5tar
Active Member
ON: Kyoto Civilian Sector - Tengoku Resort
The crew of the Senbu was spread all over the Yamataian home world, enjoying their vacations for the time being. But none were in a place as lavish as the Pride Wing Squadron, who at this point, were sitting around a feast of exquisite wonders and expensive wines, enjoying themselves in the traditional paradise of the Tengoku Resort.
It had been a nice welcoming party, and now the group was free to do as they wished. Kuriko was handed a set of cardkeys– there were enough for the entire crew except one, which meant that someone was going to have to share a room. It wouldn't be such a difficult feat because the last room had two massive beds and plenty of suite for two to share. They were given no rush to go to the hotel accommodations, as they could enjoy a party to themselves after the meal. There was music in the background, but other than that, the crew was left alone to their own devices.
Hara raised a fist to his mouth as he stifled a burp. "Excuse me," he quickly apologized. The entire thing seemed a bit too much for a few soldiers, but he was grateful nonetheless. He was itching to go about on his own at this point, but hanging around here for a while longer wouldn't hurt.
Kuriko looked at the small group of Pride Wing members. "Saa, it looks like we have some free-time. Let's get into our rooms first though..." Kuriko paused for a second. "Ano, is there anyone who wants to share a room?" Kuriko asked as she flashed the card keys. Kuriko wasn't sure if she wanted to share a room or not. Part of her enjoyed the solace that she had grown used to aboard the Senbu, but another part of her wanted to grow closer to her crewmates.
Hiroko was calmly eating her noodles all the while, and it was about when she finished them that she heard Kuriko talk... and she turned a head at the comment about having to share a room. "...I'll wait for someone else to offer."
Hara frowned at the following silence. Weren't all the girls buddy-buddy with each other? He assumed they would have jumped at the chance to share a room with each other. Ah well.
"I will take it," stated Sakaki while sipping on some tea in a matter of fact tone. From what she knew of right now, Masako had plans to drag her away someplace anyway, meaning the room might be empty some of the time. Though from her composure, it was obvious she didn't really care too much. The only problem was how to keep her secret stuff from being revealed.
Masako would blink at the error and yawned some, stretching some and blinked over at Sakaki. Her plan to drag her out and about was her method to help the samurai-ish girl open up some. This whole situation still seemed to be rather… unnecessary. Seriously, what'd they done to deserve this? These kinds of things were the way governments and military organizations showed their appreciation when promotions and medals didn't suffice. "Well if that's settled, I'm going to check out my room. Gimme a keycard there Kuriko, I was going to volunteer but Sakaki there beat me to it," she laughed a bit. "But I'll share the room with her," she amended with a grin.
Sakaki nodded her approval and marshaled an attack on the good food and tea. She was fine with this, considering Masako as a sister-like figure.
Hiroko tilted her head slightly, not remembering that they were pretty close. She had almost considered taking the room with Sakaki, since they seemed to end up together in battle a lot... But no. A mystery was left, instead.
Kuriko nodded and passed out the room keys to everyone, keeping one for herself. "Saa, let's go to our rooms. After you get checked in you're free to do whatever you'd like, but maybe we could do something as a group," Kuriko suggested.
Masako accepted the cardkey and nodded and looked around for a second. "What did you have in mind?" she asked Kuriko. "I'm going back into town with Sakaki to go see my family and do some shopping…" she said, informing her of plans. "But I'll have a communicator on me if you need to get in contact."
Hiroko nodded. "I have no such plans, so I'm kind of curious there too. What would we even do?"
Though she had been a bit understandably paranoid as they left the spaceport, Rin had become noticeably quiet on the ride over and even now accepted the room assignment keycard with a sort of calm detachment, nodding her thanks to the staff. Perhaps this was a sign the normally high-strung workaholic Hei really was starting to relax after all.
Kuriko bit her lip in thought. "I don't know really, we could visit the onsen. I wonder what other services are provided here," Kuriko said as she looked around. "Hmm, I need to do some shopping as well, but that can wait for a while. You're free to go, Masako, have fun!" Kuriko said with a giant smile. "Saa, since we won't all be here, let's plan the onsen for another time. Let's meet back up in the lobby in 20 minutes. I'll look into what other services are available during that time," Kuriko said. Kuriko telepathically queried the hotel's services listings for a list of available services that the group could do.
Rin bowed her head once to Kuriko, finally speaking after what seemed like ages. "That sounds like a plan. I'm sure their list of amenities and activities must be quite vast." Then there was a brief pause, as the taller Yamataian woman asked a question testingly towards her commander in a quiet tone of voice. "Heisho... since we are on vacation in a civilian setting… do you not mind if I refer to you in the familiar?"
