2015-03-03 - Juuban's Cafe Grande

Title: Juuban's Café Grande
Summary: Juuban's Cultural Festival is in full swing, and the Café Grande is not to be missed. Eclectic decorations and neverending company are among the hallmarks of the grand centrepiece, and the kitchen staff are hard at work making sure everything goes smoothly! There's just one tiny problem...
Who: Honoka Yukishiro, Nagisa Misumi, Ikiko Hisakata, Fuu Hououji, Love Momozono, Miki Aono, Inori Yamabuki, Kuniko Saito, Sakura Kinomoto GM: Fred Burgermeister
Where: Juuban Public School - Café Grande
OOC - IC Date: 2 June 2014 - 03/03/2015

<Pose Tracker> Fred Burgermeister [None] has posed.

A new day dawns on Juuban Public School, putting an end to weeks of anticipation. After all the preparations, waiting, and other cultural festivals, it's finally Juuban's turn to host friends, rivals, and family members for their grand cultural festival.

The entire school has been overrun with the fever. Club rooms have been rearranged to host guests, each offering some enticement for people to stop by; classrooms have been transformed into a variety of stalls and game rooms and other events, and a stage has been set up in the sports field to host concerts and theatrical productions. All told, put together the myriad events form a fantastic festival - one worthy of praise.

That is, however, before taking into consideration the main event. The largest gymnasium has been transformed into the 'Café Grande' - a classroom cafe writ large. One end has largely been cordoned off with a mix of gym equipment and boxes to form a wall - beyond, the kitchen area where students are hard at work preparing drinks and treats and light meals. The remainder of the space is for the guests, and the decorations are as diverse as they are crafted with love and care.

Each class, in addition to their own projects, took a number of tables as their own territory. The end result is a great open space, but with each corner different; here, lace doilies and flowers give a tea party feel, while over here bright colours are the rule of the day. A heap of stuffed animals are a guest's companions in another corner, while a handful of tables have been made into furniture out of science fiction. Lamps and candles, tablecloths and trays, maids and penguins as waitstaff - everyone had a different idea, and all the ideas found a home.

It's busy, of course. This serves as the main attraction for the festival, so all the parents at a minimum are determined to come take a look. No one's stuck running it all day, waitstaff and kitchen staff both operating in shifts over the course of the festival, but the tables see continuous occupation. Drinks and delights don't arrive in a rapid hurry - in spite of best efforts, the kitchen is almost constantly shortstaffed - but the atmosphere means that few guests mind the wait.

---

Behind the scenes, of course, is where the excitement can be found. It's casual if frantic - those working hard in the kitchen are joined by friends just there to hang out (though being present means one will be asked to at least pour waters, if nothing else). Every few minutes, someone drops by with another order, and the rush renews itself. The electric frying pans are running hot, the coffee machines and tea kettles burbling away, ice cream to be scooped, pie to be sliced - in brief, the kitchen is busy!

"Hey! So, there's more. Another four yakisoba, three more pie slices a la mode, and seven coffees with whipped cream." The waiter - dressed in a dinosaur costume - doesn't even bother looking past the little kitchen 'window'. "Oh, and those Infinity students were asking about those mini-pizzas, any way to make those happen faster?"

If anyone had a chance to stop and look around for a moment, they might pick up on something strange in the air, some strange glimmer of light...but the water's just run out in the third tank, so that might be a bigger priority at the moment.

(OOC: Welcome! Today's events will largely be taking place in the Café Grande's kitchen - whether you're working behind the scenes or visiting those who are, this is the atmosphere before things get a little more exciting.)

Sakura Kinomoto walks over from Shitamachi Low City. Sakura Kinomoto has arrived. Nagisa Misumi walks over from Shitamachi Low City. Nagisa Misumi has arrived.

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Ikiko is one of the students helping as a runner, bringing supplies to the various stations so that the cooks don't have to fetch them themselves. "Here's another can of whipped cream!" she says as she delivers it to the coffee station and gathers up the empty one. She listens to the latests requests, then nods. "Another couple of kilos of the basic roast, got it!" she replies, darting off to the sectioned-off 'pantry'.

"Coffee station needs a few more kilos of coffee!" she declares to the students overseeing the stock of supplies. Grabbing a large jug of water, she adds "Going to go refill the water on tank number three; I'll grab the coffee once I'm back!" Leaving the supply workers to their task, she hauls the water over to the depleted tank and carefully pours it in.

<Pose Tracker> Kuniko Saito [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Kuniko Saito continues to not cook during the cultural festival. However, after a robot crisis at Infinity, she was glad to go to the much less robot-laden cultural festival at Juuban, where there was a promise of coffee.

She is wearing her Infinity uniform, which is still practically off the rack. (Worn just once before! Since she usually just rocks her chef whites!) But now she's put herself down in the edge of the science-fiction furniture, reclining with perfect lumbar support and casting a covetous gaze on the adjoining heaps of stuffed animals.

Her own order was for a double sized cappuchino, a pizza margherita, and pie. She seems, somehow, profoundly pleased to be the one on the recipients' end today.

Endo Naoki walks over from Shitamachi Low City. Endo Naoki has arrived.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Having so many of the food-oriented clubs and classes focus their efforts together like this certainly seems like a good idea where Fuu Hououji is concerned; the supplies and equipment can all be kept together (which also means more room to work in), the necessary work can be shared or redistributed as necessary, and people who are looking for a bite to eat can mingle more freely with each other than if the various eateries were scattered across the campus.

Fuu is relaxing at the moment, waiting for her yakisoba and looking around for familiar faces - whether they're amongst the tables to relax and eat, or amongst the workers who are going back and forth with orders and food. She certainly looks like she's been having fun so far - she's even picked up a little unicorn plushie from one of the contest booths; it's peeking out of her bag at the moment. She happens to spot Kuniko from a few tables away - and is slightly torn; if she leaves her seat, she's potentially either abandoning her food or forcing somebody to come looking for her. She can at least wave to Kuniko, though, trying to catch her eye.

<Pose Tracker> Love Momozono [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Love Momozono has adorned herself with one amazing apron. The pink, red, and white garment is absolutely -covered- in concentric hearts of alternating colors. The colorfulness and brightness of this apron is only matched by the brightness of Love's smile as she happily does her part help cook the incoming orders.

For all about a minute or so, Love looks to be completely in control of her surroundings. She goes from expertly cutting up vegetables here to carefully measuring ingredients there. Whatever cooking related task comes up, Love's all over it with earnest enthusiasm. Truly, this is a remarkable sight to behold....and a short-lived one.

Very quickly, things take a turn for a worse as some boiling water begins to froth over the pot edge, causing Love to LUNGE and turn down the burner just in time. The chef aspirant breathes a sigh of relief as she suddenly sniffs the air. Uh oh! The noodles she was frying! Love then LUNGES back the other way to toss the noodles a little before moving on to her next task. So far, she's managing to keep everything more or less under control, but it could be only a matter of time before Love LUNGES a little too late.

The order for more coffee causes Love to momentarily halt everything. Did she even know how to make coffee? That was usually a Mom-Momozono task to complete. But there's always a first time for everything! "Thanks! I'll get the coffee ready!" She replies to Ikiko before approaching the coffee-maker. Love then peers into its depths. Just how much coffee was she supposed to add to this thing? Love then shrugs her shoulders and adds as much as the machine can hold. Adults like coffee strong, right? The coffee-maker groans slightly in protest, but soon whirls to life as it begins brewing some extra-strong coffee on the double.

<Pose Tracker> Sakura Kinomoto [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

"Kero-chan! What are you doing here?!" crouched in a tight corner, Sakura Kinomoto is looking quite out of place with squatting in a corner, wearing the waitress costume. The costume is a reflection of the school, red with all of the trimmings. Tomoyo had spent a significant amount of time adding some touches to reflect the cultural theme on the sleeves. "You can't be here today!"

"B-b-b-but there's so many sweets an' I want 'em aaaaaaall~" Keroberos sing-songs his reply, keeping an eye out for the goodies held by students. If only he could get away with being out and about in public! People would love him.

"Kinomoto!" the boy with the closed eyes and a penchant for lies calls out. "We could really use a hand here!" He begins walking over to the girl, every step growing ever closer.

Sakura quickly swings around with her arm around the stuffed beast's mouth before bringing an arm to her neck, laughing loudly. "Sorry about that, Yamazaki-san!" A tiny fist from her other arm raises into the air. "I was just pumping myself up, don't mind me!" Her steps are paced past him and towards the stuffed animal table. Placing him down and beginning to turn away, she gives a look that would freeze a penguin into place. "Donotmove!" she hisses under her breath; Sakurazilla had been summoned from the depths of the cute, sweet personality.

Picking up a plate of food and a beverage, she has the class liar point out to a table with the familiar blonde, Fuu. "You know, Kinomoto, I have heard rumor Infinity students are capable of winning a staring contest with a turtle. It is because they have had things artificially-"

THWACK. Chiharu was to the rescue, and beckoned Sakura off.

A few jovial steps later, Sakura places down a small tray. "Hello, Hououji-san! It's really nice to have you here today with us!"

<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

"Oh that's such a clever penguin costume! Are you supposed to be an Adelie or a Gentoo?" A bright smile of adoration graced 'buki's features as she briefly stopped the penguin carrying trays laden with yakisoba and tea. A moment's thought, and an apologetic wave of a hand and she was stepping off to the side, "Oh you're on shift aren't you? Don't mind me."

