Hanami Festival of YE 40

[Ametheliana]

"Eeto.... Sumimasen!" Majime looked between the officer and the NCO, who had remained quiet, then to Hanako to whom she angled her body towards, "Would you mind another interview, Ketsurui-shôshô? I am Ikigai Majime-taii, your potential interviewee."

 

[Wes]

Hanami Festival

"That would be alright," Hanako nodded. "It is good to meet you in person. I am searching for the right XO who can help manage my ship's crew and relieve some of the pressure off me as starship commander so I can better set goals and participate in missions without having to manage each crew member individually. In the past I have had issues with too many crew members trying to come at me for directions at the same time and I want to figure out a better way to run things where I do not have people waiting. I would like to be able to give orders for the task at hand and watch the crew seamlessly get it down with minimal further guidance, as a cohesive unit. What skills and exeriences do you have that would empower you to make this vision happen on the Eucharis?" Hanako asked Majime.

 

[Ametheliana]

"Receiving clear and direct orders from you and relaying them to your team," Majime said, "is something I can do. That is because I have done so for the captain of the YSS Courageous for many of my years. I don't hesitate to understand my captain's position in and out of combat, making sure in the process that the crew under me does, as well. I further believe I would be suited for this position due to my ability to work with only professionalism while issuing orders, which has resulted in teams of mine working harmoniously. I hope this answers your question." She folded her fur-lined and sleeved arms only slightly, so that her wrists were over one another and bowed to the Shôshô, "Thank you for considering me for this opportunity."

 

[Soban]

OOC: This character isn't officially created just yet, there are still some things I need to settle on.

William Fletcher approached Hanako's table with her book so that she could sign it. The tall human towered over almost everyone else. His skin was a very dark chocolate color. One might mistake it for pitch black if they were not looking closely enough. He was shaved bald and had intense black eyes. His outfit was appropriate, but not overly flamboyant. On his waist he wore the small device that would allow him to fly like a Neko if need be. Hanako was currently speaking to someone else, so he waited. He couldn't help but overhear their conversation about the need for a first officer on the Eucharis. //That would be a feat now wouldn't it?// He thought to himself.

He wanted to eventually command a ship of his own. He had a ship of his own for several minutes. He had been the ship's CMO, but had been on the bridge, tending to a fallen crew member when they had been hit again by Kuvexian fire. The official XO was already dead and the third officer was busy in engineering. The Captain of the ship was killed and he took command of the ship and proceeded to exploit a vital opening in the Kuvexian fire. This had been the turning point of the battle. As a result, he had been mentioned in dispatches. The result of the battle had left him between ships. However, the small taste of command had left him hungry for more.

Becoming the first officer, especially the first officer of arguably the most famous captain in the fleet who had their pick of anyone in the entire Army as their first officer, was so far out of reach as to be ludicrous. Despite having picked up real combat command experience, the best he could hope for would be the first officer on a small ship. However, a part of him wanted to try. Wanted to see if he could by some small miracle swing it. If not, then fine, he wasn't expected to succeed. But if he did, it would be an amazing experience.

So he waited for Hanako to finish speaking to the neko with his book in hand.

 

[Toshiro]

Hitohoshi's shot gave a little better luck than others had previously. Perhaps it was in part due to more recent training, or due to seeing the others, or perhaps dumb luck...but she struck a target and managed to make it spin. It wasn't the same target she was specifically aiming toward, but it was better than nothing. Yaichiro simply watched and smiled gently, glad that at least one of them had managed to humble the targets in some way.

"We have a winner! You get to select from one of the blue-tier prizes, or claim three more shots for free!" The Blue-tier prizes weren't the highest tier by any stretch...they consisted of paper masks of assorted soldiers, officers, politicians, cartoon characters, and other more generic images, some keychains, some communicator straps, a few paperweights, small packs of pens, and other assorted options.

 

[Kappatechy]

Hitohoshi blinks. She... actually won? Wow. That was unexpected. "Uh... well, I... don't think I want the extra shots, I'm pretty sure that would just end in failure anyway. So... let's see..." She looks over the prizes, trying to find one that looks appealing. It takes her quite some time to choose, though she's soon lowered it down to either a paper fox mask, or a keychain with some blue-haired anime girl on it. After much consideration, she decides to flip a coin... and declares that the fox mask is the prize she'll take.

 

[Miyako]

The Stalls

Not terribly far from the small party from the Sakura II a gaggle of soldiers and civilians were talking to a woman filling out a dark pink kimono that almost matched the added color to her black hair. Apparently a mask had not been enough to hide who she was for too long, and the garish depiction of a mythical oni only helped her get spotted after she was spotted before putting it on when en route to the festival. It had been quite some time since she had direct contact with anyone that followed her singing career, and the soundproofed cabin on the Sakura only allowed her to work on new songs. Thankfully she had enough time to work on a few tracks before going out to meet the rest of her crew, but had become a little trapped in the process.

A bright smile still came to her when she posed for a few more pictures. Over half of the people she met were former Peacekeepers or UOC civilians, some had returned to the Star Army after the reconciliation as she had, and it warmed her to know they were out enjoying the festival as much as she had.