"Of course not, Rin," Kuriko replied with a smile on her face. She asked to call me by my given name! Kuriko thought excitedly, on another level part of her annotated this moment into her logs for future reference and review. Such a simple question had added an immense amount of satisfaction to Kuriko's vacation.
Masako perked a brow at Rin and chuckled softly, smiling at her for a moment before walking up and over to Sakaki. "Let's go check out the room and see to it that our things are safe in there before we do anything, how's that sound to you?" she asked.
Meanwhile, Hiroko was just standing, waiting. Looking over them like a hawk surveying its domain. She wanted to leave and check her room, but she felt a sense of indecision here, still.
Sakaki nodded to Masako's idea and then finished her tea, then began to rise, holding her sword in her right hand in the middle of the sheath. Though she seemed to stop mid step and turned to Hiroko to ask, "Ishida-hei, I would like to speak with you on a later date if you do not mind." Ushimo Sakaki had wanted to spend time with the team's strategist for some time, though never had the time.
Hoshitomo-hei returned the smile, hers more of that usual controlled display of emotion. But her eyes told enough of the story, and she seemed a bit relieved. Though some others who were more casual might think nothing of it, for her to offer this was quite a big deal, and it seemed that the Heisho understood that her desire to try and relax here and encourage esprit de corps was being genuinely pursued by Rin. "Well, if you'll excuse me then, Kuriko, I think a moment to get my bearings is in order..."
And thus Hiroko had cause to raise her eyebrows, and glance over at Sakaki. ...That was almost a little too wish-fulfilling. Spooky. "...Ah... Sure. When, in particular?"
Masako looked at Hiroko and thought for a moment and grinned. "Hey why don't you come with us?" she asked with a smile. "It'll do us all some good. You don't have to but I thought I'd ask." She nodded and adjusted the fit of her saber on her hip. "We can all talk strategy on the way back."
"Okay then, see you guys later," Hara said as he headed off to his room. Once he got in and got his stuff set up, he pulled out a notepad and began to furiously write down a list of some sort.
And another turn of the head, this time at Masako. "...Me?" Hiroko asked, seeming a bit incredulous.
Masako nodded and waved to Hara for a moment before turning back to Hiroko. "Of course!" the busty blonde said with a happy smile. "I want to get to know both of you a little better," she said. "After all..." Masako said and poked Hiroko on the forehead gently and giggled, "Sakaki and I are the ones relying on your stratagems right? It'll help us all in the long run to be friendly and open with each other. We're family here right?" She glanced to Sakaki as if seeking her thoughts on that as well.
Hiroko instinctively recoiled at the poke, but blinked slightly, her eyebrows fluttering. She should... even if it didn't come naturally... "...I–I–I guess."
Sakaki had glanced over to Masako curiously, wondering what she had planned. When she glanced back, Sakaki nodded, "Um," then turned back to Hiroko. "The ‘Masako Plan’ sounds good."
Masako was being honest with them, she had nothing serious planned. Well, nothing illicit at least. "Hey now... I just want to show you two a fun time while we're here is all," she said. "Let's go see our rooms here first ok?" she asked and started off toward the door and paused to get her boots back on. "We don't want the concierge to sit there all day looking at them," she said and gestured for the other two to follow along. Yes, it was obvious she was excited, probably due the thrill of being home.
Hiroko twitched slightly, hoping this would go well. But at any rate... she nodded slowly, and scampered off to check her own room, for that matter.
Kuriko smiled before heading to her room to unpack her things, as well as to sit down and look at the list of things the group could do.
"Sayonara," Sakaki said as she headed to her own room, allowing Masako a head start. She held up her key in her left hand, praying her stuff came in ok.
As she made to depart for her room, the murmurings of a 'Masako Plan' forming did not escape Rin's attentions, as it seemed things were already spontaneously starting to fall into place. Though she had a few plans of her own to deal with privately, tagging along with the others was likely the most prudent way to approach this time off for the moment. But before that could happen, she had to get settled and unpack and, much like Kuriko, request a download of all the concierge's sponsored and featured events for later reference.
Masako and Sakaki would get their room down and registered before heading up to it. "Wow! This room is like a small house," Masako said in awe as she opened the door into the room and looked around. Yes, this room was absolutely enormous, with more than enough room to do whatever they wanted in it and not bump elbows. The blonde passed around the room in surprised awe and checked to see if they were blessed with a balcony as well.
The rooms were just as extravagant as the rest of the resort; each suite was luxuriously spacious and filled with traditional Yamataian decor. Each had their own grand bathroom and queen-sized bed which seemed like it could very well be a cloud from heaven. The rooms were colored with a softer Asian palette, of mostly natural colors. Of course, the room was controlled by a simple computer which would customize everything from the temperature and the lighting to what movie you wanted to watch on the amazing holographic projectors.
