Me? I am just here to have a nice conversation and share some ice cream with someone cute. And maybe find someone I can talk to now and then, if she would enjoy a next time?"

    A small buzz from Eilam's phone and he pulls it out, eying it only to hit a couple of buttons and push it towards Reiko. "Will you give me a way to contact you? I would like to see your art sometime. Even if I do not enjoy making it, it does not mean I cannot enjoy seeing it. And I am sure anything you make will be just as adorable as you."

    Even he knew he was probably putting it on too thick, but sometimes frosting really could just be served by itself at times like these. No harm in it anyways.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama pulls out her phone. She rattles off her phone number. She gives it easily enough. Why not? What he's gonna do? Text her!? She nods. "Sure. That's my phone number! Um you can call or text. That's my phone." she says.

Her phone has a bright orange case with a orange koi fish charm hanging off it.

She puts it back when her number is rattled off.

She smiles. Oh god, yes he's putting it on thick. But Reiko really loves the compliments. She loves them SO MUCH apparently.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    Once he put her phone number in, Eilam looked at her phone before saying, "Fish, again. What a coincidence." And then he pushed his phone off to the side instead of putting it back into his pocket, taking a few more scoopfuls of his vanilla. "This might sound silly, but I am very bad at guessing peoples ages. Might I inquire what grade you are in?" It may or may not be obvious, but he was starting to seem a bit tired. It was subtle, really. Look in his eyes, posture, leaning against the table. Sort of like he was staying up real late to try and chat with somebody even though he should have been in bed a bit ago. Lethargic, really.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama nrrrrrrg she kind of wants to lie, but when you lie--- you're found out eventually. "Well I'm eleven." she says. "Fifth grade." she says softly. She wanted to say 12 and sixth grade.

"Parents try to make me skip up grades but I won't let them. I could probably be in sixth or seventh if I wanted to. But once again, don't wanna leave my friends behind." she smiles a bit.

"...Even if that'd put me around a lot of cuter boys..." she muses silently, and perhaps knowingly teasingly in her own way.

She does notice Eilam's tiredness however. "Eilam-san." Instead of Hisakawa-san this time. "You look tired. Maybe you should go home and rest now?" she says with some concern--- the blush starting to dissapear when she becomes concerned.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    That gets a laugh out of him. "I could, but that would mean I have to cut this lovely conversation short. Don't mind me, I'm being greedy. I can stay awake long enough to finish this ice cream. I am not going to fall asleep on the table, no worries, I just sometimes lose my energy. I can push on, I just get lazy when I am not around cute girls encouraging me to pay attention to them."

    With a smile, though, he did glance out the window, then back towards Reiko.

    "You really seem to worry about your friends. The boy you like? He's lucky." Like, not liked. Because it was still a thing. Still real. No reason to treat it like it's the past or anything but. "Willing to hold back your life just to be around them. But what would they think if they knew? Wouldn't they want you to live yours to its' fullest?"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama has finished her ice cream, she's in fact, been eating it. Ice cream is to be savored, yes, but it's also delicious and demands to be eaten! She looks at Eilam and goes quiet. Like he asked a hard question...

"Two years ago... me and my best friend, Mei-chan, used to have a circle of friends. And we'd play that Prism Keeper game I talked about..." she says.

"It was important to us. Mei made it up. I drew the pictures and art for it all. It was a nice group of friends. Well..."

"One day... one of our friends sort of changed. We didn't really notice how she was changing until it was too late. She called the game... childish and a waste of time. She demanded a lot of friends go with her and.. a couple did. Not all, but... we sort of all dropped contact slowly after that." she says softly.

"I wanted to keep in contact with everyone but it was hard. Too young... couldn't travel far without Grandpa or use the phone easily." she says sheepishly.

"It's important that I stay with my friends..." she says softly. "Stuffs started happening recently, that's been sort of making us cross paths again. So.. so it's important I stay where I am. So I don't mess it up this time!" she insists.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    It's strange, how it sounds like it's more than just friendships. Just like the fish thing sounds like its more than it is. "Then I wish you the best of luck with that. You, and your good-luck fish." a small laugh comes from Eilam as he says that, still having no idea what all the fish stuff is about. "I... I am in no position to tell you anything about how you should live, but if you ever need a break, I am happy to oblige. But you might be right... I should probably go about the rest of my evening at my manor. Would you like to come along? Not stay, of course, but I can have my driver take you wherever you like. I will even try to stay awake along the ride should you like."

    Eilam left his ice cream partially finished, reaching for his phone and tucking it back into his coat before working to push himself to a stand. "Whatever works for you, I am happy to oblige, or not, as you like."

Reiko Touyama has posed:
It is a little more than just friendships. But she can't talk about that. As far as she knows, Eilam is just a very cute, very nice older boy who finds her cute. There's no reason to go on about the magic stuff. She looks concerned however.

"Here... let me make sure you get back to your car and then I can find my own way home." she smiles.

"You've been nice enough as it is. Besides. Home isn't too far away for me." she beams a bit.

She gets up and moves to walk alongside Eilam.

Eilam Hisakawa has posed:
    That gets a nod from the older boy and he doesn't really complain, walking along with her quietly and as they get outside, he points towards a nearby bench near the street and moves to sit down. Eilam pulled out his phone, texting to his driver that he was ready, and that gave him a couple of more minutes with Reiko. For a change, though, he was simply quiet. Quiet, and tired, holding onto his stave with both hands as he leaned forward, eyes closed, forehead against it.

    It's one of those things he couldn't really hide, and wasn't even trying to. Despite taking good care of his appearance, his health simply was not anything special. In fact, it was terrible. But, it was nice out that day, and Reiko was a new 'friend', or at least a chatting companion, and finally the towncar pulled up. The driver stepped out, and looked between the two before Eilam raised his head and asked, "Were you able to find what I asked for?" The driver nodded, then turned and opened the back door to pull out a small wrapped sack, walking it over and offering it to him.

    "Here, Miss Touyama. I wanted to leave you a treat. When you said you liked Orange Sherbert, and I noticed there was none there, I texted him asking him to look around for something I used to enjoy when I was younger." Younger, relative. Ten years or so ago, but still 'younger'. Inside the cold package that he offered over? Orange-flavored push pops. Bought from an English market. "They are not terribly popular in Japan, but there is a western-product store nearby that sells some treats. I had hoped they had some. Hopefully that will do."

    As he went to get up, however, Eilam reached over to pat her hand gently, only to take it and try to lift it to kiss it, teasing her one last time. "Hope you enjoy, Reiko." And then he got up and made his way into the car, driver taking him away shortly after.

    She would, however, find herself a text message an hour later, a silly picture of a fish with kissylips and the message, "Good luck, dreaming of cute fish."