2013-10-11 - Sing your heart out! Karaoke night

Sing your heart out! Karaoke night
Summary: Tokiko Amagawa invites her friends and fellow Tuners to snack night and karaoke. No Tuners show up. But there's snacks and karaoke!
Who: Aimi Saionji, Fuu Hououji, Lera Camry, Madobe Kuroi, Tokiko Amagawa, Yoshirou Kurotsuki
Where: Pino Karaoke Lounge
OOC - IC Date: 10/11/2013 - 10/02/2013

The itinerary for the night: cheesy karaoke. The number of Tuners who have showed up for Tuner Snack Night: one! Tokiko Amagawa sits on the curb outside Pino Karaoke in casualwear, her favorite camouflage hoodie and cargo pants. She looks cold in the evening air and a little lonely, though Yokkun is here, so it isn't all bad. "Still, it's discouraging, you know?" she says, filling her cheeks with air and blowing out in frustration. "Sometimes I feel like, why do I even. It's not like these nights are cheap, either. I could buy such a sweet model jump jet with tonight's room rental and food money."

Lera arrives on time, eager and ready to meet new people and socialize. She is still contemplating yesterday -- the run-in with Alyce Ducati and the discovery of Fate Testarossa -- and has started thinking about just what to do about that and what the TSAB agent's presence on the Earth means. However, her other concerns come to the forefont. Things like fitting in and making friends. She has brought food. It is in a glass container, with a plastic lid sealed tightly over it. She walks up, looking at Tokiko -- and sees her looking down.

It makes the third year frown for a moment, before she takes a deep breath, and resolves to be a good friend. "Amagawa-san!" she calls out, waving a hand. "Hi. I brought a traditional Earth food: beef stroganof enchiladas with a side of potato chips!"

Look upon her works, ye mighty, and despair.

Yoshirou, meanwhile, has gone for jeans, a t-shirt with something English and nonsensical written on it and a nice jacket. "Hey, they'll come. I think most of them just aren't used to, you know, hanging out. Not all of 'em are like us, after all. Look, I told you I'd help out with the rental-" He looks up as Lera comes over. "...um."

He pauses. He turns to Tokiko. "Do they eat that in America?"

While she's not a Tuner, Fuu has managed to clear her schedule for tonight (read: 'got her homework done early') and decided to take a certain magical soldier up on her invitation to snack night.

... just as long as Fuu doesn't have to actually sing. She's not good at that.

And rather than bringing snacks, she brought drinks, to judge by the bottles peeking out of the top of the shopping bag she's carrying. "Good evening, Amagawa-san, Kurotsuki-san," she smiles, bowing politely to the two of them and to Lera - whom she doesn't know yet, so she can't really introduce herself."

DESPAIR! SNACK NIGHT HAS LEFT MADOBE IN DESPAIR!

ACtually not really, Madobe is happy to come to snack night. She has no intention whatsoever to actually engage in Karaoke but she's happy to be here in any other aspect. She isn't the first to arrive--she lost track of time while playing something you probably don't want to hear about. She has brought /donuts/ as part of her snack contribution. Hooray for donuts!

"H-hello..." She stammers as she arrives. "I'm not late...am I?"

She hasn't met some of these people without being HENSHINED UP so she doesn't recognize Fuu or Lera.

.oO(?)

Tokiko looks up as people begin to arrive, putting on her best smile despite the situation. "Lera-san! Hi! Hello! Thank, um... thank you..." She doesn't entirely even understand the /name/ of the food Lera's brought, and just responds to Yoshirou with a shrug of her shoulders and a vague noise. If it's not in an MRE, she doesn't know what Americans eat. "Hououji-san! Over here!" She blushes a bit at the way people seem to have brought snacks of their own. "Oh, you didn't have to bring anything! Actually, you're not really supposed to bring outside food in here... but Suzuka-san is really nice, so I think we should be able to get away with it. Madobe-chan, you're not late!"

Tokiko looks between them, and then looks at the time. "Well, I don't think anybody else is going to come anytime soon, so we might as well go in, but let's get to know each other. I'm embarrassed but the truth is, no Tuners actually came to snack night besides me, it looks like. You all know Yokkun, I think; Madobe-chan, these are Hououji-san and Lera-san, who go to school with me at Infinity. This is my friend Madobe-chan. I hope we all get along and have a great time tonight!" She leads the group into the karaoke lounge. "Why don't you get to know each other while I go get our room ready? We have five people, that's a pretty good number for a karaoke night. Room rental is on me, and I have some extra put aside to order from the menu here if you want anything else."

