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Hanami Festival of YE 40

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Hitohoshi arrives a bit late to the festival. She'd spent a fair bit of time getting things set up in her new room aboard the YSS Sakura II... but this was mostly just an excuse to avoid coming here. She hadn't had much in the way of social interaction before, and she didn't know anyone else who would be at the festival. In addition, she'd never attended such a festival before and didn't know what one is supposed to do at such a place. With all of that, it just seemed easier to stay on the ship and pretend like she was accomplishing something there. Eventually, though, the red-skinned Neko found herself unable to find anything better to do, and decided to at least take a look. She doesn't own a kimono or anything, so she just shows up in her green Star Army uniform. Hopefully no one would mind. Gazing out across the crowd of people she doesn't know, Hitohoshi starts to feel a bit anxious... and decides to go find a quiet spot to sit and just watch events unfold. Not that she'd mind if one or two people decided to approach her, but she's got no plans to go diving into the fray herself.
 
Yaichiro pondered the matter for a time, and glanced to Hanako. He'd planned to wait for her to take a break, but it seemed that would take a while. On top of that, he should spend time with his crew shouldn't he? After making his decision, he gave a light nod. "That sounds like a good idea. My communicator can help record the experience as well. We can take note of others from the ship as well. I suspect that I am not the only one to find such events a bit awkward and need a push."

With that, he turned toward Hanako off at her booth and gave a bow both of respect and to excuse himself. He gave the woman a smile and departed with Ren.

It wouldn't be long before he noticed Hitohoshi, her green panels and red skin standing out against the other people and the venue. "Ah...another of the Sakura II's crew. She just joined up." He approached Hitohoshi, taking note of what seemed to be the same air of apprehension and ill-ease that he carried at times like this. It seemed that he'd have to pull her out of it...

"Hello, Tsuki-Hei. Ah, let me introduce you two, since you'll be serving together on the bridge. Scientist Santo Hei Tsuki Hitohoshi, this is Starship Operator Itto Hei Hikawa Ren. We were going to explore the stands and sample the food...you're welcome to come along with us, if you like."
 
"I would like to - no, I would love to be a part of a crew that has proven time and again they are willing to sacrifice anything and everything for their homeland, the people who go well beyond what a normal soldier is to do. Stationed here, in the heart of our space... While it is a noble duty, I feel the need to assist the push; to be at the front, to personally defend the peaceful and wonderful life of this planet." She was just a little bit blue in the face, the whole speech said without a breath to break it, and yet it wasn't a rushed entanglement of words.
Click to expand...
"Alright," Hanako nodded. "What is your name and rank? Where are you currently assigned and how long have you been there?"

Hanako nodded in return to Yaichiro. She pulled a data pad from her purse and stared at it. As she mentally typed up a form in her head, it began to appear on the screen.

To: Star Army Personnel
From: Shosho Ketsurui Hanako

I hereby request the immediate assignment of an executive officer for the YSS Eucharis, and also a personnel clerk.

Signed,

Hanako
Commander, 1XF Gunship Division
Click to expand...
 
"Ahhh-" Wait. That's not a rejection. The elysian interrupted herself with a brief clearing of her throat, one hand in a loose ball setting itself on her sternum. It's YE 40, and I joined in... Right, 34, right after the Mishhu War ended... She blinked, her eyes briefly dilating visibly before refocusing.

"I am Santo Hei Arria Smith, and I have been stationed at the Gemini Star Fortress for the past five years on standby!" Her voice was clear, and a bit louder than before. Her eyes were gently quivering, but remained affixed to the admiral's passionately.

I cannot let myself waste away, stationed at the heart of my homeland, defeating endless waves of fake, simulated enemies and pretending I'm out there. Nothing about me will change here anymore. This stagnation will be my fall if I idle against it.
 
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Ikigai Majime let her crimson, fuchsia, ribbon-like hair wave behind her like a floating paper charm flying from the high point of her head. She walked with a group of about ten while wearing a white fur-trimmed kimono chest-piece that clung to her lithe, tall body as a pair of fur-lined sleeves rested below her shoulders, staying close to her diminutive and bony upper arms. The ale shoulders showed in the cool weather of the Sakura's blooming as her blue eyes watched the proceedings and the faces of those around her.

Her digital mind's HUD alerted her to a notification from 1XF personnel and it made her red brows furrow over her icy eyes while they simultaneously glanced between the friends and colleagues she was around.

"Shitsureishimashita," she said soon in a lull in conversation, "excuse me for leaving... But expect me back for the after party tonight, alright?"

