The event, sponsored by Easter Records, has been going on for the better part of the day. Between people showing casual interest in the morning events, the fact it was held in an amusement park, and that DARTS was headlining to make up for 'technical difficulties beyond venue control.' The thing is the majority of the local bands that had signed up were metal and ska, which has a serious demographic problem when the headliner is a boyband playing pop music. Oh well! Plenty of other things to do since it was an amusement park. Lots of drinks (non alcoholic) being offered, different bands having tents set up to sell related merch ranging from hats and T-shirts, to even little collectable thumb-drives. Supposedly there was a ban on concert-goers bringing in outsode refreshments, but by the looks of the poor guys in security outfits they didn't care so long as it wasn't someone carting in a wagon load of coolers and a barbeque.
Earlier had been contests of trivia, instrument maintinance, strength in the form of having to carry mock speakers in a relay, best outfits, best merch, and so on. Awards for best solo, singer, and so on leading up to best overall would happen after the concert.
The crowds were enthusiastic while they gathered around the primary stage as a new band took the stage. "Now presenting!" The DJ for the night shouted then glanced back at a tablet in his hand, "Do Kaiju Dream Radioactive Sheeeeep!" The man, dressed in white T-shirt bearing the Easter logo, and shorts, hopped off stage as five people approached lead by a girl with bright pink hair carrying a pair of guitars. Behind her was a quartet of men each with brightly colored hair and wearing plain black shirts, pants, and all practical marched in lock step to the stage chanting into their lapel mikes, causing their voices to carry through the stage's speaker system.
Their voices sang of the The Throne and at the strength of he who sat on it. They sang of a destroyer of cities as they took the stage. Two men took guitars from the woman in white as their bassist merely unslung the guitar from his back. They continued singing as their drummer took position, only stopping when the song told of the king disappearing for reasons and to places none knew. Then the bass. A steady rhythm soon joined by drums weaving together into an ominous backbeat punctuated by the two guitars being stroked by gloved hands, causing almost animalistic gutteral noises.
The song continued, now describing a feral beast seeing the throne as prize to be claimed. A destroyer of lives. A taker of cities that coveted the unworn crown.
The drums beat like thunder as the guitars played. The band seemed to almost be waiting for something. And then Almost impossibly if not for the miracles of am unseen sixth member, an impossible roar.
Their set continued on with cover music. Each touched up with their lead singer twisting the lyrics to account for her being female. The bassist stalking behind the guitarists and vocals. His bright electric blue hair easily visible as he would alternately strum. Slap, and pluck his bass to provide different sounds to help gel the other instruments together.
Takashi stood offstage, watching each band, checking some nearby equipment that was anything but normal occasionally. He was intentionally avoiding interacting with any of the bands. Not just because the music wasn't his thing, but because interpersonal interaction wasn't his thing, this assignment wasn't this thing, and more than the still-tender pain in his chest was the more more inflamed sting to his pride from the other night.
Still, he kept as professional as he possibly could, with a well-practiced smile and simple diversions of anyone who would force conversation. If everything went well, it'd be worth the trouble.
Who /doesn't/ like an amusement park? Shiori certainly does!
He's wearing a more casual outfit-- sort of. As lazy as Shiori claimed to be, he very rarely ever dresses sloppily. Kind of weird, really. But anyway, he's in a light-colored polo shirt and dark slacks, with comfortable shoes that still manage to look reasonably dressy. And of course his glasses.
He's just sort of... there, really. Just another park-goer, he manages to blend into the crowd pretty well. Unless one happens to be specifically looking for him. But there's no reason anyone would be seeking /him/ out, right?
Hinote Kagari ughs, the past few days have been harrowing, full of danger, and tiring. He needs to unwind by not-saving-royalty for a while as he walks along the theme park. He'd never thought he'd be tired of something he'd dreamed about regularly since he was much younger and smaller, but netherless- there he is.
He's among the crowd as the music goes on. He's not really invested in it, but he lets it flow about him, trying not to ignore it either. He listens to the name of that band--- and just sort of giggles a little. That's a fun sounding band name!
Though he keeps his little laugh stiffled- not that anyone would notice- afterall, performing on stage, regardless of what it is, doesn't warrant being laughed at too heavily!
Though most days Makoto would be pressed to admit it, being unusually tall does have *some* advantages - for example, being able to see over the heads of a significant portion of the crowd. Dressed in a sleeveless shirt, jeans, and comfy shoes, Mako watches the band on stage for a short space before glancing over to the girl next to her, brows lifting in curiosity. "What do you think? I don't know about the lyrics, but they put a pretty great beat."