Adjusting the little bow tie at her neck to make certain it was prim and proper, she veered towards the kitchen. Ohtori's festival had done wonders for calming her nerves as she had watched the trained animals perform... after her horrid experience visiting Infinity. She didn't want to accidentally upset Miki though, so she hadn't exactly brought it up.

Pushing open the doors, her gaze wanders through the crowded kitchen until she spots the frenetic Love, moving back and forth, every which way within her controlled kitchen chaos. "Excuse me!" She ducked under a tray held high by a server dressed as a maid, before wending her way around the maze of Juuban students working as staff, having to narrowly dart to the side with her arms held up and away in order to avoid getting drenched by full tray of coffee. "Pardon me!"

Putting her hand to both temples as she passed by Chiharu whacking Yamazaki, the passing middle schooler mumbled nervously at the truth-deficient boy, "It's impossible, Infinity has animatronic turtles!" But she doesn't clarify further, suddenly looking rather pale as she scoots on by.

Finally, she made her way to Love's side, "Hey Love-chan!" Her color returned as she greeted her friend, coming up from the side of the coffee machine, "You look like you're working so hard! Oh! That's a really cute apron! It suits you so well!" A beat, as she looks around and takes in the full scope of all that Love is responsible for between the noodles, and the vegetables and the coffee. 'buki gives her a wide eyed look of worry before finally asking, "Umm, do you need any help?"

<Pose Tracker> Nagisa Misumi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Why are you wearing that?" a distressed class representative cries.

"It's a lacrosse cafe!" Nagisa crows, tapping the side of her temple with her lacrosse stick for emphasis.

"IT'S NOT," the stressed class rep emphasizes.

"Eh-heh..." Nagisa raises her hands submissively. "I didn't have time to change."

"Your hands are filthy!" the class rep says, pushing Nagisa into the kitchen. The athlete slides by her heels, supported by the shoving hands at her back, until she's in front of the dish sink. "Wash them to the elbow and start cooking! We're a sinking ship here, we need every hand on deck!"

"I c-can't actually..." Nagisa ventures, but the class rep has already disappeared, and she lets her raised finger sink. Biting her fingerless glove near the knuckle, she drags it off and stows it in the waistband of her shorts, then repeats the process with its partner as she turns the sink on. "What should I do..." she murmurs in despair, then brightens as she sees a friendly orange puff of hair. "Oh, I can--ACHCHCHA!" she shakes her hands violently. Nagisa's not big on washing dishes, and doesn't have her mother's teflon hands; the temperature the last dishwasher was using scalds her poor fingers.

When her hands are bright and clean, she leans over to watch Love stuffing coffee into the machine. "Ahh, Love-chan? I can just help you cook, right?" she asks sunnily. Love seems pretty confident about what she's doing, and Nagisa wants to minimize the amount of cooking she needs to do. She has a specific aversion to kitchen work.

<Pose Tracker> Miki Aono [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

The whole place was absolutely adorable. Miki Aono was almost - almost tempted to call off the modeling shoot she had going on a little before the club event, but... well - she had to pay the bills a bit. Well, that was, until midway through the shoot, when she discovered that Love and 'buki were going.

Well, she just ~had~ to go then, didn't she?

As it was, Miki was wearing a more casual outfit than one might be used to seeing her in. A bedazzled newsboy cap of black and white, her hair straight and falling over her shoulders. The long sleeve shirt she wore was a white, with dark purple stripey sleeves, the shirt proudly proclaiming 'Funny Business' (in English) with the picture of a laughing cartoon mouse with red cheeks. A pair of light blue bell bottoms with little dark purple studs up the sides of the legs, and a pair of dark wedges with a big chunky heel serve to kinda add a bit of height to her already.

The purse she carried didn't quite match the rest of her outfit, though - tealish sides with a stark white center, the outline of a sleeping mouse face with closed eyes and whiskers.

Weaving her way through the crowded open space... (even if Miki had to stop to happily gasp and praise one particular setting (it had cute little scented candles, and just seemed so... cute)), she was on her way to the kitchen, because if she knew Love...

Miki steps through the door. "Love~ 'buki!" calls out Miki, lifting non-purse wielding hand high to wave to them. It was at that moment that her eyes track from her friends to Ikiko - stepping lightly out of the side as she nearly walks right into her.

"O-oh!" she says, "Sorry sorry! You're just so busy in here, I nearly ran into you!" A beat. "Are you alright?"

<Pose Tracker> Fred Burgermeister [None] has posed.

The atmosphere for those dining is incredibly friendly. There's far more students on the floor and meeting guests than there are in the kitchen, and a patron's as likely to get a conversation as a glass of water. Whether high school students are showing off their best costuming skills or elementary schoolers just want to talk about penguins ("Adelie, of course! They're way cuter!"), the atmosphere is welcoming. Just crowded - because who would want to leave?

Devoid of her cooking whites, even the culinary aficionados present don't seem to recognize Kuniko - there's little more than a caution that the pizza might take a little longer, and a promise that the cappuccino will be right out, honest. Fuu gets approached with a caution that the yakisoba will be a few minutes, but she's free to move - oh, and could she keep an eye out for a chinchilla? ("Class 4-B's pet got loose again, and we don't have the time to look for him.")

And that's the floor - the kitchen, for all that it's got fewer present, feels even busier. One of the boys who'd been cooking Yakisoba brightens at the arrival of Miki and Buki, not seeming to notice or care that they're technically not Juuban attendees. "Great timing - I just spilled some salt, I need to grab a broom quickly. Handle this, will you?" He hands off the frying pan to whoever blinks first, and darts off.

Refueled by Ikiko and restarted by Love, the coffee machine struggles and burbles away. It's shaking ominously - is it giving off sparks?...no, seems to be fine. Hopefully that coffee's drinkable - but those hard at work are working incredibly hard to make sure everything works out. The kitchen, for all its stresses, is full of joy and laughter.

Wait - who is that laughing, anyway? Nagisa might - less distracted by cooking - notice an unfamiliar voice in the kitchen, cheerfully enjoying the atmosphere. Something unfamiliar, mysterious...fleeting glimpses of a speck of light, flitting about the kitchen. It starts bouncing around in earnest when Sakura next returns for a tray of drinks, soon spotted passing by each of those present in the kitchen. Then...

A rushing sensation. A brilliant light. And the surroundings change in an instant...

Towering walls surround those who were hard at work in the kitchen - crystal cubes scattered across the open wooden platform they stand on. An alien realm? Or...there's a great roar - a bass rumbling, of a mass of dark liquid somewhere high above...where the coffee machine, now far larger than any of those who had tended it, continues its work. Everything's bigger - or rather, those in the kitchen are far, far smaller. Scattered salt has become a terrain of crystal, spilled sauce pools to be avoided. And....it smells like the noodles might be starting to burn.

Back on the stuffed animal table, Kero can but eye the cakes with jealousy.

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

"I'm okay!" Ikiko replies to Miki, having come to a stop moments before colliding with the older girl. "I just need to take this to get refilled." She takes a few steps, then there's the flash of light--

She recovers from her disorientation, sprawled over a large plastic tree branch -- well, if by 'tree branch' you mean 'handle of the water jug that she was carrying'! Looking around, her eyes widen as she realizes that she's now very, very tiny. There's the water jug, off in the distance is the coffee maker, over there is the Lycan Locket...

...wait, what?

She quickly touches her neck. Sure enough, her locket isn't on her neck; it's lying on the ground close to the empty water jug. "Wha... what's going on??" she yelps, clinging to the handle of the jug.

<Pose Tracker> Love Momozono [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Love Momozono places her hands on her hips as she ponders her next move. She next raises a finger into the air triumphantly as she finally starts to recall the specifics of the order that she was working on. But this all falls to the wayside when Buki calls out Love's name which causes the young apron-wearing teen to drop the raised finger and turn to greet her friend with a big smile. "Hello Buki! Oh thanks! This is one of my favorite aprons! Is it still really busy out there?" She asks as she considers Buki's request to help. There were a lot of things left to do, but what was is that especially needed done? "Well...." It was just on the tip of Love's tongue, but she just couldn't recall it.

An ACHCHCHA from nearby causes Love to turn her head to investigate. Oh! Nagisa made it! Brown eyes. Brown noodles. "Yakisoba!" That's what she had forgotten! She was making some yakisoba. Love then bashfully realizes now that she blurted that out loud instead of actually extending a proper greeting to Nagisa. "Um, I mean hi Nagisa-senpai! I mean would you like to help me cook some Yakisoba? I mean I see that you already have your hands washed so you're actually ready to start!" The novice cook then places a hand on the back of her neck as she lets out a slightly nervous laugh.

Thankfully, Love is rescued from her little faux pax by the timely arrival of Miki Aono! "Miki-chan! You're here!" This was great! With Buki, Miki, and Nagisa all helping out, they stood a chance at turning the tide in the world war Juuban kitchen. "I definitely could use some help!" It's almost as if Miki and Buki had Love-dars equipped to detect just when she needed help. And help was indeed needed as the water in a nearby pot was starting to boil over again, the noodles needed more TLC, and apparently one of the other cooks was enlisting Buki and/or Miki into helping cook. There was a lot to get done!

