RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 20] Strangers (Essai Dreamworld)

Cabin #4

Not long after she laid her head down and closed her eyes, Misato was asleep. She didn't know how long it was but she found herself back on the last planet in her MINDY. Rippers standing above her laughing, large toothy smiles and long tongues seemed to be added to their helmets. In a weird flash she saw the through what seemed to be second eyes, her cabin-mate being dragged off by another set of Rippers. With a scream she activated her teleportation device popping her closer to Mitsuko, But it seemed that the Rippers had dragged Mitsuko further away.

Misato started running towards her firing her rifle. Each squeeze of the trigger took all her strength, it was like some one put huge springs behind it. When she was able to fire the blast would hit the Ripper but it wouldn't do a single thing. She was thrashing about in her sleep, She gained no ground on the Rippers or Mitsuko. Screaming in rage she fired her teleport again. And again no closer. her rifle was starting to feel heavy and her MINDY sluggish. She had no idea what was going on, but she was pushing as hard as she could to reach her love.

Her asleep body was tossing and turning by now. quiet moans and grunts emanated from her. Her dream kept moving forward, in complete illogical-logical fashion, one moment she was running ahead towards her bunk-mate, wearing her power armor and carrying her weapon, next she was running naked, weaponless. Not only that but now she was running across the frozen planet. A frozen planet with palm trees and a sandy ground. Without blinking Suzume took it all in stride like on in a dream would, raising her hands to bear the no existent rifle on the Rippers, who now were standing there with out Mitsuko, but were there watching her. She found herself standing there shivering from fear.

One of the Rippers stepped forward and spoke, "Why do you hunt us... why do you want to hurt us..." The blue haired neko stood there lost for words.

With a scream Misato woke With a scream. It took a few moments before she realized where she was. Rolling over she grabbed a hold of Mitsuko. It was then The announcement came through the comms. She knew that she had to get off the ship and go investigate.

"Love, wake up we got to get going, I'm going to take Bors and go investigating this planet. I have to do something other then sitting in the PA bay."

Cabin 2

Natsumi had fallen asleep, but she did not sleep soundly. She dreamed, or at least it felt like she dreamed. It was as if her mind was going back over what she had done, though with a distorted bend to everything. Not all was right, just felt...off...it was more a nightmare, the Eucharis, dark, distorted, something not right.

The events in Urtullan with Gravedigger came into her mind, she could feel his hatred and malice towards her as her mind replayed the final battle with him, but this time it was not right too, horrifyingly not right. He killed Bors, driving his long knife into her roommate repeatedly before she could get to them and deliver the fatal blow she knew she had. She screamed, seeing Bors double over and roll aside, bleeding out, then there was a bright flash as Gravedigger withdrew the blade from her friend and lobbed it at her. She could feel the impact as it cut through her AMES suit and into her chest, piercing a lung and her heart. She clutched at the weapon protruding from her, her vision getting more distorted, darker, everything becoming muffled except the sharp searing pain and the sound of Gravedigger's laughter in her ears.

Then the young Neko's red eyes snapped open and she screamed, grabbing at her chest. There was no knife protruding from it, her bed was a crumpled mess and the cabin was still dark. Breathing hard she fumbled for her bunk's small lamp and switched it on. She was dripping with sweat and felt like she had just had the wind knocked out of her.

What the hell kind of nightmare was that?! She had never had one so vivid or disturbing before and thanks to her digital brain she remembered every single instant of it.

"Sorry, Bors" She muttered, hoping she had not woken him with her outburst, then she rolled out of her bunk and grabbed a fresh uniform and underwear and headed out to the showers, she needed to clean up and might as well get herself ready for the day, she was not going to get any more sleep.

Stepping into the shower, she stripped out of her exercise outfit, putting it away to be cleaned, then turned on the hot water, letting it run a long while as she just stood under the faucet. She let the water wash away the sweat and bad dream and sooth her tense muscles.

Once she was finally done, Natsumi dried off with a fluffy towel and dressed. She took extra care to make sure everything was perfect. If Ramiro was gone someone was going to have to fill his shoes and that someone had to be her, since there were no other junior operators aboard the Eucharis.