"All the time!" Lera tells Yoshirou, cheerfully. It is a complete lie, but it sounds true to her. It matches the America that she imagines in her head. "It is a proud American tradition."

She nods at what Tokiko says. Unfortunate that no Tuners came besides her, but maybe they're busy. She can reason it away pretty quickly. She looks back at Yoshiou -- she remembers him from the fight, but doesn't know him -- and smiles.

She likewise does not recognize Madobe or Fuu. In fact, she realizes, she doesn't know anyone here. She straightens up and raises a hand, waving at them all and looking at them in turn. She balances the glass dish on her hand easily -- it keeps it fom dropping to the ground and shattering, which would be a true tragedy. She starts following after into the lounge, balancing the dish carefully. "I'm Lera Camry. A third year middle schooler in Infinity Institute. It's nice to meet everyone!"

"...if you say so!" Yoshirou shrugs. "Yoshirou Kurotsugi, on the off-chance that any of you have forgotten my name." Not that he really believes that's possible. After all, he's amazing. "Anyway, we can get it in, it's fine. So, who's up for some singing? I'm totally ready for this. You are all going to be /amazed/."

Similarly, Fuu only recognizes Tokiko and Yoshirou - mostly because she's met them in 'civilian mode' - but she bows politely to the other two arrivals as well. "Fuu Hououji, 8th-grader at Infinity Institute," she introduces herself with a smile. "It's good to meet you as well, Lera-san, Madobe-san."

With the introductions concluded, she heads inside as well. If nothing else, she's wondering what drinks are normally available from the karaoke lounge's menu; if she brought something that they don't offer, then it was potentially worth the trouble. If not, well, she's sure none of it will go to waste.

Normally Aimi Saionji wouldn't exactly be late to such gatherings. Of course, normally she wouldn't be thinking about tall dark strangers and what evil they could have done that couldn't be forgiven. Her mind works at shoving that out of itself though. It really tries hard.

As it is, she's showing up after introductions might have been made already, and most likely as people are going in to the karaoke room itself. She blinks, looking around a bit confused as she tries to see if she can't find someone she recognizes and maybe find her way to where this fabled snack party was. Aimi isn't sure who of her friends might be here... and if any of them are ones she has a phone number for.

Madobe says, "O..oh okay." Blink, nlink. She looks over Lera again. How many of these people are Tuner anyway? Nobody's actually saying 'hey I'm a tuner' which is a little worrying because Tokiko oculd have easily just invited a lot of friends. Maybe these are the NEW TEEN TUNERS? Sure, that could be it. They go to Infinity, though, so there's that. That's information she is aware of now.

"N-nice to meet you both." She bows her head a touch and tupon straightening adds, "So uh."

She's about to say more when Aimi arrives. "Oh!" She says. "...Th..this is Aimi!!" She gestures to her friend. Who hugs her a lot!

Tokiko finishes arranging for the room, and returns from the counter. "Okay. I paid a little extra to thank Suzuka-san for letting us bring food in with us, and... oh! Saionji-san, you came!" She smiles widely, gesturing for Aimi to come in, and leading the group down the halls to their room. It's a small, dark room, with a large projector screen showing mostly stock footage and an occasional legitimate music video, along with the karaoke machine in the corner, seats around the perimeter, and a low table in the middle with menus laid out on it. Fortunately, Fuu seems to have brought a wider spread of drinks than those on the menu; there's not much for kids who aren't old enough yet to drink.

"So, I want these meetings to be as open as possible, so everybody please feel free to speak openly, everybody here can be trusted. But if you still want to hold something back, that's okay. I'll start us off: I'm the Soldier Angel, defender of wishes and captain of the stars! So that's a thing you know about me." It's a thing she's pretty sure everyone already knows about her. "If you want to order anything from the menu, that's okay. You should probably order early so they have time to cook it. And..." She leans over, picking up a small device with a little scrolling screen of songs. "Let's get this party started! Who wants to break the ice? Yokkun, you're up!"

