Tanabata wishes go wrong.
Current IC time is: Sun Jul 07 11:34:32 2002
Aoyama-koen Park — Roppongi, Tokyo
As is common in these big cities, a park eventually becomes a necessity for those without the time to go out and about nature. So here it is, like a little miracle in-between the cement appears this little green jewel, directly adjoining the vast Aoyama cemetery.
A series of small gravel and dirt packed trails, marked on the sides by small white pebbles that somehow stay there, direct people around the park grounds, twirling around small fountains and ponds, most of those surrounded by low wooden fences painted a pretty white. Besides some benches at the end of a couple of trails, a small play-garden stands out, many people of all ages gravitating to the surrounding areas.
It’s still hot, but clouds gather on the horison… Looks like a thunderstorm’s coming soon.
Ginpatsu
Gendo Hyuga, more often then not called by his nickname ‘Ginpatsu’, isn’t all that impressive in looks: Caucasian skin that looks like it hasn’t suffered frome acne, at least not that can be clearly seen. Grey-green eyes, which almost always look half-closed, are blured and distored through the lenses of his thick, black-rimmed circular glasses, betraying his terrible eyesight. His hair, save for eyebrows, is unsuprisingly silvery-grey. Grown long to the bottom of his neck, he’s tied it into a rat-tail, and his bangs are long enough to cover his eyebrows. At one point, there were hints of black, but now, there’s none. Perhaps this now is his real hair colour?. His face is lean, with moderately-sized nose and mouth. Not unattractive.. maybe even handsom, but no dazzeling smile or photogenic face. Not that it can be seen, but the rest of his body is rather skinny. While not terribly weak, he’s clearly not someone who could make it through an intense gym class, that’s for sure. (how he manages to carry his stuff around is anyone’s guess)
His outfit consists of a long-sleeved grey shirt, with a PCB pattern embroidered in yellow down the left hand side. A pair of black cargo trousers coverhim below the waits, with something in each pocket, it would seam. Over this is a black leather jacket. At his side is a large black stachel with a pair of angel wings, but done in steel. Wires lead from it into his jacket pockets. One of these, strangely enough, leads to a pair of headphones dangling around his neck, and another to… what look like a pair of sunglasses, but which are clearly large enough to fit over his normal glasses. However, instead of being made out of tinted glass or transparent plastic, the front is matt black. What could they be?
Usada Hikaru
Long darkish pink hair has been been braided in a pair of long pigtails, tied at the base with large pink bows, short pink ribbons holding the braids tight at the ends. A pair of dice ornaments have been tied into her hair right near the ribbons, and a headband has been buried in it’s pinky depths, making a pair of bunny ears seem to just spring forth from atop of her head to droop to either side of her face.
Those ears and bangs frame a youthful and heart shaped face, dominated by large eyes of a pinkish-red color. Her tiny pert nose almost seems to dissapear the enormous red orbs, and her tiny thin lipped mouth dimples when she grins.
She wears a yukata of a couple shades lighter pink than her hair, the base color matching the ribbons in her hair. Liberally decorated with darker pink sakura petals, it is held in place by a wide obi sash, it’s reddish pink hue matching her eyes, wrapped around her slender waist and tied in chou chou fashion in the back, very much resembling a butterfly. The fuki hovers just above her ankles, and white tabi socks and a pair of simple sandals adorn her feet. She carries a little pink purse with a white rabbit stylized on the front of it, and a yellow fan with a green outline of a Kappa stylized on it.
Ginpatsu chuckles. He follows her gaze aling the tree. “I thought so… What happened?”
“Ahahahahaha..” Usada laughs yet again, sheepishly, and doesn’t seem particularly inclined to give out the details. Well.. a girl can’t spill all of her secrets, you know! That wouldn’t be any fun at all..
Eileen
An evening blue field of beautiful cotton fabric, set with a gorgeous swath of stars scattered upon it is the theme for the young English girl’s yukata, one that seems to tell the story of the dressmaker and the cowherder for whom the tanabata festival honors. Two particularly bright stars grace the opposite sides of a river of stars which flows from the bottom left to the top right, a wide, formal obi of silk ravens bisectng the river in the middle, and forming a graceful butterfly bow at the small of her back. Piles of beautiful brown hair sit atop Eileen’s head, fastened there with black-laquered kanzashi, the tips of which are beads of the same dark green as her eyes. This leaves her graceful neck bare, exposing her pale, soft skin, a marked contrast to her dark yukata. The summer kimono appears to be custom tailored to her graceful frame, though usually, her shy demeanor detracts from the beauty she could otherwise attain.
clakclakclakclakclakclak… The sound of wooden geta is heard as Eileen steps into the park, holding in between her hands a small cloth bag which matches her evening blue yukata. It’s beautifully made, spangled with stars, with a nice black obi wrapped around her waist. She hums softly to herself, and heads towards the bamboo tree, and as she gets closer, the flutter of a little bit of paper behind the bag makes her intentions in the park clear.
Ginpatsu, in his silver and gold shirt, and black cargo pants, stands out amongst all the yukata-clad boys and girls milling about here. He doesn’t notice Eileen yet, talking to Usada. “Fine, then. Keep your secrets.” He looks up to the sky, and says, “But trust me, things always turn out differently then they do in the stories…”
“Gomen ne..” Usada chirps at Ginpatsu, turning and flashing him a little grin, but still not spilling. She won’t give up her secrets so easily! As he looks up to the sky, she does the same to the tree, and thinking about the tanabata story, replies, quietly, more to herself than anyone else. “..not always..”
Aaa.. distractions distractions! She spots the darkly clad Eileen, and looks all wide-eyed at the fancy yukata, “Airinkun, suteki ni!” she calls out randomly, complimented the brown haired girl, and grinning at her too.
Eileen makes her way to the bamboo tree, her humming trailing off as she gazes upon it. She looks to Usada, and smiles softly, blushing prettily at the kind words, then, away from the prying eyes of Ginpatsu, hangs her wishes upon the tree. She watches the paper swirl about in the breeze, a bright red bit of string looped from it to the branch keeping it from flying away.