Hiroko... shook her head. Such excessive, nearly decadent fineries... and not a word about why they deserved this but the rest of the crew didn't. She... she just sat on the bed for a minute, took a deep breath and left, waiting in the halls for the others to finish checking things.
Sakaki was pleasantly surprised herself, her wide eyes looking at the innards of the gigantic room. Is... this really our room? she wondered, as she only had her starship room to compare to, which did not seem even fair. While Masako was running around the room, Sakaki was attracted to a wall panel and began to play with the settings, starting from simple things to turning on the video feed, which viewed the standard news broadcast as it was generally reset to when guests left the hotel.
Rin was certainly impressed by the attention to detail and the amenities offered... and for a moment it felt as if she had walked in the door of the suite of someone of much higher rank should be deserving of, or perhaps she had suddenly received the promotion she had dreamed of for just this short weekend? Of course she knew this wasn't the case–but for someone so used to settling with the Spartan lifestyle of a Star Army member, seeing the bed really did seem like Rin had stepped into heaven and her surprise was hard to contain. "Amazing," was about all that escaped her lips, as the cloudy bed seemed very tempting to fall asleep on suddenly and forget her troubles.
Masako would slow herself down and took a deep breath to kind of reset her own excited inner monologue. She'd set her bag on the closest bed, it didn't really matter which to her. Half-turning, she caught Sakaki playing with the controls in the wall panel and then turned her glance up to the video feed displaying the news, watching for a moment. She'd visually seem to regain her composure and walked over next to Sakaki. "I think we lucked out with the double room like this, Sakaki," Masako said and thought for a moment. Masako wanted to give her a few moments to settle in before leaving. "We probably shouldn't keep Hiroko waiting to long now."
Sakaki nodded as the Neko shut off the video feed, as she turned to get something out of her packs while she began to undress from her military dress. "I agree, Masako." She then removed her civilian clothing she had before she headed to boot camp from her pack and dressed. Her black, sleeveless shirt and blue pants were really all she had bought herself, not wanting anything from her past other than the kimono and a pair of old pair of shoes. Then, she did a last check on her hair, stowed away her belongings by the unclaimed bed, and was then ready to go.
Kuriko walked into her room and looked around in awe. The first thing the Heisho did once she had recovered her senses was run to the center of the room and jump into the bed. Kuriko was pleased to find that the bed was super soft and cushy. Kuriko breathed deeply and released a content sigh. This is amazing, I wonder if civilians do this frequently, Kuriko thought before leafing through the list of amenities that she had requested. As expected, the list was quite large and full of unexpected items. Board games, spas, TV, cafe, restaurant, pool, onsen, dojo, and a forest, Kuriko read each item mentally before deciding which would be more fun. Hmm, the pool and the forest might be the most fun, though board games sounds tempting too, Kuriko thought as she snuggled her pillow. If I stay here I'm going to fall asleep. Kuriko stood up and began to head out the room. Might as well be early, it couldn't hurt anything, she thought as she stepped out the door.
Resisting the lure of fluffy nirvana, Rin instead briefly occupied herself with getting the feel of adjusting the room's climate and accent lighting, creating what seemed like a cool autumn day in a subdued study. The projectors fired up a relatively vapid series of information channels about the goings on of the Empire, though Hoshitomo-hei left them on audio-only for now, allowing them to drone on in the background as she treated herself to the luxurious bathrooms with what short amount of time was available to prepare.
Briefly thinking of something, Hiroko snuck back into her room for a second and unpacked some clothes: a medium blue summer dress, cotton-silken and somewhat close to her form up top, but opening up to a long, flowing dress skirt that went to about her ankles. The dress was also adorned with some simple wave motifs.
Masako turned away for a moment to give Sakaki the moment of privacy but was discreetly watching her from the corner of her eye. Sakaki-san is really pretty in that classical, almost elegant way... I think she's got even more beauty than I do... she's got natural beauty and mine's artificial... she thought and shook it off and noticed she was ready to go. "I must say Sakaki, you are really pretty. Even more so than me even," she said and went to remove her jacket and tossed it onto her bed easily before heading for the door and opened it for her. Allowing Sakaki to go through before she did, but when they were out in the hallway she blinked and looked for Hiroko. "Mmm?"
And Hiroko tilted her head. "...Mm? 'Mmm' what?" She seemed to have a confused expression on her face, as if to say 'I don't comprehend how you can sound questioning right now.' Admittedly, the both of them were well-dressed. Well, Sakaki was. Masako just had the 'classic buxom' look going, which Hiroko obviously didn't think was all that fashionable.