When she had left her cabin she had taken her newest most pristine type-35 duty uniform and now put it on, checked to make sure there was not a fold or crease out of place, not a speck of dust. She checked her shoes, using her towel to touch up the polish, making sure they shined brightly and near mirror like, then finished dressing. Dressed, Natsumi braided her hair and finished it off with a ribbon. She could have easily passed with flying colors for any official review when she finally stepped into the wardroom just after Hanako made her announcement.

Stepping in just after Chieko, Natsumi bowed deeply to Hanako. "Good morning, Shosho" she said respectfully, then excused herself to get some breakfast from the buffet.

Cabin 4

Mitsuko squirmed in close against Misato. She'd been worried the small bunk would feel crowded, that this would be uncomfortable. But, once they were there, it felt right. Warm, cozy, safe. She had to wind her hand around that weird tail Suzume had to keep it from wriggling against her, but that was her only complaint. Until her roommate began squirming and crying out.

Eventually this woke Mitsuko up. She groaned, rubbing at her eyes, no light in the dark room to make them glow. "Misato, what's..." She didn't get any further, as the other Neko screamed, latching onto her. Murakami could only squeal in shock at the sudden outburst, squeezing that tail tighter. She was panting as the announcement came, her eyes wide. "W-well it sounds like we don't get breakfast unless we volunteer, so that decision has already been made for us."

She finally released Misato's tail as the two tumbled out of bed, switching on the lights. "Did you have a bad dream...?"

Cabin #4

Misato rolled out of the bunk, "Yeah I did...I was fighting some Rippers..." She really didn't want to explain the whole situation. She stopped and turned on Mitsuko giving her a tight hug, "You don't have to go... I'm sure they could use you aboard with getting thing to trade here on this planet, set up and ready to go... as much as I don't wan to leave you, I don't want you to leave the safety of the ship."

She gave the little mousy neko a good squeezes before she went back to getting dressed for the day. Once dressed she sat down in the chair with the add-ons to her NSP and started putting it all together, the rails and scope would would help her aim a bit, and the triple powered-magazine would keep her in the fight longer. Once that was all put together she slide it into her low slung holster and grabbed her leather jacket, she figured it might help her not look completely militaristic when she left the ship. She grabbed her muti-function braclet and strapped it on, making sure ti was on snugly.

Kale was not particularly lucid but he was still dozing in the lounge when Hanako's message resounded through the ship. It had been a long night trying to keep himself awake. He had probably severely overdosed on caffeine as well.

With about as much grace as a zombie he made his way to the wardroom.

"Morning everyone" he braced saluting the captain "Namach-Hei reporting for duty Shosho."

Sienna's head spun, her vision bleary and dancing in erratic circles as she groggily tried to make sense of the blurry, swirling images in her field of view. Her body was limp and numb, with barely enough sensation to make her aware that she hung by the crooks of her elbows and a dull pain nagged at her shoulders and the back of her head and neck. She felt her shins and knees sliding uncomfortably along on the ground.

The painful burden of lifting her head to look up was almost enough to make her pass out. She looked to either side, seeing the brutish, almost inhuman-looking meaty hands brusquely holding her up by her arms, dragging her carelessly along. Ahead of her stretched a dark stone hallway peppered on each wall at equidistant positions with rusted metal doors. Old, neglected-looking bare light bulbs hung at even intervals, many of them burnt out, providing just enough scant light in the corridor to make it something other than pitch black, revealing the depressing, decaying stone, metal, and puddles of dank water. The stench of mold and rot permeated the air, and the only sounds were that of dripping water and an ominous, otherworldly shuffling from a source Sienna could not identify.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she was too weak to do more than relax her jaw. Her head slumped forward again, a low moan was all she could manage.

Jacob... where was Jacob?

The unseen brutes dragging her made no attempt to talk to her or to each other, only shuffled along in an arrhythmic gait, yet keeping a constant pace. They came to one of the metal doors, indistiguishable from all the other dilapidated and decaying portals, and threw it open. Sienna gritted her teeth, grimacing as the horrible sound of metal grinding on rusted metal echoed through the dungeon.

Almost as quickly as it finally subsided, a pang of dull pain wracked her body, and she found herself slumped in a simple, uncomfortable chair. She felt damp leather straps being secured around her wrists and ankles, tying her firmly to the seat. She struggled to lift her head up again, noting the cold, square room in which she now sat, a single yellow-brown light bulb feebly casting its weak light on the moldy stone walls that were spattered with old, dried blood. Stagnant, stinking puddles of condensation and an assortment of other foul liquids collected on the floor. The lumbering, shadowy forms of the two figures who had dragged her here ambled toward the only door, vanishing around the corner.