And yet, at this vital turning point in the battle for control over the kitchen, something very odd happens. Amidst all the laughing and talking, a nearly blinding light overwhelms Love's senses. Finally opening her pink eyes, the young teen looks around her new surroundings blankly. Was it snowing? Did someone explode another bag of flour? Love looks left, right, down, and up. Wait, where was she? Ikiko's yelp helps kickstart Love's brain back into gear. "Everything is huge now!" She now looks to her friends to see if they were seeing the exact same thing as her. "Is everyone okay?!" Oddly, there seems to be a cellphone plus cellphone strap sized mountain nearby the now over-sized locket of Ikiko's.

<Pose Tracker> Kuniko Saito [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Kuniko looks over, sees Fuu and her face brightens up. She raises a hand in greeting. And then she casts her eyes towards the kitchen...

And the penguin conversation. Privately, Kuniko's personal penguin tiering system makes the emperor penguin the most popular, followed by the macaroni penguin for its cute eyes. After that, all remaining penguins are in what Nijimura would call 'scrub tier,' but which is really just a race for third cutest flightless waterfowl. And everyone in that race is a winner.

But then time passes.

And Kuniko frowns, because she isn't seeing the signs of a slammed staff. She knows those signs, she even had to take a quiz on those signs last year. No, she's seeing instead a sign of NO staff.

Kuniko struggles with herself for nearly an entire THIRTY SECONDS before she slides herself out of the super comfortable chair, stands upright and pauses for a moment as she realizes just how nice that seat was - and how nice it's made her spine feel. Then, after smoothing her skirt absently for a moment, she marches towards the door into the kitchen.

Pushing it open, she looks left, looks right. "Are those -- ants?" she maages to say, before a rushing sensation washes onto her --

<Pose Tracker> Nagisa Misumi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

If any blink could be audible, Nagisa Misumi's would have been. Plink plink. "Haah, um, it's Nagisa," she says, as embarrassed as if she'd done something wrong, then, "Oh!" at the correction. She still wonders if there's something humiliatingly yakisoba-like about her right now. Maybe her hair, done up wild for lacrosse?

Reticent in her actual assistance, Nagisa glances around furtively for the source of the sound. "Hm?" She feels around her waist to confirm that Mepple hasn't escaped, and when she finds him safe and sound, only grows more confused. Turning back around, she feels a sudden lurch in her stomach as her perspective shifts and warps, and wobbles on her feet, shielding her eyes from the light. When she lowers her hand, the first thing she notices is that her feet are wet. She steps out of the oddly thick puddle she's standing in, and finds she needs to tug her shoes to break the surface tension of what had been, when she was large, just a few droplets of water. "I'm okay, Love-chan. Did I spill that much?" she muses, then looks up suddenly in alarm, assessing her surroundings.

She grabs Love's arm suddenly. "The coffee machine got really big! You better..." She keeps glancing around, seeing the other evidence of what's occurred. "Wait! No, we got really small?" She grimaces, trying and failing to look out into the cafe. "Oh no... why now? Nobody will be able to get their food!" She pushes her pointer fingertips together morosely. "What should we do... this was hard enough to begin with..."

It's an odd stance for Nagisa Misumi to take, but cooking is a weak spot for her, and at the moment it's overcoming her usual indefatiguable optimism.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fuu doesn't have much of an opportunity to do more than wave to Kuniko, and be waved back to, before Sakura sets the tray down - and Fuu's smile brightens further. "It's good to see you as well, Sakura-san! I wasn't sure where to expect to see you today. Did you volunteer for waitress duty, or did somebody have to recruit you for it?"

She pauses, glancing in Yamazaki's general direction, then leans across the table to whisper conspiratorially to Sakura, "If Infinity students had prosthetic eyes, I don't think I would need glasses." n_n

She's pondering whether to add anything to that - maybe joking that now that Sakura's classmate is on to the Infinity Augmentation Conspiracy, they'll have to try out the optic lasers on him before they go into mass production - but the sudden absence of traffic coming out of the kitchen, combined with Kuniko's worried-looking trek towards the kitchen, prompts Fuu to straighten up. "I wonder if everything is all right ... ? - Sakura-san, do you mind if I see what's gotten Kuniko-san's attention?"

It's polite to ask before barging into the work area, after all, and Sakura *is* a member of the staff whom she knows personally.

<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

'buki gives the coffee machine a dubious look when she thinks she sees sparks, before she exhales out of relief, and returns Love's smile with one of her own, giving her her best assessment "It doesn't look like it's going to let up any time soon. So I'll try my best!" While she didn't know how much she could help, as Love was the better cook, and 'buki only dabbled in rather 'creative' baking, she at least knew the basics.

Love calls out 'Yakisoba', and she looks directly at her, "Eh?" She catches on almost immediately though, used to Love's mannerisms and sympathetic to the situation given that she can be a bit scatter-brained herself. She listens to her explanation to Nagisa before bobbing her head, "Right!"

Looking over her shoulder and waving Miki over, "Oh! Miki-chan!" She takes in every detail of her fashionable clothing, and smiles at her affectionately, "I'm glad you could make it, and I love your outfit! It really fits the atmosphere of the cultural festival!"

Conscripted by one of the cooks, she puts a nearby yellow apron over her head and takes over babysitting one of the pots of noodles, looking towards Nagisa during the repetitive stirring, "Are you one of Love-chan's classmates?" Her inquisitive look eyes her uniform up and down but not critically, "You must have come straight from your club's event. You look like you really got into it!"

Laughter bubbles within her ears, while light, as all-encompassing as when she calls upon her Linkrun obscures her vision. Rubbing her eyes with both hands, her vision clears, and suddenly... there are crystalline cubes all over. "Eh? Love-chan, did the coffee machine blow up?"

Realizing that a coffee machine explosion wouldn't shower the area is crystal cubes not long after, she looks up, her eyes suddenly becoming dots as she notices just how high above her the definitely still intact coffee machine is.

Paling, she looked down, then back up, and then to the side, "I'm..." Then at Love, Miki, Nagisa, and Ikiko who all look about proportionately the same size as her, "We're..." Putting her hands to her cheeks, a shriek of the word 'TINNNNYYYYY!' resounding, though it fails to reach any significant volume due to her size.

After the initial rush of panic faded, she patted her pocket, checking for her linkrun, only to find the enormous cell phone laying beside Love's and Ikiko's locket. "I-I'm fine I think." Though obviously a little frazzled, she seemed to be adjusting quickly. Putting a hand to her chest, she takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm down and assess the situation, though she may be inching to even closer to Miki and Love right now. In this situation she really wants to stay close to both of them. "So what do we do now?"

<Pose Tracker> Miki Aono [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"Oh, alright," says Miki, giving a smile of sorts to Ikiko, stepping to one side to allow the other one past. Another moment. "Cute locket!" she confers to the other young woman, giving her a thumbsup. "You look busy busy!" she calls after her. It was about that time that she turns her eyes back to her friends. "I am here, Love-chan! You look like you are running this place very... um..."

Someone had put a spatula in her non-purse bearing hand. A moment still, and she blinks, as a chef hat somehow materializes upon her head, (on top of her other hat), put there by a swift-thinking student who was hoping to recruit help. Crossing her eyes, she glances up at the hat, the spatula kinda wiggling. "I... sure! Love! I would l...love to help!" she says, in a tone of voice that wasn't thoroughly convinced of the matter. Taking a step forward then, Miki lowers the spatula, "So, wh..."

It was about that time that everything grew. And it was about that time that Miki, fashionably dressed as she was, glances up towards the surroundings, her features twisting to that of abject horror. "What happened?! Huh!?"

A beat.

Miki inches towards the other Freshes. And might just be sorta guiding the Fresh clump closer towards Nagisa, her eyes glancing furtively towards Ikiko - and spying what looks like a fashionable Berry-colored phone gigantic on the other side of the room. A beat, and she leans in towards Love - just glancing towards her with a vaguely worried look, before looking back up towards the phone proper.

<Pose Tracker> Sakura Kinomoto [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

"Yeah! I like helping out for these festivals." Her lips curl upwards, and her words spiked with energy. "Besides, both Infinity and Ohtori had such great festivals; we want to return the favor to you guys!" She had heard enough about Infinity's that while she was not able to attend, it was probably for the best if there were supernatural elements involved. Ohtori's, on the other hand, was a true spectacle and one she is likely to share with any grandchildren over one day.

At the joke, Sakura nervously laughs and turns a bright shade of red. She had not expected anyone would have heard Yamazaki's silly claims. "Ahaha, sorry, Hououji-san. That's my friend, Yamazaki. He's really nice, but sometimes" A few seconds later, she can feel a very weak tugging. It was not a physical sensation, but something panged across her senses. Much like the very first time an expecting mother feels the kick of her unborn child, Sakura had finally experienced, albeit very lightly, the sensation of /something/ at work.

"Aaah, if you don't mind, I'll come with you! Maybe there's something else they need help with!"

<Pose Tracker> Fred Burgermeister [None] has posed.

An already daunting task has become so much more intimidating in short order - however small the setback might be, it's made matters worse. The coffee machine continues to gurgle, the noodles continue to sizzle - the kitchen, in short, still needs tending. But...