When Rin reappeared in the hallway to meet her companions, it seemed to be a very different power armor pilot that was standing there without the form-fitting uniform on. The young woman had apparently chosen a sporty and flattering woven white top and matching blue pants along with mid-length brown boots to wear for this more casual mission. However, the most eye-catching aspect of her attire was the slightly parted leather flight jacket she was wearing, adorned with a series of military patches her wingmates would find very familiar. It seemed even out of uniform, she simply had to show her pride in what they did–but the teal-haired soldier certainly made it look attractive, even if she was not particularly trying.
Masako shifted a bit in her halter top, looking slightly uncomfortable with how it seemed a bit tight. God, she needed better clothes than this, a member of the Pride Wing looking like a standard street whore was almost... shameful. "Wow Hiroko, you look pretty in that outfit," she said and smiled, despite blushing at the fact of how she looked herself in comparison. Her gaze caught onto Rin in turn as well. "Boy, I feel like the odd one out here... All of you look so good, and I just look like some tramp," Masako said, actually sounding momentarily down on herself. Her repressed inferiority complex showed just a little as she compared herself to her friends around her. She still had the leather halter top with an almost risqué dip in the neckline, military fatigue pants with combat boots, along with a heavy belt with the gun and saber still affixed upon it. "Well, let's go," she said and gestured to all three to lead them to the lobby. "We'll need to get some kind of transportation though."
Sakaki gave a slight bow. "Thank you for the compliment, Masako," she replied and followed Masako out the door. The Neko gave Hiroko a pleasant bow in greeting, her left hand falling in its comfortable spot on her dangling katana's hilt out of habit. Then Sakaki bowed to Rin who made her appearance, who was probably joining their party, increasing it to four.
Hiroko bowed and smiled–actually smiled. She was somewhat surprised at the compliment. "...Thanks. I didn't think you'd find me to be pretty." She seemed to even be blushing slightly!
Rin slipped a little data pad into her inside breast pocket, its contents a bit of a mystery, before she turned and faced Masako and her little coterie. "The way we dress can say a lot about someone... but to be truthful, I really don't have many outfits out of uniform. But thank you for the compliment." There was a brief smile, then a questioning look in her blue eyes. 'Now, just where are you running off to?" Rin also gave an approving nod to Sakaki and Hiroko, and a slightly playful tone to her voice. "Quite an interesting dinner party you're going to bring home, here..."
Kuriko wandered to the meeting area. It had taken the Neko a little longer than she thought it would, after getting lost a few times as well as walking slowly just to soak all of it in. This really is heaven, Kuriko thought before finally getting where she was headed. Unlike the rest of the Pride Wing, Kuriko was still in her uniform. Kuriko quietly approached the group and decided to listen in on their conversations, not really sure what to talk about herself.
Alright, that settles that. Hara said with finality, tossing his notebook to the side. With the money he earned so far he could probably get the best iP3 player money could buy, some new clothes, and still have some to send home. He grinned to himself as he headed to the bathroom for a relaxing bath. What he couldn't shake was the news he had seen while he was writing. He had no idea what the 'Oppurtunists Social Club' was, besides their ties to the Freespacers. The topic was something he couldn't easily forget; thus he would be sure to bring it up the next time he saw Kuriko.
Meanwhile, Hiroko nodded, trying not to seem too imposing. "Well, it's good that your family is more... accepting. I hope I don't accidentally offend them or anything."
Rin then blinked for a moment as she glanced the Heisho's way. "Kuriko," began she, trying to get comfortable saying the name so easily, "Are you sure you don't wish to change before we head out?"
Masako caught the look in Rin's eye and paused, she should explain it to where they were going. "Well I was going to go home and visit my family, but you're all my friends... so I'm inviting you to come with us," she said to Rin. "And don’t worry about imposing; my mom and dad are really lax about guests," Masako explained and glanced to Kuriko and waved her over. "Hey Kuriko! You can come too!" she smiled, feeling happy about the coincidence going on.
Sakaki remained silent watching the party of two become five. Though she wondered what kind of family Masako had, as it sounds like to her a rich royalty kind of family, nothing like she had experienced for sure.
Kuriko was rather surprised by the sudden invitation. Taking one person home would be fine... but all of us? Kuriko wasn't quite sure if Masako's parents really would be okay with that, but she decided not to argue. "Arigatou, Masako," Kuriko responded to Masako's offer before answering Rin's question telepathically. "Actually, I don't have any other clothes than these. It'll be fine though, I've been intending to go shopping and this break is a good opportunity to finally do it," Kuriko responded.
Masako looked on them with glee and would lead them out to procure another hotel provided limo, surprisingly. Once the party was inside it, the driver would set off back for Kyoto in the directions Masako gave to get there, or at least close.
Nodding, Kuriko's message was pinged back mentally by Rin. "Sounds good. I'm sure between all of us there's some decent fashion tips to be had?" This was certainly different! Rin was obviously attempting to talk about clothes a little, and keep the mood light between them. The serious business of war had another time and place, and this was not it.