Lera follows Tokiko's lead into the room and sits down, leaning back into one of the cushioned seats. She glances at the menu, but she pushes her dish onto the table, and looks up. It's a little bit of a surprise how open she is. She looks around -- people she doesn't know, including Aimi, who she hasn't even said hello to, so she waves -- and then takes a deep breath. She can't admit the truth. It's complicated.

"I'm Lera Camry, from San Francisco," she says. "I found an Intelligent Device and became a magical girl, too, and I've fought--um, but I have no secret identity, exactly. I suppose this makes me a mysterious swordswoman fighting against evil."

She lifts a finger up and nods, talking knowingly. "There are worse career paths to pursue--oh, yes, take away the thing, Kurotsuki-san! I did not realize you are an amazing singer. I am, of course, also an amazing singer!"

And chatty.

Yoshirou grins. "Well, if you insist..." Once they get in the booth, he turns to the machine, moving through the selections quickly. He's been here before - he knows what he wants. He's gone for one that doesn't get used as much. And in English, too! But Yoshirou practices singing. He has to - he likes to star in the school musicals, too. And when Infinity puts on a musical, it's a /production/.

"All right...here we go." He holds up the microphone as the music stars. "My story is much too sad to be told...but practically everything leaves me totally cold. The only exception I know is the caaaaase, when I'm out on a quiet spree, fighting vainly the old ennui, and I suddenly turn and see...your fabulous faaaaace!" He grins, tipping an imaginary hat.

"I get no kick from champagne! Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all! So tell me why should it be true! That I get a kick, out of you?"

He's shockingly good. There's an accent, yes, but he actually manages to pull off a vague approximation of Sinatra. "Some, they may go for cocaine. I'm sure that if, I took even one sniff, it would bore me teriiffffffically, too! Yet I get a kick out of you!"

"I get a kick every time I see you standing there before me! I get a kick, though it's clear to see, you obviously do not adooooore me! I get no kick in a plane! Flying too high with some gal in the skyyyyyy is my idea of nothing to do! Yet I get a kick, mmm, you give me a boot, I get a kick! Out of yoooooooou!"

Aimi smiles when she hears Madobe and Tokiko, walking up to the two of them. The hug that Madobe might be bracing herself for now, though, never comes. It isn't the first time, but still...

She does take a seat next to Madobe, so things aren't too bad now.

"I'm Aimi Saionji," She says, nodding politely to the others. "It is nice to meet you all. I suppose I should also mention that I am Warm Vanilla Sugar... which I don't think any of you have had a chance to meet..."

Aimi frowns a bit as she goes back through her mind now to try and remember who of the people she is just meeting tonight, might have seen her before. "Maybe? Perhaps... ooohhh... I really should work on my combat awareness."

Fuu bows again to Tokiko, as though to thank her for smoothing things over with the lady who runs the lounge - and she bows as well to Aimi, introducing herself, "Fuu Hououji, 8th-grader at Infinity. It's good to meet you." ^_^

And as we're getting settled into the room itself, she takes a quick look at the menu, then starts unpacking what she brought. Juice, oolong tea, soda ... she couldn't bring that wide a selection, but it's a step up from the handful of non-alcoholic choices available.

"I'm a Tokyo native," Fuu explains when it's her turn to say more about herself. "And I don't really have a magical girl 'identity' per se ... I was summoned into another world and tasked with saving it, along with two other girls who were given the same quest." She looks at Aimi, "Were you at the waterfront when the monster who was giving away Kuro-chan plushies was unmasked, battled, and destroyed?"

Madobe looks around. Everyone here can be trusted, but if she wishes to hold something back. She already knows the gist of Tokiko's story so Lera gets some thoughtful gazing as she goes into her own story. She has no secret identity? Well, she supposes the Perfumers haven't really behaved TOO secretly but they haven't been announcing their identity either. She doesn't mind sharing her own, but she probably shouldn't go into the details of the perfume kingdom without consulting Sakura first. After all, the perfume kingdom's powerful scent based magic could be tragic in the wrong hands--and the sweet seductive scent of strength can draw even the most stalwart soldiers to succumb to sinister schemes.

"Well I'm Sweet Pea." She says. "I don't really have too much to say though--I'm also a native, I guess."

She pauses. "Er..." S..she was also there. But she sort of doesn't want to push it. "She was the one who hugged it."

Wait, she thinks, something strange is going on here. She looks at herself, then Aimi, then herself again.

