2015-11-23 - Puella Beach
| Title: Puella Beach | |
|---|---|
| Summary: The full Puella Magi cast meets up at the beach during the Okinawa trip. Lighthearted fun descends to heartfelt connections as the sun sets. | |
| Who: Homura Akemi, Mami Tomoe, Sachiko Majime, Sayaka Miki, Madoka Kaname, Kyouko Sakura | |
| Where: The Beach, Okinawa | |
| OOC - IC Date: 11-23-2015 - 09-10-2014 | |
- +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ The Beach +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
A ribbon of white sand ripples into the distance, the dividing line between
glassy sapphire waves and bristly green brush. Each driftwood lifeguard
tower seems to cast a concrete shadow further inland, where tall blocky
hotels rest sleepily between palm trees. Food carts await near the major
exits, each marked with a series of weather-beaten planks that descend like
ancient ruins into the powdery sand. Wafting in with each placid low of
water-sound, the warm breeze carries a tangy, subtly floral scent of
tropical ocean.
The water here remains around waist level anywhere from forty to a hundred
meters from shore, which on busy days creates water-park like atmosphere of
people floating, splashing, and running about in the extended shallows.
Perhaps owing to mandatory swim lessons in school, the Japanese beachgoer
tends to be disinclined to do much actual swimming. Regardless of age, most
bring a flotation device, to better enable a relaxing drift atop the water.
Indeed, a typical Japanese beach outing is unusually well-supplied, be it
with a grill and food, equipment for sports or games, squirt guns,
watermelons, parasols, or all of the above.
Visitors from Tokyo are likely to happy just to have a beach that lacks the
tasteful mother-of-pearl sheen of industrial waste, but the advantages do
not end there. Beaches on the mainland normally feature the dark grey sand
ground down from Japan's ancient mountains, which requires great spiritual
prowess to walk over unscathed when the dark color absorbs the summer sun.
Even better, the cooler, paler sands of Okinawa are available almost all
year, as even winter boasts beach-worthy weather.
'*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+--+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*'
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "There are a lot of us, so I thought tonight we should do some randomizing to be more sociable... do smaller groups or pairs that will change frequently, thrown together by the chaotic Will of the Beach. For instance, first pose here we can do two groups of two and one of three and do a smaller activity for two rounds, then we'll all come together for something bigger. What do you think? Will of the Beach?" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "i just think will of the beach sounds awesome" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Sounds good to me!" [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "Ehehe" [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "Sounds good!" [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "WHEEL OF MATCHUPS, TURN TURN TURN, TELL US THE SHIPS THAT WE SHOULD BURN" [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "uh I mean" [OOC] Madoka Kaname ahem [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Sounds great to me!" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Okay, if there are no objections... I will roll a d100 for each of you. I am doing it for you because that way if someone's AFK we won't get all confused. And we'll clump the people whose numbers are closest together, starting from the lower numbers, into groups of 2-2-3. If you don't get it don't worry just sit there" DICE: Sayaka Miki rolls 1d100+0 and gets 66! [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "That was me. Madoka:" DICE: Sayaka Miki rolls 1d100+0 and gets 74! [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Eri:" DICE: Sayaka Miki rolls 1d100+0 and gets 72! [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Kyouko:" DICE: Sayaka Miki rolls 1d100+0 and gets 62! [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Sachiko:" DICE: Sayaka Miki rolls 1d100+0 and gets 73! [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Homu:" DICE: Sayaka Miki rolls 1d100+0 and gets 94! [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Senpai:" DICE: Sayaka Miki rolls 1d100+0 and gets 88! [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "What is with my dice" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "The dice have betrayed you Sayaka." [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...ahahahaha" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Oh goddamn it, you're right. So the first group is... me and Anko" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Fufufu~" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "The second is Eri and Sachiko" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "The third is Homu, Mami, and Madoka" [OOC] Homura Akemi draws knives [OOC] Mami Tomoe already sharpening her own [OOC] Madoka Kaname ._. [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "Maa, maa..." [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "We agreed, no knife fights on the beach! ... because y'all brought guns." [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "http://pinkwarriorneedsfoodbadly.tumblr.com/post/119173593705/ >_>" [OOC] Homura Akemi rofl
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"Rehhhhh?!?!"
Madoka, sand and sunscreen stuck to her skin in equal measure, isn't really asking a question. This is a bleat of disbelief. All of her hard work, and some of the others' hard work, have just been destroyed by the unfortunate happenstance of her mixing too much water and sand together in her bucket. When she cautiously, carefully slides it upwards, in order to free a perfectly cylindrical tower, instead she unleashes the Great Sandslide of 2014. The sludgewave instantly drowns the sad little leaves she had planted in the courtyard ("Like rice! Or, um, little soldiers!") and takes out the downslope wall -- which is also the wall that faces the sea.
Someone will have to work fast to prevent the next big wave from taking out the rest of the castle. Someone who isn't Madoka, because she's busy bobbing her head and apologizing over and over.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The fluffy white sand of Okinawa stretches far in every direction. With children back in school, the beach is relatively uncrowded, resembling a tropical paradise where a month or two ago it might have looked more like a water park. The waves lap calmingly around Sayaka Miki as she plays dead atop the water, her back arched faintly, her arms and fingers spread. The sun beats down on her face. She smells the kelpy fragrance of Okinawa's crystalline waters. If they all lived here, she muses, maybe she'd join Kozue on the swim team. This is her first trip to Okinawa, and she hadn't realized how nice a real tropical beach was compared to a school swimming pool--even Ohtori's school swimming pool.
With an orange floaty on either bicep, a rainbow bikini top, and a small pair of women's boat shorts, Sayaka is a candy-colored brightness atop the lapping surf. Her hair seems to disappear into the aqua-colored water beneath her, their shades quite proximate. She's able to forget all about Witches, and the start of the semester, and boys, and swords, and boys with swords...
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Our group is swimming" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi has a feeling she's about to be playing the Jaws theme on Kyouko's entrance. [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "I would never ever do that" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Sayaka's bathing suit: http://safebooru.org//images/982/da697c1acf3beba5e2fcb99478c46680f7d84c81.png" [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "Do you have the link to the group shot?" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Good call... yeah, the canon characters have a pseudo-canon bathing suit (well, or rather, two sets each that come up repeatedly) in official merchandise" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=771999"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4
Deep in the brine, a savage beast stirred beneath the breaking waves. A killer not native to these depths, but one with a predator's fang that always follows its nose for prey. Water where little light can reach churns and bubbles as it kicks itself into motion like a black windowed limousine flickering to life and pulling out from park.
Its slender body creates little drag, and a jellyfishlike cloud of thin reedy tentacles lazily drifts near its snout. The skyward sun undulates and throbs as the monster swims up towards the surface..a dagger-like triangle of flesh piercing up to stab through the barrier dividing the elements. The dorsal fin slices menacingly back and forth in the naked air, its owner offering no indication that it knows of its chilling exposure.
The sharp toothed meat eater didn't have to wander or search for its target, and had in fact zeroed in on one some time ago. Now it's time to strike...the salt water stings its eyes, but it keeps their lids shut to slits as it homes in on an unsuspecting shadow...not on a straight course, but around and around in a wide circle that draws narrower and narrower. Suddenly, the jutting fin stops, and turns...and comes barreling straight ahead before dipping down and vanishing from sight...
Kyouko explodes out from the water to Sayaka's side like a breaching whale with a foot and a half long dorsal fin attached to a skulltight swimmer's cap that only partially restrained her red mane. Her arms our outstretched and her mouth is wide open as she lands on Sayaka's torso, pushing them both underwater. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAS"
[OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Kyouko! You fibbing fibber! XD" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "All just revenge for not being in the group shot..."
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Homura, conversely, looks down with cool and unimpressed eyes at her latest work: a curtain wall, which she is using a special brush to make the outer layer even. Her fingers pinch to create a battlement -- until she sees it.
The sandslide.
She stands up with purpose, abandoning her battlement, and walks forward. Her violet eyes narrow and her hand reaches back to that long black hair. She snaps with her wrist, flicking her hair out behind her. She walks in her black one-piece, until she reaches the the sandslide. Now...!
She leans forward without paying attention, though, so focused on protect Madoka--er, Madoka's hard work. But something breaks that concentration: a pitched cry of 'YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS!' With trained practice and /absolute/ familiarity, Homura jerks her head quickly to the left to check on another prize:
The hot dog she grabbed from a grill, sitting safe on a paper plate. Good, she thinks, Sakura didn't find it.