Lockets and cellphones clatter to the ground in the wake of those who had carried them. Those who have shrunk are a few inches tall - still big enough to be able to grab a spatula, perhaps, if one can get in reach - and as gym equipment was being used to put together makeshift counters, much might in fact be climbable.

The floorboards shake with rhythmic thuds as footsteps approach - a booming voice echoing with a comment about ants. That light is still flitting about, though - and as it lands on Kuniko's head, she shrinks down to join the rest. That laughter, again, as the light bounces to a nearby counter, hopping around to inspect things.

It's merciless, though - anyone entering the kitchen is soon to be subjected to the same fate, as the little fairy (?) laughs mirthfully. Only those actually entering, though - the dinosaur-waiter from before drops off another order sheet at the window, young voice booming out in a seeming baritone by comparison. "You guys need to step it up - another four yakisoba!"

Along with the burbling and the sizzling, there's one more sound to be heard. One much closer, as the case happens to be - a rumbling, a chirring, an animal's rumbling growl. Just poking its nose around the corner, large enough to bowl over anyone who dares get too close - a (comparatively) massive furry form, nose twitching as it searches for food.

Class 4-B's chinchilla is an herbivore...right?

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"Pardon the interruption, please," Fuu calls out quietly as she steps into the kitchen behind Kuniko. "Is everything all ... right .... ?"

Fuu flails briefly as she realizes that the kitchen is abruptly getting a *LOT* bigger around her; fortunately for her dignity (and the scene's rating), her clothes do not get ripped by a glove-jewel getting ejected from her pocket. Her smartphone makes a similar escape from her other pocket, and she momentarily waffles between trying to stop the now monolith-sized phone from falling over, or getting out from under it; fortunately, her size stabilizes at such a height that she can catch it without terribly serious harm to herself. She's in the middle of letting out a sigh of relief when Chinchillazilla's muzzle pokes around the corner.

"EEEP!!!" She pushes her phone back over onto its back (thankfully it's got a metal back, not glass or plastic) and tries to get a running start with it before vaulting on like a bobsledder mounting the sled, and (if the maneuver worked as well as she's hoping) cruising across the floor - heading, as luck would have it, towards that mound of spilled salt. "Is everyone all right apart from the change in scale?" she calls out, not sure how well the sound will carry.

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Ikiko carefully drops down from the handle of the water jug. "I'm, okay, Fuu-san; is everyone else okay?" she calls to the others.

She turns towards the voice talking about ants, just in time to watch Kuniko get shrunken by the laughing light. "Kuniko!" she cries out, then glares at the bouncing light. "You! What did you-- what /are/ you, anyway?!"

As Ikiko starts climbing the gym equipment to get a closer look at the light, she gets a better view of the chinchilla. She goes to say something to it in not-quite-fluent rodentspeak -- and realizes that she can't figure out how to form those words.

With a worried expression, she finishes climbing onto the top of the gym equipment, then tries a phrase in caninespeak. "Danger. Away," she manages to stammer out in a broken mutter, much less fluent than she normally is. "Gah, what is going on?" she says, going back to speaking Japanese.

<Pose Tracker> Love Momozono [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Love's mind just works in mysterious ways! But the yakisoba noodles did still need tending to afterall. Nagisa's question about spilling causes Love to look down at the puddle that her older friend was standing in. Where did that puddle even come from? Love has not quite yet comprehended that they all had gotten smaller instead of everything else growing bigger. And then Nagisa spells it out for her just as her senpai latched onto her arm. It is Love's turn to blink as she now begins to fully comprehend what happened. But then, the older student points out something terrible to her. Nagisa-senpai was completely right! How were they supposed to cook the food now and feed all of those hungry customers? Their happiness was at steak....stake.

Love Momozono then looks to Buki and Miki whom seem to also have been affected by whatever was going on. They may be tiny, they may not know what's going on, but they couldn't give up! "We have to do something!" Love says aloud to Nagisa, Buki, Miki and the others before nodding her head firmly. "We're okay over here! But we have to feed all those hungry customers! Hungry people are not happy people!" Love focuses her pink eyes on first the noodles and then the coffee. "If we all work together, we can still do this!" Love proclaims happily before pointing to the nearby utensil and coffe-maker. "Let's get their happiness one serving of noodles and one cup of coffee at a time!" It didn't quite have the same ring to it as 'Let's Pretty Cure!', but it would just -have to do- for now!

The loud animal growl causes Love to momentarily latch back onto Nagisa, the previous latchee. But Love soon steels herself and gestures towards the giant coffee maker once more. "Nagisa-senpai! Let's get the coffee!" Love defers the threat of the chinchilla to Buki with a glance and a gesture. "...um...Buki -is- that thing dangerous?" It was terrifying large, but still cute. One had to make sure. She then looks between her two best friends. "And Buki, can you tame animals?" Surely that was a skill that aspiring vets knew...right? "Miki-chan, we certainly could use your help over here unless you want to help out with something else!"

Love now turns towards the super big coffee maker and the nearby super-sized coffee pot. Figuring out what to do to start things off, she sprints on over and begins pushing the coffee pot into place. But it will be slow going unless she gets some help from her allies! "Let's start pushing!" As for how they will actually get to activating the machine to cause it to pour coffee, she's leaving that hopefully for one of the others to figure out.

<Pose Tracker> Kuniko Saito [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Kuniko appears in a gale of laughter not her own. She looks around, astonished - and then says, with a mixture of shock and dismay, "We've been... shrunk!?"

KUNIKO SAITO: MISTRESS OF THE OBVIOUS

She is facing in the opposite direction of what Fuu has seen, her cell phone having been left at the table in a rush, and her Mise-en-place simply not on her at all. (She didn't... expect... to cook!!) "What is going on here!" she says when Fuu speaks, her back turned to the chinchilla of doom. Her hands go on her hip even as Ikiko clambers up high, addressing something.

"Ugh... what?"

Kuniko turns around even as other people move towards the spatula and the coffee maker, and any grumpy skepticism - driven no doubt by a shortage of coffee and a mini-pizza margherita - vanishes as she looks up at a chinchilla.

A strange feeling - two-thirds 'terror at a giant animal' and one-third 'I want to touch all that soft fur' - washes through her stomach. Externally, it sounds like a loud growl.

<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

'buki looks the way of the chirring as Love points out the suddenly towering chinchilla, an expression of growing delight forming, "Oh what a beautiful chinchilla! You can really appreciate them at this size." Looking one way, then the other she smiles, "There's nothing to worry about, Chinchillas are omnivores but they only eat creatures..." The look of delight fades, as she's suddenly seized by fear, "... smaller... than... themselves."

When the going gets tough however, 'buki's mind gets going rather than truly freezing. "I don't think I can tame it..."

She digs her hand through her now absurdly tiny bag, only to produce, a tiny Totoro bath toy with a frog resting atop his head, complete with open mouth. "...but they're easily distracted!" She says triumphantly.

~Cut to Earlier~

"You really like your bath toys, don't you Chiffon-chan?" T baby fairy claps her hands happily, scattering water droplets as 'buki squeaks the Totoro toy. "Kyua!"

~Back to Now~

Realizing she can't throw it very far, she decides to look around for a method of launching it far enough without putting the group in danger, her eyes eventually settling on... a lacrosse stick, "Nagisa-san wasn't it? Do you think you could launch this past it? I think the squeak when it lands might buy us some time."

She moves over to her, trying to hand it off delicately, rather than tossing it in a pass, not being too athletic herself outside of dancing. "I bet you can do it easily! Then we can rush the coffee pot to help Love-chan!"

<Pose Tracker> Sakura Kinomoto [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

"Sa-" the guardian beast is cut off before Sakura manages to walk past him, following Fuu closely on her heels. Peeking around the corner, a small drop hits the top of her head. From there, it's almost like a sinking feeling, shrinking smaller, and smaller, while the world around grows taller and taller. Her hands stretch upwards, trying in vain and a false belief that if she somehow managed to grab something, she might be capable of stopping it.

It is when the shrieking ten year old finds herself landing next to the toucan-headed sealing key and a forest-sized notepad, on her back that her eyes begin to cloud with tears. "Wh-wh-what is this?!" she calls out, looking around at the suddenly massive utensils .

Any tears of surprise are momentarily quelled-she hears the chinchilla and already, she's crying for another reason. Despite the fact her speed is significantly reduced, she still retains a somewhat nimbleness, allowing her to catch up next to Kuniko. "Wh-why is that here?!"

Meanwhile, at peace with the decreasing number of people, Keroberos finally finds the true courage within him to begin his "Unnoticeable Quest" to the table of sweets. A true struggle.

<Pose Tracker> Miki Aono [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Now-minature chef's hat on Miki's head kinda droops a moment, her eyes flickering towards Love proper. "We're... okay?" asks Miki in disbelief. Biting her lower lip a bit, she brings up a hand to kinda nudge up the brim of her hat a bit, causing the chef's cap on it to flop the otherway.

"I think I can help you, Love-chan!" And why not? Even if they were tiny, Love was right. There were hungry people there, and if they couldn't henshin - well, they could still do what Pretty Cure does best! Bring hope to the hearts of everyone!