But what is it??

Tokiko smiles and leans in, switching her focus between the conversation between the girls and Yoshirou's singing. She's heard him sing plenty of times, but he's always pretty impressive, and she duly applauds when he's finished. "I guess we should probably share any important information we have - and I have some! There's something that's escaped here from some kind of magic world, called Jewel Seeds. I don't think they were around before, and they're little gemstones that shape people's wishes into monsters. Lera-san, do you know anything about those?" She has an Intelligent Device; isn't that what Nanoha has too? And she was the one who sealed them when they came up. "Apparently you need some kind of sealing magic to make them... shut down, I guess, stop operating. Just beating them up alone doesn't do it." As she finishes, she picks up a beef stroganoff enchilada, and begins to bite into it before she realizes she's not even sure how to /hold/ it. She tilts it one way, then the other, then sets it back down, wipes her hands with a napkin, and takes a donut instead. "Mm, pon de ring."

In Aimi's mind, that event, Fuu, is titled 'Trying To make Monsters Friendly Through Hugs: How Not To Do.' She does now, smiling softly. "Yeah. I was the one that started the group hug on it. I mean... I thought love and warmth would help it out."

"I'm a native of Tokyo too, but didn't live in this area of town until just last year as it is. I'm in 8th grade over at Juuban, and enjoy sketching, painting, drawing... art in general really," She says. Aimi doesn't help herself to the snacks for now, enjoying the music and just realxing.

Clearly, Lera thinks, she almost underestimated Yoshirou. He /must/ be famous. He is very good! And singing in English -- which she actually understands better than Japanese, thanks to strange cosmic coincidences on Mid-Childa. She sways back and forth, then at the end, she applauds loudly.

She looks at Aimi and Fuu after the song ends, and then she nods. "I don't think I've encountered either of you. But--" She puts her hands over her mouth and looks at Madobe. She nods her head, eaely, at the end. "I remember you! You were there--ah, I had the energy swords!"

She looks at Tokiko, then, and shakes her head. "Only a little," she says. It's the truth; she didn't come to Earth for those. "I heard they are called Lost Logia. Ah, a form of very powerful magic. I know a blonde-haired girl with an Intelligent Device like mine has been looking or them, though..."

Yoshirou bows several times. "All right, ladies, who's up next? I mean, I could go again but I need a drink first." He holds out the microphone. "And, uh, I'm just a wizard, myself. Nowhere near as powerful as the rest of you guys. But I manage."

Aimi didn't hug her, Madobe realizes. That's a bit ... sobering. No it's not just that Aimi didn't hug her. She didn't hug ANYBODY. Madobe gives Aimi a bit of a suspicious look. Hrmmm there. HRRRRM. What could be the trouble with Aimi right now. Hrrrrmm.

She picks up a donut. She looks up and over towards Aimi, then towards Lere and Tokiko, then back to Aimi.

She wiggles the donut at Aimi slowly--then quickly!--then slowly again.

She holds it up so she's looking through the hole in the donut, as if she were scanning Aimi. She wiggles it a couple more times.

What Madobe is doing is clear. She's asking: You donut do hugs anymore?

Aimi looks at Madobe a bit, her actions getting her attention. She couldn't help but smile some more and start to giggle, giving Madobe the hug she so seem to want. "You're being silly Maddy-chan," She said, smiling still.

She's not sure what else to say or do just yet, sitting back. "Hmmm... why don't you sing something next Maddy-chan?"

Tokiko claps her hands. "That settles it! Madobe-chan is up next." Lera said she's good at singing, but it would be a bad idea to open up with the best singers; wouldn't that put pressure on everyone else? After all, karaoke isn't really about singing the best anyway. It's just about having fun singing! "What song do you like, Madobe-chan?" She's already scrolling through selections.

She glances up from the screen, though, back and forth between Madobe and Aimi. Donut... shaking... Aimi, wiggling the donut...

"You donut do hugs anymore?" Tokiko says, quietly and hardly audible over the noise of the karaoke lounge. "That's right, Saionji-san, how are you doing today? You're not as energetic as you were when I met you the other day!" You don't forget an ambush hug.

Fuu raises her eyebrows, "A wizard? A direct student and practitioner of magic, rather than someone who just uses spells or powers bestowed on you by whatever force empowered you? Interesting ... might I ask where you study?" A friendly smile punctuates her question, hopefully smoothing out any errant tone that could have sounded demanding.