END
The crew of the Senbu was spread all over the Yamataian home world, enjoying their vacations for the time being. But none were in a place as lavish as the Pride Wing Squadron, who at this point, were sitting around a feast of exquisite wonders and expensive wines, enjoying themselves in the traditional paradise of the Tengoku Resort.
It had been a nice welcoming party, and now the group was free to do as they wished. Kuriko was handed a set of cardkeys– there were enough for the entire crew except one, which meant that someone was going to have to share a room. It wouldn't be such a difficult feat because the last room had two massive beds and plenty of suite for two to share. They were given no rush to go to the hotel accommodations, as they could enjoy a party to themselves after the meal. There was music in the background, but other than that, the crew was left alone to their own devices.
Hara raised a fist to his mouth as he stifled a burp. "Excuse me," he quickly apologized. The entire thing seemed a bit too much for a few soldiers, but he was grateful nonetheless. He was itching to go about on his own at this point, but hanging around here for a while longer wouldn't hurt.
Kuriko looked at the small group of Pride Wing members. "Saa, it looks like we have some free-time. Let's get into our rooms first though..." Kuriko paused for a second. "Ano, is there anyone who wants to share a room?" Kuriko asked as she flashed the card keys. Kuriko wasn't sure if she wanted to share a room or not. Part of her enjoyed the solace that she had grown used to aboard the Senbu, but another part of her wanted to grow closer to her crewmates.
Hiroko was calmly eating her noodles all the while, and it was about when she finished them that she heard Kuriko talk... and she turned a head at the comment about having to share a room. "...I'll wait for someone else to offer."
Hara frowned at the following silence. Weren't all the girls buddy-buddy with each other? He assumed they would have jumped at the chance to share a room with each other. Ah well.
"I will take it," stated Sakaki while sipping on some tea in a matter of fact tone. From what she knew of right now, Masako had plans to drag her away someplace anyway, meaning the room might be empty some of the time. Though from her composure, it was obvious she didn't really care too much. The only problem was how to keep her secret stuff from being revealed.
Masako would blink at the error and yawned some, stretching some and blinked over at Sakaki. Her plan to drag her out and about was her method to help the samurai-ish girl open up some. This whole situation still seemed to be rather… unnecessary. Seriously, what'd they done to deserve this? These kinds of things were the way governments and military organizations showed their appreciation when promotions and medals didn't suffice. "Well if that's settled, I'm going to check out my room. Gimme a keycard there Kuriko, I was going to volunteer but Sakaki there beat me to it," she laughed a bit. "But I'll share the room with her," she amended with a grin.
Sakaki nodded her approval and marshaled an attack on the good food and tea. She was fine with this, considering Masako as a sister-like figure.
Hiroko tilted her head slightly, not remembering that they were pretty close. She had almost considered taking the room with Sakaki, since they seemed to end up together in battle a lot... But no. A mystery was left, instead.
Kuriko nodded and passed out the room keys to everyone, keeping one for herself. "Saa, let's go to our rooms. After you get checked in you're free to do whatever you'd like, but maybe we could do something as a group," Kuriko suggested.
Masako accepted the cardkey and nodded and looked around for a second. "What did you have in mind?" she asked Kuriko. "I'm going back into town with Sakaki to go see my family and do some shopping…" she said, informing her of plans. "But I'll have a communicator on me if you need to get in contact."
Hiroko nodded. "I have no such plans, so I'm kind of curious there too. What would we even do?"
Though she had been a bit understandably paranoid as they left the spaceport, Rin had become noticeably quiet on the ride over and even now accepted the room assignment keycard with a sort of calm detachment, nodding her thanks to the staff. Perhaps this was a sign the normally high-strung workaholic Hei really was starting to relax after all.
Kuriko bit her lip in thought. "I don't know really, we could visit the onsen. I wonder what other services are provided here," Kuriko said as she looked around. "Hmm, I need to do some shopping as well, but that can wait for a while. You're free to go, Masako, have fun!" Kuriko said with a giant smile. "Saa, since we won't all be here, let's plan the onsen for another time. Let's meet back up in the lobby in 20 minutes. I'll look into what other services are available during that time," Kuriko said. Kuriko telepathically queried the hotel's services listings for a list of available services that the group could do.
Rin bowed her head once to Kuriko, finally speaking after what seemed like ages. "That sounds like a plan. I'm sure their list of amenities and activities must be quite vast." Then there was a brief pause, as the taller Yamataian woman asked a question testingly towards her commander in a quiet tone of voice. "Heisho... since we are on vacation in a civilian setting… do you not mind if I refer to you in the familiar?"
