Although summer is officially 'over', and students have started to return to school, there are still a few warm days left to enjoy. In the botanical gardens, even the outdoor plants.
At least some of them, enjoy a few last minute blooms before fall sets in for good. Swirls of pink, violet and peach intermingle with the first hints of russet, gold and red as autumn starts to peek in for the first time.
Still, the weather is beautiful today, sunny and warm enough for a picnic, which is why so many people have gathered in the gardens to enjoy a last minute picnic gathering. There are even a few food trucks and vendors set up to capture the last few rays of sun.
It is a gorgeous day to be out and about in the gardens. The weather is lovely, people are strolling, and life is relaxed and good.
Naru has gotten herself to one of the benches, settled there with her sketchbook, but 'relaxed' isn't really happening much. She's skittish at best, and downright jumpy at times, startling at very little sound. Not getting a whole lot of drawing done, but she's making the attempt at least.
At the moment, however, she is looking down at her phone, texting.
Jiaying Maki is out visiting the gardens, once more seeming to be trying to distract herself from something. She never admits to it, but she's not hiding it too well. Winding her way through the trees with some yakitori in both hands, she's idly taking bites alternating between the sticks.
She spots Naru and offers her a wave with a stick of chicken and makes her way over, still stuffing her face as she takes a seat. "Did your punchy guy break his brain the other day?"
Somewhere in the shadows, a certain pink-haired, green-skinned being watches the seemingly carefree picnic goers...And smiles, licking her lips. So young. So fresh. So readily available. But, while her little youma is out working, she might as well enjoy herself.
Stepping from behind the tree Natsumi Ginga sits down under a tree, on a blanket. No food, no company, just sitting there and staring intently at the happy people. She almost looks..Lonely. Oh, she hasn't noticed Naru yet, nor Jiaying, whom she may eventually recognize from a previous 'encounter.'
"Hey Jiaying." Naru looks up from her phone and there's a rueful little smile. "Little bit of brain breaking, yeah. Which he tried to fix with tequila, which is just a different sort of brain breaking." She glances down to her sketchbook a moment and then back up to the other girl. "Did you have a good time at the barbeque? I noticed Nagina there too, if briefly. Good to see her out being social."
A glance over as Natsumi steps out, startling Naru a touch. Then again, just about everything startles Naru at the moment. She lifts her hand to wave to the other girl.
Jiaying Maki stretches her legs out as she leans back, balancing while stretching her arms. "I've never tried any of that. Smells funny." Sitting back normally, she leans forward with her elbows resting on her knees. "I had a good time, yeah. It was a nice distraction. Nagina's trying to do things while being shy, I thought this would fix two things in one go."
She looks to Natsumi at the wave and waves as well before asking, "Someone you know Naru?" Before trying to get a better look at her.
A beautiful day like today is one of the last few that Mikoto expects to have pretty much anything in the way of free time, for a while. So she's out at the park, taking a walk in what passes for countryside in the Tokyo area.
Back at Infinity, Hikari is arranging their dorm room, and griping about how cruel it is to confine them to such a pitiful abode. Even though they can come and go from the warehouse apartment at will, it's still an insult to her sensibilities as Mikoto's Familiar.
Mikoto herself, however, is just out for a walk, enjoying the fresh air, and a light smile spreads over her face. Naru's wave gets her attention, and she turns to wander in that direction.
Natsumi scowls a bit as she waits rather impatiently for her 'picnic' meal to arrive. What could be taking so long? And where is Ail? She's feeling pretty lonely right now..But the sooner they heal the Makaiju, perhaps they wont be lonely anymore.
She smiles at her private thoughts, confident that this latest youma wont be defeated. However, it is at that moment that Naru waves at her and as she looks up, she still has that almost..Wicked..Smile on her face. Hey, she's feeling in a good enough mood to actually smile and wave back at Naru.
Although Natsumi doesnt quite recognize Jiaying, at least not in that particular guise. She just peers at her thoughtfully..And smirks. Heck, might as well draw 'em both into her carefully devised trap.
Then a third girl shows up, and Natsumi cant be happier. Well, three's a charm, right? "Naru-san! Hey! Why dont you come join me? It's sooo much nicer in this spot, and the view of the gardens on this little hill is amA-zing! And why dontcha bring your friends along too?"
"I don't know her very well. She goes to my school, we met at Space Botany club, but thing things got.. busy.. and I haven't made it back to the club yet." Naru explains to Jiaying.
Naru offers Mikoto a smile and a wave for her as well as the girl comes closer. "Enjoying the lovely weather?"
At Natsumi's encouragement to come and join her, Naru pushes to her feet and gestures. "Shall we? I can make introductions." She tucks her phone into her bag, keeping her sketchbook out as she heads up to where Natsumi is waiting.
