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RP [Irim City] Homecoming

Kim

スター軍の司書
The Starliner left Virginia for Irim's City outside of Planet Yamatai carrying a single passenger. The Nekovalkyjra was wearing part of an old type 31 Field uniform, just the pants and boots with a white tank top. Her NSP was securely fastened to her right thigh in the regulation drop holster and the rest of her belongings, all military issue were inside the small duffel bag that rested at her feet. Koharu rested her head against the glass of the Starliner and watched the stars and the darkness of the void pass by in a matter of hours.

The two hour flight gave her a lot of time to think. Yui's messages were short but did not rule out any possibilities for her career or her relationship with the Nekovalkryja. She wondered why she had been running for so long. They had a single night together when she had turned over command of the YSS Yui and then another night when she appeared before Yui at the Palace, years later as an incomplete back-up of who she once was.

She looked at the person that stared back at her in the window's reflection. Familiar red eyes and teal and brown hair framed her face. She had given up on cutting her hair and it hung past her shoulders to the middle of her back now in soft waves. She did and did not recognize the Nekovalkryja staring back at her. There had once been more softness to her body but the hard work on Virginia had given her a lean muscular build.

She thought back to when she had become Koharu. The world had changed while she was gone, a proverbial ghost on her ship. The nation mourned her loss and was renamed after her. Chiharu had a religion built around her and was worship. And a partially restored Chiharu couldn't be Ketsurui Chiharu any more. She had to become someone else to keep from ruining the perception of who Ketsurui Chiharu was.

As Koharu she did many things but she hadn't tried to stay with Yui, she was afraid of not living up to the memory of herself. It had been 10 years and it was time to go home. She didn't know what to expect when she reached Irim's City, all she could do was wait.

Two hours later, the Starliner made its approach and docked with the Iori Fortress outside of Planet Yamatai. Koharu heard the announcement and grabbed her duffel bag and walked to the airlock to the fortress proper.

@Wes
 
Koharu shouldered her duffel bag and exited the Starliner. The green and blues of the planet she had been on had been replaced with smooth, cool Zesuaium. The docking bay was mostly deserted. She listened to the fall of her boots upon the deckplate bounce and echo across the open room. She sighed and thought about calling Yui again. She almost had the communicator in her hand when looked down at her clothing. The dust of Virginia clung to her boots and field uniform pants.

She frowned. The nekovalkyrja had no idea how she wanted to present herself to her old friend and Taisho but she decided that fresh from the field would be the least appropriate thing. Her red eyes scanned the hatch leading into the station proper, hoping, perhaps, that someone would be there to meet her.
 
Of course, there was no one. Koharu had not told anyone of when she was going to arrive. She was torn between changing and calling and decided to call just outside the doors of the hangar. "Yui-san, I'm here. When are you free to meet up?"

@Wes
 
"I can meet you in twenty minutes. Are you hungry?" Yui replied. "Have you ever been to a cosplay cafe?"
 
Koharu smiled at the sound of her friend's voice, "I could use a bite... I don't believe I've been to one but it sounds like it might be fun. I can definitely meet you there."
 
Koharu had stopped along the wall of the Iori Star Fortress's hallway with her communicator in hand when she finally reached Yui. Her bare shoulder brushed against the cool grey bulkhead as she finally heard the woman's voice for the first time in 4 years. She never had a heartbeat in her previous life but she felt it now, tightening at the sound. Her crimson eyes closed as she had the short conversation and only opened again when the conversation had ended.

They were going to meet at a cosplay cafe of all places. She tucked the communicator back into her pants pocket again. She glanced at her reflection in the glossy black surface and felt incredibly self-conscious at her road weary appearance. The old souled nekovalkryja quickly located one of the clothing shops and a locker room to prepare for her date with the most powerful nekovalkryja in the galaxy.

Later...

The nekovalkryja solider stood outside the entrance of the cosplay cafe. She was uncertain of the neon lights and the thumping bubblegum pop music. The neon pink heart on the sign beat in time to the music. It was bright enough in the station passageway to not throw strange colors onto her lightly tanned skin but she felt out of place in her new dress after spending the past 4 years in either power armor or the Type 31 field uniform.

The employees at the clothing store had been insistent on dressing her and made their disapproval of her dusty and worn uniform quite plain. And so there she stood wearing a short spaghetti strapped red dress that was gathered at the bodice and flowed to the middle of her thighs. Her combat boots had quickly been replaced with a pair of tall nude colored peeptoed heels. Only her white gunbelt remained of her uniform across her waist. She had spent most of her life armed and was not willing to part with her service pistol. They had convinced her, to switch her communicator out for the more fashionable Multi-function bracelet that was designed by her good friend, Yuriko.

Her hair had grown longer and the teal of her bangs had become less prominent, and intermingled around the edges of hair at the tips by her face. The shopgirls, ever helpful, had fussed at her hair with a kind of magic until it flowed silky in cascading waves to the middle of her back with two twisted and pinned strands behind her brown furred ears to keep her from messing her hair by worrying stray strands back.

She felt like a different woman standing in front of the restaurant but, it was still strange. She stared down at her hands with the five digits and nails. She was a different woman and she hoped that Yui wouldn't be disappointed in who she had become in the shadow of her former self.