The pink-eyed XO had put her hair into a long princess braid and decorated it with a Sakura blossom hair accessory. The fabric under the shell of her kimono was a softer, lighter pink that was closer to white, to help balance out colors, the shoes were not as hard to get used to as she had thought they might be, the festival was not the first time she wore more traditional clothing as appearances that did not warrant her uniform sometimes included them.

A gap in the little cluster opened when Miyako posed for one big picture, enough for her to recognize Yaichiro in the throngs of people. "Oh! That's my crew. I have to run, please look forward to the new singles! The rest of the album depends on where the Army takes me, and if I see any of you when we're deployed say hello." There was a few more hugs stolen before the recently promoted Chusa wandered up behind the distracted engineer-turned-captain and fluttered her fingertips through the back of his hair before hugging him from behind, "I gotcha!" Still wearing the mask to the right side of her face, she pursed her blossom painted lips and then released him, eyeing the other crew. "How are the games going?"

 

[META_mahn]

Kyoto, Yamatai

"Aaaaah, there's a lot more than I thought there would be...!" The redheaded woman sighed a little bit, her indeciseveness(?) slowing the two down. The little shelter they had entered had a series of transparent coolers, the hum of their refridgration systems softly filling the gaps of conversation that sometimes happened. Arranged exquisitely on display behind the windows of each were plates and plates of crepes, each one artfully designed and in batches of about ten.

"Which one do you like?" Antoni asked, browsing through all the colors of the rainbow in the little crepe stand. He found a handful -- a few normal ones like sweet tangerine, lemon-lime, strawberry -- and quite a few exotic ones: dragonfruit, starfruit, lychee, even a few red bean ones.

Arvillael hummed childishly, lightheartedly as she bent forwards a bit, her youthful face hovering just above the barrier. "Whhhaaat abouuuut... This one! Strawberry, I believe." Her finger directed to a pink-colored pastry.

"Safe bet?" Antoni asked his wife, gently petting her on the head and ruffling her soft hair. "I'll... try a more exotic one. Let's see about lychee, that sounds like an interesting one."

The couple bought their crepes. Antoni took a small bite out of his first, like an ice cream cone but the dough was still incredibly warm and crisp, and gooey as his mouth recognized the chocolate chips mixed in. The cold tang of the lychee-flavored ice cream mixed with the warmth, creating...a more than fine little snack.

The smaller senator hummed a little tune happily as she nibbled at her own crepe, the pastry disappearing slowly to her stomach. Holding her food in both hands, Arvillael walked next to her husband, almost following him in a way.

"I can safely assume you are still hungry." Antoni stated, as he slowly ate through his crepe. "Or, would you want to do something instead of eat something?"

Chuckling still, Arvillers joked, "I can manage for a while, but are you asking to do something?"

"Yeah, like...look around. Apparently Hanako's around today but she's mostly looking for more recruits for the Eucharis." Antoni replied.

"Well, I'm sure she's also willing to just talk to people. Let's head over and say hello, then!" As she spoke, the smaller senator tugged at her lover's sleeve towards the line leading to Hanako's stand.

"Welp, let's do this then." Antoni replied as he followed his wife.

 

[Toshiro]

Yaichiro was briefly surprised when he felt his hair being played with, and then felt weight on his back...two large, perky weights. When he heard the voice though, he knew who it was. He smiled lightly as his XO got off his back, and regarded the kimono-clad woman. She'd some a long way from the shy woman who wasn't accustomed to men that he'd met a decade ago. These changes weren't just reflected in her behavior, either. She'd changed her body, hair, and eyes over the years to reflect her evolving mindset and had literally grown in more ways than one. The way she filled out that kimono was something she couldn't have done a decade prior. From a timid rookie to a busty, confident, pop star officer. She wore that road in her very flesh.

"They're going well. Tsuki Hitohoshi-san, our new scientist, just won a small prize from the cork gun booth. The food is nice as well. I was also thinking of getting a wooden carving of the Sakura II's new refit from that booth there. They do commissioned work. I can always have one fabricated for my office, but hand-crafted work in and of itself is a nice commodity sometimes. Hitohoshi-san, this is Kotonoha Miyako. She's a Chusa and our Executive Officer." He didn't mention his interest in catching up with Hanako...it looked as if she might not get the free time required for such a thing though.

 

[Kappatechy]

Hitohoshi slides her new fox mask over her face before turning to Miyako. "W...well. Hello. Nice to meet you." She gives a polite bow. She feels as though she may have heard this woman's name somewhere before, but she can't place it. "So, uh... what brings you by?" She has no idea what she should talk about here, so she tries to ask something vague and general, in the hopes that Miyako will pick things up from there.

 

[Yoshiro Tanaka]

Deciding to leave the line and let people meet Hanako who had a reason to. He took his sibilings Sho and Aoi to get lunch. "So what do you guys want for lunch?" Aoi piped up "Bro-Bro can we get yakisoba?" She asked and Sho looked like he agreed. Smiling Arashi took them to the yakisoba stand. He ordered the yakisoba and they all sat down to eat.