Rika
This girl fits the textbook definition of ‘cute redhead’, and while she’s unmistakably asian, her relatively pale skin and dark green eyes, coupled with flaming red hair cut in a pageboy style make it easy to forget about it, especially since there’s no sign of hair dye. She does seem to wear some makeup on her face, still posessed of soft, childlike features, but it’s hard to trace just what did she do with it - there isn’t much. Overally, she resembles a fox - lithe and slim, and generally small, since she’s rather short.
She is wearing a bright red yukata, decorated with exquisite embroidered sakura flowers on branches, the petals streaming across it, looking almost real. But it’s doubtful that most people will pay attention to this, since the yukata is cut in such a way as to leave the marble-like skin of her shoulders bare, and has a cleavage that goes down almost halfway across her breasts, leaving a lot of her …um… impressive assets open. While the yukata is long as it’s supposed to be, it’s lower half is cut deliberately open just as well, giving a good view of her legs in clingy knee-high white socks and sandals. Her pink obi belt is tied in a chou chou fashion, looking very much like a butterfly.
Rika appears from behind the bamboo tree, - how’d she get there anyway? - dressed quite literally to kill, but with her large bookbag instead of a proper purse. Somehow she manages not to make a sound with those wooden sandals of hers. Instead of a greeting, she waves a cute fan with a picture of a fox on it in the direction of Eileen’s face, and smiles to the other people she knows - namely, Usada and Ginpatsu.
Ginpatsu looks down, and spots Eileen… Oh… This is interesting… his odd clothes look even more out of place as he greets Eileen “Oh… Uhh…. Good evening, Miss Patters– Holy monkey!” He jumps at the presence behind him, and spins around to face Rika… “Maeki-san… don’t sneak up on me, please.”
Usada also startles when Ginpatsu does, she never even heard the quiet redhead. She turns around, and ‘uwaaaaaa’s at the redhead’s yukata, looking her up and down appreciately, hey.. she’s a girl, she’s allowed, and then grins. “Sasuga, Maekikun!” Funny, she doesn’t seem surprised at all by the outfit. She notices Eileen putting up wishes too, but doesn’t look at them right away, it would be rude! She’ll read them later after she’s left. Not that she’ll remember which ones they are then, of course..
Eileen lets her jaw casually drop as she blushes crimson! Such a daring outfit Rika’s chosen to wore, and she looks goooood in it! “…r-rika…!” she says a bit in awe. Still clutching her matching cloth bag, she wanders over. “…sugoi…! it’s so beautiful!”
Rika giggles cutely, covering the lower half of her face with the fan. snap goes the camera at the gaping faces. Looks like she was hiding it in the wide sleeve of that yukata. “Thank you.” she says, blushing faintly. “So what are you guys wishing for?” she asks curiously.
Ginpatsu blinks, and then has a good look at Rika’s outfit. As those who know him would predict, he faints, a trickles of blood emerging from his nose.
Usada opens her mouth to answer Rika, right as the silver haired guy goes plop “Aaaa.. Hyugasempai, abunai!” She kneels down next to him, peering at him, and pokepokes him in the side. “Daijoubuka?” Poke.. poke.
Eileen blinks. What just happened? One moment that boy was talking to Usada…next moment… her eyes are torn off Rika’s marvelous new outfit for the moment, and she hovers over him, wondering what to do. Aaaah! Where’s Aino-san when you need her?
Rika crouches before Ginpatsu, which incidentally has the effect of bringing her cleavage much closer to his face than it would be otherwise and leaves her legs largely open, too. Waving her cute fan with a fox on it before the boy’s face she asks nobody in particular - snap but she can’t avoid taking that picture - “Sunstroke?”
Suddently, a man appears in just a mysterious way as Rika. He’s taller then Gendo, and and has exactly the same hairstyle as him, but cut shorter. He also has the same, thick glasses Gendo wears, but they have much larger frames. His yukata is… unusual. It sports a series of intricatly designed silhouettes of tropical beaches, with dyed bands to represent the water and a sky at sunset… Very odd… He, and a brown-haired man wearing black shades and a navy blue suit, quickly make their way to Gendo’s sides. “C’mon… Help me lift him…” He looks to Rika… and looks her up and down with a slight grin. “You know, I used to think there were laws against that kind of outfit…” The other man doesn’t look that amused…
Ginpatsu is hoisted by the two guys, not having regained his senses.
Even by Usada’s standards, this is all very wierd. “Haaaaaaa..” she watches it all, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly, grinning at the two men while she watches. Only on tanabata!
Eileen now looks very worried, one hand still clasps her bag, but the other hand is at her mouth, where she nervously bites one of her fingers. Rika’s talks have definitely left their mark. “…a-ano…who are you guys…? what are you going to do with gendo-san…?” (They look so imposing! There’s no way I could stop them if they’re kidnapping him!) O o .
Rika rises back up, covering her face with the fan and giggling behind it with impunity, “I’m not wearing platform shoes with soles thicker than 11 centimeters, so it’s quite legal.” she says, looking at the man in the silly tropiical pattern yukata over the top of her fan. As a side note, it is forbidden to sell platform shoes with such soles to people below 18 though - some girls died falling from them…
The two guys very quickly carry Gendo to what appears to be the same van he came in… For a few minutes, there’s a lok of strange sounds coming from the van, some muffled shouts, and then finally the door opens, and a very annoyed, awake, and cleaned up Gendo emerges, stripped of all visable gizmos and gadgets, and sporting a black yukata with a complex blue and green pattern, half circuit board, half traditional design. There’s a quiet shout of ~up and at’em!~ from the van, which closes up and drives off at just under the legal limit.
Usada watches this all with bemused interest, scratching at the base of her braids sheepishly. “Haaaaa..” Once again there is a little question mark bouncing above her head, right in between her bunny ears. A tanabata to remember!
Eileen now just stands there wide eyed. What the heck did they do to poor Hyuga-san? All traces of her earlier blush have disappeared for the moment, lost in the face of that extremely weird event. Thoughts of X-Files runs through her mind, especially at all the commotion and yelling within the van, then the van taking off quickly. She sweatdrops.