"Of course not, Rin," Kuriko replied with a smile on her face. She asked to call me by my given name! Kuriko thought excitedly, on another level part of her annotated this moment into her logs for future reference and review. Such a simple question had added an immense amount of satisfaction to Kuriko's vacation.
Masako perked a brow at Rin and chuckled softly, smiling at her for a moment before walking up and over to Sakaki. "Let's go check out the room and see to it that our things are safe in there before we do anything, how's that sound to you?" she asked.
Meanwhile, Hiroko was just standing, waiting. Looking over them like a hawk surveying its domain. She wanted to leave and check her room, but she felt a sense of indecision here, still.
Sakaki nodded to Masako's idea and then finished her tea, then began to rise, holding her sword in her right hand in the middle of the sheath. Though she seemed to stop mid step and turned to Hiroko to ask, "Ishida-hei, I would like to speak with you on a later date if you do not mind." Ushimo Sakaki had wanted to spend time with the team's strategist for some time, though never had the time.
Hoshitomo-hei returned the smile, hers more of that usual controlled display of emotion. But her eyes told enough of the story, and she seemed a bit relieved. Though some others who were more casual might think nothing of it, for her to offer this was quite a big deal, and it seemed that the Heisho understood that her desire to try and relax here and encourage esprit de corps was being genuinely pursued by Rin. "Well, if you'll excuse me then, Kuriko, I think a moment to get my bearings is in order..."
And thus Hiroko had cause to raise her eyebrows, and glance over at Sakaki. ...That was almost a little too wish-fulfilling. Spooky. "...Ah... Sure. When, in particular?"
Masako looked at Hiroko and thought for a moment and grinned. "Hey why don't you come with us?" she asked with a smile. "It'll do us all some good. You don't have to but I thought I'd ask." She nodded and adjusted the fit of her saber on her hip. "We can all talk strategy on the way back."
"Okay then, see you guys later," Hara said as he headed off to his room. Once he got in and got his stuff set up, he pulled out a notepad and began to furiously write down a list of some sort.
And another turn of the head, this time at Masako. "...Me?" Hiroko asked, seeming a bit incredulous.
Masako nodded and waved to Hara for a moment before turning back to Hiroko. "Of course!" the busty blonde said with a happy smile. "I want to get to know both of you a little better," she said. "After all..." Masako said and poked Hiroko on the forehead gently and giggled, "Sakaki and I are the ones relying on your stratagems right? It'll help us all in the long run to be friendly and open with each other. We're family here right?" She glanced to Sakaki as if seeking her thoughts on that as well.
Hiroko instinctively recoiled at the poke, but blinked slightly, her eyebrows fluttering. She should... even if it didn't come naturally... "...I–I–I guess."
Sakaki had glanced over to Masako curiously, wondering what she had planned. When she glanced back, Sakaki nodded, "Um," then turned back to Hiroko. "The ‘Masako Plan’ sounds good."
Masako was being honest with them, she had nothing serious planned. Well, nothing illicit at least. "Hey now... I just want to show you two a fun time while we're here is all," she said. "Let's go see our rooms here first ok?" she asked and started off toward the door and paused to get her boots back on. "We don't want the concierge to sit there all day looking at them," she said and gestured for the other two to follow along. Yes, it was obvious she was excited, probably due the thrill of being home.
Hiroko twitched slightly, hoping this would go well. But at any rate... she nodded slowly, and scampered off to check her own room, for that matter.
Kuriko smiled before heading to her room to unpack her things, as well as to sit down and look at the list of things the group could do.
"Sayonara," Sakaki said as she headed to her own room, allowing Masako a head start. She held up her key in her left hand, praying her stuff came in ok.
As she made to depart for her room, the murmurings of a 'Masako Plan' forming did not escape Rin's attentions, as it seemed things were already spontaneously starting to fall into place. Though she had a few plans of her own to deal with privately, tagging along with the others was likely the most prudent way to approach this time off for the moment. But before that could happen, she had to get settled and unpack and, much like Kuriko, request a download of all the concierge's sponsored and featured events for later reference.
Masako and Sakaki would get their room down and registered before heading up to it. "Wow! This room is like a small house," Masako said in awe as she opened the door into the room and looked around. Yes, this room was absolutely enormous, with more than enough room to do whatever they wanted in it and not bump elbows. The blonde passed around the room in surprised awe and checked to see if they were blessed with a balcony as well.
The rooms were just as extravagant as the rest of the resort; each suite was luxuriously spacious and filled with traditional Yamataian decor. Each had their own grand bathroom and queen-sized bed which seemed like it could very well be a cloud from heaven. The rooms were colored with a softer Asian palette, of mostly natural colors. Of course, the room was controlled by a simple computer which would customize everything from the temperature and the lighting to what movie you wanted to watch on the amazing holographic projectors.