She winced and groaned in pain as the horrible grating sound of the door grinding closed rang out through the stone. A loud, banging slam of metal on metal. A fading echo.

Where was her brother?

She sat there alone and restrained, too weak to struggle, too weak to move. She tried several times to call out, but her body would not cooperate. A primal, animal fear was slowly taking hold deep within her, but she could not express it. She could barely breathe.

The low, muffling shuffling noise slowly started to become a soft scraping sound, like something slowly scratching a stone surface somewhere behind the walls, scraping, grating.

It seemed she had been sitting there for hours.

She had to find Jacob.

Her chest tightened and her stomach turned, her eardrums screaming in protest against the deafening sound of the door grinding open again.

Two shadowy figures entered, one of them holding a jar. They shuffled towards her with an unnatural limp, ominously, slowly.

Her eyes slowly widened in primitive terror as she saw what the jar contained. She struggled to fight against her bonds, but she could barely move. She tried to scream, but no sound came.

The second figure reached forward and clamped her jaw between its thick, filthy, calloused fingers. She struggled to turn her head or pull away, but she wasn't able. Her eyes got even wider as she saw the first figure open the container and move towards her.

Silently she screamed in agony as the Mishhuvurthyar worm shot forth and slammed into her throat, voraciously burrowing into her trachea.


Lounge

"Jacob...!" Sienna whispered sharply in a quick, near-silent gasp as she snapped awake, sitting bolt upright, some of her hair in her face and over her eyes. She looked around wide-eyed, her breath ragged, sweat beading on her clammy skin, her clothes slightly twisted and clinging to her. The features of the lounge aboard the Eucharis began to take form, her mind slowly starting to recognize where she was.

She was propped up on her hands in one of the booths, one of her legs kicked out in front of her on the long seat with a bent knee, the other hanging off onto the floor. A coffee cup lay on its side on the table next to her, and from the way the liquid was still running from it, it looked like it was a fresh spill. She must have knocked it over when she'd awoken with such a start.

She heard the last part of the announcement echoing through the intercom, calling everyone to the wardroom. Drawing a deep breath through her nose, she closed her eyes and placed one of her palms against her cheek and forehead, forcing herself to calm down. A dream... just a dream... she told herself over and over.

She'd had nightmares before, but they had never been anything like that. She wasn't sure which part of it concerned her more, the fact that it was so vivid, or that she suspected that it had something to do with being among this civilization that evidently viewed dreams as a cash crop. She had made her best effort to stay awake with the others, even after everyone had seemingly given up and retired for the night, she'd remained awake. She was confident that because she'd gotten more rest than everyone else that she could hang in there longer, at least long enough for Hanako to decide to put some distance between them. It obviously hadn't worked, but the funny thing was that she didn't remember getting tired or dozing off.

She brushed her hair out of her face and sat up the rest of the way, straightening her shirt and adjusting her belt where it was digging into her. She let out another long, calming sigh as she rubbed her temples and blinked a few times, clearing away the sleep. Standing, she decided to join the others in the wardroom. She didn't intend to say anything, but she wanted to know if anyone else had anything unusual to say about their night's sleep.

Heading for the staircase, she did her best to focus on the sleek, impeccably clean lines and glossy surfaces of the YSS Eucharis, and not on the weird, disturbing scenery of her nightmare.

Lounge

The last thing Izokia remembered was that she was in the lounge on the Eucharis. Now, she was in a field hospital jumping from wounded patient to wounded patient. She was in a state of perfect calm with only a weak amount adrenaline coursing through her veins as she went about her work.

Suddenly an entire shipment of causality came in dropping off eighteen soldiers. Izokia wasn't concerned until she saw the faces of Chieko, Ayumi, Kale, and the rest of the Eucharis. Every member of the crew appeared completely unharmed except for a small trickle of blood running from their noses. She ran straight toward the crew and moved to pick up the first person, but when she picked up Ayumi her hands went straight through her. She tried again to pick up Chieko and Kale, but every single member of the crew was volumetric. The entire crew began to flicker and stand up they moved closer and closer to her. She couldn't even form the words to scream out as the other casualties started to flicker and rise coming closer and closer. She was cornered and curled her knees up to her chest. The volumetric people reached down for her.