Jiaying Maki stands up as well all while asking, "Space botany?" like that's a super weird concept to her. There's a voice from behind her that she waves her hand at, trying to get it to be silent since they're heading towards normal people, right? The wave to Mikoto gets a similar question, "Do you know her too?" She should just be asking for names at this point. Naru knows everyone.
She waves to An again and calls out, "Hello!" Not really sure what else to say yet. She'll worry about the details after they've sat down. That seems convenient enough.
Mikoto nods to Naru as she approaches. "Indeed, Osaka-san, indeed. One of the last few lovely days we'll have for a while, I think. I plan to enjoy it while I can."
She follows the redhead over towards Natsumi's treeside perch, still smiling.
Jiaying gets a wave from her in return, and -
Bleep-boop-beep~!
Mikoto pauses, then pulls her cellphone out to check a text message. "Yeah, no," she mutters, "That's silly. Send fourth fleet to reinforce the border, and have the starbases start producing light cruisers for province-raiding. We can afford it."
She tucks the phone away, hoping not to be interrupted again while she's with friends.
"Oh yes!" she smiles sweetly still, in an oddly good mood it seems, today. "I havent experienced a summer like this since...Forever!" Make that never. At least not in her lifetime. Travelling around space for countless years is a far cry from this green and vibrant planet. And these gardens sure are gorgeous, even for a sourpuss like Natsumi.
"Why, these cherry blossoms are so beautiful, they kind of remind me of...Home..." she gets an almost nostaligic, almost sad look in her strange red eyes as she says that. But then that gaze hardens as she looks back towards Naru and her friends. "And who are your friends? Out enjoying a picnic as well?"
She smirks at Jiyaying as she asks about their club. "Yes..The study of space plants. Oh, I do hope you're not one of those skeptics?" she smirks, "Or perhaps Naru-san here, is attempting to recruit the both of you to our lovely little club."
An almost..Accusatory glance is shot towards Naru, "I havent seen you in the club lately, though." finally, she looks back to Jiyaying and Mikoto as well. "I'm Natsumi Ginga, we're classmates."
Naru quirks her head curiously as she overhears Mikoto's muttering into her cellphone, but there's no actual questioning on it, just a soft 'hunh' before she turns her attention back to Natsumi.
"We have just been on summer break, so there hasn't been much of anyone at clubs of late. I'm trying to juggle everything at the moment, I will be back though." Naru assures Natsumi at that accusitory glance and then she smiles a touch. "I love being able to be out here to draw the different flowers and plants. I have missed it, I have to admit."
Naru ahs softly as Natsumi introduces herself. "This is Jiaying, and Mikoto." She gestures to each in turn. "Jiaying also goes to Seishou."
Jiaying Maki looks at Natsumi, then back at Naru before back to Natsumi. There's a flat, "What?" from her about the whole space plants thing. Especially the tone used with the skeptic thing. She looks at Naru questioningly, wondering if she'd complain with what she's about to do. Girl's really not in the greatest of moods even though she's trying so hard to hide it! Though that moment passes as other things come up.
The strange conversation from Mikoto isn't given too much thought, there's plenty weird going on and she's not entirely sure she was supposed to be able to hear that kind of thing, but she's pretty blatantly cheating there, so she'll pretend.
"It is a rather nice day out, isn't it? Nice to meet you Mikoto" She offers her a polite bow, just enough of one to be polite that is.
Mikoto nods pleasantly and waves again as Naru introduces her. "Pleasure to meet you, both. I go to Infinity, myself... odd girl out today, I suppose?"
Then she blinks as something that was said a little earlier filters through her attention. "Wait, space plants?"
"You didnt come to the club, because of summer!?" That old, familiar scowl comes back. Why, she sounds shocked at the idea. "I spent my entire summer, toiling away under microscopes, trying to get my plant to grow. But it seems all my hard work has paid off. I've finally found something to make it grow faster, and it's really thriving! I suppose soon it'll be too big for its pot!" There's that strange dark smile of hers again.
Some students of Seishou may also have heard rumours of late, of various students coming into class late, and exhausted, and a general malaise around class - especially among those of the space-botany club. But of course, it could be easily attributed to back-to-school-blues..Right!?
"Drawing flowers? Let me see..I'll bet you're a talented artist too, you seem pretty smart in class at a lot of things." It's not meant to be a compliment, more an observation, and reasons why she'd make excellent dinner for her latest 'project'..
Then, Mikoto's murmurings on her phone finally register, and she stares back at her with a smirk. "Oh, dont give me that skeptical look too! After that little conversation about 'starbases' and 'light-cruisers?!' Are you serious?" Hey, space plants are totally normal? Spaceships!? That's a totally different matter!
"When on vacation and travelling, there's a lot of normal things I didn't get up to because of summer." Naru comments to Natsumi with a nod. "er. Congratulations on your success wiht your plant. What kind of plant is it?"