"... and what would anyone like to drink?" she asks, looking around at the others. "I didn't bring cups or ice, so we'll have to request those from Suzuka-san."

Lera looks up at Yoshirou and nods. She knows about wizards; Mid-Childa is full of mages who aren't quite as strong as people with bonds to Intelligent Devices. In that sense, she is quite lucky. "It's still impressive!" she says, then she remembers that she is on Earth. "I mean, how many of us thought we'd ever do magic, right?" She looks at Fuu and grins. "Sure! Whatever's good, I'm just thirsty!" She leans forward, getting some of her terrible beef stroganov enchiladas served up on a paper plate. "Go do it, Kuroi-san."

"I'll take some tea if you have any." Yoshirou doesn't want to strain Tokiko's wallet by ordering drinks from the karaoke place. "Where? Ah...well, I've learned some from my grandfather, but mostly at school." Yoshirou grins. "They teach magic classes there, it's just...not easy to get into them. I didn't even know they existed before I got invited in.

Madobe head swerves back to Tokiko. DID SHE UNLOCK THE CODE? BUT HOW??

She actually doesn't want to be hugged, precisely, she just wants Aimi to be herself or, perhaps, a better mood. It's not that she KNOWS she's in a bad mood but she is behaving a bit oddly. Wait, there was something else Tokiko said.

"--Wait, what? A--are you talking about singing?"

Her face goes pale. Is she...hyperventalating? Maybe a little. GULP!

"S...so um...favorite songs...favorite songs..."

Maybe she should do a fast one that way she could get it over with. "Um.Um..."

"W--what do you think... Ahh...haha....there's so many songs. I'd like water. Uh. Uh..." UGH SHE CAN'T THINK OF ANY QUICK SONGS RIGHT NOW.

"Huh? Oh... I'm doing alright is all. Just been busy with some artwork," Aimi says. "Being creative can be tireing at times."

"And I'll just have a glass of tea, Hououji-san," Aimi say, nodding. She continues to smile, nudging Madobe lightly. "As for you, just go up there and sing your favorite song. Doesn't matter what it is. Just sing! This is part of friendship now Maddy-chan. Embarassing yourself infront of the people you know!"

"I'll have some of the Fanta," Tokiko says to Fuu, without specifying what flavor she actually wants. She reaches over and presses the call button, and shortly, waitstaff is along to provide glasses for the drinks. He looks over at Madobe, a little alarmed, as Tokiko waves it off frantically. "No, no! She's okay, she's okay, she's just... gosh, I didn't realize she was this shy. Madobe-chan, breathe! Breathe! Breathe." She hurries to Madobe's side, putting an arm around her shoulder. "It's okay. We're all friends here, okay? Nobody's going to mind if you take your time. Karaoke is about doing silly things with friends, that's all!"

"Yes! You can do any silly thing you want. That is the soul of karaoke," Lera agrees. She nods at Madobe, seriously. "So don't worry about it! If you need a moment, others can go first! Kurotsuki-san simply rolled the ball."

Earth sayings are still hard, sometimes.

Then she takes a bite of her beef stroganof enchilada. She chews it once, twice, and quickly makes a face. This American food, she decides, is /vile/. She manages to swallow the bite and stares down at her plate disbelievingly. Is it really supposed to taste like evil?

Fuu nods, and takes a fresh look at the menu to see what kind of snacks she might want ... but her bigger priority right now is drinks. So once the staff brings cups and ice, she pours the drinks as requested - oolong tea for Aimi, Yoshirou, Lera, and herself; water for Madobe, Fanta for Tokiko.

She's still hoping to dodge a turn at singing, but she's not about to draw attention to that fact either.

Madobe says, "Okay..." She breathes. "No I..." She reddens, takes in a deep breath, then another deep breath. "Sorry." She says. She doesn't quite calm down just enough, but yes--she does seem to have 'the shyness'. Just stay...relaxed, she thinks, imagine the audience is naked.

She looks up--determined--then sudenly turns an even brighter red and looks back down. Okay, she thinks, imagine the audience are clowns.

Madobe looks up again. Okay...this is...actually kind of worse. She looks down--Okay!--this time...imagine the guys you successfully added to your dating sim collection conquests! She looks up and nods firmly. "Okay." She says. "I'm r-ready..." She stands up and stumbles over to the machine.