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Down here nearer the water with Madoka, Mami has left the shelter of her parasol behind, letting it stay a little up the beach with the rest of her things while she sits and works to caarefully add detail work to one of the towers on this castle.
A proper castle needs windows in its towers, for princesses to look out of. Mami is quite certain of this.
So when castle-tastrophe strikes, Mami looks down suddenly and then turns to Madoka. The sand...!
Her eyes light in a perfectly normal way as she suddenly sweeps her hands down to try to build up another wall--just as Homura leans at the same place.
/Bonk/.
Mami's head bounces back, the older girl suddenly putting both hands up where she just impacted. The castle wall goes unrepaired; the blonde's drills bounce in place as she sits back up in a daze. "Ehh, what...?"
She sees a flash of black. /Homura/.
[OOC] Kyouko Sakura headsnaps to the dawg. [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "it is your destiny" [OOC] Homura Akemi nuuuu my hot dog T_T [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "This is one of Kyouko's "canon" swimsuits by the way http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/24500000/Kyouko-Sakura-Official-Art-kyouko-sakura-24580760-216-598.jpg" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Very femme fatale haha"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Madoka cares a lot more about bonked heads than she does about broken walls -- even as the promised next wave comes a'rolling in, a'crashing, a'churning. It carves a cliff face out of what was a wall before, but she doesn't really notice. Nor does she pay too much mind to Sayaka and Kyouko horsing around; that's a comfortable backdrop in her life when the two of them are nearby, like a blotchy soft watercolor. It doesn't really summon alarm.
No, she is too busy wrestling with her own tongue, which is tangled in a knot of embarrassment and guilt much like the one in that bottom drawer with all the electronics cords, the one that's been let go much too long and now it is gordian in scope. "Um, uh, er..."
Her cheeks are getting even pinker than her polka dot two-piece.
Like the wall beneath the wave, her voice breaks all at once. "Areyoutwookay? Doyou wantsomeice? Compress? Band-aid?"
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "madoka is /so cute/ oh my god" [OOC] Mami Tomoe just dies on the spot [OOC] Mami Tomoe overdose of adorable [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Yesss" [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "Rejected Homura lines number 283: 'no, damn it, after like a hundred timelines, I just want you to get some cooler friends!'" [OOC] Mami Tomoe hahahahaha omg [OOC] Kyouko Sakura cackles.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"Match Point!" Came the enthusiastic cry from a classmate standing on the sidelines. They'd been impromptu referee during the back and forth rallies the whole match.
Sports this competitive weren't exactly Eri's thing, but as she became more and more breathless with each exchange she found herself enjoying it even though her suit, a ruffled green tankini covered in dots, and the ends of her hair had so much sandy grit caked on them from the sheer number of failed dives she'd made to try to salvage it. Her glasses had whorls from how many times she'd had to hastily wipe them off.
Her teammate had become more and more annoyed, then despondent at just how badly the other pair, led by ace Sachiko was thoroughly annihilating them, but strangely enough Eri didn't seem to mind at all. "Ready for our inevitable come back, Majime-san?" She flashed a grin which was at least ninety percent bluster if not more. They were really getting thrashed
Awaiting the serve, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, before found her attention somewhat distracted by the loud cry of YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS! that reached her even from here. She looks, not really knowing who the two are from there though she catches the glimpse of the dorsal fin attached to the head.
Then looks at one opponent in particular, Sachiko, she straightens then thrusts a thumb out towards the sea, "I think you'd be right at home swimming out there. They could start calling you the team shark rather than the ace!"
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"Whuh--" Homura catches a glimpse of blonde coming right at her.
Bonk.
It doesn't mean that she could get away in time. She puts a hand over her head and groans, rubbing at the spot, and then she looks sideways. She spots Mami, first, and she frowns. Then, her violet eyes shift forward, and she somehow fights down a sigh until Madoka starts talking. She looks at her and blinks, before she shakes her head.
"I will be fine, Madoka. You shouldn't worry about me," the girl says, simply. Then she looks down at the castle. As they say, a river runs through it. Perhaps a lava flow, in sand form. She wrinkles her nose. "We may need to start over."
[OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Homura knows all about starting over." [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "yyyyyeeep"
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Mami frowns right back. There is a definite moment where she considers exactly the /best/ way to play Homura as she looks down...
But that moment slides away like the remains of a certain wall at Madoka's voice.
Leaving one hand up on her hand for now, she lowers the other and smiles gently at Madoka, "It's fine." She is /deliberately/ not looking over at the familiar shouting for the moment.
"I'll just be more careful not to lose my head. We... Yes, I think we should start over. But we can make it even better than before!"
Her eyes slide to Homura's, as if to confirm. ...They can... /probably/ avoid arguing for a few more minutes for Madoka's sake. ...Probably.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sayaka turns her head lazily, perhaps out of instinct, perhaps out of chance. Her drowsy gaze finds a glistening fin slicing the water, and she pinches her eyes shut tightly, then peels them open, expecting it to be gone--a figment of her imagination. But it is still there, cutting smoothly towards her mammal body, here so far from the safety of land. Blinking rapidly, Sayaka suddenly flails, flipping onto her stomach as she sputters from an unexpected mouthful of water. "W-wh-WHA!" she stammers, starting to shove herself back through the water. But the only worse thing than seeing a shark's fine is /not/ seeing a shark's fin, and this city girl is about to realize it. Her scream for a lifeguard dies in her throat as she falls totally silent, trying to seek the predator with eye and ear, adrenaline throwing her veins wide and inflating her lungs. She sees a flash of dark color beneath the water just before it explodes.
"IYAAAAA!" Sayaka shrieks piercingly, every limb throwing itself against the others as she squirts herself backwards through the water like a squid, panicked. Her wide-open mouth seems to realize before the rest of her, twisting from fear to rage, and then her eyes follow, fixing on Kyouko's face. But midway through her squid-escape, Kyouko's weight drops onto Sayaka's, and they disappear beneath the waves, leaving only bubbles.
When they breach again, Sayaka has Kyouko's neck under her armpit and she's locked it in with a hand on that wrist, her face red as she coughs. "Why are you even here?!" she demands loudly. "How come you--HUCHK--always make it to our school trips?" Her eyes widen in amazement at the size of this ridiculous flipper. "Where did you even GET that?" she demands, but it may not really be a genuine question, because she accompanies it by shoving Kyouko's finned head under the water and dragging it back and forth to make waves with the paddle-like protrusion.
[OOC] Eri Shimanouchi leans over to Kyouko, "Five thousand yen on Homura and Mami lasting five minutes without arguing."
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Madoka looks between Homura and Mami without moving very much, holding stock still in the manner of one trying not to disturb the sound of the perfect silence right before an orchestra begins to play. (For whatever reason, the uncontrollable need to cough seems to target these few seconds with more vicious glee than most others.)
It drags on as she listens to the music of her friends actually getting along, a symphony only she can hear, one that /won't/ be ruined by the others.
"H-hai!!" she agrees, sparkles all around her, in her eyes, threatening to be inhaled by her rapid, joyful breathing. Then, with all the enthusiasm of Tatsuya at last year's Halloween, she punches down a tower. (He wore a tiny dinosaur costume, but given his posture, made for a more credible Godzilla.) "Wrecking... punch... strike!"
That sounded more like an imitation of Mami calling out her signature attacks. Or maybe any of the dozens of other magical girls Madoka observes and cheers with such fervor...
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Their alliance was one born out of utter necessity. On the battlefield, one does whatever it takes to survive, to fight back, and to win. Sachiko treats this sandy beach volleyball court just as she would an actual battleground much to the lament of her temporary ally, the brunette shortstop from Ohtori's Softball Club's team. "What are you even -doing-?" bemoans the blonde, pony-tailed girl in the orange bikini. "Just stay out of my way and I'll carry us both to victory." Sachiko orders just as an errant volleyball lands on their side of the court, marking a point for the other team. She shoots one nasty glare at her teammate before moving back into her position which encompasses 90% of their side to her teammate's 10. In both Sachiko's and her teammate's opinion, the end of this volleyball game coud not come soon enough.
That Shimanouchi girl was strangely polite and accepting of getting beaten in this game of volleyball. It must all be an elaborate ruse for Sachiko to put her guard down. But Sachi knows better than to fall for something like that. She smiles ruefully at the other girl. "Bring it on." Ha, such simple tricks wouldn't work here! The 'game' of volleyball continued until it finally reached the much coveted match point for Sachiko's team. This was it. It was time to put the game to rest.