Pulling the chef's cap off now, Miki kinda slings her purse over her shoulder. That was when she realized what 'buki said. "'buki... we're... pretty small right now," she says. A stomping foot draws nearer, and Miki lifts up her hands, and - on the very same shelf that the coffee maker resided upon, she starts to step towards the same. What Miki was intending was to reach up to strike the button of the coffee maker proper, her eyes narrowing.

But it was... so very much taller than her.

Pursing her lips, she sets her hands on her hips - narrows her eyes - and then reaches out to the side of the coffee maker, starting to crest the thing like it was a mountain. That button would be in reach soon!

<Pose Tracker> Nagisa Misumi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Nagisa is starting to find that she prefers a crisis to actual cooking. This might be a little bit of both, but it helps. "R-right," she agrees reluctantly. "We can't let them go hungry! It's half-prepared anyway, right? We just need to get it--"

With Love already grabbing her, Nagisa has no compunction about hugging Love around the shoulders when the chinchilla bares its adorable head, her teeth bared in alarm, her eyes wide. "Wh-what is that?!" she wonders, because she's wouldn't know even if it were normal-sized, so under the circumstances she assumes it's some sort of supernaturally cute beast. But she nods to Buki firmly and, disengaging from Love, unslings her lacrosse stick from her back.

"Leave it to me!" she says gamely, taking the teeny Totoro. "Whoa, it's cute!" she admires, then puts it in the net with a wince. "But I guess I better throw it really hard so it actually makes a noise when it's so small..."

Winding up, Nagisa puts her shoulders into a lashing serve, whipping the Totoro through the air. She doesn't want to do it the easy way, underhand, because it needs to hit the ground as hard as possible, so she needs to give it distance with raw force. It whizzes by the chinchilla with a little zip of sound, then bounces with one big and two small squeaks, each of which Nagisa winces at a little.

"Goal!" she grins at Buki, giving her a thumbs-up, and then jogs over to join Love at the pot. She watches for a moment, marvelling at the size and weight of the thing, then turns around and puts her back into it, next to Love, and braces her feet for a big shove.

"HRRRGH!" she groans, her face getting red and puffy from exertion, her eyes screwed up with effort. "It's like pushing a pool around!" She peeks past the edge of the pot to check on Miki's progress. "Whoa," she comments to Love. "She's really good at climbing! We better not be left behind! Ossss-su! Ossss-su!" she gives rhythm to their pushes, trying to concentrate their efforts for big slides. "Move up a little between pushes, okay? Osss-su!"

<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Honoka would be serious use on the frying pans. Indeed, she spent much of the morning running an efficient and delicious hot-food operation throughout much of the kitchen, combining leadership (some would say "bossiness") with seemingly effortless (but actually simply very well-practiced) kitchen expertise.

Unfortunately, the Queen of Knowledge's shift ended an hour and a half ago, and she whisked herself off to help present the Science Club's contribution to the festival -- and maybe sneak a few peeks out the window in the direction of the Lacrosse Team's demonstration out on the field.

She's not very good at staying away from responsibility, however, a trait that endears her to some while annoying others. Sometimes, both at once. And so once she's officially got the rest of the day free, her first stop is right back where she started from.

She'll just -- take a peek. See how everyone is doing. Make sure it's all okay.

Her awareness of Nagisa's place on the schedule has nothing to do with this, surely, much less her awareness of Nagisa's capabilities in the kitchen.

Sloooooowly she peers around the corner of the back entrance, trying not to be seen. It wouldn't do to let anyone think she has less than total confidence in their abilities. And she does! Really! She's just... curious. Maybe just the teeny, tiniest bit... concerned.

A smidge worried. But just a smidge!

In exaggerated slow-motion, her eyebrows lift -- first one, incredulously and disapprovingly, at the sight of the kitchen 'abandoned,' but for a supposedly sneaky mascot -- and then the second, shocked, as she sees Tiny Love putting her back into the coffee pot, Tiny Miki climbing it, Tiny Sakura fleeing to Tiny Kuniko, and Tiny Buki and Tiny Nagisa chinchilla-wrangling.

Her expression wars between concern and affection, because while this situation is desperate, it is also adorable. She exclaims a soft 'ah~' which is booming and strange to tiny ears, and her hands clasp together unconsciously in front of her.

And then she's impacted by a speck of light and joins them. Her first thought pertains to conservation of mass. Her second thought pertains to how dangerous Miki's climb up the coffee pot is, all by herself like that.

Teeny tiny legs pumping, she rushes over to the table sugar packets -- kept near the coffee pot, thankfully -- and lifts as many as she can, which is not very many, but more than two. Back and forth, she starts silently constructing a soft landing, for when Miki is triumphant in her button-pushing efforts, but then needs to get down safely.

"Ganbatte!!" she calls, not specifying a name, because everyone deserves a cheer right now, really.

<Pose Tracker> Fred Burgermeister [None] has posed.

Ikiko's attempt to growl at the chinchilla at least gets its attention - but it doesn't speak cog, and squeaks in return. Or at least, that should be a squeak - at this scale, it's more like a challenging roar by comparison to the humans' size. A fluffy, adorable and soft-furred behemoth...

But still omnivorous - nose and whiskers twitching, it snurfles its way forward. The beast hungers...and then. A morsel of something peach and green, flying past with a loud squeak to get the rodent's attention - food? It looks like something that would fit in its mouth, so to the chinchilla the toy must be edible. It turns its head, baring its teeth - squeak-roaring in frustration as the toy flies out of reach - and then it turns the rest of its body, snurfling its way after the toy. For now, the hungering animal's attention is diverted.

As great a hurtle, if not more than the chinchilla, is the coffee machine and the host of pending orders. The pot is massive and totally full - that last strong back seems to have filled it close to the brim. The black elixir sloshes disconcertingly as Love slides it into position, ready to poor when it's tipped - ideally, once a coffee cup is in place to receive it. Love and Nagisa, together and with synchronized timing, can juuuust tip it enough for the first drink - and it smells delicious at this scale. Cream and sugar are a little easier - maybe both hands needed for the stirring spoon - and then one drink will be ready for the next round!

Next up is a cappuccino - which will need a milk to be steamed. Fortunately, Miki's in just the right position to hit the switch for that - it's taking several people working in tandem, but the drinks are being made!

A flash of yellow bounds around the kitchen, springing off of the latest entry to the kitchen - and this time, it the light fades long enough for those in the kitchen to glimpse its true nature. It's female-looking - like a young child, scaled down to the girls' current size - and entirely yellow. She's wearing a mantle over her shoulders, and has a hat that comes to two points so long they might as well be rabbit ears.

And she's giggling. Between the chinchilla and the drinks production and the sweet smell of yakisoba just beginning to burn, the kitchen seems like a lot of fun! She waves to everyone, laughs melodically - and then starts bouncing along the counter. That's cake, right? That looks like cake!

Say, wasn't there a pizza in the oven?

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fuu reaches the pile of salt crystals - and starts loading a number of them onto her phone.

.... Apparently she's got *something* in mind, although as the squeaky toy is lobbed and the chinchilla is distracted, Fuu looks wryly towards Inori and Honoka and calls out, "Thank you! I was thinking throwing these salt crystals might be a good distraction ... maybe we don't need to worry about that now, though?"

She loads a bit more salt onto her phone as she's looking around to see where she might be able to assist the others. A few more crystals of salt on her phone, and she heads over to where Kuniko and Sakura are, pushing the phone ahead of her. "Kuniko-san, Sakura-san, are you two all right? Any ideas what caused us to shrink like this?" She's keeping half an eye on the chinchilla in case the squeaky toy isn't enough of a distraction as she asks her friends those two questions.

<Pose Tracker> Kuniko Saito [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Kuniko recoils when 'Buki drops the exciting news that a chinchilla might eat them. "O-omnivores!? Gaahh-- Ah! Yes, distract it!!"

She steps protectively in front of Sakura, raising her arm as if to block an impending Chinchillassault. "I don't know, I think I heard it got loose-- I don't think it's behind this problem, though. Chinchillas aren't smart like monkeys, right?"

The brief passing of Meltrandi Honoka, who rapidly becomes Their-Size Honoka, distracts Kuniko for a fleeting second. "Yukishiro!" she calls out. BUT: the smell of noodles on a griddle are reaching her. She's tensing up even as Fuu comes down. "I don't know, Fuu-san, and I'm not sure if it's something I can handle."

She sweeps a hand through her hair then. "But - what I smell is the scent of peril. You smell that sweetness? That's the malliard reaction. That food's browning. And if it browns too much - it'll go black. I don't have time to worry about that now!"

And so the culinary student vaults towards the electric griddle, which is helpfully not something which is huge and spread-out. Kuniko is relieved to see that, having half-formed ideas involving riding a giant pat of butter around for the sake of mobility mixed with griddle lubrication - for this, though, she just has to go for the spatula!

Which is the size of a gigantic boat oar, relatively. Kuniko hoists it up with both hands, struggling - turning it around like a heavy snow shovel, struggling to get it underneath the crisping underside of those noodles and, with a huge scream, flip. Does she have the strength!?

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Ikiko breathes a sigh of relief as the chinchilla wanders away from the group, then turns to look at the yellow figure in the odd outfit. "So you shrink people down by jumping on them?" she asks, her eyes narrowing.

She takes a step towards the bouncing figure, then pauses when she hears Kuniko straining with the spatula. Help with the yakisoba, or try chasing the culprit away from the cakes?