Hiroko... shook her head. Such excessive, nearly decadent fineries... and not a word about why they deserved this but the rest of the crew didn't. She... she just sat on the bed for a minute, took a deep breath and left, waiting in the halls for the others to finish checking things.
Sakaki was pleasantly surprised herself, her wide eyes looking at the innards of the gigantic room. Is... this really our room? she wondered, as she only had her starship room to compare to, which did not seem even fair. While Masako was running around the room, Sakaki was attracted to a wall panel and began to play with the settings, starting from simple things to turning on the video feed, which viewed the standard news broadcast as it was generally reset to when guests left the hotel.
Rin was certainly impressed by the attention to detail and the amenities offered... and for a moment it felt as if she had walked in the door of the suite of someone of much higher rank should be deserving of, or perhaps she had suddenly received the promotion she had dreamed of for just this short weekend? Of course she knew this wasn't the case–but for someone so used to settling with the Spartan lifestyle of a Star Army member, seeing the bed really did seem like Rin had stepped into heaven and her surprise was hard to contain. "Amazing," was about all that escaped her lips, as the cloudy bed seemed very tempting to fall asleep on suddenly and forget her troubles.
Masako would slow herself down and took a deep breath to kind of reset her own excited inner monologue. She'd set her bag on the closest bed, it didn't really matter which to her. Half-turning, she caught Sakaki playing with the controls in the wall panel and then turned her glance up to the video feed displaying the news, watching for a moment. She'd visually seem to regain her composure and walked over next to Sakaki. "I think we lucked out with the double room like this, Sakaki," Masako said and thought for a moment. Masako wanted to give her a few moments to settle in before leaving. "We probably shouldn't keep Hiroko waiting to long now."
Sakaki nodded as the Neko shut off the video feed, as she turned to get something out of her packs while she began to undress from her military dress. "I agree, Masako." She then removed her civilian clothing she had before she headed to boot camp from her pack and dressed. Her black, sleeveless shirt and blue pants were really all she had bought herself, not wanting anything from her past other than the kimono and a pair of old pair of shoes. Then, she did a last check on her hair, stowed away her belongings by the unclaimed bed, and was then ready to go.
Kuriko walked into her room and looked around in awe. The first thing the Heisho did once she had recovered her senses was run to the center of the room and jump into the bed. Kuriko was pleased to find that the bed was super soft and cushy. Kuriko breathed deeply and released a content sigh. This is amazing, I wonder if civilians do this frequently, Kuriko thought before leafing through the list of amenities that she had requested. As expected, the list was quite large and full of unexpected items. Board games, spas, TV, cafe, restaurant, pool, onsen, dojo, and a forest, Kuriko read each item mentally before deciding which would be more fun. Hmm, the pool and the forest might be the most fun, though board games sounds tempting too, Kuriko thought as she snuggled her pillow. If I stay here I'm going to fall asleep. Kuriko stood up and began to head out the room. Might as well be early, it couldn't hurt anything, she thought as she stepped out the door.
Resisting the lure of fluffy nirvana, Rin instead briefly occupied herself with getting the feel of adjusting the room's climate and accent lighting, creating what seemed like a cool autumn day in a subdued study. The projectors fired up a relatively vapid series of information channels about the goings on of the Empire, though Hoshitomo-hei left them on audio-only for now, allowing them to drone on in the background as she treated herself to the luxurious bathrooms with what short amount of time was available to prepare.
Briefly thinking of something, Hiroko snuck back into her room for a second and unpacked some clothes: a medium blue summer dress, cotton-silken and somewhat close to her form up top, but opening up to a long, flowing dress skirt that went to about her ankles. The dress was also adorned with some simple wave motifs.
Masako turned away for a moment to give Sakaki the moment of privacy but was discreetly watching her from the corner of her eye. Sakaki-san is really pretty in that classical, almost elegant way... I think she's got even more beauty than I do... she's got natural beauty and mine's artificial... she thought and shook it off and noticed she was ready to go. "I must say Sakaki, you are really pretty. Even more so than me even," she said and went to remove her jacket and tossed it onto her bed easily before heading for the door and opened it for her. Allowing Sakaki to go through before she did, but when they were out in the hallway she blinked and looked for Hiroko. "Mmm?"
And Hiroko tilted her head. "...Mm? 'Mmm' what?" She seemed to have a confused expression on her face, as if to say 'I don't comprehend how you can sound questioning right now.' Admittedly, the both of them were well-dressed. Well, Sakaki was. Masako just had the 'classic buxom' look going, which Hiroko obviously didn't think was all that fashionable.