All Sachiko needed was an opening. And an opening she received. Eri was looking at something out at sea. "Match point!" The competitive blonde athlete quickly tosses the ball up in the air, jumps, and sends the volleyball spiraling over towards Eri's side. Only then does Sachiko stop to consider what Eri said to her. "Better to be the team shark than the team guppy," reports Sachiko with a toothy grin of her own. "But there is only one sport I care about dominating and it's not played on the beach." It may be fun and games for some, but not for Sachiko Majime.
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Homura's eyes meet Mami's. She nods her head very slightly. Perhaps, somehow, they can keep themselves from fighting for Madoka's sake. She seems happy -- and it seems, by and large, a mostly safe situation. The girl's violet eyes turn down, then, as she considers what they might do. Destruction requires careful planning and plotting, so it doesn't--
'Wrecking... punch... strike!'
Or they could do that. She watches Madoka tear into the castle, having called out an attack name. Her teeth grit, for a moment, before she stands up smartly. Then, silently, she does a roundhouse kick that rips apart the curtain wall that she worked on just a moment before. The expertly crafted battlement is blown apart into so many grains of sand.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The sheer energy behind the jump serve almost takes her off guard, just in the intimidation factor behind it. She backpeddles a step or three then quickly weaves to the right, trying to desperately take some of the heat off of it. Bringing her arms back together, she quickly slides down onto her knees picking up a small cloud of sand and pounds beneath it with both arms.
It didn't exactly lead to a perfect pass back, instead sending it into a high and lazy sideways arc over the net, but it at least salvaged it for a moment.
Swept up in the anxious adrenaline, she calls back after, while scrambling back to her feet, "Sure but maybe you shouldn't devour your teammate? This isn't some championship game on the diamond!"
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Mami smiles very slightly at the confirmation. But only very slightly; it's quite easy to miss. ...Especially since she smiles broadly instead at Madoka's sudden agreement. "Yes, we--"
A hand covers her mouth as Mami finds she's laughing quickly. "Aah, now that was fearsome!" she replies cheerfully. "Next--" Kick!!
...Mami stands up, too, though she makes an effort not to look hurried with it. "I can't be left behind," she adds, casually, and /stomps/ right on the viewing-tower she'd been working on a moment ago, bringing one foot down to squish all the work she'd put forward moments ago.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Madoka sputters as sand inadvertantly sprays all over her -- her friends towering above her means that while her strike might have been deliberately /dramatic/, theirs are a lot more effective. She doesn't complain, though, instead waiting until their feet are clear to flop downwards, rolling like a log across the sandy foundation of their next castle.
"FINAL LEVELING, UM, DEMISE!"
A giggling log. A squealing, giggling log, as another wave comes in and soaks her twitching feet.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M27yK34I2d4&index=4&list=PL7B5913F38CA51BBB
Cackling like a madwoman without missing a beat between dunks, Kyouko kicks and squirms in the water, struggling to wriggle away without any solid ground to push off from. Her arm scoops around Sayaka's back, pushing against it as she wriggles in headlocked captivity. "Because..." She squirts some water from her mouth at Sayaka's face. "...I can do anything! Hurk!"
As the cruelest blueberry makes a makeshift fishtail out of her, Kyouko leans with and against the swishes and swings, and manages to wriggle free of the ostentatious skullcap. Snatching the foam knife-with-a-shower-cap in her hand, she brandishes it up at her captor, slashing a tall vertical line of seaspray at her face!
Tensing her muscles, she presses forcefully with the other arm still around Sayaka's back, her hair becoming a comet from a cloud as she twists and cajoles her way free from the distracted despot. Popping her upper body back up out of the drink, she presses the fintip to Sayaka's throat, growling with a pronouncedly guttural approximation of an accent.
"Yarrr! Yer booty or yer life, swabbywag! Arrrrrr.."
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "What a great soundtrack choice" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "My mind immediately went to this: http://keyofjetwolf.tumblr.com/post/113179565367/hell-yes-you-can-mako-reblog-to-recreate-post" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Hehe and thanks, I had to find the name of that one" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Knowing her I bet Mako's baking a perfect souffle at the exact same time X)" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "Yesss"
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Final Leveling Demise...?
Homura watches as Madoka, by way of rolling, destroys an entire castle. She watches it flatten under her, and her mouth opens. She almost smiles. Then she thinks that it sounds more like a final boss's attack (...sort of) and Homura is a little more melancholy again. She sighs, before she shakes her head.
She glances, again, at Mami. "We have to decide what sort of castle to build," she says. Then, she looks down at Madoka, too. "Sixteenth century German, perhaps?"
People called her weird for a reason.
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sadly, Sachiko -is- enjoying herself. Her teammate might not be and the other team might only kind have be enjoying themselves, but there was no such discrepancies in Sachi's mind for she was smiling from ear to ear. Brown eyes intently follow the volleyball as it comes back across and Sachiko's teammate manages to knock it sorta of straight into the air which causes Sachiko to come crashing down on it with some real 'oomph' behind the volleyball. The now falling softball star comes crashing down into the soft sand and looks up over at Eri before point out her left hand towards her. "Never give anything less than your absolute best! Never let an opponent see your weakness! Always fight on through until you achieve victory!" She barks back in quick succession. "This might not be a matter of life and death to you, but you never know when it will be. Why treat this any different?"
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Mami finds herself giggling, too, watching how cheerfully Madoka just rolls along. ...The faint feeling at the edge of her heart can stay there for now, as she sits back down beside their now-flattened foundation.
"Yes, we /do/ have to decide..."
She quirks an eyebrow. "Well..." Sixteenth... century German. "That's a fine idea," Mami says, nodding smartly.
Why didn't she think to study /castles/???? "Right, Madoka-chan?"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"Sure, Homura-chan!" enthusiastically chirps the sand monster once known as Madoka Kaname. It's stuck to every conceivable part of her, now, not just her hands and knees, and is beginning to obscure even her bikini.
She rolls onto her side, her eyes continuing with a little bit of dizzyness, as though the ceased momentum has all been transferred into them. "Are they your favorite or something?"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sayaka tries to hold Kyouko down as best she can, pinching an eye shut as a jet of water finds her right eye. "Don't spit at me!" she shouts, scandalized, and shoves Kyouko's head under again, though it occurs to her afterward that it will only refuel the human squirt gun.
"Anything except go to class, right? Stop going to trips without going to school!" She wrestles Kyouko down again, even through the sheaves of water hurled at her by the detached fin, but Kyouko finally gets some leverage when her hair starts flapping around. A giant wall of saltwater-soaked hair slaps into Sayaka's face like twenty pounds of wet silk, and when she inhales it drags the red filaments against her mouth like a plastic bag. Wheezing on Kyouko's prolific plumage, Sayaka loosens her grip enough for Kyouko to get loose.
Lifting her chin, Sayaka grimaces down, held at finpoint. "What sort of shark is also a pirate?" she sighs. "I guess you beat me, then." She raises her hands as if in surrender.
"...yeah right!" Then she lunges, unharmed by the dull fin, and tackles Kyouko over into the water again.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
I saw a star slide down the sky,
Blinding the north as it went by,
Too burning and too quick to take hold,
Too lovely to be bought or sold,
As it descends, all chances of it becoming an inevitable comeback turn to well... sand. Eri's teammate is on the other side and unable to back it up, while she's a bit too far back. She tries anyhow, making a dive that was too short to prevent it... and getting a bit of sand in her nose and mouth to boot. 'That's game!' The ref shouts from the side.
Getting herself up, she dusts herself off as if she didn't hear a single word that Sachiko said at all, simply trying to get her breathing under control. She takes off her glasses again, holds them up to the sky, watching the glint along the edges, as she says somewhat glumly, "Maybe I just want there to be times when I don't have to think like that." Maybe she didn't intend it to be overheard with her teammate already wandering off sulkily and among the polite claps, but it's probably Sachiko heard that.
But when Sachiko looks back she's grinning again, with her glasses on her face, "Good game! Thanks for the fun. Guess it just wasn't my day!" Or probably wouldn't be ever. A single laugh, "Got a feeling you and someone I know would get along, Majime-san." ...or possibly tear each other apart. That was possibly equally likely.