She left the group after a few more personal goodbyes and hugs and waded through the crowds until she spotted a row of peculiarly bright haired and skinned Neko women and a Minkan male. Majime moved herself to be behind Arria Smith, then was to her side and looking at the two day and night cooks next to Hanako while bowing to each.

"Blackberry-chui, Victory-heisho. You know you two live in infamy in the storybooks and history lessons, too..." her eyes wandered between them. "I am Taii Ikigai Majime and it is a pleasure."

...

Stella Glass was a Santô Hei that had been farther West than many, save for the crew of ships like the Eucharis and Kaiyō that had made their names there in the current war on Kuvexia, though Stella had gone to fight the mysterious Elefirn in the West, allies with the Kuvexians. She got an alert on her data pad as she strode out of a trinket store's side door with a heavy SAoY duffel and near-empty wallet.

"I have an interview," she murmured to herself after putting away the data pad and then looked about and saw herself in the desolate side-alley. She jumped into the air while her legs bent and her heels touched her butt as she pushed her fists into the air. "I have an interview!!"

A few minutes later and the blonde-haired and blue-eyed Minkan girl was standing in line to meet Hanako... and to try for the position of the Eucharis' clerk!
 
"O-oh, Taisa... hello." Hitohoshi is a bit surprised to see her CO approaching her. She already knew he'd be here, as he had invited the whole crew to the festival, but it was still unexpected that they'd run into each other so soon. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Ren-san... food stands, huh? Well... it's not like I was doing anything else." Shrugging, the neko gets to her feet, patting some dust off her skirt with a gloved hand. "So, sure. Sounds nice. Lead the way?"
 
Ren was a bit relieved to find a 3rd person so soon. She would have run out of things to say before long with just the two of them, and that would lead to some unbearable silence. She noticed that the newcomer seemed like a nervous person as well and wondered how the three of them would manage in a group. Ren decided that she should focus a bit more on being social and try to keep things moving.

"Nice to meet you Hitohoshi-san," she said with a small bow and a smile. Ren was glad Hitohoshi used casual honorifics; if Yaichiro used their military honorifics while at the festival any more, she might have to... glare at him, that's probably the most she could do. Not that it mattered that much, but it was hard to relax that way for her.

"It'll be much nicer having someone at the science station on the bridge, easier to focus on flying without also looking at sensor readings and such. I've only been on two missions before this, so I can't say I'm much more experienced. Yoroshiku~!."
 
(OOC: If this assessment of what is present isn't welcome, I can be corrected and am willing to edit/retcon.)

There were a number of stalls with various purposes. There was the yakitori stand that Ren had already been to along with stands that offered other types of food and candy like cotton candy, gumballs, konpeitoh, fried noodles, fried squid, bananas dipped in chocolate or strawberry sauce, shaved ice, crepes, dumplings, candies apples and strawberries, corn on a stick, takoyaki, okanomiyaki, and others. There were also a stand for scooping goldfish from a shallow tank with paper scoops, a similar concept with yoyos and a hooked paper string, a sort of lottery where wining items were at the ends of strings, a more conventional ball raffle, a fortune-telling stall, a stall where one fired cork guns (and a modern volumetric equivalent), and even a wall of masks for one stall. The masks ranged from ones of important people like Hanako, Yui, and Chiharu to fictional entities. There were also places selling assorted items, some being hand-crafted wooden carvings of people, creatures, vessels, structures, or even commissioned carvings. An art stand where an artist would do swift paintings and caricatures was present, as was one dedicated to placing sakura blooms and even photographs in a transparent plastic to form a commemorative puck-like paperweight. Another sold simple handmade flutes. Of course, these were not the entirety of the stalls present. Stalls of all types were available from the traditional to the niche.

The Army's culture was also well represented. A recruitment stall for those who wished to enlist was located relatively near Hanako's book-signing. Some stalls were offering Star Army surplus within the bounds of the law, or catered explicitly to Star Army personnel in some cases. Even here, one could not fully escape the militaristic nature of the Empire. There were also stalls for political organizations as well, and even Shintoism had a stall.

"So, are there any places you would like to visit?" Yaichiro asked the girls, eyeing the wood carving area with a measure of interest...
 
Ichika Itatski is walking around the park looking for someone in particular who she has not seen in awhlie and Hope's to catch up, after she finds who she looking for, Ichika taps Setsuya on the shoulder whike standing on her tippy toes and says "Setsuya is that you my sweet child and I have something to tell you."
 