Rika was taking pictures all that time, snip-snip-snip the lens of her tiny camera peeking above her fan with a fox on it. “I really hope you know these gentlemen, Hyuga-san, or it would be very unusual.” she comments, giggling, and lowering her fan again, removing the obstructions to the view that made Ginpatsu faint just minutes ago.
Ginpatsu doesn’t look at Rika, but replies with, “My father… Daisuke Hyuga… He always seems to know when to embaress me further…”
Oujirou
This very handsome fellow, familiar to those who would know that he is a famous, top-ranked Deus, looks to be in his late teens, though with his babyish, yet handsome face, he could be somewhat younger. He is about 5′8″, with a lean and fairly athletic frame. His longish, dark green hair is parted on the left side of his head; his bangs come down over his forehead in places, framing his light blue eyes.
Those same eyes regard the world with a gentle compassion, looking quite congenial. Indeed, Oujirou’s general demeanor is quite gentle; he can usually be seen with a small smile on his face. His voice is a soft, warm tenor, kind and without excessive exuberance. He seems to be fairly introspective, but is quite able to be outgoing when interacting with others.
He seems to be dressed in accordance with the weather for a change, wearing a pair of light blue denim shorts that reach to his knees and a short-sleeved, dark blue Initial D t-shirt. His plain, white cotton socks disappear into a pair of plain-looking, white running shoes.
From around a bend in the path comes Mihara Oujirou, dressed not in formal wear, but rather in clothes fitting for the weather for a change: a simple set of shorts and a t-shirt. Carrying both a full-sized briefcase and a plain, black umbrella in his left hand, his particular path carries him toward the small gathering.
Usada watches the whole thing a little bit more, but eventually, she turns back towards the bamboo tree and looks up at it again. A few more people snook in and put things up while she was gone! Must check them out!
Daisuke
Standing at about 5′2″ and definately looking thin for his age, Daisuke holds himself much taller than he actually is. Even so, for someone who is so easily amused, his face relaxed looks actually quite serious. However, in a heartbeat, a smirk can be placed on his face in no time flat. His eyes, when not hiding behind sunglasses, are a piercing emerald green. His hair is black with purple highlights and actually quite straight. It seems it has been recently cut though into a basic crew cut. His face looks pretty normal if it werent for a crescent scar on his cheek.
Daisuke seems to have wandered away from his aunt for the moment looking a tiny bit annoyed. He is dressed for the occassion…a yukata, light green in color, with the reminiance of trees in the background. The obi is black and seems to have loosened a little bit by all his traveling around for the day. He clunks his sandals into the park as he glances about. Wow, almost everyone there…except Gendo and Hikaru, he has had a spat with. However, he observes for now.
Eileen hasn’t noticed the two new arrivals just yet, as her attention is still diverted entirely to Ginpatsu. What the heck -was- that? “…a-ano…your father…a-ano….” She glances over at Rika, clearly to ask her friend what she though of the matter, but then blushes again. My God that’s a revealing outfit.
Rika giggles quietly at Ginpatsu for a few more moments, apparently, very much amused. But it’s getting repetitive and so she turns her attention to the tree. “Anyway…” she says, hanging a slip of paper on the bamboo tree. “…what did you wish for, Airin?” she asks abruptly.
Oujirou continues walking along the path for a while, but changes direction as he passes close to the gathering, and angles toward the tree. He spends some time admiring the tree in silence, that little, gentle smile of his on his face. “Good afternoon, Patterson-san.. minna-san,” he says then, turning to face the only person in the group he actually knows.
Eileen blushes a little more, as can be expected. “…n-ne rikaaa, doesn’t telling your wish nullify it?” She looks down, and a brown lock of hair falls into her face. “…i-i’d like my wishes to come true…” She blinks as she notices a new person’s feet in front of her. Oh! It’s Mihara-sama! “…a-ano, konnichiwa, mihara-sama…” She keeps her head down, seemingly embarrassed to be blushing.
There was also another reason for Daisuke to come here. He had to hang his wish he had written the night before. It was a simple wish…and probably rather embarassing if anyone found out. Making his way to the tree, he gives Eileen a cold nod of the head, “Konnichiwa, Patterson-san…Mih-ara-san?” He wasn’t sure if he got the last name right. However, he ignores Rika even though her low cut yukata was tempting. The tips of his ears redden.
Right in the middle of peering at that tree, Usada piku’s, suddenly remembering something. “Aaaa.. shikoku shikoku!” Where in the world could she be late to on a Sunday? Just like that, she whirls and dashes off, pink braids whipping around behind her. Such a busy idol!
Rika grins to Eileen, “Not really.” peering at the papers on the tree, looking for the ones in her friend’s handwriting. Finding one, she smiles a silly smile back at Eileen with a mischevious glint in her eyes, and does not comment. Noticing the guy Eileen’s greeting snap she takes a picture… of the Prince of the Layer. New one for her collection!
Ginpatsu slips his hand into an inside pocket… and blinks… What’s that doing in there… He removes his hand, and shrugs… He walks over to Rika, taking care not to look directly at her, and asks… “Maeki-san… why are youwearing something… that… provocative… You’re the one who was knitting a steel-mesh bra beacuse you were afraid of someone groping you…”
Oujirou turns his head from Eileen to look at Rika, giving the girl a quizzical look; certainly, he’s used to having his picture taken, but not just out of the blue like that. Oh well, maybe she’s a reporter or something, or just a fan. Apparently deciding not to say anything to her (and, curiously, not seeming to even so much as glance at the generous view she offers), the bishounen turns back to Eileen. “So.. it seems you’re enjoying your day off. Did you make that yukata yourself, too?” he asks curiously.
Daisuke smirks at Ginpatsu as he ties his wish to the tree, “She only likes for people to believe that she’s gropable…” Well…she sorta is, in his opinion…but he wouldn’t say that. Then again, he’s going to be 14 soon. He twitches a bit as Oujiro ignores him, but he holds his tounge for now. Rika is much more fun to make fun of!