She doesn't actually--she still can't think of a song. So instead of a song she likes, she picks oppa gangnam style. The internet seems to like that song.

Madobe sings it, flushed, but it should be noted ... her singing voice ... it cracks a few times and, okay, she's not actually a good singer. Yeah. And she's too awkward to actually do the oppa gangnam style dance along with it.

And once she's done she looks towards Fuu and points to her.

IF SHE MUST GO UP THEN ALL MUST GO UP.

And of course she rushes back to her seat, covering her face.

Yoshirou cheers for Madobe! "That was great! I like that song." He raises his glass of tea. "You just need a little practice for the dance. But that was definitely good." Sure, he's being generous with the singing, but why not? Being critical is for times when it /matters/. "See? It's all about just having fun with it."

And what is waiting for Madobe when she sits back down? Why another hug from Aimi! She smiles, hugging Madobe tightly now. "That was great Maddy-chan!"

"So what was that song again?" Internet. Aimi doesn't have it.

Tokiko bounces along with the beat, smiling and trying to look for points in the song when Madobe might look like she's enjoying it. Hmm. Well, even without that, she tries to contribute, singing along with the backup vocals and clapping her hands. "See? That wasn't so bad," Tokiko says, smiling and leaning in. "OKAY! Hououji-san's up!"

Lera takes her oolong tea with murmured thanks and sips it.

And then she discovers Oppa Gangnam Style. She stares at this; she tilts her head until it's close to a ninety degree angle, a look of awe and confusion on her face. She hasn't ever heard anything like that before. "That was good! I've never--um, it's--" Is it popular in San Fancisco? She has no clue. "I think I liked it."

"It's a Korean pop-rock song that went viral around the world some months ago," Fuu answers Aimi ... and then she gets picked for the next victim.

She tries really hard not to wilt visibly. "I'm really not that good of a singer," she attempts to demur, but that's not going to fly, is it? Especially if poor Madobe-san got strongarmed into singing despite her shyness; Fuu's composure is too good to court a breakdown, or even to convincingly fake one.

Besides, we're sharing our magical secret identities here; how much more embarassing can karaoke be by comparison? "All right," she says with a suppressed air of resignation. "Let me just take a look ..."

She pages/scrolls/whatevers through the list, looking closer at a couple of possibilities which she notices. She picks one of them and steps up to the 'stage,' taking the microphone ...

The lyrics are in English, but she's sufficiently fluent not to mangle them horribly, and she can carry a tune reasonably well if she concentrates. So you all get to hear her sing 'Beyond the Sky,' from a sci-fi RPG that came out a year or two ago for the weakest console of the hardware generation (that was STILL incredibly successful by any unbiased measure).

Madobe laughs. It about a half step below deranged. "I-i-i-i-i-i-it w-w-w-w-w-w-was o-o-o-o-pp-o-o-p-o-o-pp-o-pp-p-o-ppa-papappa--oppapapapa..oppa..."

She takes in a deep breath and covers her eyes again.

It's not just that she went up there and sang. That's part of it, of course. Of course it's PART of it.

But the bigger issue is that she now can't stop seeing her friends as a bunch of pretty harem boys.

She looks sort of at Lera, not directly, sort of--askance. "U..uh... it's popular online."

And one of those said boys was hugging Madobe. Sorta. Aimi doesn't know this though obviously.

She listens to Fuu sing her song, smiling and nodding along with the music. She's finding it very enjoyable. As things go, it does seem like the Turners aren't all that bad a group of people in Aimi's mind.

Aimi picks up a donut, playing with it a bit and having it 'scamper' up Madobe's arm some like it was a living creature. "Just breathe now Maddy-chan. Your friends are here for you. No need to be so nervous and upset."

Tokiko holds a donut in her mouth by her teeth while applauding for Fuu's impressive performance of Beyond the Sky. She finishes her bite and sets her donut down, bowing her head. "Okay, okay. Fair is fair. It's my turn to make a fool out of myself." She drifts through the screen listing. "Idol... idol idol idol... idol idol Rip Slyme. Yes. This one."