Good only to make wishes on
And then forever to be gone.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Later, Madoka is slightly less of a sand demon but still sticky with the stuff. She is striving, successfully, to keep it out of the food. The best way to do this is to keep it at arm's length. Or fan's length.
Because she has procured a simple but lovely cloth fan from some place, and is waving it over the little grill with great enthusiasm.
Well -- it was great enthusiasm for the first couple of minutes. It has gradually transmogrified into the wiggle waggle of tired noodlearms.
She still strains with all her might, though, because, as she moans, "It smells so gooooood, Sayaka-chaaaaan..."
[OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "How about a beach fire that could handle marshmallows and hot dogs?" [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "Kyouko and Homura?! Setting the beach on fire?!" [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxlhyX-4qKI" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Hush! https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WUhOnX8qt3I/maxresdefault.jpg" [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "I'm pretty sure you mean" [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "Ooo, I like it--ahahaha" [OOC] Madoka Kaname says, "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhOnX8qt3I&t=77 -- I mean, this is /magical girl/ ;)" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Eheheh love that video."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Lady Sunshine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ8567TVSjM
"Be strong, Madoka-chan," Sayaka urges. "It's only going to smell better when it's out..."
Sayaka's hair is pushed back away from her ears and forehead, the salt remaining in it giving it a brittle hold like weak gel. She pokes a tinfoil-wrapped fish with her long grilling fork until she manages to slide it beneath, then flips it with a fragrant sizzle. "This one's done!" she sings, setting it down on a platter set up on the patchwork marketplace of beach towels and paper plates they have arranged on the sand. Peeling the paper with her fork and a few wince-accompanied touches of her fingers, she inhales the smell of all this good food happily. "Eri-chan, you should have first shot at all this fish! I'll make sure to cook it so it doesn't touch the vegetables," she says solicitously. "Hmm... do you eat fruit? It's a plant but it's not, you know, /the/ plant..."
Returning to Madoka's side, Sayaka frowns as she watches the increasingly limp motions of her friend's arm. "Let's swap, okay?" Sayaka presses the fork's handle into Madoka's palm, and relieves her of the fan with her free hand, beating it in the air with such an excess of vigor that the grill initially flames up, orange tongues licking the tin foil directly.
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sachiko eagerly waits in anticipation and watches for the result of her efforts on the court. The hit volleyball finds sand and Sachi starts her celebration. "I did it!" She belatedly looks to her teammate. Hmmm, she should probably say something to her. "Good job not getting in my way." The other girl looks less than enthused at Sachiko's generous words and goes off to have fun with her friends which leaves Sachiko by her lonesome. Brown eyes narrow as Sachiko huffs and turns away. "Geeze, some people really can't take a compliment."
The victorious volleyball warrior does turn towards Eri when she does overhear that. She's still pondering her response when Eri goes on to congratulate her. Sachiko beams with egotistical pride. "I really gave it my all, so...um...thanks I guess." She takes a few steps closer to Eri and continues to smile. "Oh yeah? And who might that be?" Sachiko suddenly leans in and coldly says, "That's a nice thought, but it's also a thought that could get you killed." The smell of nearby food suddenly distracts Sachiko from her attempted menace.
"Something smells good and I did work up quite the appetite. Time to eat." Sachiko says to Eri before strolling right on over to where a watermelon is laid of on a piece of cardboard. Suprisingly, she shows some restraint and merely observes the delicious fruit from a distance....for now.
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Cooking isn't Homura's strong point. She selected the task that didn't take much expertise or knowledge; she didn't want to reveal a relative lack of culinary skill to others (or, well, mostly Madoka). Tending the fire and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows felt easy. More wood kept the fire hot; hot dogs and marshmawllows are easy. However, there was a... complication.
She pulls a couple of skewers back with roasted hot dogs speared on them. The little sausages have crispy parts here and there, with a bright red pallor that few hot dogs can ever quite boast. She puts them on a plate.
Then she looks at said complication.
"Kyouko Sakura," she says with that usual detached, cool voice -- which still somehow has a lot of gravity behind every word. "We will need to share these and make sure everyone gets one. Along with the marshmallows." She grabs at one, on a skewer. "Others will want them, I think."
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"C-careful!!" Sayaka flaming up the grill heavily alarms Madoka, who falls back on her sandy bottom as she frantically scoots away from the fire. This is exaggerated fear, though only her bluenette wife may recognize it as playacting (or at least half-playacting to turn her genuine startle into something silly and fun). "You're such a firebug, Sayaka-chan," she whines cheerfully, ignoring the contradiction given the actual bonfire a little further down the beach.
With a huff, she swings back up onto her knees and twists the fork into a readied position. Her other hand grabs a nearby squeeze bottle of teriyaki sauce. With much steam and sizzling, she anoints those grilled veggies that aren't hidden in foil packets -- ears of corn and slices of eggplant. The heat tosses droplets back up at her, and she squeaks, then licks the side of her mouth, catching a bit off her cheek.
"Fish!" she calls, like a festival barker. "Corn! Veggie kabob!" (This is not truth in advertising, the vegetables are nowhere near done.)
And perhaps worse than noticing Homura's culinary failings, she doesn't seem to be noticing Homura at all...
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...poor homu" [OOC] Homura Akemi :|!!
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Laughter bubbles out of her lips, "I guess you did!" A hand on her hip, she says with this goodnatured statement, "Maybe there's no such thing as overdoing it for people like you."
Later, near the grill, it seems a different fire burns than one of competition. One that's bringing some mouth watering smells in the air. Even she can't deny that everything, the meat included, smells good. "It sure does. I have complete faith in their grilling skills." Even if she'd never tried it before, such smells couldn't be denied!
She folds her arms together at Sayaka's request, leaning over so that she's talking to her with a little sideeye, "Thanks for the consideration but..." A soft giggle, "...Didn't you know I eat all fruits and vegetables, Sayaka-chan?" She grins, "So it's fine! You can cook it as close to the fish as you want. I don't even mind a little fish every now and then." She seems more amused than anything before adding to Madoka, "Save an ear of corn and some eggplant for me please, Madoka-chan."
Before long Sachiko though is setting up a watermelon on cardboard. She'd become somewhat infamous amongst her classmates for splitting them on the beach, and it seems inevitable she'd take this before long, "It's been a long time since I've done something like that, Majime-san. Maybe we should..."
Her eyes sweep over everyone present. And then fall upon a certain person, an idea gets into her head and once it's there she just can't get it out, "...defer to our seniors here, for my sake." Bending down to pick up a wooden rod and a piece of cloth, she strolls over to the most dignified person here. "Senpai. Will you show us your watermelon splitting technique?" Assuming Mami didn't protest /too/ much, she'd soon have the rod placed in her hands and the blindfold tied around her eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE0CPY4bdx8
After much struggle, Redbeardless had failed to seize Sayaka's booty, and decided that her piracy career would have to be put on hold for now. But she lives to sail another day, and plunder wherever she lands! Her stomach rumbles, and as she looks to shore she realizes that she might have one last raid left in her..
Clapping her hands together with barely concealed glee, Kyouko struts about like a long tenured worksite supervisor, greedy eyes bouncing along as every weiner hits the platter. So juicy..so red.. "Mmm..then they better hurry! Hot dogs gotta be eaten hot..or they're not hot dogs, are they? I won't let food be wasted or disrespected!" She turns to point dramatically at Homura. "I swear it!"
Swinging a foot out almost in parallel with her waist, she brings it back down and clicks heel to heel like an exaggerated soldier.
The fire licks up in a crude triangle, adorned with cooking foodstuffs like ornaments on a highly unorthodox Christmas tree. Ready made skillets of still popping corn, marshmallows and a pot of melting chocolate, just in case. And she can't wait any longer!
Toasted bun in hand, mustard squirting as we speak, she plops the red hot right in the bread. Slinking over to the grill, she conspicuously leans over right in front of Sayaka and snatches some raw onion that didn't make it to the grill and adds it into the mix before biting off half of her masterpiece in one go. She hasn't finished chewing when she points again to Homura.
"I SCHWARE IT!"
[OOC] Homura Akemi says, "omg the song" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Pffftttt that song." [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "I'd never heard of it but I wasn't about to let my search for "hot dog song" end with Disney Channel, Led Zeppelin, or Limp Bizkit"
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
It smells wonderful. ...perhaps more importantly, the fish doesn't smell like /fruit/.
...Fruit's fine, but Mami's not sure how she feels about roasted fruit anymore.