Rika grins at Ginpatsu, fluttering her eyelashes. “I’m flaunting what I’ve got while I still have it.” she responds casually. “Life is short, but a girl’s youth is still shorter.” After a pause, she adds nonchalantly, “Besides, this wire mesh bra was initially supposed to be a hat to protect me from mind control, but I wasn’t up to finishing it.” She says it as if it’s nothing unusual at all. It certainly doesn’t look like she’s embarrased wearing that… She tosses a glance at Daisuke like this glance were an empty paper wrapper and ignores his words entirely.
Ginpatsu hmphs. “You flaunt it, but you don’t really expect to get anyone… do you?”
Oujirou can’t help but glance in Rika’s direction again. Mind control? Did he hear her right? He thinks about this for a moment, then apparently decides that it would be better not to, and so returns to a casual perusal of the tree in front of him.
Daisuke gives Rika a glance back at her and narrows his eyes a bit. Wow…that wasn’t very productive. However, he agrees with Gendo, “Its a cover…and its funny she actually thinks people like to see her like that…” He smirks a little bit, his eyes glinting with mischief.
Rika giggles, covering her face with her fan and peeking over it at Ginpatsu, “I don’t… since I already have someone.” she grins behind her fan, mischevious sparkles in her eyes. Caught ya, huh?
Ginpatsu says, “And I’m sure he’d be glad to see you flaunting your charms to everyone except him…”
Eileen blushes as Rika gives her a silly smile, confirming rather irrevocably that the one Rika found was a wish penned by the gaijin. Luckily, Oujirou and Ginpatsu step in with their questions, which allows her to keep from having to make an excuse about her wish. “a-ano…hai. isn’t it a pretty fabric…?” Then Rika’s replies to Ginpatsu and Daisuke reach her ears, and she goes even another shade of red brighter.
Oujirou turns back to Eileen, then, apparently ignoring the conversation between the three others, perhaps out of politeness, though he certainly doesn’t seem embarassed by it. “So, then, did you make a wish today?” he asks Eileen. It seems he missed Rika’s search for it.
Daisuke twitches a little as he is being ignored. As Rika speaks of having a boyfriend, he gives her a wide eyed glance, “I don’t believe you…you probably just say that to draw guys…” He’s being ignored though…and he will probably give up now.
Rika snickers at Ginpatsu, lowering her fan and revealing a shark-like grin to him, “‘except’ is exactly the wrong word in this sentence.” and punctuates that with a quiet laugh, a tamer version of her usual scary one, “oo-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho.” - once again glancing down at Daisuke, the only person within earshot that she can loom over.
Now it’s Gendo’s turn to be confused again… It’s not Mihara… Nor is it Daisuke… He briefly looks around to see anyone nearby that could be this mysterious boyfriend…
Eileen nods softly, and giggles just a bit. Ahhh! Everyone’s asking about her wish! “…hai…” She smiles softly. “…i’m not telling though. i don’t want to ruin my chances of them coming true…!” Though she’s shy, she’s definitely genki, and excited. Of course, this must be her first tanabata, and for an otaku such as herself, who cosplays all the time, it must be such an overwhelming experience!
Oujirou nods, indicating his acceptance. “All right, then. I hope it does come true, though.” It seems he’s not celebrating the occasion himself, given his clothes, and the fact that he hasn’t put a wish up himself. Well, maybe he has already today. “Oh,” the bishounen says suddenly, “I just remembered. I have your copy of the Layer data from last time.” Kneeling down, he sets his umbrella aside, then opens up his briefcase just enough to retrieve a minidisc of some sort from inside, then quickly closes the case. “Here you go,” he says with a smile as he offers it to Eileen.
Daisuke shakes his head at Rika as he crosses his arms. Wow, everyone seems to have someone here…except him. Maybe if he wasn’t so rough around the edges, “What do you mean, Maeki-san?” He says with a snap.
Rika looks down at Daisuke. “I thought I said it quite explicitly and definitely loudly enough.” she responds casually. “I wonder, are your ears fine? They look a bit red to me, it could be an inflammation.” she adds in a most nonchalant tone, as if geniunely worried.
Ginpatsu takes this oppertunity to hang two piece of paper from an inside pocket onto the tree. Hopefully, Rika won’t bother to look for them… But the idea that Rika would actually have a boyfriend is… unsettling. It’d be better-documented, though, then any celebrity relationship ever…
Eileen blinks in wonder. “a-ano, is this ok…?” Then she remembers to thank him, and says instead, “arigato, mihara-sama!” She takes the MD with a bow, then blinks at it for a few moments, possibly unsure on how to glean the data from this marvelous little package. She looks up, and smiles though. “…ano…i’m almost done with sentaku’s new costume…and i’ve given a lot of thought into taking off sentaku’s cylinders like you suggested…”
Daisuke glances up at Rika as he rubs his ears, “No…you just don’t make yourself clear….maybe you open that loud mouth of yours a bit wider and enunciate more…” He should talk with his dialect. “Or maybe you should learn not to tell such obvious lies!”
Oujirou seems to tense up a little; he might actually be a little embarassed by Eileen’s formality. “Well, you’ve gotten used to using them, so do whatever you feel most comfortable with,” he advises. “I’m glad to hear about the costume, though; make sure you put it on her so I can see it.” He pauses for just a moment, then adds, “And, you know.. ‘Oujirou-san’ would be fine.”
Rika smiles to Daisuke. A sweet smile. Strangely sincere. “I’m definitely not lying.” she says, covering her face with her fan. “But you should really get your ears checked out.” she breaks into the condescending mode again. With that, indicating that the conversation’s over, she turns to glance at Oujirou, peeking over Eileen’s shoulder curiously.
Ginpatsu, with that, decideds to leave before Rika desides to find a way to make him faint again. Mood soured, he makes his way out of the park to find out where his dad hid himself…
Eileen smiles and nods, “…un, i’ll do that-” here she pauses, as if just catching herself. “-oujirou-san…i’m very happy with how it’s turning out, so i’ll bring it by the training center so you can see it. it’s to the point that i can just sew on the remaining accoutrements…” She glances back at Rika, and smiles at her. “…look, oujirou-san gave me some data on sentaku…!” She holds up the MD.