@Wes
 
Koharu's curiosity and nervousness finally drew her into the cafe. Gold chandeliers with delicately cut heart and kikyo shaped crystal cast sparkling lights across the large two story dining room. Her crimson eyes grew wide as she saw the spacious lobby with its glossy black marble floors, mahogany wood paneling but most of all, the life sized golden statue of Chiharu that stood smiling beside a black marble tiered fountain. She was horrified but drawn across the floor with a light clattering of heels against marble tile.

The hostess saw Koharu and froze in place, unsure of what to say.

Koharu stared at the statue, the details were too perfect. The statue was in the bodysuit uniform and she was in the NH-X body configuration. The Taisho rank pin was intricately detailed, she ran her fingertips over the First Expeditionary fleet Taisho pin just to make sure it was a part of the statue and not the real thing. Her eyes moved up to the face of the statue and met her own eyes. She saw her current face reflected in the reflection of the living testament of who she had been. She placed her hand against the cool smooth cheek of the statue. It was surreal for her.

This is how they see me. How can I ever live up to this? Her heart was in her throat. She was suddenly terrified of this date. Will she want me when I was... this? I've been hiding from her, from myself for years. I've been afraid of what would happen if I let myself become Chiharu again. Maybe... it's time? She chewed on her lower lip as she let her hand fall away. Did anyone really know how much pain I was in? How much I was hurting? I never talked about it with anyone so how could I have every expected them too? I shut them out... anyone that tried to get close. Josef, Yuriko... Yui... I need to change. I want to change. She finally looked away, sitting down on the edge of the fountain, her expression thoughtful.

@Wes
 
Yui lightly tapped on Koharu's shoulder. "I see you beat me here," she said, waiting for Koharu to return. "I thought we might see for ourselves what this place is like." She turned to the hostess. "A table for two, please."

The waitress bowed deeply to the Taisho. The deep pink ruffles of her apron over the pink and white Type 23 skirt uniform crinkled audibly in the soldiers' sensitive ears. "Of course, Ketsurui-Taisho." She rose from her bow, bright blue eyes shining as she grabbed two pink datapads from her white station., and pushed a strand of platinum white hair behind her ear. "When you ladies are ready."

Koharu rose and smiled shyly at Yui. "This looks interesting. Who started this? I guess this cafe is about your ship?" She gave Yui a warm hug.

"No idea," Yui said, returning the hug with gusto. "I don't object to a little hero worship or patriotism for the Star Army of Yamatai." She followed the waitress.

The waitress led the nekovalkryja across the black marble up the elaborate mahogany and marble stairwell. There was a large painting set against the wall at the top of the stairwell in a golden frame of the original YSS Ketsurui Chiharu. The waitress's heels clicked softly against the smooth floor as she led them towards a more private table on the balcony over looking the fountain. It was a heart shaped table made of a glossy deep redwood alongside two plush black leather Type 35 starship chairs.

Koharu's own heels clicked as she followed after the waitress. Her crimson eyes sweeping across the elaborate decor and the crystal chandeliers. "This place is modeled after the Chiharu-class, I guess? I don't recall having been on one recently. How has your day been so far, Yui-san?"

"I spent the morning reviewing intelligence reports on the Kuvexians, and I feel like I haven't learned anything I didn't already know. It isn't easy to spy on a civilization that is so far away from our own. So...tedious. What did you want to talk about?" Yui asked.

The waitress gestured to the table. "Please have a seat, what may I bring you to drink to start?"

Koharu slid into one of the chairs and smiled politely to the waitress, "Just tea for me please." Her eyes returned to Yui. "I was trying to decide where to go from here, professionally. I've remained on Virginia but I was a police officer on Jiyuu before the war. I wasn't sure if I should try to do something else or keep moving forward. I've been thinking about the legacy." She gestured to the cafe around them.

"Tea, please," Yui nodded. She waited until the waitress left before she continued.

The waitress bowed again, setting the datapads in front of them before she hurried off to give the officers their privacy.

"If you want my opinion, sooner or later this war is going to get really ugly and if you want to be able to make the most difference in it you'll want to position yourself in a place that allows you to do so. For me, that is the Star Army of Yamatai. For you, you will have to decide where that is for yourself. But whatever you do, I encourage you to face the future head-on and not run or hide. In short, be bold."

"I was thinking about it and about who I was. I was considering putting in a bid for Imperial Premier. I don't think I can continue in the Star Army if I go for that particular seat," Koharu said softly. "Otherwise, unless I go for command of a new ship, I'm just going to stagnate. I want to keep fighting alongside you if I can. What do you think?"

"Oh. Wow! Thinking big, I see! If you are going to do it, you need to be fully committed."
 
Koharu nodded and nervously pushed a teal tipped strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. "I am willing to commit to the task. My entire life has been in service to the people of the Empire." Her finger tapped her lips for a moment before she continued. "I've seen everything that you've done since I died. And I can't help but to feel intimidated by the shadow of who I was. Yui, I'm sorry, for everything. I should have come back sooner so you wouldn't have to be alone. I left because I was scared of not being able to compete with my own memory..."

The waitress reappeared and hastily placed the tray with the steaming black and gold teapost and the matching tea cups on the table. She offered them a smile and sensed that she was interupting and that she needed to give them more time. She poured their tea and quickly departed again. Leaving them to add sugar, honey, or milk as they desired.

"Would I have your support, if I did this and reclaimed my true name?" Chiharu asked once the waitress had gone.
 
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