There's a certain note of embarrassment in Makoto's smile as she asks the question. She'd been so wrapped up in the excitement of having *friends* to go out and *do* things with that it hadn't really occurred to her that this might not really be Ami Mizuno's kind of thing.
You never knew, of course - maybe Ami liked to study to metal! - but all the same, Mako watches her friend anxiously for any hint that the other girl isn't enjoying herself.
On one of her rare night's out and NOT studying, Ami Mizuno definitely seems completely and utterly out of her element tonight. Not only is she very shy and withdrawn, she's also short compared to Makoto.
Despite all of this, Ami seems to actually be taking it in stride and using her height DIS-advantage to her advantage. She keeps somewhat huddled close to Makoto and is actually swinging her hips to the music.
"I've definitely got to say, Makoto-chan, I was intially against you taking me to a concert, let alone anything with multiple bands playing. But this is definitely more enjoyable than simply listening to a radio at home while I study." She says with a smile, and pushing her glasses up on her nose.
Kaiju Dreams played on through several covers. Their lead singer occasionally swapping mic for guitar as their lead guitarist took over vocals for several songs, then the two performed a soft muted almost romantic rendition of 'fear of the dark'. Both lead and guitarist had a fondness for the song once their bassist had pulled it out for a listen. Then after that the pace stayed relatively subdued as an original duet started. Both guitarist and singer almost seemed to dance across the stage as they sang of young hopeful love. Ending with the two touching foreheads.
Then the moment was broken by the rest of the band starting a rock/metal rendition of devil went down to Georgia. Except this was 'devil came up to Tokyo', and rather than the traditional guitar was a record. An updated classic depicting the devil as a sharp suited record executive hissing lies and offering an all or nothing deal. Just sign on the line and you make one Hell of a deal. As the devil's solo ended the band paused. Their music slowed as the bassist and rhythm argued over if it was worth it. If their music demanded their souls. Then just as it seemed they would agree there was a low rumble from the speakers. A gutteral metal sound that echoed like a beast's scream.
Then both started into their duet about dictating their own terms. Song for Song. Winner walks away with the record and the band's souls.
And on into the devil's set. Low gutteral growls and raw edged anger punctuated by almost inhumanly fast drums. There were lyrics in there somewhere. Hints of betrayal. Of rebellion. Of Freedom. It was a metal song that was aimed at the 'fight for your right to party' crowd.
With that hellish set done again the !music faded for the bassist and rhythm to argue. What could they do against that metal sound? Their hopes were lost and they were defeated before they had even begun.
As the two lamented their band's fate stage hands wheeled in more drums and a platform as the bassist started his rebuttal about hope never being lost so long as they had the will to play. As he mounted the steps he tossed his guitar to their lead singer who confidently got into place.
What do we do? The bassist laughed as he struck the drums. Drums Thundered and Raged as the band's retort played.
Hinote Kagari still rests near the back, stroking his chin as he listens to the music pump up the crowd ahead of him. He's not nearly as pumped. This type of music just isn't his thing. It doesn't stop him from bobbing his head with the tunes, lightly as his eyes glance over across the crowd. He picks out a few familar faces from school, but no one he associates with. He crosses his arms across his chest and just closes his eyes---
What the heck are they singing anyways? He can barely understand the words!
Makoto has to lean down a little to hear Ami over the roar of the music, but once she makes out what the other girl is saying, her face fairly lights up with relief and cheerful enthusiasm. "I'm really glad you decided to come, Ami-chan!" she says, with a heartfelt intensity fit to match the music rolling out from the stage. "It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun to come by myself!"
And Makoto is having fun, especially since it seems like Ami is, too. She looks back up to the stage in time to see the quick-change of instruments and her eyes widen, impressed. Though she's only halfway following the lyrics, the feeling comes through loud and clear; in another moment, Makoto too is dancing in place a little, raising her hands over her head to clap along.
Makoto, more than likely, has to put her ear right next to Ami's mouth to hear her, since Ami is so soft spoken. Ami still blushes, but she smiles to Makoto. "I'm glad I came as well, Makoto-chan!" She says as she claps her hands to the beat of the music rolling off the stage.
She can't see anything though, since she's not much taller than five feet, but she doesn't care. Music is fun as far as Ami's concerned right now, and she's sharing that fun with a friend.
"It's an excellent--" No, he raises his voice, because the music is loud. "EXCELLENT TREE."
This is an absurdly tall guy in a white tie and tails and a freaking neck badge and white gloves, right, and super cool sunglasses. He must be a magician employed by the park. After all, he's magically unrecognisable as Mamoru Chiba.