Naru ahs softly. "I am still an artist yes. I'm impressed that you remembered." She laughs softly and nods to Mikoto. "Unusual too, I know a lot of people who go to Infinity."
Jiaying Maki ewatches Natsumi and looks back to Naru before shrugging it off. She's still super tempted to see if Meifeng can flip a mundane upside down and shake the change loose, but that is quashed down quickly as both mean and probably dangerous. She nods to Mikoto and says, "I had the same reaction. Seems strange to have as a club right?" Looking to Naru she asks, "Is it like a manga club for a different kind of nerd?"
Back to Mikoto, "I don't think I know anyone that goes to Infinity, you aside now. What's it like?"
Mikoto chuckles softly. "An Andromedan fleet on the Klingon border is a deathly serious thing when there's a tournament crown riding on the outcome of the game, m'dear. It could be worse, I could've gotten stuck playing the Romulans."
She shrugs. "So, how's the boyfriend?" she asks Naru, remembering the fellow she was with at the Crown the other night.
Dangerous? Well, maybe. She certainly can be when she chooses to. "What's Infinity like? Mmm. It's a school. Lots of emphasis on the STEM subjects, plenty of homework, a lot of practical experimental stuff... they go for the really high-end science, too, if you've got the brains to handle it. Isn't there some genius kid at Seishou? Mizu-something? I bet she'd get a kick out of it."
Natsumi cackles, "Hah! I have the worst memory ever! But, I only remembered because I saw you drawing over there. Maybe you can draw my plant too! I haven't been able to figure out what kind of species it is yet..Although similar ones were very frequent around June/July, before they all kinda...Disappeared."
Glancing back at Jiaying, she frowns at her comment. "What's so strange about Space Botany? It's the hip thing these days."
Natsumi seems intrigued by what Mikoto says, when she starts talking about alien borders and tournaments...Until she mentions it's all just a game. "Oh. Are you serious!? Just a game? Geez.." She sighs, flinging her arms up in the air, looking truly disappointed.
However, when she talks about Infinity, Natsumi seems all the more intrigued. "Ooh? High-end science? Sooo, are you a supersmart genious scientist, then? Are you into...Err..Plants?"
"Oh!" Naru understands as Mikoto explains that it's a game. "That's so cool." She grins and then laughs softly. "Boyfriend is good. Adorable, but he'd deny it."
"Ami Mizuno." Naru supplies on the topic of 'genius kid at Seishou' with a nod. "She probably would, but we'd miss her over at Seishou."
"I could draw your plant too, for sure, Natsumi." Naru nods and smiles a touch at the offer before her phone goes bing. She digs it out of her bag, and glances at the screen. "Excuse me, just two seconds, I need to take this."
A few steps away lets Naru speak quietly to whoever has called her.
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and says, "I don't know that name, sorry." Though Naru clearly does. THere's a shrug, though she's looking at the fellow nerd talking about some kind of sci-fi. She likes cyberpunk more, but she does recognize the geekery! "What kind of tournament uses the Star thingies? Is it like that one game where you paint up those little guys then spend hours throwing dice at eachother?" Yeah that sounds about right. Sure!
To Natsumi, she shrugs, "I wouldn't expect a class on the supernatural effects of ghosts on day to day life as a club, same with, "Please help, my father was kidnapped by a kappa.' It just seems strange to hear out loud! Neat enough I guess."
Mikoto nods and waves to Naru as the redhead steps away, then turns back to the other two.
"Plants?" She pauses and mulls for a moment. "No, not really. I tend to work more with electronics and high-end physics, myself. My dream is to build a real-life warp drive." And, she doesn't mention, be captain of the first starship.
"It's a team game, we're each running one portion of a multi-empire alliance in a four-sided war. This one's running by email, so there's no little miniatures this time. If you want to try one, come by the wargames club office at Infinity this saturday, we've got a little event planned."
"Ami Mizuno, huh?" Natsumi arches a curious brow at Naru, "Guess i'll have to pay her a visit, then..." Naru is given a smile when she agrees to draw her plant. Well, if today's trap fails, at least she'll have her for dinner next time, "And you WILL return to the club, wont you? We need your..Talents.."
Another dark smile of hers is given Naru before she focuses her attention upon the other two. Boyfriend? What? Well, Natsumi knows nothing of such matters of the heart, so she barely gives the thought of Naru having a boyfriend a second thought.
Glancing back at Jiaying, she glares at her now, "What do ghosts have to do with highly advanced and sophisticated plants? That's not even funny." the joke is not lost on her and she glares all the harder at Jiaying, "Geez! I cant believe you'd make a joke of something so serious!"
Ugh, she's gonna have to drain HER first! Finally, Mikoto explains her specialty further, and Natsumi seems all the more frustrated. "Ughh..Electronics, huh? So...What's a warp drive then? Some kinda fancy engine? Will it let you fly and visit other worlds?" must be some kinda space-buff, this one..