She rises to her feet, picking up the microphone, and proceeds to rapidfire her way through a tight mixing of Japanese and English, which she handles pretty well, though she stumbles and has to reset a few times for the sheer speed of the song. She's got some energy to it, though, throwing what she assumes to be gang signs and making pistol fingers through the performance.

"Now listen, yo! People put yoah guns up mazu ore ga run dat, hashirimawatte yatsura wo gun shotto, brand new sound sou stiru sur... uh, sound boy ko no sekai ni ikiro! Shiryoku tairyoku to un ga mau ze flow, fukuranda atamannaka wa zakkubaran nanda, savanna de banana ni one punch kantan knockout kan-kan-kan, one time for your mind ikinuke around the world! Ikisaki ni yasuragi wa nai, tachina saa don't give up the fight, ima sou so no shunkan mo die, die-hie-hie, die-hie-hie-hi-hie!"

"Ohhh," Lera says, like this explains it. She nods cheerfully at Madobe. The shyness is impossible to miss, but doesn't deter her. "The internet likes it! I understand now!"

She still sometimes thinks that the internet is a huge Intelligent Device with an opinion. She doesn't quite register it as an amalgation of a lot of people. She gives Madobe a cheesy thumbs-up, then she looks back at Fuu. She remains quiet while she sings, before she sits up straighter and beams at the other gil. She applauds at the end.

"That was a very nice song!" she says. "You have a good voice, too."

And then Tokiko. She tilts he head again -- her Japanese is fantastic, but it's not quite to the task before her. She opens her mouth and stares for a moment, before she taps a finger against her cheek, then nods. She applauds after that, too.

"I liked how that one sounds!"

"Huh, never heard that one, Hououji." Yoshirou grins...and then sits back as Tokiko starts rapping.

He grins, and as the song nears its end, he starts clapping and cheering. (The observant my notice that he's doing so harder for Tokiko than he did for the others.) "Nice pick, Tocchan!" But then, is him subtly playing favorites /really/ that unsurprising?

Madobe takes a donut as Aimi criticizes her for social anxiety issues she can't really control. Okay, Madobe doesn't QUITE feel like it's like that, she knows Aimi is trying to help and is the most wonderful of people but it feels just enough like that that it ends up depressing her instead of actually calming her down.

"I...i'm fine." She says. Instead she listens to the songs. Maybe she should just be Sweet Pea all the time, she thinks, people would like that probably.

"Sorry." She adds, applauding for Fuu and Tokiko. She is used to songs with engrish.

Fuu waves a hand in politely modest dismissal, "I'm really not that good of a singer, it's just that became a favorite song of mine when I first heard it ..."

Then Tokiko busts some moves, both vocally and physically, and Fuu switches to watching and listening. "I could never match up to that performance," she smiles with a bit of a blush.

"Ooo! That was really good Toki-chan!" Aimi said, smiling and clapping. "Are we sure most of you aren't professionals at this?"

She smiles, sitting back now and sipping her tea. She wants to cheer Madobe up now, but she needs to figure out how. Its just not right for her to be depressed like this. Think Aimi think.

Tokiko sits down with a smile, waving off the compliments. "I can't really keep up with the song all the time," she says. "And truth be told, I don't really understand half of it. But I think it's about guns, and I like guns!" And that is enough to satisfy her. She shakes her head to Fuu. "The secret is to really get into the music, and go in prepared to look totally silly. Once you're comfortable with being silly, it actually starts to work!"

She leans in, then, with the same concern that Aimi is silently considering. "Madobe-chan, the donuts are really good," she says, trying to force a smile. Always with the smiles. And then her thoughts drift, and she leans back again and says, "I really wish some of the other Tuners would have come, though. I was hoping to get everybody together to compare notes and be ready to back each other up, but it just ended up with me and my friends again. Which is okay, I love you guys! I'm really glad I met all of you and we could have fun together. But, like... sometimes it gets to feel like business with them, you know? And that gets me down."

Lera has another drink of her tea -- trying to get the taste of stroganof enchiladas out of her mouth -- and nods her head. "That makes sense," she says. "If they treat it like a job, they might take it too far. I met some people like that, um, back in San Francisco--er, not with what we do, but in geneal." Her mother and her compatriots come to mind, building Devices for people. "It's better if the people you work with are friends. You can work better with them, you know?"

Aimi nodded. "Yeah. Its perfect if you can work with friends and not have to take the jobs any more seriously than you must. But then... given what we do..." Aimi said, starting to remember her talk with Dark Amber from the other night.