Regardless, here she is, walking over to the food preparation area; she'd lagged a little behind, and now she can arrive just in time to laugh softly at how fun it seems to be with ll these foods being cooked already.
She smiles extra over Sayaka and Madoka's way, though she's jolted a little by the loud shouting about /searing/ it.
...Just in time to...
"Ah... My watermelon splitting technique? Of... Of /course/..."
Mami looks suddenly between Sachiko and Eri beside her. Sachiko, who she'd almost not noticed for just a moment. "Well, with the both of you here..." Pause. ..Won't let food be disrespected or wasted, huh?
"I /suppose/ I can show you how a high schooler does it," Mami says with practiced grace.
...It can't be /that/ hard, right?
"I'm ready!" Mami says boldly, maybe a little more Sayaka in the moment than some might expect. ...Blindfolded. She hefts the bat like a royal scepter, set to show Sachiko her moves...!
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The look that Homura gave Sayaka was brief and chilly. But it stays brief; it isn't the time for sniping, tempting as it is, and the black-haired girl has other concerns for the moment. She looks sideways at Sayaka, as she places her skewer with a marshmallow in the fire. The flame catches the marshmallow, the delicious and fluffy white thing begin to roast and turn a golden brown color.
She hears the crunch of the raw onion. Her violet eyes shift, slowly like molasses, until they are looking at Kyouko. Her head tilts, ever so slowly, to the side.
"They have to be cooked first," she says. "So there are enough for everyone. They..." Then, she licks her lips. "...I take it they are good."
She might want another hot dog. She only had the one earlier, that pilfered from the grill of a vacationer who felt generous. Homura sighs, before she pulls back her marshmallow. She takes a bite of it; somehow, she does so without shooting red hot marshmallow goo all over her fingers or chin.
Truly, the transfer student has incredible skills.
But her eyes widen, again, as she pauses when she sees Eri and Sachiko assisting Mami with... a watermelon smashing bat. She opens her mouth and hesitates for a moment. "Sakura," she says, "we should stand back a few paces."
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...hahahahah"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"That's right!" Sayaka crows. "I am Kanti, Lord of the Black Flames!" She blows hard on the fire to make it flare up further while Madoka is exaggeratedly cringing at a slight distance, then fans herself to make her hair whip around. In her head it looks very dramatic, like a video game cutscene, but in reality she just looks like a dog with her head out the car window.
As they cook together, Sayaka presses the tip of her pinky finger into Madoka's cheek, wiping away the corn juices, then sticking that fingertip into her mouth briefly to clean it. It's such an innate reflex after living like sisters that she's actually waving at Mami at the same time. "Wow, maybe you should work at a food stall during festival-time," Sayaka laughs as Madoka advertises their wares. "Press that one, see if it's still soft."
"No way..." Sayaka blinks at Eri. "But... aren't you a meatatarian? You really eat all those plants?" She looks to Madoka as if to check that she's hearing this, too.
Sayaka grimaces and freezes up as Kyouko leans down in front of her, the redhead's bikini making it possible that this interaction will become unseemly. However, when Kyouko actually does it, Sayaka realizes that there is, grimly and literally, not much to worry about, and is able to glare up at Kyouko with comfortable ire. To spite her specifically, she turns her head to call back to Homura.
"Ne, transfer student? Can I have a smore?" She glances briefly at Madoka, as if at an angel on her shoulder. "Please?" she adds.
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sachiko was just stretching out her shoulder in anticipation of being the one to split the watermelon. She stops dead in her tracks when Eri puts forth a suggestion to defer to their seniors. Sachi starts seeing blood for a moment as her head processes the implication that they were also deferring to their -betters-. Mami's statement and genteel hesitation to accept the task flat out also seem to aggravate the blonde-haired, pony-tailed teenager even more. "Oh yes. let's have -Mami-san- show us how's it done," says Sachi underneath gritted teeth.
The softball pitcher then takes a step forward, attempts to grab a hold of Mami, and spiiiiin her a little harder and a lot faster than what would be considered normal for someone her age and size.
[OOC] Sachiko Majime says, "I'm beginning to imagine the siren from 'Kill Bill' play everytime Sachiko and Mami meet from now on." [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...hahahahahahaha I love it" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "I have a different song in mind. X)" [OOC] Sachiko Majime says, "And I'm not just saying that because both Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah are blondes in that movie." [OOC] Mami Tomoe grins [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...what's yours, eri" [OOC] Mami Tomoe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOy6hqzfsAs
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed. "Yes ma'am!!" Madoka promises to Eri with a jauntily snapped salute that almost pokes her own eye out with the fork. She recovers with a sigh of dodged-a-bullet relief, then holds properly still for Sayaka to tend her cheek. "Silly, Eri-chan is a normal girl just like all of us!"
Obediently she stabs a corn husk. "It's done!" she squeals gleefully, finagling it off the grill and onto a plate with only a little bit of near-catastrophe. In the end the cob is sand-free.
She perks up at 's'more' but is distracted by the sight of Sachiko spinning Mami. "...wow, look, look, Sayaka -- Mami's gonna break the watermelon!" Attention to Homura, thwarted again...
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...meatatarian" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Eheheh"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed.
Kyouko's still grinning, but she's not about to let such an in-her-face cold shoulder go unanswered. With a deft pair of fingers, she hangs a loop of raw onion around Sayaka's nearer ear, dancing away before she catches any impending smack attacks...but darts back to give Madoka her own onion earring before Homura alerted her to what's happening around her.
Her eyes open wide, her eyebrows climbing and her lips parting in surprise. An eye-blinded Mami is about to bring down the hammer both literally and figuratively, and watermelon giblets will soon be soaring through the air like shrapnel.
Bending her knees, her muscles tense and her poise looks like that of a volleyball player. When it comes raining she'll be ready.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba-o18U03wY
"A meatatarian?" She's making certain the blindfold is on snugly when Sayaka asks that. At first she thinks Sayaka is joking, but then maybe she's not and she asks, "That's... an actual thing that exists outside of Takeo-kun?"
The thought kind of gives her pause before she says, "But well sure! You didn't think I grew vegetables just to look at them right?" There's some amusement dripping from her words to Sayaka as she smiles Madoka's way and returns her salute crisply with a hand. As it drops, Eri points at her while looking at Sayaka, thinking she explained it better.
But before she knows it, Sachiko is taking ahold of Mami and spinning her extra hard. Way too hard, and too fast, and for a moment Eri gets this distinct feeling that she's delivered Mami, someone around her(likely Sachiko), or the watermelon up for execution. There's this awkward, nervous chuckle as she says, "Hey you're doing that kind of fast, aren't you? Haven't you spun her enough?" A nervous glance over to Kyouko and Homura, before she too takes a single step back.
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "important question" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...is mami pointed at the watermelon" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Perhaps you should ask the Will of the Beach" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "....Yes, the Will of the Beach" DICE: Mami Tomoe rolls 1d100+0 and gets 46! [OOC] Mami Tomoe mysterious
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Homura turns her head and stares at Sayaka for a second. She stares longer than could really be called normal; then, she plucks a marshmallow from a plate, and squishes chocolate and graham crackers onto it. She puts it on a napkin. The result is...
...far from perfect. It is a mess; it is what someone who lives alone and doesn't care about food preparation ("It has nothing to do with my mission.") would do. The graham crackers are crooked; the chocolate is melting into the napkin. The marshmallow was squeezed too hard and splits open.
"Here," Homura says, offering this battered s'more to the blunette.
Then, she looks at Sachiko -- and at Eri -- and stares more at the latter. It is a stare of 'please tell me this will be okay' and 'you better duck.' She takes two cautious steps back.
[OOC] Homura Akemi sneaks that in before the Reckoning DICE: Mami Tomoe rolls 1d100+0 and gets 60! [OOC] Sachiko Majime says, "Atleast you didn't roll a 1 here haha." [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "and finally...." DICE: Mami Tomoe rolls 1d6+0 and gets 3!
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sayaka looks up brightly; 'Mami' is one of her favorite subjects. She catches the tail end of the violent spin, in fact, so quickly does she look up, and she frowns at Sachiko. What sort of person has the privilege of laying a hand on Mami Tomoe's shoulder, then acts with such temerity as to not grow faint? Much less act with such roughness.
"Go senpai! You can do it!" she cheers.