“Then who is it?” Daisuke asks skeptically. “And my ears are just fine…” He rolls his eyes.
Rika peers at the disk, still behind Eileen’s shoulder. “What sort of data?” she asks curiously. Sparing a quick glance at Daisuke, she quite childishly sticks out the tip of her tongue at him and returns her attention to the MD without gracind that with an answer.
Oujirou holds his smile, even chuckling a little; the proper response would have been to allow him use of her own first name, but he must already have come to not expect Eileen to remember everything. “It’s a recording of Sentaku’s ball drill, with her results, and the practice session we had afterward.” Of course, ‘practice session’ might be a little unspecific in this particular case, but it still fits.
Eileen looks over her other shoulder, and frowns a little. “…ne, ichiro-san…are you trying to pick a fight with rika? leave her alone…” Her voice is still soft during all this, but a small bit of annoyance and iron creeps into her tone. She turns back to Oujirou with a small “…gomen…”, and utterly olivious to her misstep, she asks softly again, “…ano…do i just put this in the layer somewhere…gomen…i’m not too good with electronic things…”
Daisuke sticks his tounge back at Rika as if imitating her. There go the whole respect your elders goes out the door, “That was a bit…’mature…’” He smirks a little. As Eileen speaks to him, he turns to her, “Why would you think something like that? I was just pulling out the falsehoods she was throwing out.”
Rika looks down at Daisuke, edging behind Eileen a little, but doesn’t say anything - she just snip takes a picture as he sticks the tongue out back at her.
Oujirou glances between Rika and Daisuke briefly, but decides not to interrupt their stimulating conversation. To Eileen, he replies, “Well, you’ll need something on your PC that can access minidiscs; sorry, maybe I should have had it copied onto a regular CD. Do you think you have anything like that at home?” he asks.
Unfortunately, while Oujirou might be able to ignore Daisuke, if Eileen could have hackles, they’d visibly rise. What does he think he’s doing? The fact that he’s ruining a very pleasant conversation with a guy she respects, and the fact that he’s hurting her friend with his words obviously doesn’t sit well with the gaijin. She takes a breath, trying to calm down. “…ne. ichiro-san…she is not a liar.” her voice gets lower, and she takes another breath, this one shuddering a bit. “…i told you nicely once. but if you continue to try to hurt my friends, yuuzen-san will be disappointed in both of us. again. and this time, i won’t care, because He. Will. Have. Been. Proven. Wrong.” Sadly, the talk with Oujirou regarding the way to read the media format he’d given her seems to have been put on hold.
Rika just grins her famous shark-like grin at Daisuke, safe behind Eileen’s back, “Oh, you want me to photoshop it?” she mocks. “Why, such a good idea.” She has much more pictures of Daisuke to play with…
Oujirou trails off as Eileen turns her attention elsewhere. He stands up then, since this might take a while. Hands at his sides, the bishounen remains silent; it isn’t his style to poke his nose into other people’s interpersonal affairs, and these three seem to have quite a history regardless.
“You are making too big of a deal of it…” Daisuke rolls his eyes at Rika, “You better not photoshop it Maeki-san…” He gives her a glare, “I was only asking you a question.”
Rika just smiles quietly, not adding anything, not commenting and not coming out from behind Eileen.
Oujirou also remains silent; he might be taken a bit aback by Eileen’s uncharacteristic agressiveness, but if he is, his expression doesn’t show it.
Eileen frowns, but his backing down seems to bring her own emotional level down a notch. “You’re the one making too big a deal out of nothing Ichiro-san. I’m standing up for my friend. What business is it of yours, of all people, whether or not Rika has someone she loves? You didn’t ask a question, you demanded an answer you were happy with. You call her a liar when she’s telling the truth, and won’t shut up until she tells you a lie. Don’t try to slough the blame on us again. I won’t stand for it.”
Daisuke glares at Eileen, “She just was acting ridiculous so I had to tell her!” He grits his teeth down. He didn’t want this to turn into a big deal again! He just never liked Rika.
Rika just never liked Daisuke - or at least, never got a reason to - so it’d be really strange for her to give him all sensitive information about herself on a platter. She just looks from behind Eileen’s shoulder at him in a I’d-pity-you-but-then-you’d-bite-me-so-I-won’t fashion and stays quiet.
Oujirou decides to look at the sky rather than at the argument. Hmm, seems like it won’t rain for a while yet, after all.
Eileen glares right back. No wonder Sentaku’s so different from the Eileen most people know. “Ridiculous. It’s ridiculous for someone to love Rika, ne? Is that what you’re saying?” Her tone is dangerous. “Ba-ka. You have no ability to say who’s acting ridiculous. Apologize to her for your rudeness.”
Daisuke grits his teeth, “You can’t tell me what I can or cannot do!” He glances at Rika who has taken shelter behind Eileen. He knew of no one who would do that, “Maeki-san…that’s interesting you have someone else to fight for you!” He glares back at Eileen, “Why don’t you mind your own business…I greeted you nicely and you ignored me…how nice was that?”
Rika suddenly places a hand on Eileen’s shoulder and says firmly, squeezing it slightly, “Airin, stop.” After a brief pause, she adds, “I don’t need his apologies and neither do you. I don’t take apologies from people who don’t plan to make peace with me and I suggest you do the same. Stop.”
For one like Eileen though, it’s not so easy. She continues glaring at the younger boy for a good long time. “Ichirou no baka… I only tell you what your family obviously failed to teach you.” She looks about to say more, but with both Rika and Oujirou telling her it’s not worth it, and Rika gently restraining her, she somehow manages to stifle her next reply, mostly by glaring down at her wooden sandals. She may have it under control for now, but it doesn’t look like she can hold it in forever.
Rika was expecting something like that - so dropping her silly bookbag, she clasps her hands over Eileen’s ears as soon as Daisuke gets to the ‘ridiculous gaijin’ part, effectively preventing her friend from hearing the worst of it. Glaring at Daisuke over Eileen’s shoulder she hisses, “Okay, you earned it…”
Oujirou looks down from the sky and at Daisuke then; his normally gentle features have been replaced by a severe expression and hard eyes that few ever see. “I think that’s quite enough!” Oujirou states angrily, even taking a step forward. “How dare you say that!”