When Rin reappeared in the hallway to meet her companions, it seemed to be a very different power armor pilot that was standing there without the form-fitting uniform on. The young woman had apparently chosen a sporty and flattering woven white top and matching blue pants along with mid-length brown boots to wear for this more casual mission. However, the most eye-catching aspect of her attire was the slightly parted leather flight jacket she was wearing, adorned with a series of military patches her wingmates would find very familiar. It seemed even out of uniform, she simply had to show her pride in what they did–but the teal-haired soldier certainly made it look attractive, even if she was not particularly trying.
Masako shifted a bit in her halter top, looking slightly uncomfortable with how it seemed a bit tight. God, she needed better clothes than this, a member of the Pride Wing looking like a standard street whore was almost... shameful. "Wow Hiroko, you look pretty in that outfit," she said and smiled, despite blushing at the fact of how she looked herself in comparison. Her gaze caught onto Rin in turn as well. "Boy, I feel like the odd one out here... All of you look so good, and I just look like some tramp," Masako said, actually sounding momentarily down on herself. Her repressed inferiority complex showed just a little as she compared herself to her friends around her. She still had the leather halter top with an almost risqué dip in the neckline, military fatigue pants with combat boots, along with a heavy belt with the gun and saber still affixed upon it. "Well, let's go," she said and gestured to all three to lead them to the lobby. "We'll need to get some kind of transportation though."
Sakaki gave a slight bow. "Thank you for the compliment, Masako," she replied and followed Masako out the door. The Neko gave Hiroko a pleasant bow in greeting, her left hand falling in its comfortable spot on her dangling katana's hilt out of habit. Then Sakaki bowed to Rin who made her appearance, who was probably joining their party, increasing it to four.
Hiroko bowed and smiled–actually smiled. She was somewhat surprised at the compliment. "...Thanks. I didn't think you'd find me to be pretty." She seemed to even be blushing slightly!
Rin slipped a little data pad into her inside breast pocket, its contents a bit of a mystery, before she turned and faced Masako and her little coterie. "The way we dress can say a lot about someone... but to be truthful, I really don't have many outfits out of uniform. But thank you for the compliment." There was a brief smile, then a questioning look in her blue eyes. 'Now, just where are you running off to?" Rin also gave an approving nod to Sakaki and Hiroko, and a slightly playful tone to her voice. "Quite an interesting dinner party you're going to bring home, here..."
Kuriko wandered to the meeting area. It had taken the Neko a little longer than she thought it would, after getting lost a few times as well as walking slowly just to soak all of it in. This really is heaven, Kuriko thought before finally getting where she was headed. Unlike the rest of the Pride Wing, Kuriko was still in her uniform. Kuriko quietly approached the group and decided to listen in on their conversations, not really sure what to talk about herself.
Alright, that settles that. Hara said with finality, tossing his notebook to the side. With the money he earned so far he could probably get the best iP3 player money could buy, some new clothes, and still have some to send home. He grinned to himself as he headed to the bathroom for a relaxing bath. What he couldn't shake was the news he had seen while he was writing. He had no idea what the 'Oppurtunists Social Club' was, besides their ties to the Freespacers. The topic was something he couldn't easily forget; thus he would be sure to bring it up the next time he saw Kuriko.
Meanwhile, Hiroko nodded, trying not to seem too imposing. "Well, it's good that your family is more... accepting. I hope I don't accidentally offend them or anything."
Rin then blinked for a moment as she glanced the Heisho's way. "Kuriko," began she, trying to get comfortable saying the name so easily, "Are you sure you don't wish to change before we head out?"
Masako caught the look in Rin's eye and paused, she should explain it to where they were going. "Well I was going to go home and visit my family, but you're all my friends... so I'm inviting you to come with us," she said to Rin. "And don’t worry about imposing; my mom and dad are really lax about guests," Masako explained and glanced to Kuriko and waved her over. "Hey Kuriko! You can come too!" she smiled, feeling happy about the coincidence going on.
Sakaki remained silent watching the party of two become five. Though she wondered what kind of family Masako had, as it sounds like to her a rich royalty kind of family, nothing like she had experienced for sure.
Kuriko was rather surprised by the sudden invitation. Taking one person home would be fine... but all of us? Kuriko wasn't quite sure if Masako's parents really would be okay with that, but she decided not to argue. "Arigatou, Masako," Kuriko responded to Masako's offer before answering Rin's question telepathically. "Actually, I don't have any other clothes than these. It'll be fine though, I've been intending to go shopping and this break is a good opportunity to finally do it," Kuriko responded.
Masako looked on them with glee and would lead them out to procure another hotel provided limo, surprisingly. Once the party was inside it, the driver would set off back for Kyoto in the directions Masako gave to get there, or at least close.
Nodding, Kuriko's message was pinged back mentally by Rin. "Sounds good. I'm sure between all of us there's some decent fashion tips to be had?" This was certainly different! Rin was obviously attempting to talk about clothes a little, and keep the mood light between them. The serious business of war had another time and place, and this was not it.
END