She was going to have to get with the others and go over what she had learned. In the meantime though, she had a donut in her hand. Munch munch munch.

Yoshirou puts an arm around Tokiko's shoulders. "It's important to have fun, Tocchan. We know that. Sure, some other people out superheroing might not get it, but..." He grins. "They don't matter so much. I mean, it's their loss, they don't get to hang out with cool people." Inwardly, Yoshirou is trying to figure out how he can fix things with the Star Lion. He doesn't like seeing Tokiko unhappy like this, and...well, that's his big tool for dealing with magical girls.

"I think it's important not to lose sight of what you guys are fighting for, even if it gets serious and tough. I mean, if you can't smile and have fun at the end of the day..."

Madobe nibbles on her donut. She looks down at it and says, "Oh--uh--thanks. Store bought." Well obviously. "So um... Yeah, don't worry about it. It was fun." She puts just enough energy to make it sound convincing. "I uh..." And then she trails off, glancing over to YOshirou. He really has the inspirational speech down pat, doesn't he? Oh wait--does that mean.. if this WAS like one of those games, does that make him the protaganist?

Madobe takes a quick survery after willing the girls back into girls and the like.

"I guess some tuners ARE too serious for snack night." She adds.

Fuu hms softly, "What's the purpose of the Tuners, anyway? I know Sailor V-san has identified herself as affiliated with them, but between that and yourself, Amagawa-san, that doesn't really tell me a lot ..."

Seeing as the donuts appear to be fair game, she selects one from the box and sits back with the donut and her glass of oolong tea, nibbling on the former between sips of the latter,r and looking at Tokiko.

Aimi blinks a bit. Sailor V is a Tuner? Well, guess they all can't be as awesome and... well as normal as Magical Girls can get as like, Tokiko is or even Madobe. Aimi doesn't hate Sailor V, just thinks she's... kind of weird.

She keeps quiet though, curious herself about the Tuners too. Its not like she's heard about them before or anything.

Tokiko smiles, and puts an arm around Yoshirou's shoulder, squeezing him tight. "Yeah. I guess Yokkun's right. And if they ever turn around and change their minds, I'll still be around!"

She remains with her arm around Yoshirou's shoulder as she answers Fuu, "Tuners silence Noise - that's like, a metaphor for all the monsters and youma and Witches and stuff around. I think they started as kind of a mutual assistance organization, like favor-trading? You help me fight this monster, I'll help pay for your medical care, or make excuses for you so you don't blow your secret identity. Stuff like that. They're really big now - I think they're worldwide! - but the idea's still the same. The people at the top assign some monsters 'bounties' you can cash in for defeating them, as a kind of a way of formalizing the favors, but I've never been into that. I give mine away to people who seem like they need it. I do pretty good on my own."

Tokiko looks one way, and then the other, and then leans in. "Between you and me? Sailor V's kind of... well, she's not a /jerk/... she means well, but... I don't think I really like her. She's pushy, and she really takes the bounty thing seriously."

"Bounty thing?" Madobe asks. "Actually...what is the difference between a Tuner and all the other, um, magical people?" She hasn't really noticed any meaningful difference yet except for Tokiko is in the tuners, and now apparently Sailor V!

"Not really anything," Tokiko says. "It's not like you get special Tuner classes on how to Tune. You beat up monsters and help each other out. We're all kinds of different magical girls with all kinds of different magic. The only real thing we have in common is we want to work together to fight the Noise."

It isn't unlike some of the rules on Mid-Childa. The mage adventurers there have laws and regulations -- and that includes bounties and the like, sometimes. In that sense, it is familiar, but it does give Lera another brief bout of homesickness. She glances at her tea fo a moment, swirling it in her hand, and then she takes a quick sip of it.

"That makes sense," she says, a little more subdued. "It does sound like a good deal. The bounties... it probably helps for the girls who need the income." Of course, it could also create a mercenary attitude. If Tokiko is there, though, they can't be bad -- and it can't be a really prevalent attitude. "What do we do, if we want to sign up? Is there paperwork?"

She would need to do a little research. Filling out foms means making sure her cover is good.

"Huh... guess I'll have to learn more about them," Aimi said, nodding. "Though I dunno if I really need to get paid to help out now."