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Setsuya jumped at the unexpected contact, spinning around and looking down at the shorter woman.

"Mother! What are you doing here, I thought you were out on the western frontier?", She said with clear surprise as she steadied herself.

She absolutely shocked to see her here. Her mother ichika who she hadn't seen in over a year. She wasn't sure to praise chiharu, or curse the void for such an unpredicted outcome. Just another variable for the day.

"What did you want to tell me?"
 
Ichika slowly gets off her tippy toes and looks nervously playing with her tail then after awhile looks at her daughter and sighs heavily, "Kai Sagara is your father dear I wanted to tell you sooner but you had to go to service.."

Ichika looks like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders and turns away to leave while crying softly
 
Setsuya stepped of line to hug her mother, "Don't go. I want to know more. You tell me my father is, but nothing about him? We are here together, so let's go sit somewhere and catch up."

She took her mother by the hand and lead her away to sit under a nearby tree.
 
Ichika follows her daughter to a tree sniffling at this point "Well dear he is your height -laughs softly- he is also in the service but I don't remember where he is but I do miss him dearly though."
 
"Well I mean, what does he look like? Who is he as a person? I have so many questions mother.", Setsuya said remain calm, but internally frantic for answers.

She had always known she had a father, but with out the proper data she had no way to possibly find a file. She before now didn't even know he was a Yamatai citizen, much less enlisted. She was wanting for answers, anything she go on to learn more, or find him.
 
"He has black hair, he's dark tanned with silver eyes. As a person well he can be playboy because he flirts with all the girl but that night he only flirted with me -blushes remembering that night- and that's your father that I remember it's been o most 2 years since I saw him."
 
Hitohoshi stares out across the huge number of stalls. Even having narrowed down their criteria to "food stalls" right off the bat, there were still at LEAST a dozen of those. How in the world is she supposed to choose which one(s) to visit? She turns back toward Yaichiro and Ren with an overwhelmed expression. "I'm, uh... good with whatever you two like..."
 
"I'd say it depends on if you two are hungry. I just had yakitori a moment ago, which I'd recommend, though I don't mind checking out the other food stalls as well," Ren said, though she was peering over at the cork gun booth and having a child-like urge to try it out.

"How about a shooting contest over there? Though I'll have to warn you..." she said, putting her hands on her hips and adopting a haughty expression towards Hitohoshi. "I sit on the bridge and fly a ship all day and haven't fired a gun as much as I probably should have as a soldier. Think you can take me?"

"Though," she started, lowering her hands and looking towards Yaichiro with a more neutral smile. "I'm sure Kage-san will blow us out of the water. Still would be fun to try!"
 
Yaichiro noted the praise, but decided that presumption needed correcting. "Don't be so resigned to a loss. My rank doesn't automatically mean my skills in that one area are superior. Even with practice, I haven't been part of an infantry engagement in a while. Besides, a cork is by no means guaranteed to fly in any way resembling an actual bullet or NSP pulse. It should be a pretty good equalizer, really." He started to approach the booth, and paid for three rounds.

"So, who wants to go first?" There was a food booth directly to the right of the cork gun booth, if someone wanted to go second or third and buy some food while they waited.
 
Hitohoshi follows Ren to the cork gun booth with Yaichiro. A small sweatdrop appears on her head in response to Ren's... bragging, if you can call it that. Though Yaichiro has a point, firing a cork gun is quite different from firing an actual ballistic weapon... or at least, that sounds highly plausible.

With the Taisa paying for rounds for the three of them, now it's just a matter of deciding turn order. Hitohoshi glances between Yaichiro and Ren. "I'm uh... I'm fine with going a bit later..." She idly notes the food stand just to the side. She WOULD enjoy some food, but... well, if one of the others goes there first, then she'll follow. Yes, that sounds reasonable.
 
"I already ate, so I'll take first shot," Ren said, briskly walking up to the booth. "Ahh" she blurted quietly, quickly turning around giving a bit of a flustered short bow towards Yaichiro.

"T-thank you for buying us rounds!" she said a bit nervously before quickly turning back around to the stand. That lapse in manners of hers momentarily brought back her nervous self, so she took a deep breath to calm herself back down.

Ren picked up the cork gun, noting the drop in build quality compared to those she's trained with. As to be expected from a gun that's probably encouraged to miss rather than to fly true. She pushed the cork into the end of the barrel to make sure it was snug, then pushed the stock into her right shoulder and aimed at the targets through the gun's excuse for sights. Then she held her breath, paused, and fired.
 
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