RP: YSS Miharu Mission 3, Aftermath

As artificial light filled Takuma's room as part of his alarm, he felt himself lying in a field of grass, resting on a warm, summer day. The bright light gently aroused him from his sleep, not shaking him back to a harsh reality, but to a calm, peaceful morning. He took it in slowly, sitting in bed with no thoughts on mind. After a minute or two, his alarm determined he had not moved and started to chirp. This signaled Takuma to get up and start the day.

After donning a clean uniform, he noticed the small pad of paper he took from the medical lab yesterday. After glancing over the story he had jotted down (minus the absurd exploding potato chips), he decided that it may be worth continuing, if he got a spare moment at least. He clipped a pencil to the notepad, put it in his back pocket, and left his room towards the wardroom. Shortly, he arrived.

"Good morning, Miyako" Takuma called as he entered the wardroom, seeing only the violet-haired Yamataian gazing at the captivating planet below. He almost got drawn into the view, but the desire to procure a cup of coffee won the battle in his mind. He grabbed a cup off a nearby table and began to pour the hot beverage into the cup.

Nyton looked over at Tom, bowing in a towel no less, and grinned. "A bit too formal given your attire." he replied.

"No need to bow or call me sir right now, Tom. Its still too early plus it sounds weird when you're only wearing a towel." Nyton said humerously. "I hope you had a good night because we will be busy today as well. I shouldn't keep you up though. Something tells me it will be very crowded in there."

The door to the Taisa's quarters opened with its hermetic sound, parting widely enough to show the width of Kotori's shoulders.

She did not have the look of a person whom had recently roused, but she was still in her yukata. Her hair was not disheveled, but it had obviously not be combed yet. Her smile was a sweet, polite thing... but it felt forced.

"Good morning, gentlemen," she greeted them, dipping her head in a very light bow.

Nyton turned to Kotori and bowed slightly. "Good morning Kotori-sama." he said while bowing. When he returned to look at her he almost paused, noting that something seemed 'off' about her face. The shine in her eyes seemed different than usual along with the smile that gave off the feeling of being anything but genuine. He did not react but rather continued on his task. "Pardon my intrusion so early in the morning but I came to see if you needed anything."

After Nyton finished his sentence he mouthed to her, unspoken, 'Are you okay?' away from Tom so that the other man hopefully wouldn't catch it.

Tom bowed as well, once again, with his towel. Kotori, being the Taisa, needed a much deeper bow than the one he gave Nyton.

"Taisa, pleasure to see you this fine morning!" He picked his head up with a grin. "This is quite a delightful turn of events, actually!"

Yoroko was quickly making her way toward the ward room when she realized several things all at once. First this was the happiest she had ever been to be awake this early in the morning, second she wasn't all that hungry, and third she didn't quite know what she wanted to do. Perhaps I could go and work out? Yoroko mused privately as she walked past the wardroom. "Miharu, would it be alright if I used one of the rec rooms to work out in?" Yoroko stopped wandering, noticing the small gathering of the ships officers outside Kotori's door. "Ohayo Gozaimasu." Yoroko said with no small amount of energy as she approached.

Kotori gave the barest 'I will survive' nod to Nyton before Tom enthusiastically chipped in, probably cutting off any reply she might have made.

The nekovalkyrja eyed the Raltean and tolerantly asked: "...and what would that be?" Then giving a nod in acknowledgement to Yoroko's greeting.

"Well, I was thinking, you know maybe that if we had the time you, me, Nyton and Yukari could make use of the VR room for some virtual tennis or something, anything, actually."

He nodded to Yoroko as she entered the picture.

"Actually, it'd be nice to have a nice bonding experience after our mission, you know? Granted, I have... quite a lot of things on my plate today, but I can work extra hard and make the time for everyone if they'd so like!"

"Of course, Tom." Kotori sighed. "Look, there is work to be done, but it is no high priority right now; we don't even have access to a drydock in the Iori. So, given that, I figure that people can go around at their leisure for today."

Once in the bathroom, Rin just stood in front of the sink, eyes closed, as her arm mechanically went about brushing her teeth. She groaned. She wanted to sleep, but she really couldn't. There was far too much work, and it was a sprite's job to be in the thick of most any work. Couldn't they have been nicer yesterday and not damage the ship?

She rinsed out her mouth of the toothpaste, before soaking the washcloth with warm water, and scrubbed her face. When that was through, Rin realized it had only made her more tired. The warm water felt nice.

Quietly groaning again, and hanging her head, she headed back to her room to deposit her stuff.

Yoroko bowed as she reached close proximity of the group. It was quite an odd scene for the Hei to expierience. Tom half naked, Kotori in only a Yukata peering through her door, Nyton outside fully clothed like Yoroko herself, and then the fact that Yoroko was the only non-officer there. Unsure of how to act in the situation Yoroko settled for a bow before wondering exactly what to say. We're on leisure time again? Yoroko wondered, finally the Hei worked up the courage to ask just that. "Ano, Taisa. We don't have to work today?"