She was woken up with a sudden start, quickly she scrambled to save the empty cup she knocked over. She failed to save it and it fell to the floor, loudly. She lowered her head and hoped she hadn't woken anybody.

Izokia slowly slid off to the wardroom to find some breakfast and drown away the nightmares with food.

Cabin 2

The rockcrete buildings seemed to creep out of the morning fog as Bors stumbled his way towards the only safe haven he could think of in all of this damned city. Knocking over a trash can, he leaned up against a nearby wall staring at the graffiti across from him. The spray paint art seemed to come alive, the curves seemed to move in and out of each other blending the colors and revealing some of the more subliminal pieces. Bors shook his head thinking that it must be the blood loss messing with his head and pushed himself off of the wall with his forearm, he just had a few more blocks to go and he would be dammned if he was going to die in some back ally.

Bors beat on the large metal double doors of the Doc's office, adding a sharp kick before collapsing onto the concrete step, his breath shallow and weak. After a few moments the door creaked open revealing a tall and lanky Nepleslian in a white outfit.

"Drunk again Mr. Riko? You know Dr.Ismanov hates it when you try to hit on her when you inebriated."

Bors hated that nurse, he actually enjoyed calling him, adding emphasis to the title whenever he could.

"Just bring me inside you damned healthcare assistant." Bors growled just above a wispier.

The Nurse's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he saw the bloodsoaked bandage that were covering most of Bors's arms. Grabbing the bloody bandage he supported him on his shoulder and, more dragged than carried, him into the emergency room and put him on top of nearby wooden table.

"You know what time it is don't you Heath?" A green haired woman said rubbing her eyes sleepy as she walked down the stairs on the other side of the room.

"I do yes, but you have a patient." He said digging though various medical supplies before pulling out an IV and then bolted over to the fridge to search for a matching blood type.

The Doctor sighed, " Nurse Barns you know my rules, noone after closing hours. There's a free clinic down the street that's open send them there."

"Is that how you treat your favorite client?" Bors piped up groggily, pushing himself up onto his elbow.

All signs of her tiredness vanished as she threw on her doctors coat and rushed over to the makeshift surgery table, barking orders for various supplies.

"What the hell did you do this time Bors?" Her voice almost frantic as she started to cut away the old bandages on his arms as Nurse Barns put the IV into his arms, "I've seen you in some bad ways before but this might take the cake. Why didn't you come to be sooner?"

"Finally pissed off the boss." he managed to interject glancing at a clock on the wall. "And I got about oh 6 hours before it turns into hunting season for me. So you know no pressure."

The Doctor gave him a concerned glare as he spoke, slowly removing the rest of the bandages. As the last of the bloody rags fell off of his arms and onto the floor, Causing the doctor to drop her scissors and gasp.

"I'm...I'm so sorry Bors." Her voice sounding like it was on the verge of tears.

"Don't sweat it Doc just fix it." Bors replied, trying to consol her as best he could, which in all honestly he didn't do very well."

"Ok" She huffed regaining her composure," Heath, go get me my project, its time for a test run. This may sting a bit Bors but you should be fine."

Bors eyes snapped open as he heard his bunk mate scream from what he guessed was her own dream. Murmuring an affirmation to her apology for waking him as shuffled around for the edge of his bed to pull himself out as well. His metal hands tinked against the metal frame of the bunk as he finally hoisted himself out to get himself up for his daily routine.

Wardroom

Chieko looked at everyone filing into the room. "You guys look as awake as I feel," she commented with an undercurrent of self-satisfaction that seemed difficult to contain, "Interesting dreams, last night?" The scientist took another sip of her drink then sighed contentedly.

Wardroom

Sienna shuffled groggily into the open room, scratching the back of her head as she yawned, her hair still slightly disheveled from her inadvertent slumber on the bench. With bleary eyes she surveyed the room, seeing it slowly fill with more and more Nekos, all looking as much like hell as she felt. Apparently nobody got much rest.

All except one, by appearances. A light-skinned, dark-haired one looked relatively alert, almost perky by comparison, sitting at the central table with a full array of breakfast foods arranged neatly before her, examining each crew member as they filed in as if taking inventory of livestock or research specimens. Her mention of interesting dreams caught Sienna's attention, but her sluggish mind and dampened reflexes slowed her reaction to it. She said nothing, instead looking around to see if anyone else commented.