Eileen blinks as the hands come clapped down over her ears, effectively and surprisingly cutting off Daisuke’s ranting, and quite likely saving Daisuke from a rather severe wood-sandal beating. It also has the rather interesting side effect of shocking Eileen out of her current emotion, as if she’d just been hit by lightning. Her voice soft again, but hoarse from speaking higher than her tone usually goes, “…what did he just say…?”
Daisuke takes a deep breath so obviously ignoring everyone else except the offender in his eye sight, “You are a poser!” Okay, so its not as harsh as it originally was, “You are the American that watches anime and thinks they know everything about Japan when they’re just a poser!”
Rika keeps her hands clapped around Eileen’s ears, preventing her from hearing that as well. “…earned it many times over…” she adds quietly. You want a vendetta from Rika, you get a vendetta from Rika. In Rika’s own way… Later. She glances at Oujirou, “I feel very stupid asking this of you, Mihara-san, but could you stick something into this idiot’s mouth to shut him up so I can free my hands?” she asks sheepishly.
“I’m considering it,” Oujirou replies, his harsh eyes still on Daisuke. “..Ichirou-kun, wasn’t it?” he asks quietly. “I don’t know why you’re acting so foolishly, but I suggest you stop this at once before you lose any more face.” Indeed, the park is fairly well-populated on this Sunday and, though they don’t quite understand why it’s taken place, the loud argument is drawing quite a few eyes.
Eileen is rather suitably deflated for the moment, so just watches what’s going on as best as she can from between Rika’s hands. That baka. What is he saying now? She sighs then, and wonders silently why Daisuke had to exist, and gets a bit sad, as she realizes now that Oujirou’s been brought into it as well.
Daisuke whips his head to look at Oujirou, “She started to yell at me first! Or were you too busy flirting with her to notice?!” He could careless really what people around him were saying, “I wasn’t even yelling at Maeki-san! Why must people make such a big deal out of everything!” Wow, isn’t that an ironic statement?
Rika keeps her hands where they are. It’s sooo good Eileen doesn’t hear this… “…why did he have to do it in such a public place this time…” she mumbles under her nose.
Oujirou shakes his head sadly. “Petulant children can’t be reasoned with,” he says quietly, not condescendingly but matter-of-factly. Turning around, he takes two steps to pick up his umbrella and briefcase. “..Maeki-san, wasn’t it?” Oujirou asks of Rika. “Why don’t we head down this way?” he suggests, pointing in the direction he came from earlier.
Rika glances at Oujirou, “Good idea.” and finally lets her hands go. Bending down to get her bookbag she glares quietly at Daisuke, but says nothing. Tugging at Eileen’s sleeve she says firmly, “Let’s go. This idiot doesn’t exist. Ignore him.”
Eileen nods quietly and solemnly, then follows after her scandalously clad friend. “…hai.” She shakes her head softly, glancing once more at the hanabata display, then wanders off with Oujirou and Rika.
Daisuke is left fuming for the moment. That hurt…but he didn’t know what to do to solve it. He didn’t know how to get positive attention…still had a lot to learn as he spins around and stalks out of the park…so much for his so called wish… ‘I don’t want to be alone anymore.’
Bamboo tree
A tanabata bamboo tree! It’s relatively small, but still taller than a human height, which should probably be attributed to the fact that it’s sitting in a big pot. What’s more important to it than the green trunk and leaves are the small strips of paper attached to it with calligraphic wishes and even some poetry. Some have signatures on the end, but most don’t. Particularily, several ones stand out:
“I wish there were no eternity.”
“I wish I wasn’t so alone…”
“I wish my dressmaking becomes worthy of Orihime’s attentions.”
“~ unintelligible ecnahc a rof hsiw I~ Another cryptic wish… “
“~nruter ot evol sih rof hsiw I~ A cryptic wish… “
…very soon afterwards.
Office Corridor — Angelic Layer Inc.
An office corridor… Metallic-looking walls, odd.
Oujirou
This very handsome fellow, familiar to those who would know that he is a famous, top-ranked Deus, looks to be in his late teens, though with his babyish, yet handsome face, he could be somewhat younger. He is about 5′8″, with a lean and fairly athletic frame. His longish, dark green hair is parted on the left side of his head; his bangs come down over his forehead in places, framing his light blue eyes.
Those same eyes regard the world with a gentle compassion, looking quite congenial. Indeed, Oujirou’s general demeanor is quite gentle; he can usually be seen with a small smile on his face. His voice is a soft, warm tenor, kind and without excessive exuberance. He seems to be fairly introspective, but is quite able to be outgoing when interacting with others.
He seems to be dressed in accordance with the weather for a change, wearing a pair of light blue denim shorts that reach to his knees and a short-sleeved, dark blue Initial D t-shirt. His plain, white cotton socks disappear into a pair of plain-looking, white running shoes.*
Eileen
An evening blue field of beautiful cotton fabric, set with a gorgeous swath of stars scattered upon it is the theme for the young English girl’s yukata, one that seems to tell the story of the dressmaker and the cowherder for whom the tanabata festival honors. Two particularly bright stars grace the opposite sides of a river of stars which flows from the bottom left to the top right, a wide, formal obi of silk ravens bisectng the river in the middle, and forming a graceful butterfly bow at the small of her back. Piles of beautiful brown hair sit atop Eileen’s head, fastened there with black-laquered kanzashi, the tips of which are beads of the same dark green as her eyes. This leaves her graceful neck bare, exposing her pale, soft skin, a marked contrast to her dark yukata. The summer kimono appears to be custom tailored to her graceful frame, though usually, her shy demeanor detracts from the beauty she could otherwise attain.
Rika
This girl fits the textbook definition of ‘cute redhead’, and while she’s unmistakably asian, her relatively pale skin and dark green eyes, coupled with flaming red hair cut in a pageboy style make it easy to forget about it, especially since there’s no sign of hair dye. She does seem to wear some makeup on her face, still posessed of soft, childlike features, but it’s hard to trace just what did she do with it - there isn’t much. Overally, she resembles a fox - lithe and slim, and generally small, since she’s rather short.