He's walking into the theme park's stage area with a much shorter girl with long black hair, and he seems to have acquired a big takeaway cup of iced coffee. The surface of the liquid vibrates with the sound of the music. "Anyway." Still loud, but so is everything. "I suppose my first question is, do they -- the witches -- work for anyone? An organization, a kingdom--? The second question is..."
Those dark shades tilt down toward Homura. "Who was she?"
They pass a merch table, and one gloved hand manifests a wallet from a pocket somewhere, presumably his. He leans over to the vendor. "These guys are good!" he yells over the music. "Do you have anything obnoxiously loud-looking in a men's large? I don't care what it is as long as it has their logo on it."
Motoki beware of souvenirs.
Homura walks behind Tuxedo Shades, following him to the predecided meeting place. Problem is: She had no idea how many people would be here! Oh geeze, this was hardly the private meeting she had in mind.
Well whatever. She's here now. Fortunately it's not like anyone could hear her anyways, even if she yells.
Which she does, because music.
"The Witches don't work for anyone. It doesn't work like that. As far as we know, all they feel is despair."
When Mamoru asks who the witch was, Homura pauses. She looks away, her eyes suddenly cold.
Her mind flashes back to previous timelines, previous mistakes. Timelines ending in disaster, ending in tragedy. A series of irredeemable errors leading up to a terrible doom, a doom that Homura wont be able to escape this time.
One of those mistakes, one which Homura must never repeat, is letting people find out where Witches come from. That is one of the most closely guarded secrets.
"... I'm afraid I can't answer that," shouts Homura. "It's complicated."
She keeps her mouth shut as she looks at the merch. Loud-looking clothes? What kinds of tastes does this man have? She'd never guess that this well-dressed man would want those kinds of clothes. Is that part of his disguise?!
It's just by chance, as Makoto flashes another bright grin in Ami's direction, that she happens to look past her toward the fringe of the crowd and beyond to the vendor stalls. As she does, in the mass of humanity a particularly dramatic (and tall) black-and-white figure stands out to her eyes.
Because Makoto occasionally forgets that there are things called 'manners,' she promptly leans down to nudge Ami and point. "Am I losing it, or is that guy wearing a *tuxedo* to an outdoor rock concert?"
Ami Mizuno jumps at the nudge, but looks to Makoto and then to where she's pointing. "You aren't losing it, Makoto-chan, because I'm seeing it too." She then tilts her head. "You don't smell anything 'off' do you? If not, then that guy might be wanting to stand out. I don't know why though." She says as she edges closer to Makoto. "Let's just enjoy ourselves and not worry about the crazy people, Makoto-chan."
The vendor looks a little taken aback, then fishes around until he can find a dayglo orange shirt with a super-stylized sharp-metal-like-Slayer-logo monster shirt that looks too awful to be anything but Misunderstanding Marketing Folks Designer Gear, and the gentleman in the afternoon dinner wear gives him a double thumbs-up and pays for it.
Before the poor vendor can put it in a bag, Tuxedo Shades holds up a white gloved finger, turns around to the little kid staring unapologetically at him, and flourishes the t-shirt in the air like a supremely oversized handkerchief. He puts his iced coffee briefly on the vendor table, waves his now-free hand over the shirt covering the first hand, and then inverts it into nothing, producing a long-stemmed thornless rose.
Little kid, WIDE EYES. "S-sugoi!" she breathes, then claps excitedly.
Mamoru crouches down and solemnly hands her the rose.
She is thereafter so excited that when she runs over to her rocker mom, she literally crashes into her, squeaking and pointing back at Mamoru. Rocker mom glances his way, and straightening up, Tuxedo Shades gives her a cocky grin and a tiny salute.
Then he snatches up his iced coffee and shouts over the music to Homura, "Let's go back to the tree, I didn't see who I was looking for! Sorry to drag you across deafness-land! At least it's not DART!"
That said, he sidesteps and starts off back the way they came, glancing back to make sure Homura's following.
At Ami's words, Makoto laughs and dips her head in acknowledgement of her friend's point. "I'm not sure if I'd notice an off smell in a crowd this big. Anyway, you're probably right. Maybe he's a performer..."
She means to put hm out of her mind, but her eyes trail back to the guy in formalwear and shades all the same. There's something nagging at her about it. "--wait, I think I'm wrong. A tux is *black* tie. It's called something else if it's white tie, isn't it?" She looks back to the stage, but only for a few more seconds. "Damn, this is going to bother me all evening now. I'm gonna go ask him."