With a frustrated sigh, Ikiko scowls at the yellow figure. "Stay away from those cakes!" she yells, then dashes over to lend her strength to Kuniko's for flipping the yakisoba. Shrunken food is (hopefully) reversible; burnt food, much less so, and much more immediate.

<Pose Tracker> Love Momozono [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Trying to push around a coffee pot was tough work! But thankfully, she had Nagisa (and also maybe Buki) to help her push it around. And Miki-chan, the problem-solver as always, was able to figure out a way to get up there and start pushing the right buttons. But they still had so many more drinks to make! And then she hears a cheer from a familiar if not slightly smaller sounding voice. Love turns her head slightly to catch a glimpse of another friendly face, "Honoka-senpai!" She was here too! With a sudden burst of inspiration, Love digs deep and pushes a little harder. It certainly did help that Nagisa knew how to coordinate their efforts in the physical work. By their combined teamwork, they were getting the job done! "We're doing great so far, Nagisa-senpai!"

Love takes a quick break to stretch out her tired limbs and to check on the fruits of Buki and Nagisa's combined efforts. "Buki, Nagisa! That was really smart of you two!" She then glances upwards towards Miki the cliff/coffee hanger. "Miki-chan! We still have some more to go! But you're doing great. No, you're doing it perfectly!" The coffee was going smoothly, but there was still a cappuccino to make. "Hey Miki-chan! Can you hit the...." Love pauses as she suddenly realizes she doesn't know how to make such a thing. "....cappuccino button?"

While Love awaits to see if Miki can repeat her acrobatics, Love looks around to see that Kuniko was struggling with the noodle spatula. "She needs help too!" But thankfully, Ikiko comes to the rescue. "Way to go!" yells Love in encouragement. "Stir those noodles!" Phew. With that taken care of, she could redouble her efforts to get the rest of these drinks taken care of. Again, there was probably something that Love was forgetting about, but naaaaah. Whatever it was, it was probably the yeast of their worries. They already had taken a great big slice out of all the cooking orders. There really wasn't mushroom for improvement.

<Pose Tracker> Sakura Kinomoto [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Sakura is sheepish when the question of the source of shrinking comes up. It was not as if she could explain, 'Yeah, that's a Clow Card.' At least, not when everyone else is concerned about feeding the others and making sure the kitchen does not burn down. With a sizeable gulp, Sakura takes a big enough breath of air that her chest inflates before sighing. "It'll surely be all right!"

Meanwhile, Keroberos, on the other hand, notices enough of the crowd downsize to gather the courage to swoop onto the table of sweets, divebombing for a cake or two and in his greedy haste, managed to soar straight into the kitchen. With a sniff or two, he can sense something is off, and it is not just the food.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" he howls, much louder and more baritone than usual for those a portion of his normal size currently. "There's a Clow Card nearby! I can sense it! What're ya' doin'?!"

It is the loud sound of the booming voice that startles her for a second. "K-K-Kero-chan!" her panicked voice squeaks. Even if she wanted to hide her identity, with all the chaos, it was not as if she could put the hard work of everyone else aside. So, for now, she is doing her best to gain the guardian beast's attention while he feverishly attacks the cakes while trying to find the source of the magical pinging.

Scurrying up the curves of a fork nearby, leaping across to a spoon where she slid all the way down the handle up to a piece of strawberry, knowing her target would be locking on soon enough.

Once he finally finished his cakes, the Cardcaptor knew all too well how to pique his interest. Initially mistaking her for a piece of dirt, the tiny paw grabs the strawberry, eying it up close before finding the 'dirt' to be a tiny girl.

"BWAAAAA! Sa-ku-ra! WHAT IS THIS?! What-oh, no. This must be the work of Little" For a second, canines are revealed before an exasperated sigh. "Climb on, Sakura-chan, we've got work to do!"

<Pose Tracker> Miki Aono [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

It was a bit of an adventure, hitting the milk button. Upon reaching the precipice of Mount Coffee Maker, she kinda crouches at the edge of the same, a bit of a breeze waving by her, letting her unbound hair flap dramatically. Glancing to one side, the 'counter' at this point almost seemed blurry - and heaven forbid if she looks at the floor proper.

What Miki does see is Honoka. Lifting up her hand, she waves down to her, a smile bursting up on her features, before she cups her mouth and calls, "Thank you! We can do this!"

Now, the adventure.

"I wish I had my Linkrun, I wish I had my Linkrun...!"

Grasping the side of the coffee maker, Miki swings down like a pendulum, burying both her feet into the button. Once struck, she pulls herself up to the top, panting - half out of fear. But... as it turns out, she performed that ~perfectly~.

Safely atop Mount Coffemaker again, Miki glances over the side, blinking at the figures of Love and their friends. "Okay!" she calls down. "Cappucino, coming right up!" she calls, striking the cappucino button ~perfectly~, in much the manner as the milk button. But when she was scrabbling back up this time, her grasp... well... her purse shifts on her shoulder, unbalancing her, and she loses her grasp, tumbling down... a little squeak leaving her.

She was kinda falling in the direction of Honoka's wonderfully placed contingency plan.

But it was still kinda scary.

<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

'buki catches her breath as Nagisa shows off the skills that made her Juuban's lacrosse ace, marveling as she exceeds her expectations. Between the three squeaks of the rebounds, the Chinchilla is diverted for now, "You did it!" She cheers almost simultaneously with Nagisa's 'Goal!' and claps her hands together, before rushing the coffee pot to aid in the team effort to get everyone fed!

Initially she tries to push in time with their calls, from the front, hands pushing against the pot with as much strength as she can muster. While not breathless right away, which she can thank the aerobics of dance practice for, sweat beading on her forehead, as she catches a glimpse of Honoka, "Oh! Yukushiro-san!" At first she thinks to say something about the situation, but Honoka was just about the smartest person she knew, and was definitely already showing her grasp of the situation by building Miki a safe landing, "Thanks! We can use every helping hand!"

"Thanks Love-chan! You're doing a great job too! I think you've almost got the coffee situation under..." 'Can you hit the cappucino button?' Her eyes grow a little wide as the volume of her voice drops, "...control." As much as 'buki hates to admit it, she really doesn't know how to make a cappucino either. She wasn't even much of a coffee person. So she instead stops pushing when Love does to look at Miki above hopefully, knowing the three of them could always rely on each other to fill in the gaps of each other's knowledge.

The burning of noodles hits her nostrils between Nagisa's calls and she herself calls out in alarm, "Oh no!" Sounding a bit despondent as she adds, "The noodles." But Kuniko rises to the challenge and Ikiko soon joins her, sweeping away that feeling of growing despair with hope, "You can do it, you two!" If anyone could, it was Kuniko, she'd seen her cooking skills first hand, when she turned tofu into a masterpiece of cuisine! And Ikiko, who was already being talked about around Ohtori campus for her /incredible/ display of strength during the festival.

Cue the arrival of Kero-chan, she looks upwards in surprise, calling out to him, "Oh! Are you a fairy?" She then looks at Sakura from a distance, wondering if she was a Pretty Cure herself, but doesn't get a good glimpse of her. However the pair do look like they know what they're doing, so she decides to leave it to them, while the rest of them concentrate on the food situation!

She only turns just in time to see Miki falling, as she points, voice rising in panic, "AHHH! SHE'S FALLING!!" Fortunately the sugar would cushion her fall, right? Uncertain whether to leave it solely up to that or not, 'buki suddenly dashes forward, with arms outstretched. Whether she would make it in time or not though to provide more assistance than the sugar packets? Well that was up to gravity.

<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Thank you, Saito-san!" Honoka calls in return, when she sees the Infinity culinary student hail her -- and start pitching in. "She needs someone to sprinkle sauce..." There's a large, open jar of it next to the range, and while normal-sized people would pour it by hand, some kind of tool seems to be the order of the day here in order for that to be a single person's job. With Ikiko already helping flip, that leaves... "Hououji-san! Please add sauce from the jar when Saito-san asks for it!" She trusts the Infinity kohai to be more than resourceful enough to find a spoon, engineer some straw suction, or whatever other solution it takes. Bouncing up and down on the squeeze bottle nearby may also find traction...

Her attention is firmly returned to drink-making operations by the chatter of Team Get Your Happiness. 'What's a Linkrun?' she wonders internally, while returning all the greetings at once with a friendly but firm, "Focus, everyone! We can do this together -- carefully!"

And then Miki's falling, almost on top of her. Buki rushes in and nearly bowls her over, but Honoka manages to keep her balance and stretch her arms out in parallel, creating a wider radius to catch with -- or be knocked down by. Unlike Ikiko, Champion of the Circus Challenge, Honoka is not particularly strong.

The layers of sugar packets crunch under her feet with a satisfying sound, as her heart leaps into her throat, and stays there. "Together!" she repeats, breathlessly, as much a prayer as an instruction.

<Pose Tracker> Nagisa Misumi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Yes!" Nagisa leaps up as the chinchilla chases the toy, and turns to Buki. "You did it, I just threw it! You're a genius, ah..." Nagisa blushes. "Right! I'm Nagisa Misumi, first-year high school! Pleasure to meet you!"