"Anko!" Sayaka does indeed try and smack Kyouko in the calf. She's quick, but the street rat is much faster. Grumpily, she takes her earring off and pops it in her mouth. She swallows rapidly to clear her mouth to speak as Homura walks over, bobbing her head in reflexive thanks in the meanwhile. Hating Homura hasn't made Sayaka any less Japanese.
"Thanks, it's..." Sayaka looks down at the ugly, pathetic mess on her napkin. A sweatdrop rolls down her temple. "Is this... some kind of threat?" she whispers to herself in horror.
[OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Well at least she didn't put a severed fish head in your bed." [OOC] Kyouko Sakura laughs. [OOC] Homura Akemi ahahaha [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "Yeah, I... actually figure Homura's a lousy cook; she's spent god-knows-how-long mostly cooking for herself and stopped caring." [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "And was pretty sick before that." [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "We won't talk about the all instant ramen timeline."
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fQuEqwQ2I4
"--!"
Somehow Mami had rather forgotten about this spinning part, or at least, forgotten that it would be part of things for /her/. A couple of spins later and she is swaying elegantly, like some kind of inebriated princess still holding onto her royal scepter.
...It's a good thing her eyes are covered. She takes another step forward, white-knuckled on her weapon. Sayaka's cheering is in her ears! ...Whichever direction it's... coming from.
She takes another step. ...Diagnoally, beside the watermelon. "You just... Take the bat in hand, like so." She stands up a little bit straighter, in something almost like a proper kendo stance.
"Then, you carefully consider your target..." She takes a breath. She's facing the... /general/ direction of the watermelon.
"Then...."
/Swing/! Like the executioner's sword, Mami swings the bat downward...!
...And hits nothing, stumbling forward as the maneuver off-balances her, and the bat /swings/ out of her hands. It /cracks/ against a backpack and spins straight up at...
Kyouko!!
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"Duck," Homura says, helpfully, before she bites her marshmallow.
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "this is what you have wrought sachikochan"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Madoka giggles at her Kyoukoskian adornment, and shakes it off of her ear and into her palm, then munches. She has no eyes for the failed s'more, which may be a kindness. Without tearing her gaze away from Mami's magnificence, she mutters, "Sayaka-chan, stop taking everything so persona--"
DISASTER!
"-AAAAAA!!"
She wishes she could lunge forward and shield Kyouko from that bat, but it's so fast and she's so slow. Instead she cringes into a tight little ball of Madoka, fearful even to watch what happens next.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_N3rfaUyh8&list=PLF64CCABF06A9F273&index=21
Time slows to a crawl, as Kyouko's anticipation takes on a decidedly different color. Just moments ago her dreams were filled with visions of sticky sweet melon mulch falling to the ground like a rainstorm of frogs! Hammers are /not/ edible and seem like a grossly inapprorpiate substitute for falling debris!
"Wuh..uh oh.."
In her mind, she thought she'd just bend back like a limbo dancer, easy as that! What actually happens is something more similar to Kyouko falling over and breaking against the little rolling sand dunes.
"It's making a break for it! Don't let it escape the perimeter!"
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
As soon as Sachiko had let go of Mami, she was grinning like a madwoman for she had known what she had done. But at first, it seems like all of her expended effort and scheming was for naught as Mami corrects herself enough that she had a good chance of actually pulling this off even after she unfairly stacked the deck against her. "No way!" She utters just Mami turns towards the watermelon, more or less. Sachi's brown eyes grow large as the bat swings forth in a downward arc. This was it! And-
A swiiiiiing and a miss! And as icing on the cake, the bat goes flying!
The mischevious malcontent beams happily before seeing the bat rebound off a nearby backpack. This has Sachiko hitting the deck...er...beach in an attempt to minimize herself as a potential target. But even from this position, she eagerly peeks up to see where the bat ends up as it soars past Kyouko and off to goodness who knows where?
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Alright good! Mami is facing pretty much in the right way! She even sounded entirely composed, maybe she had this after all. There's a smile on her expression and Eri just stops her slow attempt at backing up, giving Homura a reassured look like there's nothing to worry about.
How wrong she was.
She nods her head at the lecture. She watches her raise the bat. And here comes the s-
Suddenly it's a missile and Eri just lets herself fall and hit the beach, getting sand all over her for like the twentieth time today. And it's headed towards... horrified she sees it ricochet and head towards Kyouko.
Fortunately it goes 'over' her as she falls over upon herself. "Is- is everyone alright?" She asks nervously as she finally dares to get back up, she can't help but feel like this was her fault, even if she actually had originally thought she'd had pretty good intentions. "Maybe we should... just let it go, Kyouko-chan! It's... it's obviously bad luck to keep using it right?" She was looking at Sachiko... Sayaka, thinking maybe either had some vague baseball superstition to back her up.
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "When the bat flew at Kyouko:" [OOC] Sayaka Miki DDD: >o< D: |: ^_^ ^^; :DDD [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "hahahahahha omg" [OOC] Sachiko Majime says, "Excellent!" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "omg" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Yasss" [OOC] Homura Akemi rofl [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "Amazing!!" [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "Don't forget: :3" [OOC] Homura Akemi says, "...but that's really every time"
<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"I believe so," Homura answers Eri. She looks after the bat, in the direction it flew off in. She is not going to chase after it, despite Kyouko's cry. The girl looks at it and shrugs, before she grabs a hot dog and sticks it in a bun. If she fetches the bat, this might happen again.
If she doesn't it, it won't. It seems simple to her.
"No one is injured, though our watermelon remains uncracked," she says. "We can find another means to crack it open. The bat is no longer necessary."
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...ilu, homu" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "I nominate Kyouko to just jump on it." [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Eheheh I almost grabbed it to block the hammer, but I figured Kyouko was too far" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Bat*" [OOC] Mami Tomoe haha [OOC] Homura Akemi bows :D
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sayaka's fingers clench as Mami approaches the melon, tense. Mami can't miss, though, right? Senpai will show them all how it's done, as usual. A forceful swing... and a rogue bat!
Sayaka yelps aloud, but when the bat causes Kyouko to fall over so ingloriously, she has to smother a laugh. She's not trying to be mean, but she pretty much always owes that girl some payback, and Sayaka doesn't mind if karma does it for her.
Leaping to her feet, Sayaka runs over to the fracas. It seems at first that she will try to retrieve the bat or rush to her senpai, perhaps, but she runs past Mami instead, picking up the melon. "The bat just has to break it after the first swing, right?" Sayaka walks with the melon atop her head like a clay pot, then spins on her heel as she reaches the bat, which rolls to a stop in the sand just as she arrives. "Well, I know a thing or two about fighting fruit these days," she says with a wink in Madoka's direction. Lifting the melon high above her head, she takes a little hop as she hurls it down with all her strength, right into the fallen bat. The green sphere hits down with a wet thud instead of cracking, and Sayaka bends down to pick it up, displaying the deep crack in it. "See, senpai?" she smiles at Mami, proud as an honor student. "No bad luck."
It would only take a quick crack across Sayaka's knee to break this thing, but instead, she chest-passes it to Kyouko like a basketball. That girl deserves her revenge. And this melon... this melon deserves to die.
[OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Oh nooooo ahahahaha"
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The first truth of Mami Tomoe is that it is irrelevant whether she actually knows what she's doing. She is /grace/.
The second truth is that actually, Mami has quite a set of arms on her, all appearances aside. That bat /goes/.
...The thid is that Mami herself is left sprawled on the ground, half-spun on the way down such that she mostly lands on her shoulder. The only people in the world who could think /this/ looks graceful are probably here, right now. "..." Mami slowly tilts back down and slides to the sand a little more stably. ...It's a minute before she has her bearings enough to push up off of the sand with one hand, going for the blindfold on the other. /Mortified/, she can only hope that perhaps people are looking at the bat instead of her.
...It's true for a moment. "Ah, ha ha..." She rights herself while Sayaka is going to the melon, now sitting down as she looks over. Nice, big crack.
"...Right. No bad luck."
Mami smiles at Sayaka, and it's the kind of smile that comes out to something a little more like a sigh.
And--ah.
"A-are you sure you should...?"
[OOC] Mami Tomoe frowns at Sayaka and Kyouko fighting :( [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "You and I both know you're going to just stand there and watch how this watermelon war between your girlfriend and your ex plays out." [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "Shhhh" [OOC] Mami Tomoe >.> <.< [OOC] Homura Akemi ahahaha
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Madoka dashes towards Kyouko, looking totally horrified. She should have a little siren bleating over her head, REEEooh REEEEEoooh... and it climbs to an ever-higher pitch once Mami goes down as well. What should she do? What can she do? There's panic in her eyes.