Captain's Cabin

Sune finished putting on his duty uniform. He have his hair a final sweep with his brush. Adjusted the accoutrements on his uniform while he checked his appearance a mirror. Finally satisfied, he left the room secured the cabin and made his way down to the wardroom.

He took a moment to straighten out the bed he shared with Hanako and then set out to get breakfast.

Wardroom

He stepped into the wardroom and surveyed the room. The cooks were being their unusual efficient selves. His eyes fell on Hanako as she stood in front of the buffet.

He noted the arrival of several crew members via the lounge. Most seemed fairly refreshed but Sienna had a bit of a haunted expression. We still have no real ideal what ordeals she went through back on that world. And as guarded as she is about herself. It is doubtful we will learn much. Though I suspect she would benefit from speaking with a counselor can not force her to see one. he thought.

He crossed over and came to stand next to Hanako. "Good morning, new uniform of the day." he said with a grin.

Wardroom

"Good morning," Hanako responded. She gave Sune a nod of respect. "I was worried the sausage aroma would get in my uniform," she softly admitted. "I plan to quickly change after breakfast. Did you sleep well? I mean...afterwards."

Cabin 4

Mitsuko squeaked at the tight hug. "Eeek! I'm fine, really! You're the one I'm worried about! You already...um..." She trailed off, giving Misato a firm squeeze in return. There was an awkward silence as they prepared for the day, leaving in her Working Uniform.

"I don't think we'll really have a choice about where we're sent. From her tone, I think she'll be, um...upset if everyone doesn't volunteer and play along." She sighed as they approached the Wardroom. They would just have to do their best to make it through the captain's most recent fixation. Mitsuko would likely never become an officer, if this was what was expected of them. Takeyu and Sune didn't seem that different, though.

"I wonder if she would approach things differently, without backups. I suppose this is how They want things done, if she's in charge. She wouldn't have made it this far without them...in more than one way."

Murakami suddenly reached for Suzume's hand, giving it a tight squeeze as they headed in for breakfast.

Wardroom

Sune returned Hanako's nod.

"Actually I slept quite well, afterwards." he said with a smirk.

"Do we have a solution for payment? Or are we still waiting for our technicians to work out a solution. I presume we will need a set of specifications for any energy cell."

Cabin 5

After falling asleep in the longue, Deziarra realized staying awake was simply not an option and went to her cabin. She was asleep for the night before she even finished changing. Usually she could not remember her dreams. This one was an exception.

Deziarra found herself in a strange room. Most of the room was dark so she could not see how large the room might be. The only part of the room that was light was a circle of light about 8 meters of diameter with her currently location at the very center.

Next to her was a pile of blocks. They were like the kind of blocks a child might use except much larger, about 1 meter cubed, literally cubed. Without being told, she knew she was supposed to build something.

She was building a castle! First she made the walls in a square she with its corners reaching the edge of the circle of light. Both she and the pile of blocks were inside the castle wall. Once the walls were of sufficient height, she started working on the towers at the corners. They were a blend of being fantasy and being militarily practical. The pile of blocks seemed to remain the same, but with a dream logic she did not even think about it.

Next she created a walkway at the top of the wall and two staircases leading down to the inside of the castle. Blocks of smaller size appeared just as she needed them. As she started designing the inside of the castle, she realized there was a problem. She was still inside the castle. No matter how hard she tried, she could not build the castle exactly the way she wanted it. Room was needed for herself.

Suddenly she woke up. She remained where she was staring up at the ceiling and thinking about her strange dream, motionless. That was when she heard the announcement.

Wardroom

Despite her hectic night, Deziarra arrived in the wardroom recently showered, with her hair combed, and in a clean uniform. It was no less than what was expected of her. She planned to volunteer to go exploring unless too many others also wanted to go exploring in which case she would stay behind. Her plan was to wait and see which meant she still did not know whether she would volunteer or not.

"Good morning, everyone," she said simply.

Wardroom

Bors traipsed into the room almost on auto pilot and made his way over to the buffet line and made himself a nice little plate before sitting himself down in his usual spot. He hadn't realized that the ship had picked up a few new crewmembers and was bit surprised at the new faces sitting around the table. His gaze ended when it got to the captain and the xo, the yukata threw him off, he rarely ever saw the Shosho in anything but a uniform. His mind raced over the possibilities of why she would be dressed that way, a party perhaps? No that didn't seem likely, especially where they were now. Maybe she already had a party of sorts. he thought to himself, Sune's smirk not helping his train of thought. Bors realized that he was starring and quickly averted his gaze back to his meal, shaking off any and all ideas that were running though his head and quickly tried to focus on his current task of eating.