The coffee takes a lot of strength and precision to tilt properly, and Nagisa shakes, not with effort, but with tension. If the pot tilts over, not only will she and Love need to run for their tiny lives, they will also have no way of making another without a Moses-like period of wandering and trial. Nagisa imagines herself bent, with a long beard, finally returning to this coffee machine. The hot coffee inside the pot is already making her a little dizzy from her proximity, and her sweaty head imagines, for a moment, a great mirage of Honoka rising up, wavering in the steam over the coffee. Nagisa stares at this giant alabaster Honoka, and smiles sadly. "She's so pretty..." she mourns.

But a flash of light reveals that Honoka is was actually there, and Nagisa blinks in surprise as she joins them. "Honoka-chan!" she cries in greeting.

She looks at Love with a strange expression. Perhaps that long beard is still on her face. Her eyes look worried, distant. "There's something else," she says softly to Love. "Something way, way too hot."

Behind her, a pizza of fire and shadow lurks in the oven. Drums. Drums in the deep.

<Pose Tracker> Fred Burgermeister [None] has posed.

Chinchillas are, as it turns out, not quite as smart as monkeys. This class pet in particular has a relatively easy life - pokes and prods aside, he's been given food time and time again as students forget whose turn it is and double up on feeding duties. As such it takes the rodent some time to realize that the rubbery thing in its mouth really doesn't taste like edible food...but eventually, realize it does.

The toy, launched and caught and gnawed on, is at last abandoned. A furry nose twitches one way, then another - and then, slowly, trundles away from the heap of salt crystals. Where are the humans sworn to its feeding and care and feeding? The hard life of a roly-poly rodent...

Sweet and savoury, the battle for the sake of the yakisoba is an ordeal for everyone involved - the spatula is huge, and the pan larger still. With effort, one person might be able to flip the noodles, but how quickly?....but with Ikiko aiding Kuniko, the task becomes manageable. It's nearly too late - the side against the burner has had sauce sizzle and harden in patches, and there's more crunchiness than one might normally want in these fried noodles...but that's what sauce can help fix, right?

Speaking of drinks - the coffee machine shakes with the efforts of those involved in keeping it running. Love's earlier overloading means that there's plenty brewed, at least - it's the serving that's the biggest challenge, along with frothing up the cups of milk for the fancier drinks. Miki's perfect button-pushing combo is sorely broken - but there's a mysterious magic to the scaling. It looks and feels like a stories-tall building, but reality says the drop is but two hands of height - and so Miki's fall is slowed, just a fraction, just enough that Buki and Honoka can get there in time for the save. They might all wind up in a heap of sugar packets, but it's safe.

The trembling of the floorboards indicates that the dinosaur waiter is on his way - food and drinks need to be ready in a hurry! With kitchen commander Love in charge, things seem to be under control - in spite of this small setback. That might be a fleeting hope, though - the coffee, while plentiful, will run out eventually, and pizza sizzles in the darkness of the toaster oven with little hope of salvation...

Speaking of that setback - the bouncing of the yellow fairy creature comes to a halt. Forward momentum turns into a squeal of feet skidding against the countertop - the lure of cake abruptly cancelled in light of the arrival of Keroberos, Guardian Beast. Sure, he's small, but so is she - and besides which, she recognizes the winged lion! Not laughing as much, she starts bounding the other way - back towards the coffee machine and griddle, where everyone is hard at work tackling the big orders.

She nearly collides with the heap of rescuers and rescuee - tumbling in mid-air to land right on top of one of the stray sugar packets. Awkward - but she seemed determined to avoid the girls at any cost. The winged lion stalking the dessert tray, setting down the strawberry, educates all and sundry. "Right, that was it - the way to undo Little's power! If she touches you, you shrink - but if you touch her again, you turn back!"

Little, for her part, does not seem overjoyed by this revelation.

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

The arrival of Kero-chan catches Ikiko's attention. Come to think of it, Little's outfit /did/ seem somewhat familiar. At this distance, she can't quite make out the figure that went over to talk to Kero, other than it's a person that was shrunken, and most are accounted for. Most, but not all...

A few other bits of information come to mind, which Ikiko files away for later -- say, the next time she has sparring practice with the Cardcaptor.

"So we just have to catch her?" she calls to Kero-chan, even as she starts taking a prowling stance. While her magic might be limited at this size, some things are a matter of instinct instead -- and hunting is very instinctive for wolves. Setsuna Higashi walks over from Shitamachi Low City. Setsuna Higashi has arrived.

<Pose Tracker> Sakura Kinomoto [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

"A fairy?!" though it is faint, his lip twitches in disappointment. HE WAS COOL. HE WAS A BEAST. BEAST MODE IS A THING BECAUSE OF HIM. NOT A FAIRY. "I am the Guardian Beast of the Clow-"

"KERO-CHAN!"

"Aaaaanyways~ if you catch her or touch her, y'all will be back to yer' normal selves."

Quickly, Sakura was climbing atop her "noble steed" of the day, the guardian beast. Once situated in a spot on the neck, she kept her grasp tight on him before closing her eyes. "Kero-chan! I think I was finally able to sense it! Before it made me little, I could /feel/ something weird. It was really light and it felt like something made me feel" she pauses for a few seconds, trying to find the words, "weird? I don't know how to describe it, but I followed my guts and it led me here to the card. Is that what it feels like for you?" Searching around the kitchen and her neck, simultaneously, she gasps loudly. "The sealing key! I don't have it anymore! It must have fallen when I got small!"

Keroberos grins, and for a moment, he's incredibly disappointed Clow Reed was not around to be proud of him. "That's right!" If he were here, he would know how /good/ of a job he has done up to this point, and, he thinks, the future will be even better under his guidance.

Swooping around to the ground, Keroberos manages to come close enough to the ground to grab the key between his paws and sling it around his own neck for once. "Don't worry, we got it. Time to get that card now! CHEEEEEEEEEEEARGE!"

It is a very good thing many people have not decided to come into the kitchen, lest they see a bunch of ant-sized humans and a flying stuffed animal.

Once he gains enough speed to blindside the card, Sakura leaps off, both arms and legs extended. From above, she resembles a bungee jumper, but without the security of the cord. Closing in on the jester, she wraps her arms around it and growls (as much as she can, at least), "NO! NOT THIS TIME!"

And like that, much like the Grinch's heart at Christmas, Sakura grew threefold sizes larger that day, and once her feet landed on the ground, her hand raised up in enough time for Kero-chan to drop the sealing key into her hands.

Privacy was nice while it lasted.

"Key which hides the powers of the dark, show your true form before me!" Underneath her feet, a magical circle formed as a veil of smoke covered the tiny (though, ironically, largest person for now in this room) girl as the sealing key extended from the head of a bird on a key, to an oversized wand. "I, Sakura, command you under our contract!" Reaching in front of her and dispelling the winds, her hands clasped onto the wand before spinning it around to point at the card.

"RELEASE!"

<Pose Tracker> Miki Aono [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"....aaaAAAAAAA!"

That would be Miki Aono, whose scream was practically perfect in every way. And just so - the fall was slowed just so much that the together arms probably caught Miki enough so that the tumble all into the sugar packets - if such a tumble were possible, leaving her in a (fashionable) heap, a minature package of tissues having tumbled out of her purse and balanced delicately upon her belly. Oh, look! There was a brush, and some mints, and...

Miki smiles, her cheeks flushed with a bit of embarrassment. And perhaps leftover fear. "Oh, it feels like my heart is racing! Thank you both for catching me," she says. "And doubly so for the sugar packets. It was clever, whoever left these here," she says, drawing a hand down to pick up a sugar crystal experimentally, and kinda poke at it with a finger on her other hand. "You know, these are so pretty now that they are so..."

The musings of Miki Aono were left undone. For one, there was that jester fairy bouncing past her, and for two, there was a giant Sakura...! Little had stumbled into the sugar packets. Miki, in a moment, was scrabbling (slipping a bit on the aforementioned tissues - oop, there was some loose change as well!), her arms outstretched as she tries to leap towards the jester before she could get too far away! (really, Miki was hoping to grab an ankle).

<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Almost bowling over Honoka, she has no time to offer apologies, only to speak with equal determination, "Together!" She reiterates! Neither are particularly strong, but standing side by side they stood a chance. 'buki idly thought that even Miki's scream was perfect, as Honoka and her manage to arrest her fall enough that she hits the sugar packets lightly, the added weight causing 'buki to only stumble forward half a step thanks to Honoka catching part of her.

Despite the fashionable heap Miki is left in amidst the flurry of sugar crystals, 'buki unlocks her arms only to give Miki a quick hug as she's picking up her scattered belongings, "Anytime!" A beat, before she murmurs more softly, without exclamation, "Don't scare me like that." Before letting her go.

Danger was part of their lives as Pretty Cure now, even when they weren't transformed, so she doesn't dwell on it for more than a quick moment, before turning and offering a little bow to Honoka. "Thanks for your help Yukushiro-san!"

Catching sight of a blur out of the corner of her vision, she looks at the small jester fairy bounding past, and gapes at the giant Sakura. While Miki is launching after her in pursuit, 'buki scrambles after her only a few seconds later, not showing the same initiative in trying to catch it, pleading aloud with the fairy as she runs, "Please stop!"

<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Nagisa!" Honoka replies, somewhat frantically but still tenderly, since she's in the middle of watching Miki descend towards herself and Buki.