She is wearing a bright red yukata, decorated with exquisite embroidered sakura flowers on branches, the petals streaming across it, looking almost real. But it’s doubtful that most people will pay attention to this, since the yukata is cut in such a way as to leave the marble-like skin of her shoulders bare, and has a cleavage that goes down almost halfway across her breasts, leaving a lot of her …um… impressive assets open. While the yukata is long as it’s supposed to be, it’s lower half is cut deliberately open just as well, giving a good view of her legs in clingy knee-high white socks and sandals. Her pink obi belt is tied in a chou chou fashion, looking very much like a butterfly.
Fleeing from the ever-confrontational Daisuke, Oujirou leads the two girls away from the park, down the main street, and to the doors of Angelic Layer Inc.’s corporate headquarters. “Why don’t we go in here for a while?” he suggests. ‘Hiding from Daisuke’ might be a more accurate term, but there you have it. Leading the way into the lobby, he gestures about the spacious room, which is decorated with all manner of Angelic Layer peraphernalia. “Have either of you been here before?”
Eileen gapes. Hai, that’s the word for it. Gapes. “….a-ano…all these angelic layer…haaa! i haven’t seen this one before!…a-ano…oujirou-san, is it ok for us to be in here? oh my! there’s…” Her initial question completely forgotten, as well as the previous events of the night, Eileen wanders over to some bolts of angel-scaled cloth.
Rika doesn’t waste any time gaping - she opens her oversized school bookbag that so totally doesn’t go with her yukata and pulls out her biggest, professional level camera. So that’s why she took it instead of a proper purse. SNAP. “I don’t think so.” she says between shots, SNAP, “Which is probably obvious.” she smiles slightly.
“Well, welcome to Angelic Layer, Inc.” Oujirou says then, spreading his arms dramatically. “I thought it might be nice to come here, since it’s air conditioned, and since Airin-san plays Angelic Layer, she might like to see the place,” the bishounen explains; he’s apparently decided that it’s okay to use her first name. “Anyway, have a look around,” he offers - though one might wonder why, with Rika and Eileen already running around like tourists..
Eileen folds her arms together, tucking them within the long sleeves of her yukata, her matching purse’s straps looped around her right wrist. She looks up a little, then pulls her sleeves apart, her small hands pulling matching fans out of the sleeves with them. She flips them both open, and giggles a bit, fanning the much cooler air upon her person.
Eileen folds her arms together, tucking them within the long sleeves of her yukata, her matching purse’s straps looped around her right wrist. She looks up a little, then pulls her sleeves apart, her small hands pulling matching fans out of the sleeves with them. She flips them both open, and giggles a bit, fanning the much cooler air upon her person. “…arigato, oujirou-san…it really was pretty hot out there. it was almost as bad as arizona!” She resumes looking at all the neat paraphenalia, like a kid in a candy store.
Rika giggles, “Actually, it’s more or less normal for a summer here.” and takes a picture of Eileen fanning herself, SNAP It is normal - that’s why Japan makes lots of air conditioners… “But I must agree, it was really nice of you, Mihara-san.” she adds, smiling to Oujirou.
Suddenly, a yell comes from afar, “Somebody stop it!” - a very distant yell. Unmistakably, that’s Icchan’s voice, but probably, only his brother has any chance of recognising it. Very soon, a rather big toy car the size of a small TV zooms into view, racing along the corridor at a breakneck speed, making a perfect sliding turn maneuver, tightly cornering around random visitors, typical corridor objects, seeming to act with definite intelligence - if only artifical. It’s intelligent enough to make mistakes too, since after having to turn around a hurrying girl in an office suit, it loses traction and swirls along the floor right towards the three kids. It still has enough energy accumulated to push someone over, too.
Oujirou turns around toward the source of the voice, a bit of panic forming on his face; he just KNOWS his brother’s up to something, and chaos will ensue if it isn’t stopped in a hurry. However, the source of this chaos, the giant toy car, won’t be stopped easily, it seems; it will take some heroic action! Grabbing his umbrella with his right hand, the green-haired young man steps a little to the side of the oncoming vehicle’s path, putting the tip of the umbrella on the ground. His plan is apparently to sneak the umbrella under the car and flip it over when it comes by, but the thing won’t be outsmarted so easily; it zips between the bishounen’s legs, letting out a shrill “Beep beep!” that one could swear was intended to be mocking.
Eileen blinks, green eyes looking very confused as she tries to figure out what doesn’t feel right. Because something doesn’t seem right here. Oh! What’s that weird noise? She whirls around in time to see the large car barreling down at them, with the man who came down from the tree a month or two ago chasing after it, yelling for someone to stop the car. Her eyes go very wide though, seeing that the car’s about to run over all three of them. Panic! Her reaction time isn’t -that- good, so by the time she sets into motion, the car has already zoomed between Oujirou’s legs. Wooden geta go flying as she performs a cartwheel to the side that carries her over towards Rika. “Look out!” She shouts, and then her hands wrap around the redhead’s chest, and she tugs them both into a roll. It’s a good thing Eileen’s not wearing her hair in a ponytail this time!
Rika was just standing there still, her camera trailing the moving object snapsnapsnap - practically unable to do anything but capture the moment after moment for future study. Which is why it’s totally unsurprising that she loses balance immediately as she’s pulled, with a muffled ‘eeek!’ and tumbles down with Eileen.
Icchan
This man looks to be somewhere in his early thirties. Thin-boned and tall, with angular chin and unruly, if combed, almost spiky dark brown hair, he’d look menacing enough as he is, however, he grin that his facial expression seems to default to and his big wire-rimmed glasses which obscure his eyes make him even scarier - that’s how mad scientists tend to look in movies.
To top that off, he is wearing an expensive-looking white lab coat, with an obligatory pen sticking out of the breast pocket. Under the coat, a typical salaryman-style white shirt with a black tie can be seen, and there are what looks like black suit pants on him as well, but no sign of the jacket. His shoes are kinda dusty.