Until Sayaka winks at her, that is, and makes that crack about fruit before putting a crack into fruit.
Anxiety melts off of her face like an ice cream bar left out in the sun. What's left underneath is thin and brittle, like the stick, but at least it's not unhappiness or fear.
It's memory. It's intense.
And it's hungry to see brontermelon blood spilled on the sand.
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "For those of you who may be confused about Sayaka's stated talent at killing fruit and Madoka's hatred of brontermelons... in the wake of Beryl's inverse Serenity-wish, Mami, Sayaka, and Madoka ended up in a fairy realm Sayaka dubbed Fruitrassic Park" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Which has fruit dinosaurs" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "it was /terrible/" [OOC] Mami Tomoe will never look at roast fruit the same way again [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "So was Mami crowned queen of the realm by the end?" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "You cannot use your powers in Fruitrassic Park either" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Who even knows, the end is tied up in backscene at the moment" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "it is a mystery"
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sachiko raises her left hand, touches her forehead, and finishes her salute by sharply bringing her hand back down to her side. Good luck, bat-san. Enjoy your newfound freedom. The orange bikini wearing blonde then stands up and knocks some sand off herself. A small smirk flickers across Sachiko's face. She had a front and center view of Mami looking less than graceful for once and that made her day atleast.
Eri's comment and suggestion draws Sachiko's attention her way. But Sayaka's actions render any such action null and void. So Sayaka is willing to deceive her senpai just so Mami can feel better about herself? Just how close were all these girls with each other to inspire such behavior? Sachiko closes her eyes and, for the first time today, frowns.
Hrmph. Such loyalty towards one another.
The softball player then turns away from the others and begins to walk away. Sachiko just wan't in the mood for watermelon anymore.
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "aw sachiko"
[OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Aww"
[OOC] Homura Akemi aw Sachi
[OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Awww Sachiko. :("
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dAy9u0_9nM
Curtains of light snake out and by the time Sayaka throws the ballistic brute fruit Kyouko's in full regalia, and catches is on her spear. Tilting her skewer up in a half circle, sticky melon juice rains down on most things passing under, and the prize thuds down gently enough onto the table top.
The one spear dissipates as another forms in Kyouko's hands. Twisting back at the waist to rest the blade on the ground behind her, she arcs her spear out like a woodhatchet splitting lumber..but driving the flat of her blade up and down, not it edge. Her arms shudder a little as a squelching tearing pop like a mushy firecracker furrows through the air.
Watermelon guts are everywhere. A horticultural horror show...transforming back into her swimming suit, Kyouko gathers some fruit fragments off of herself and slurps them from her finger, spitting a black seed at the wrecked green carcass. She wants to make sure it's learned her lesson, so that all the tactical-strength fruits can learn what the score is.
"An apple a day won't keep /me/ away..."
[OOC] Homura Akemi ahaha [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...ahahahaha kyouko" [OOC] Homura Akemi eeheheheh [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "hahaha, what a one-liner, Kyouko" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Pfffftt amazing." [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Ahahaha thanks" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "After that, Sachiko might not be the only one who loses her taste for melon"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
As the sun begins to fall, Homura and Kyouko's bonfire seems brighter, illuminating the sand around it with a flickering orange light that matches the purpled sunset on the horizon. With their numbers diminished by those sun-napping, spending time alone, or returned to the hotel, the three remaining girls have devised a way to enjoy what remains of this precious day.
"I don't know why it always has to be a competition," Sayaka sighs, "but I get it, sure. We each go find the coolest thing we can on the beach, and we'll decide which is the number one coolest. But it can't be stolen!" She eyes Kyouko. "And it can't be... really big, don't come back here with a chair or something. Okay?" She bobs her head once. "All right. We'll meet back here when the sun is down. Let's go!"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Concerning the UFO... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR2TqWDqO_w
Sayaka jogs along the edge of the water, feet pattering on wet sand. If she stopped to think about it, she wouldn't be able to explain why she feels like she has to run further away to find something cool on the beach. Wouldn't any stretch be about the same? But Sayaka has always believed that the world rewards people who try hard. She believes that work is rewarded, and conversely, that rewards require hard work. She doesn't trust happiness that doesn't hurt.
Panting as she plods to a stop, Sayaka squats and starts scooping sand with her fingers. Maybe there will be a nice bit of polished glass? She discovers a few shells, but nothing remarkable. A shark tooth! Oh... it's way too tiny. One of those where it's 90% root. Kyouko would laugh at her if she brought this back.
Jogging along further, Sayaka keeps trawling by the sealine. She finds a sand-coated, deflated arm floaty. A dead crab. A five-yen coin, which she frugally stows in her shorts pocket after ascertaining that there was no one nearby who might be the owner.
The sun ripples light across the horizon as it wavers at the edge of existence, and Sayaka is starting to wish she'd kept that goofy little shark tooth. Kneeling down at a patch of glistening shells accumulated near a boulder, the blue-haired girl begins trawling them with her fingers, and suddenly winces, bringing one to her lips to suck at a red jewel budding from the tip. Carefully, she withdraws what she found.
Tilting her head, Sayaka tries to understand what this odd-looking thing is. White and bony, it initially seems to be a fish skeleton, but further examination reveals a hollow, like a seashell, and the whorled shape typical of such items. Sayaka smiles a little, hesitantly, then more warmly. Looking up, she sees the horizon is dark, with only a lingering warmth at its edge to recall the sun. She rises and sets to jogging back to the bonfire.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed.
It seemed like such a good idea at the time..Best of the beach! Let's see who wins! But now that it's a contest, nothing she stumbled across seemed all that interesting! Little shell fragments gleam dully all along the little hills.
Shells? Dime a dozen! Crabs? Not worth the hassle! Driftwood? Drift wouldn't! Dead jellyfish? Gross.
Huffing she kicks off the top of a mound by her feet. Where's a message in a bottle when you need one? Maybe forge one? That would be killer, if only she had a bottle, paper, and a pen..She'd tried sifting her feet through loosely packed sand but all that netted her were some more beat up little shells and a cut.
Just as she's about to take a step Kyouko looks down to check her footing, and notices something that had been partially unearthed by her impromptu demolition job. A white shard, bigger and flatter than most of the rest of the beach's bounty. Taking it in her hand, it's instantly recognizable as a half of a sand dollar that had split pretty cleanly down the middle.
Glancing up at the painted sky, she can tell that there isn't much time left. She may not win the war, but she wasn't gonna be late to the the battlefield either.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
It's been a long, full afternoon, and Eri just knows she's going to be exhausted come morning. But for some reason, she doesn't want it to end. She denies the alluring call of the sun to nap here and resists the urge to return to the soft feather bed in the hotel room because soon they'd be back and once they were, other things would dominate her life again.
Well at least she'd have some good memories, this certainly did sound like a fun idea when it was given to her but no sooner than when she'd left on her own hunt, she finds herself despairing a little bit. This is a beach that had been gone over by so many schoolchildren ages five to eighteen this past week that she thought it was a wonder there was even sand left!
She finds herself tip toeing on outcroppings, trying hard not to scrape her feet, squatting down to upturn rocks and peer between others... most of the time she finds just things like bottlecaps, or soggy cigarettes, but one time having to recoil to avoid being snapped out by a very large, very irate coconut crab.
Briefly she toys with bringing it back with her, but eventually just retreats. She had a feeling that giant crab would only suffice as 'coolest thing on the beach' if they'd still had the grill fired up. Back on the sand, she walks along the surf, eyes scanning, toeing aside stray pieces of slime kelp to see if anything lay beneath. Wait something was glinting... moving aside sand she sighs as she realizes it's just a button. Hardly the coolest thing.
Eventually she heads back further and further where sand becomes less sand, and more 'sandy', with vegetation everywhere. The occasional tree marred by high school lovers carving declarations of it in it cause her to smile more than shake her head... well too much. She had to watch her step here, since she didn't have any sandals, turning into little skips into spots of sand between shrubs when... "Ow!"
Something had cut her left foot, causing her to immediately shift her weight off it and hop around until she lost her balance and fell on her backside. Little noises of pain came out of her mouth as she rubbed her foot and tried to angle it to check the little wound. "Good job Shimanouchi. Lucky you." She sighs, "Probably found the only briars this close to shore."