She winds up with the top and somewhat heavier half of Miki, and the force of the catch drives her to her knees. The high schooler laughs with relief when it's clear they're all okay, though, and brushes sugar crystals off of her knee socks. "How about we look at seasonings under the microscope some time?" she suggests lightly.

"Don't worry, Nagisa-chan, Love-chan," she adds quickly. "We can get the oven after we're big again, like her." She doesn't particularly recognize the elementary schooler with the wand -- the age difference is just too great.

She moves with Miki and Buki to try to cut off the jester's escape, that Sakura might be able to pin it down, grabbing a spare chopstick as she goes to wield it less like a spear and more like one of the rising barriers at the edge of a parking lot.

<Pose Tracker> Fred Burgermeister [None] has posed.

The fun-loving Little takes the measure of those surrounding it. Aren't they having fun with her? It's great being tiny, because everything's bigger than you so there's more of everying She giggles, and then bounds up into the air - let the chase begin!

Or - not. Bouncing over everyone's heads all morning, Little seems to have forgotten that the winged Kero-chan has air superiority. Sakura crashes into the Clow Card full-on - and while they disengage quickly, the deed has been done - one of those present, returned to normal! And one with the key, too...

Sugar crystals, sparkling in the light like a beach made of diamonds, prove to be problematic for traction. Feet slip and stray possessions scatter in the wake of those running after the Little spirit. She's agile, normally - but she's still dazed from the aerial hit. Mindful and wary of the growling Ikiko, she hesitates. She panics. She runs without leaping, with Miki and Buki in hot pursuit - and a chopstick lances out to block her path. It's almost too late, jester's hat trailing behind it as it leaps for freedom once more...

And then Miki's hand brushes one ankle. It's fleeting - and Miki finds herself growing rapidly, tumbling again with a less dangerous but higher drop awaiting a landing - but it's enough to knock Little off-balance in the air. For a moment, faced with the Key, she can't move to escape at all...!

(OOC: And as soon as the blow is struck, the effects revert for everyone and everything at once - so feel free to pose returning to normal to round things out!)

<Pose Tracker> Sakura Kinomoto [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Grateful to see others taking from Keroberos' cue, Sakura is firm in her resolution. "There is a time and place for everything, and a cultural festival is certainly fun, but this was really dangerous!" She is firmer than usual, particularly in spite of having her hand forced. However, it does not last for long. Offering a gentle smile towards the jester, she relaxes. "We'll have fun together in a different way, OK?"

Drawing the sealing wand above her head, Sakura draws it down towards The Little, beginning the process of creating a holographic shape of a card in which to seal the magical being. "Return to the guise you were meant to inhabit!" Her hands drop the wand down, and her voice is rich with confidence. "CLOW CARD!"

Should she be successful in sealing the card, she is soft before realizing there were others coming. Dashing towards the door, Sakura does her very best to keep others at bay, giving the other girls the chance to return to their normal sizes and hopefully help resolve any woes from cooking.

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

As Little gets boxed in, Ikiko leaps forward to pounce, aiming to pile onto the mischievous Clow Card. Then Miki connects with Little, and suddenly everyone's much larger! Which means movements are proportionally larger, too...

Finding herself now diving off of the counter at a proportionally less-dangerous height, she tucks herself into a roll, crashing into another set of repurposed gym equipment side-on (instead of face-first).

She carefully stands up, making sure to scoop up the Lycan Locket as she does so. "Everyone okay?" she asks, fastening the locket around her neck once more.

<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

The growing Miki causes 'buki to take a step back, away from the sight of her regaining her full size. However it is Sakura who restores them, when she captures The Little once and fall all. Once back to normal, there are three things 'buki does after the initial inspection of herself, then checking to make sure everyone is back to full size and sighing in relief. "I think so."

The first, is to collect the escaped chinchilla. She does so gently, rather than with a quick motion, speaking gently, with soft, delicate hand motions to make certain that the animal isn't scared. "It's okay. We'll get you back to your class soon. You're hungry aren't you? I'll find you something to eat soon" A beat, "You're so cute, now that you're not trying to eat us!" She means it too, bearing the animal no grudge for simply abiding by its instincts.

The second, is to collect the errant bath toy, which was so crucial to their strategy, she inspects it for the possibility of oversized bite marks, finding none. "Oh thank goodness! She'd be upset at bath time if I lost it!" Balancing the chinchilla as best as she can with one hand, she puts the toy away.

Its only then, that she finally picks up her yellow Linkrun, stowing it away in her bag with equal care. The others are better able to get the kitchen in order, but right now, the Chinchilla needed some tlc.

<Pose Tracker> Fred Burgermeister [None] has posed.

In an instant, the spell is fully broken - all at once, without warning, everyone and everything affected by 'The Little' return to normal. The kitchen is, strictly speaking, not quite left in chaos - as that would imply it had ever not been in that state. But generally speaking...

All the problems that had plagued the work before seem so small, now. The toaster oven is easily turned off, in order to salvage the pizza within; the yakisoba, just plated before the breaking of the spell, stands ready to eat with more easily made; the coffee machine, and its mammoth coffee pot, stand ready for further service. The nearly impassible mound of sugar is easily swept up, the salt likewise, and 4-B's chinchilla is being returned to its owner.

The dinosaur waiter returns, taking the tray of painstakingly assembled drinks and snacks, and looks into the kitchen for the first time since this all began. "Are you all seriously this beat already? It's not like this was a big order." And then he stomps off, to deliver items to a remarkably patient table.

Sakura's stalling action might buy everyone a little time, in spite of the myriad crashes and shouts. It's only a small respite - the cafe's just getting into the swing of things, it's another ten minutes before replacements are due to arrive, and there's several more orders to fill - but those aren't massive problems any more.

(And in a corner, Kero-chan cheerfully assaults the tart he snuck from the dessert tray. Sakura and everyone else are busy, and he earned this, right? Right. Thank you for the meal~!)

<Pose Tracker> Miki Aono [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"I'd like that a lot! I don't think I've ever used a microscope before," considers Miki. "Except, perhaps, in biology class once or twice," eyes narrow. "...maybe." But then she was off to the chases, that little response coming moments before her lunge at the little troublemaker.

A lunge that connects.

"Thanks again, Yukishiro-san!" she says, her purse finally abandoned to aid in her assault. And Miki grows, ending up quite large, and hunched over a table rather oddly. A couple of blinks as she gathers her wits. And her purse was on the floor. And most of the contents of said purse likewise spilled over the floor.

But Miki straightens up at first, adjusting her hair with a twist of her cap. "Um. Is everyone alright?" she says, glancing over towards 'buki and Love - and giving them a smile at first, until her eyes turn towards Honoka proper. A secret little smile tugs up the edges of her lips, and a glitter touches her eyes - something understanding shining in them, perhaps.

<Pose Tracker> Nagisa Misumi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Nagisa is busy pulling on her lacrosse gloves again, looking grimly at the oven, when Honoka calls. The obvious logic yields a sigh, that great fel maw of an oven no longer so intimidating. "Right!" she says, and slides her stick off her back again, swiveling it in her palms. "Time to play some defense!"

Jogging to try and limit the area the fleeing flash of fairy can find, Nagisa is gratified to soon find herself growing, though she has to time her jump off the counter carefully, so as to be large enough to survive it but small enough not to bonk her head on the cabinets above. After the surreal moment has passed, she whoops for Sakura, cheering the elementary schooler as she flees and marvelling at how small she looks from up here.

"You two are Love's best friends, right?" she asks Buki and Miki. "You did great! And... you really didn't seem to surprised by any of that, I was impressed. Haha! But it's not like this sort of thing has happened to you before, so I guess you're really calm. I had no idea what I was doing down there... or why I was down there, either." This latter part deflates her for a moment. "Well, the crisis is over!" she brushes aside. "I'll stand back and watch for anybody who needs help. Count on me!"

Nagisa's threshold for when someone needs kitchen help is dreadfully high, and probably will not be reached unless the jester returns.

<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Honoka is embiggened abruptly, in the same moment that she's shaded her eyes from the brilliant flash of the Sealing. She smiles softly, and mostly with her eyes, all around her -- and especially at Miki, who gets a bit of glittering understanding in return. "Any time, Aono-san," she replies evenly, with understated but potent good cheer.

"They all went to elementary school together here at Juuban," she adds, explaining the situation to Nagisa briskly, "And going to three different schools hasn't been enough to hurt their friendship one bit."

Her eyebrows snap together with audible disapproval at Nagisa's final pronouncement. "You're on duty right now!" A hand snakes out and grabs a hank of Nagisa's still slightly lacrosse-sweaty hair, gently but firmly towing her towards the yakisoba station -- her other hand presses a spatula into Nagisa's own.

"Fry! You can do it, just stir occasionally and pay attention. I'll add the sauce. We can do it together."

It's pretty cramped quarters with two full-sized people making yakisoba on one little hot plate, but somehow Honoka thinks she'll survive.

<Pose Tracker> Nagisa Misumi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"That's so cool," Nagisa enthuses with a tomboyish trill. "Our kohai are really good at sticking together!"

Nagisa's mouth opens like a penitant in a Renaissance painting of Hades, and her helpless hands gesticulate an unformed misery. She lets Honoka drag her, with no more objection than a little "it-it-it" under her breath at the discomfort, and looks down at her spatula morosely.

"Arienai..." she moans.