Icchan races past the three kids, chasing after the big toy car, “Stop it!” until the thing slams into an opening door right behind them, cracking the plastic bumper and sending splinters about, as Oogata peers from behind the door he happened to open so timely. Apparently, the poor silvery Mazda ‘89 RX-7 toy isn’t designed to take such stress as such speed, and the lights go out, the car now dead. “Oogata!” Icchan yells. “I told you to stop it, I didn’t tell you to WRECK it!” The poor subordinate covers in fear. “Now go and find what’s broken, I’ll think of the punishment game later.” Icchan continues, waving a hand at Oogata, who grabs the car - heavy thing! - and scurries away. “Dating two girls at once, huh?” Icchan suddenly turns to his brother, leaning back against the wall to rest a bit.
Oujirou responds only with his characteristic gentle smile. “Konnichi wa, niisan,” he replies. “It seems things are as hectic as usual around here.” Other people might question what a giant toy car is doing driving around and threatening lives, but Oujirou seems rather used to such things. “This is Patterson Airin-san, and this is Maeki-san,” he says to Icchan, indicating both girls in turn. “Maeki-san, Airin-san, meet my brother, Mihara Ichirou.”
Eileen rather shakily gets to her feet, adjusting her yukata as she does so. She glances down as she gets up to make sure Rika’s alright, then quickly she opens the bag that matches her yukata. A soft golden glow from inside lets anyone know that the bag’s contents consist of one heavy-armed angel. She looks up and blushes considerably when the banter between the two brothers turns to herself and Rika, and the blush gets even more pronounced as Icchan presumes that they’re both here to date Oujirou. However, manners are not forgotten even in this state of distress, and while she clearly wants to get her geta back on her feet, she bows to the father of Angelic Layer. “…ano, konnichiwa, mihara-sama…”
Rika scrambles up, pulling her yukata up a bit - any further down and it would be rather embarrasing… not like Rika would mind a whole lot, but probably not everybody here would be so appreciative. And snap, “Konnichiwa, Mihara-sama.” she says with a formal bow. “Just the man I wanted to see.” she adds with a mysterious confident smile.
Icchan smiles at the blushing gaijin girl. It’s quite obvious that the phrase about dating was just a joke. “Well, here we meet again.” he grins to both girls. “You’re that girl in military boots…” he says to Eileen, “And you’re that redhead with the camera. Did that picture come out well?” he asks Rika. He knows both of them? Funny. Glancing back at Oujirou, he adds, “More hectic than usual. Third generation control system pretends it’s evil.”
Oujirou nods his understanding to Icchan. He seems a little surprised, though, that Icchan happens to know both girls. “I didn’t know you had all met,” Oujirou remarks to the three others. Turning his head to his brother, he continues, “I met Airin-san just a couple weeks ago, and Maeki-san just now.”
Eileen nods softly, still looking more than a litle bit embarrassed. “…hai, ano, i didn’t know it at the time, but i met mihara-sama up at the temple one day.” She explains to Oujirou. “…ano…demo…gomen….what was that car…?” She looks towards the door that surely must have had some dent in it, that car was the largest RC car she’d ever seen! “…ano…and…gomen…i’m sure you must have thought of this already, but why not just tell the person driving it to stop…?”
Rika looks at Icchan questioningly, “Is someone even driving it?” she asks, her wildest suspicions actually receiving factual evidence.
Icchan shakes his head, responding to both the girls questions, “Nobody’s driving it. The third generation control system - when it’s done - if it’s ever done - will read the control commands without a headset antenna. Unfortunately, it has problems recognising people and telling between conscious and subconscious impulses, even more than the second generation system had.” Grinning to Oujirou, he adds, “Met them a couple of months ago out in the city. Separately, that is.”
Oujirou nods his understanding again. After a moment’s silence, he turns to the two girls, smiles, and says, “Well, I’m sure the car will be fine. While we’re here, is there anything you’d like to see?” This is the centre of the Angelic Layer universe, after all!
Eileen’s eyes glaze over a bit as Icchan begins describing the intricate details of the thing. However, she seems to get the basic gist of it. “…i see.” She nods softly, confirming what Icchan said unnecessarily, then turns to Oujirou. “…ano…um…i-i don’t know…what are we allowed to see…?” While Eileen is hesitant, it’s probably certain Rika’s going to pounce on this question like a rabid hungry tiger upon a fat, plump chicken.
Rika indeed does, “Third generation system? Did you already achieve what you wanted from the second generation then?” she asks cryptically, sneakily trying to get Icchan to answer her questions by drawing him into asking a question himself.
Icchan slightly lowers himself to reach the short photographer girl’s eye level. “…and what did you think we were trying to achieve?” he asks, with a sneaky smile, taking the bait and immediately turning it against the fisherman.
It seems like they won’t be going anywhere just yet, so Oujirou sighs a little even as he smiles, crosses his arms, and watches Rika and Icchan. His expression seems to indicate that he rather doubts Rika’s going to trick Icchan into revealing anything he doesn’t want to.
Yatta! While Rika and Icchan butt heads, Eileen takes this moment to excuse herself silently. She sneaks off quiet like, to go and get her wooden slippers. The silly geta flew off, leaving her feet bare except for the tabi socks she wore over them, as she tumbled out of the way. She stoops down to retrieve them, then works quietly on slipping them back on her feet. She giggles a little to herself as she wiggles her toes. Yay! Geta and tabi!
Rika does not spend a lot of time thinking. “The first generation of Angelic Layer toys was used to collect data to make prosthetic limbs.” she says seriously. What is she leading to…? “Was the second generation created to collect data for… prosthetic souls?” she drops the bomb.
There’s a long three seconds of dead silence before Icchan smiles widely, “Close… but don’t expect anything of the sort before the third generation’s complete.” Huh?
“Niisan, maybe you’re saying too much,” Oujirou cautions his brother in a serious tone, looking to Icchan after watching Eileen retrieve her geta. “Enough rumours leak out of here as it is.”
*Alas, this scene was never played out beyond this point. So I don’t know what else Icchan was planning to say. ;_; *
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