Yes, Makoto has every intention of marching over there to ask Tuxedo Mask if he is or is not wearing a tuxedo. She's already starting to push through the crowd.
With the Devil driven out of Tokyo the band continued playing. Their bassist stayed in the center of a ring of traditional Japanese drums, wailing away in a tight practiced rhythm for the band's next number, a purely instrumental piece occasionally punctuated by attempts at making their instruments make low rumbling animal noises. The music went on, drums playing as other band members swapped instruments, leaving what used to be the drummer with the microphone as the next song started. The whole thing was in English. Why? Blame the band's bassist there for insisting on all of their songs being in English. Interviews would insist he learned the language so he could understand what bands and their album liner notes were saying. He hoped his band could inspire the same in others.
Elsewhere, away from the crowds, sat a thing shaped like a chicken talking to people that shouldn't have been their. "You're sure about this? Once you've made your choice there's no going back." Pause before the vaguely female voice continued, "I see. Just don't do anything rash."
As the band played on their bassist ended up eventually stepping away from the drums and the band as a whole started to wind down. Their time on stage closing and all five hopping off, high giving the next band in line as they left.
Ami stares wide-eyed (well...wider than normal) at Makoto as she starts to push her way through the crowd. She smiles a little bit more in admiration of Makoto......
Until Ami realizes that she's going to be ALONE in this rather large crowd.
"Makoto-chan! Wait up!" And Ami's right behind her. Thank goodness, Makoto can create a pretty wide berth when she wants to....so she's easy to find.
Homura watches quietly as Tuxedo Shades purchases the shirt. She's amused by his parlor trick, but her permanently grumpy face prevents her from smiling. She made that face for too long and now it's stuck.
She doesn't say anything to the vendor, merely glancing over the merch as she walks by. She doesn't want to buy anything.
As Tuxedo starts moving towards the tree, Homura follows and catches up, trying to keep pace beside him but the crowd makes it difficult. "True, this band is /much/ better. Granted that's a low bar." Homura glances over at the stage, looking at the band members. She doesn't look long enough to decide if she recognizes anyone or not.
What she does notice is two young ladies walking towards them. Oh geeze, what is this? What's going on? Do girls just start following this man for no apparent reason or what?
"I think our private conversation is about to become a lot less private," shouts Homura over the crowd and the music.
"Hm," is the completely inaudible sound Tuxedo Shades makes as he glances to look back at the rapidly approaching young steamroller and the blue-haired girl in her wake. He makes some rapid calculations, and decides on one sacrifice instead of another in the name of keeping civilians safe.
Suddenly the guy wearing the white tie and tails is...
...a guy in a white tie and tails who's also the hipster that runs from danger and is purportedly the 'gentle, sensitive type'. He's still wearing his sunglasses. This is really only something Homura would notice as a thing that just happened. "They're friends of someone I know," he shouts to Homura. "Let's at least get further from the noise before the tall one beats me up."
He waves cheerfully to Makoto and Ami, then turns on his heel and keeps walking out the gates.
Homura is watching Tuxedo Shades as he performs another magic trick: Making Homura's composure disappear.
As the man suddenly shifts, Homura at first blinks, and then her mouth hangs open. She was not expecting this.
Her mind races. Oh my god, Tuxedo Kamen is Mamoru Chiba? Oh my god, /Mamoru Chiba/ is /Tuxedo Kamen/? Oh my god, Homura. This is the guy who saved your friends, and you said some /really mean/ things to him!
"Wh-what... You're..."
Homura stammers for a moment before remembering that, yes, they're in a public place. Before the other two girls show up, Homura... doesn't quite drop henshin, but she does mention rather loudly, "My last name's Akemi, by the way."
It's her way of making sure she doesn't make Mamoru feel like Homura has too much of an advantage over her.
She mutters something that might be an apology, but the crowd drowns it out completely.
"Sorry, Ami-chan - don't just wave and then *walk away, geez!*" There's a really remarkable mid-sentence shift in Makoto's tone as she goes from pausing and glancing back toward Ami in genuine apology to filled with sudden righteous exasperation toward the hipster in the formalwear when she looks ahead of her again. Her purposeful stride lengthens a little more to catch up.
"*Oh,*" she says to Mamoru when she's in something resembling earshot and realizes what she somehow didn't suspect until that wave just a moment ago. "It's you!" That's not quite relief at recognizing him as someone she's met before, exactly... it's something a little closer to glee, the realization that now she doesn't have to apologize for being rude enough to barge in on a date or whatever it was he was doing.
Not to Mamoru Chiba, at least. She probably still owes Homura an apology.