She pressed a hand against it to prevent the crimson smear from growing, looking dourly for whatever had caused that to... huh. She didn't see anything. With her opposite hand she brushed aside sand... then pulled something tarnished out. "Oh." And then there was smiling. And limping as she tried to mostly walk on the ball of that foot, then both, to avoid exposing an open wound more. She's probably going to be the last to make it back to the agreed meeting point, but she'll be there!
[OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Poor thing!" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "She's happy! ^^"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The pyramidal wood of the bonfire is brilliantly red at its edges, the purple drape of night thick across the beach. No chill has come to the lush tropical air, even as the light fades. In most climates, a warm darkness like this is unfamiliar to adults. To infants, nothing could be more nostalgic. To children, perhaps unfamiliarity and nostalgia conjoin.
"All right," Sayaka says. "I'll go first." Her voice is lowered, but it's neither conspiracy nor nerves that causes it. Perhaps she senses that with the passing of the light, the beach has become some place special.
Sayaka lifts her palm, displaying a bony-looking item about the length of her hand, though far thinner and more delicate. It is a narrow little conch, with spindles of white extending from it like the ribs of a fish. Lifting it to her head, Sayaka strokes her salt-styled hair down with its numerous tines, smiling. All thought of the competition is lost in her eagerness to share her discovery.
"Look," she says to the two girls. "It's like a comb."
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2076/2620872753_ef65e3a53f.jpg" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Oooooo!" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "ooooh" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Cooooool!" [OOC] Homura Akemi oooo pretty [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "haha, who knew there was such a market for cool shells on BF?"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed.
Kyouko's eyes brighten at Sayaka's find, and she knew she was beaten. What a find! Those spines look so fragile..after stomping around lessor specimens that had fallen prey to the unforgiving pressures of the tide and its visitors, she particularly appreciates that such a beautiful spiked lollipop has survived so well.
"Woooah..that's amazing! Forget the swords, just toss this around!"
Fishing into her pocket, she offers up her own palm. On display is a half-cookie representative of a sand dollar's naturally "flowery" design. Mostly the same bone white color as Sayaka's treasure, splotches of it have taken on a brown discoloration. Two of its cavities can be easily seen, with half a third a part of the same seam that split it up. "A half a sand dollar! So I guess a sand 50 yencoin? Wish I found a whole one.."
[OOC] Kyouko Sakura http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0245/8337/files/sand_dollar_teeth_large.jpg?7682318493763107107 But just one of them!
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
By now, she's back, and is kind of lopsided as she stands there with most of her weight on her right foot rather than her left while cupping her two palms together to conceal whatever's within. She looks thoroughly impressed when she sees what Sayaka is showing, "It's so pretty!" She even leans in a bit and risks her balance to check the ribbed edges. But then Sayaka is running it through her hair and a little 'Ooooo' of awe moves out of her lips. Before laughing once at Kyouko's joke.
When Kyouko shows her own, she whistles once, "That's impressive! I've never seen one so intact before." All of the ones she'd seen were all kind of shattered, She grins at Kyouko's little joke, "Well it does have holes in it, so it sure is a lot like them, isn't it?" A beat, "Sure you don't wanna keep it and see if someone will accept it as payment for something?"
When her time comes, she opens it, and shows it forward. It looks like a silvery curved tadpole with little grooves on it, with a tiny ring at the top where a missing chain once was. Except suspiciously, little twisted edges of metal on the end make it look like one was meant to begin and end into something else entirely. "At first I thought it was Magatama jewelry, but then I remembered the lectures we had about Okinawan history so I think it sorta is, but really isn't..."
She turns it with her hand, allowing it to make a clockwise revolution, round and round, "...instead I think it was part of necklace of the Hidari-Gomon. Which makes it a warrior's symbol, right?" She wasn't about to repeat the myth. History was her worst subject and she was kind of afraid she'd get the story of the brave sacrifice of these doomed warriors wrong. She just knew a lot of Karate Dojos sure liked to use it.
She gives the other two girls a sheepish smile, "Good thing I didn't fall asleep for once during Sugiura-sensei's lectures right?" She clears her throat, "Anyhow. It's broken so it's just one part of it. So it's like one warrior of three right? So even if it's broken up a trio, whoever has it can always know the other two are out there." It was a piece of broken and tarnished silver, but it certainly sounded cool in her head.
[OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "One version of it: [[1]]" [OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Though it's just one third of it." [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "...aw" [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Ooh,excellent^^" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "All these cool items" [OOC] Mami Tomoe :)
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sayaka's lips scrunch at Kyouko's genuine happiness at her find. It's not really fair for Kyouko to be such a jerk all the time, and then display such innocence and delight. Turning her eyes away, Sayaka extends her palm again, holding the delicate shell in front of Kyouko.
"Here," she says, long-limbed and blushing faintly in the dark. "If you like it so much, you should have it. You don't have money, right?" Sayaka isn't making eye contact. "So you won't have a souvenir otherwise."
Kyouko's sand dollar is not so unusual a find, but it's a nice even split, and somehow that makes it seem more coin-like than an intact dollar might be. "Nice, Anko!" she says. "Maybe it could be a necklace, right?"
Eri's item is the only one crafted by human hands, though it seems so elemental that that characterization feels questionable. "Awesome... I love it!" Sayaka says. "Three warriors, huh? I guess we are, now." Sayaka looks down at the sand, thoughtful. "I guess... somehow we're friends, right? Even..." At first maybe she was going to say 'even me and Anko,' but she doesn't censor herself; the change comes from thought. "Even though we all have our own reasons for doing this," she says instead, softly.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouko Sakura [None] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaEu4kAWhQQ&list=PL58D398750F1219D8&index=4
Opening her mouth, Kyouko has to restrain her impulse to blurt something out when Sayaka's hand suddenly glides in front of her. Blinking in surprise, she shows a rare note of hesitation and care when she gently touchs the gift with her hands.
"I..." She almost tells Sayaka that she isn't broke, and doesn't even know where she'd put it. But it isn't hard to miss that the ever finger-wagging girl isn't making an offer that comes easily to her. "..I'd love it. Thanks, Blueberry. But it doesn't feel fair to take your treasure from you...maybe we could share it?"
Grinning a little sheepishly, she rubs the back of her neck and realizes that Sayaka's right. A necklace could work just fine. "Yeah, probably could.."
"Woah!.." She leans in to look at Eri's piece, wondering how old it could be. Is it from another century? Or just another year? Or month? "Three warriors..though ours is all here."
Glancing off and feeling quiet for a few moments, she shifts the thought around. "Yeah. I think so. There's..things about the world can't be changed, and I gotta live in it. But...maybe there's room for friends there. It feels like it today. Maybe there's room for all of us."
[OOC] Eri Shimanouchi says, "Given Eri's usual luck she'll pass by the gift shop on the way back and see a billion like it." [OOC] Kyouko Sakura says, "Ahaha aww"
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
It's rather touching, watching Sayaka and Kyouko act that way. And part of her realizes from that alone that while the two got on each other's nerves, that they're still really close. Moments like this proved it. "Sharing a comb huh? Takes really close friends to do that." She teases. Lightly, finding herself smiling.
Soon enough though she's answering, Kyouko's thought, "Uh well... I wouldn't know how to guess that." She turns it over in her hands, "It doesn't seem that worn down. But it could be... a few decades? Maybe a century. It could have been around during the Meiji Restoration?" Or maybe a few months. She really didn't know.
There's a lot of things that could be said to Sayaka's comment on them having their own reasons for doing this. Her smile becomes a bit forced, and when she bobs her head it seems kind of reluctant. Her gaze drops and maybe she feels a pang of something. Guilt or envy or jealousy. She's not really sure. But Kyouko starts talking, as she gives it thought, that little tenseness along the edges of her smile kind of way.
After a moment, she offers it forward to Sayaka. "Maybe you're right. Here. Something to show that you're a warrior now. That you're..." Hesitation, but then it finally comes, softer, "...one of us. So yeah, I think so." There's lot of things she doesn't like about it. But she can't exactly change it now, can she? So she gives what acceptance she can.
She glances sidelong at Kyouko, then claps a hand on her shoulder, "Lots of things neither of us can but... days like this..." She's silent for a moment, then allows a genuine smile to creep onto her face, "...make me forget for a while that I'd even want to."
![[1]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mZh5WovWc3c/S5z4YDP4djI/AAAAAAAAATE/xQYw_NOLyCw/s320/388px-Hidari_mitsudomoe_svg.png){kind=link}