"It's more a work as much as you like." Kotori replied, her amber eyes switching to Yoroko. "After yesterday, I don't feel like forcing anyone... so just cover the things you feel are essential and that'll be enough. Besides, it's not like Miharu will break more just because we'll wait a bit."

"Is that a challenge?" Miharu's AI quipped.

Kotori gave the ceiling a half-lidded, quite unamused look. "No."

"So, is that a yes regarding festivities later? If you like, I can give our new guests that extra Raltean charm and really prepare a rockin' dinner, too! Any requests?"

Tom tightened the towel around his waist. It had slipped a little during his energetic talking.

"I'll see about the matter of our crew roster. Everyone that has no business being on Miharu, or whom submitted me transfer request, I'll see out before noon." Kotori answered, trying to bottle in her bad mood. "I'm still holding my interviews and debriefs in the afternoon and evening. As long as things do not conflict and that you have a report ready for me on the measures that need to be done regarding Miharu's repairs, I don't mind."

Tom nodded happily.

"Then it's settled. If you'll excuse me, Taisa, I must get ready for the day and get those reports to you. Do you have a specific time in mind to meet for the debriefing so that I may best coordinate my efforts with yours?"

As the wake up chime went off in Masako room, it would quite evident that the usual occupant was not there. With no logical place to go for her sleep, Masako had gone to the Wardroom in order to complete an After Action Report for her team. It had been easy and was quickly sent off to the Taisa's inbox before the Warrant Officer began researching on possible skills to gain. She was still having a hard time of where she should branch off and cross train. It had to be something that would be an asset to the ship, in her opinion, though there had been a few interesting occupation choices to peak her interest.

Two of the more obvious choices had been either Technician or Medic since a ship could never have too many of them, but there were some problems with those as well. With the creation of so many Technical Sentry Sprites, Masako felt that they were fine in the Technician department (unless she specialized in power armor). Cross Training as a Medic would seem to be a good choice, but she would mostly be out in the field as Armor Leader and the Power Armor they used performed all the necessary first aid for them. So being a Medic and a Wing Leader wouldn't be a good combination.

Bridge Operator was also a poor choice of combinations, though it could help if the power armor couldn't be launched. Masako couldn't help but remember the YSS Confidence during the 5th XF Revolt of YE 28 and how she had felt useless for the most part. So Bridge Operator was at least up there with Technician.

Science/Adviser, Intelligence Operative, and Fighter/Bomber Pilot were not very good choices either. Masako really had no interest being a scientist and a Pilot would be redundant in her mind. Intelligence Operatives, while useful to this ship's mission, would require Masako joining SAINT...and the young Neko really didn't believe she'd like that.

Masako seemed to enjoy the thought of learning how to cook, but that seemed more of a personal thing rather than a decision to aid her crew mates. Learning the art of Logistics would be a great help to the ship, since she could take that burden off of others who probably had better things to do. Information Technology also seemed to be an ideal choice for cross training. And Investigator, while not really required on board, seem quite interesting.

That was Masako's last thought before the urge to close her eyes became too much to resist. The young Warrant Officer had fallen asleep in the Wardroom, sitting at one of the tables with her head slightly forward and her back against her chair. The volumetric windows were still up around her as the Miharu unleashed a chime into the Wardroom, causing Masako to grumble sleepily from her position.

Taking a deep breath, the young Neko stretched her body against the back of her chair and groaned as she looked around the seemingly empty wardroom through tired eyes.

"Evening. After dinner," the Taisa perfunctorily answered. "Get in touch with Suzuka-Shosa later in the day for further confirmation."

"Acknowledged," Tom said with a bow to the Taisa. "See you around, everyone."

A quick series of bows to everyone before he turned around, flowery cherry-blossom towel swaying with him as he departed the group.

Yoroko didn't want the little group to break up, after all it was nice being around the Taisa and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. "It looks like you have quite a busy day ahead of you Taisa." Yoroko said, "Would you like to join us for breakfast, it'll be nice to get some good food in your tummy and have some pleasant conversation before you have to handle the unpleasant task of transfers and interviews ne?" Yoroko wasn't sure if they were going to have a crew breakfast or not, but if they weren't she was going to try and start one.

Kotori tried on a somewhat more sincere smile - Yoroko had managed to inspire some cheer without feeling as brash and invasive as Tom had felt to her - and replied: "I appreciate the invitation, but I am not quite ready to breakfast yet. Please go on ahead without me."

Nyton listened, not wanting to interrupt or overwhelm Kotori with too many conversations at once. Many of his future questions were being answered as a result of simply listening to everyone. Part of him wanted to tell everyone to shove off and give Kotori some space. Apparently no one else had picked up that she seemed out of sorts at the moment. He figured she would soon dismiss him whenever she got done talking but he waited in case there was something. Loyalty required patience and patiently he stood there, eyes moving back and forth between speakers.