When Makoto lengthens her stride to try and catch Mamoru, Ami has to practically run to keep up. Long legs of Makoto's vs Ami's short legs. That's a mismatch. With the effort Ami puts into her running, she has to close her eyes for a few seconds. Which is a few seconds too long....
*WHAM*
She runs headlong into Makoto and bounces off, landing right on her keister. "owwww.." She says rubbing her head before looking at Makoto. "Makoto-chan? What did you see?"
There is some side-eyeing going on in Homura's direction: Mamoru does NOT miss the priceless expression. He allows himself slightly more smug than usual, and it perfectly matches the brand he displays when walking out of Game Center Crown. He blinks, then lifts his shades to look under them at Homura when she gives her last name, his eyebrows up. "I see," he says, then can't help the tiny grin that quirks up one side of his mouth.
Soon enough they're outside the gates and Makoto stops short and Ami crashes into her, and Mamoru steps over to offer the blue-haired girl a hand up. "Kino-san, Mizuno-san," he says in greeting, then asks with amusement, "Who did you think it was?"
Apparently that's what Makoto saw. An upperclassman that bickers with Usagi in the arcade, inexplicably dressed like a stage magician or just a pretentious jerk.
He pretends he's bad at introductions so Homura can figure out what she wants to do with her name.
Homura flips her hair back as she glances at Makoto and Ami. Her gaze is cold, and she hesitates on deciding whether or not to introduce herself. She was never shy about her name before, but with everyone else being secret about it she's starting to feel like there might be a good reason for it.
"Hello. Are you two friends with Chiba-san?"
She's standing there in full Puella getup next to a guy in a full Tuxedo. For the first time since showing up she wonders if she can pretend to be a part of his magictian act or whatever it is he's trying to brush it off as.
"It's nice to meet you. Do you go to Infinity? I don't think I've seen either of you there before."
"--whoops!" Mako doesn't so much as waver when Ami crashes into her from behind, but the impact *does* distract her from what was working up towards a full-blown case of cheerful belligerence. Mamoru is offering Ami a hand up, but Makoto also hastily turns around to help her friend up from the other side. "Are you okay, Ami-chan? I'm really sorry about that..."
Still bent down towards Ami, she looks over to Homura, taking in the cool eyes, the unusual attire. Her brows lift slightly, but she offers the girl a polite smile. "I'm Makoto Kino, a second-year at Seishou. Nice to meet you." No answer to the question of whether she's friends with Chiba-san. "Sorry to interrupt your date - I just wanted to ask Chiba-san something."
Ami blushes rather furiously as Mamoru helps her up. but thankfully, Makoto is there to help her up as well. "Uhm....Thank you, Mamoru-Chan." She then looks to Makoto. "It's okay, Makoto-chan. But I think I should be heading home, would you like to head there with me?" She says before looking up to Mamoru and tilting her head, then smiling to him. She didn't have the problems with him Usagi-chan did, plus Mamoru was smart and she didn't mind talking to him......when Usagi's not around that is. "Coming, Makoto-chan? I could ask mom and you could stay over."
So Mamoru has Ami to thank: Makoto's attention is successfully diverted. She brightens up visibly at the suggestion of staying over. "Sure, that sounds good!" Her question for Mamoru was clearly not that important after all. "Let's get going, then."
She starts to turn away, pauses, looks back toward Mamoru and Homura with another quick and slightly sympathetic smile for the latter. "Enjoy your date!" And then, as abruptly as she arrived, she's strolling away again.
"Date?" says Homura. "No it's... I mean."
Oh geeze. How does Homura get out of this one? She really wasn't expecting there to even be people here, let alone expect to be noticed. She blushes slightly. It probably doesn't help her in her efforts to deny dating allegations.
Instead she just says, "Homura Akemi. Second year of Infinity Middle."
What else could she even say? She doubts that these two are magical girls. Statistically speaking, it's very unlikely. There's no point in telling them about Witches or other Puella Magi business.
It seems like the interruption is short, which allows Homura to relax a bit.
Only a bit though.
Mamoru's mouth opens and shuts. He smiles at Ami -- one of the few people who'll get the unreserved version of the expression out of him with very little prompting -- then clears his throat. "Later, you two," he says, not denying the allegation either.
Then he lowers his voice significantly and bends down to whisper urgently, "Can you please get us out of here."
Homura doesn't ask questions. She merely takes Mamoru by the hand, and says, "And now for our final act..."
With a flip of her long black hair, the two of them suddenly vanish. Mamoru gets a front row seat to timestop space.
Homura says, "Don't let go or you'll be frozen in time," as she drags Mamoru out of the scene.