Jiaying Maki listens to Mikoto curiously before asking, "What room is it? I might try to make that even if space ships aren't entirely my thing. I do like cyberpunk stuff though." Totally a shadowrun nerd.
Naru's given a wave as she leaves, calling out "Check him for aneurysms!" before laughing quietly to herself.
Then Natsumi's getting upset with her. She replies in the same tone with the same smirk, "You're not one of those skeptics are you~?" What, the fox actually has a ghost right there in her shadow!
Mikoto has been known to joke, before, but she isn't sure what the joke is, here, so she just doesn't discuss it. "Nothing wrong with cyberpunk... except for, well, being a crapsack dystopia. There are so many better things to do..."
She shrugs. "And yeah, warp drive is one of the common terms for a way to get to other worlds without having to, well, take forever at it."
"Me? A skeptic? Haha! Of course I'm not..I have the most open-mind you've ever met! It's everyone else who's a skeptic." However, Natsumi's smile slowly fades at it hits her. "Waiiit...Are you saying, you believe in ghosts now?" she scratches her head, looking totally confused, "You're trying to trick me, arent you?" glare glare..What a weirdo.
Looking back to Mikoto however, it seems this girl is totally serious, and she continues to stare at her, wide-eyed. "You..Can seriously build a warp drive...For a space ship? Are you really gonna do it? Visit other worlds?" yeah, she's serious, because, frankly, she's visited other worlds herself.
On a tree-spaceship. But that's besides the point!
Jiaying Maki just shakes her head and says, "That's kind of the fun of it, it's not... this place. I prefer it to some idealistic future where everyone on a planet is the same though, it takes away the interesting side of free will." She swears she hears someone yelling Nerd, but that's probably just her imagination. Grinning either way though, she says, "Still, it's fun geeky stuff either way!"
"I'm working on it," Mikoto admits to Natsumi, "But I'm not there yet. It's going to take a good bit of work." She smiles again and settles nearby. "I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one working on it."
Jiaying's remarks on cyberpunk get a nod from her. "Space opera isn't always 'planet of hats', though. You just have to get the good writers involved in it. I can recommend a few if you like."
Natsumi rolls her eyes as the two chat about videogames. Apparently she's not a gaming nerd. Far from it, she's not really technically apt at all. Give her space plants or aliens any day!
"Ugh...I dont get videogames..But, Space Operas are pretty cool." This Mikoto girl seems pretty smart. And she might be of use, but right now, Natsumi needs an energy drink. She sighs and rubs her eyes, suddenly looking tired, and starts peering into the distance towards a particularly large and beautiful tree. "Hmmmm....I need to..Check up on something.." she glances over at the two of them, then down at the blanket. "Feel free to use that in the meantime. I'll be back soon..."
And with that, she begins to wander off at a quickenned pace. Hey, was that a scream over in the direction of the big tree? But with all the kids playing around, it's kinda hard to tell. Could have just been kids having fun too..
Jiaying Maki looks confused and asks, "Planet of hats?" before shaking her head. "I remember one show had a living ship, that one was kind of neat. Really weird badguy though." She runs her fingers through her hair and adds, "And I did like Harlock." Which is a space opera, a proper one in her eyes!
The scream catches her attention though, her head swiveling towards it. Standing on her toes, she tries to see what happened
"Harlock's an old favorite of mine, too. You know that he was originally supposed to be Mamoru Kodai from Space Battleship Yamato?" She grins and is starting to think of other good space-opera when -
Screams in the distance. "Whu-oh," she mutters, and turns to head towards the sound of the guns.
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and says, "I didn't know that, my father probably does though." She notes that Mikoto begins to head that way and does the same. Though there is a flicker of movement as she sends her ghost ahead of the two to check on things. It clings to the shadows where it can so that it can observe without being seen.
Mikoto runs along the park trail towards the sound of the screams, her smile vanished as she hurries on. "Can't be too far now..." she mutters, sure that they're getting close to the source of it. And then up ahead it's obvious, a young woman's form slumped against a picnic bench.
Jiaying Maki says a string of something in Mandarin, that flicker of movement visible again as it darts away, looking for any signs of what could have caused it, just in case it was supernatural in nature. Jia has her phone out, checking around herself for two things, the thing that could have caused this and anyone else already calling the woman in to a police box for an ambulance. "Do you see anyting odd?" beat, "Like a medical bracelet?" Good enough cover for now
Mikoto doesn't seem to understand the Chinese remark, or if she does, she doesn't react to it. Instead she drops to one knee next to the girl, bending over to check her breathing and pulse. "She's alive, at least," is her first response. She pauses to check the wrists and shakes her head. "No medical bracelets. Probably ought to call an ambulance."