Wardroom

"I think we will be fine, they all seemed to have come back alive, and we all didn't wake up dead..." She rested her hand on her pistol almost reassuring herself that it was still there, her left still in tangles with Mitsuko's. "Why don't you go and grab some grub I'm going to go over and talk to Riko about tagging along with me, there are a few things I want to go and find out." With a smile and a squeeze Misato let go of Mitsuko's hand and walked over to Riko.

"Riko... um do you have any plans today? I was wondering if you wanted to tag along with me. I was going to head out and wonder about 'investigating' the planet. Could always use someone of like mind." She really hoped he understood that she was looking for someone who would look at problems from a more combat end of things opposed to more techy or Sciencey views.

Wardroom

With her mouth uncovered in a gaping yawn, Sienna ran a hand through her hair to brush it from her face again as she shuffled over to the breakfast buffet. Had it not been for the mouth-watering aromas coming from there, she wasn't completely sure she'd be alert enough to get across the room. She couldn't think of a better way to jumpstart her sleepy mind, or at least distract her from the haunting imagery of her nightmare that simply wouldn't fade from her memory, than another of this ship's offerings of generous meal portions.

Nobody was saying much in response to the dark-haired Neko in uniform, which she took as silent assent. It certainly seemed she wasn't alone in having had an out-of-the-ordinary dream. "'Interesting' is puttin' it lightly," she murmured, her words groggy and slurred, not bothering to look at the doctor-type. "Night like that shoulda been preceded by somethin' stronger'n coffee, you'd think." She didn't feel compelled to go into any further detail.

Taking a warm plate from the stack at the end of the buffet, she proceeded to pile up some of the sausages, then moved to where the cook was assembling an interesting creation of scrambled eggs folded over any number of prepared ingredients like chopped onions, cheese (the real thing), tomatoes, and a number of other things she'd never seen before. Between the delicious smell of the hot food, the tantalizing sounds of grease sizzling, and her sleepily relaxed facial muscles, she barely stopped a dribble of saliva from leaking off the side of her lip. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she started in on the sausages on her plate with her fingers as she stood there, gruffly motioning for the cook to add a little of everything to her omlette.

Glancing back out over her shoulder towards the growing crowd, she caught sight of someone in a Yamataian-style bathrobe that looked like they'd just come from the showers sitting in Hanako's seat. At first she shrugged mentally and turned back to the breakfast she was too impatient to wait on. She knew that the captain probably would have some strong words for them not only coming to breakfast looking like that, but also taking her chair. It wasn't her place to comment on it, and it didn't affect her. It took a few seconds before she stopped chewing and did a double-take. That was Hanako.

She couldn't help smirk a little, slightly impressed. The captain sure didn't mind letting her hair down at all, literally in this case. Yamatai definitely ran its military differently than what little she knew of other armed forces.

The cook cleared his throat, catching her attention, and shovelled her massive omlette on her plate as she held it out for him, her mouth still full of half-masticated sausage. Turning for the corner booth, she started towards the seat she seemed to have unofficially claimed as her own.

Wardroom

Natsumi had filled up her plate with all sorts of good food. She especially looked forward to the omlett. She had settled into her normal seat and was taking a moment to drink her hot coffee.

As she observed everyone else it became apparent that nearly all of her shipmates had probably had just as bad a night as she had. She had to wonder what was causing it all.

Spotting Sienna come in and get food and go to her usual booth, Natsumi got up, grabbed her plate and drink and went over. "Mind if I join you?" she asked her new friend.

Wardroom

Sienna slid the full plate onto the table, still clutching the steaming cup of coffee she'd grabbed on the way over, and plopped down into the booth with er back to the wall. She'd barely scooted under the table before she saw Natsumi walking her way.

She answered the Neko's question with a shrug of her face and a shake of her head, motioning indifferently to the seat across from her. With a toss of her head she flung her stubborn bangs out of her face once more, and cinched off another uncovered yawn, then took a sip from the coffee, letting the warm, full-bodied concoction deliver some artificial alertness to her system. She then picked up her utensils and started in on her breakfast.