The Castle Guarded by the Swaying Cherry Blossoms II

"Well, how about you give it some thought now... If anything you deeply wished for could be accomplished... what would it be?" Said the red haired lady as she smiled at the young lady.

And so, Sakura kept her company as they walked to school... thankfully the way was framed by tree after tree... on the shadow of which Sakura's ghostly form would appear, flickering away as she stepped outside the shadow of one and appearing once again once she stood inside one of them.

"Sigh... Slow to rise but once he's up he's like a bullet..." Nao sighed and rushed after her brother "Hey Wait up!#

A few moments' walk away from school, Hana stopped in the shade of a particularly large cherry tree. For a while, she just stared at its blossoms.
"I am worried," said Hana, "worried about that quiet girl from yesterday. I couldn't take her off my mind; I had troubles falling asleep. I am worried."

Kei sighed and stared at her feet.

Why... why can't I think of anything? she thought to herself.

"Hmm... I see. Well... if you have no desire then you truly have nothing to fight for" says the red haired lady as she stands up from her seat "Then there you have your answer... all you have to do is not to fight. At least... until you find a cause worth it. If you do, then do try find me. I happen to like this playground quite a lot"

And with that, the young red haired woman started to walk away.

"Worried about Kei, huh?" says Sakura as she crosses her arms and thinks "Indeed, there is some cause for concern there. Still, she can step away at any moment"

Kanako bowed back to Orihime. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Tomoe Kanako." Kanako thought for a second. She would certainly have to meet with the rest of the team sometime after school, but there was no reason she couldn't spend lunch getting to know Orihime better. While Kanako had her share of admirers, she didn't have all that many people she could truly call friends. Orihime seemed like a nice girl, so Kanako decided to ask. "Say, if you're not too busy would you like to eat lunch together? My sister made too much today..."

Erena smiled shyly. At that moment, there was a buzzing sound from one pocket and she pulled a cellphone from it. After glancing at the screen, she turned back to the others and said, "Excuse me, I have to take this." She paused before adding, "It was nice meeting you, Go-san and Kimi-san."

She began to walk off, phone to her ear, then turned back to them and said, "Meet you at school, maybe?"

Sorry about the large post. I decided I wanted her to be out of the way as soon as possible, and clumping together what might have normally been two posts (one before a reply, one after) into one was the best way to do that, even if it seems somewhat awkward.

"D-don't worry... I will..."

Go watched Erena go, then turned back to Kimi.

"So..." he began awkwardly, "What are you into, Kimi?"

"I hope she will," said Hana. "Fighting is nor for those who are weak of heart, or resolve; that foreign book tells of the Judge Gideon who sent the tender-hearted back to their homes. I really hope she won't be roped into this..."
She looked at her watch and saw that she still had time. So she sat down in the cherry tree's shade and regarded Sakura, her head tilted.

Orihime smiled. "Sure, why not?" She didn't want to admit that, in her rush to get out of house that morning, she forgot to pack her lunch.

Kimi smiled. "Well, I'm a fan of Magical Girls and I even made myself a costume for last Comiket. I love Madoka's costume, although the story seems to grim for my tastes. I prefer Card Captor Sakura or Saulor Moon. Mom says I fit Ami well and... [...] I think this of being a magical girl is so cool! Although real families are not as blinded as anime families. How have no idea how hard it was to come with an excuse for what happened last night. I should ask Sakura if I can tell my secret to Miki. She would really help me. Besides, I would love to se the envy on the faces of my friends when... [...] I so love science! Of course, I don't have glasses because of that, but rather because dad once burnt the kitchen with something mercury-based. I almost don't live to says it an- Am I overloading you, Go-kun? I tend to forget how much I like to talk."

estimated speak time: 10 minutes

"I—" Go tried to interject. "Y—" She kept talking. "Potato—"

...

Okay, she seemed done. "Yeah, you sort of are. But uh... it's good that you're into Sailor Moon. Pretty good series. I'm a little more into Power Rangers and Kamen Rider, but that's cool too. You know they made a Sailor Moon brawler back in the 80s? It's hard as hell and it's basically a reskin of that Turtles In Time arcade cabinet, but it's still good; we should play sometime after school!"

Kimi's fan squeal could be heard all around town. "Oops, my bad."

edited 20th Aug '12 4:32:54 PM by RESP

Sakura nodded her head and then, seeing Hana take seat, she too sat down in seiza in front of her... a subtle smile on her lips "Hmm? I something the matter, Hana?"

(Jumping forward since from the looks of things we've finished the flashback)

Kei sighed and shifted her bag a bit higher on her shoulder as she walked into school. The discussion she'd had the night before was still playing heavily on her mind.

What should I fight for then?

Erena said goodbye to her brother after a short phone discussion, then decided to hurry off to school. After all, some other magical girls and boys probably went to the same one as her, so the sooner she got there, the more time she'd have to get to the meet the group. Besides which, she needed the time before class to finish an assignment she hadn't done because she had been too busy looking up magical girl Anime after she had pretty much found herself in a real world version of one.

Finally, after tripping twice, she arrived at school. Once there, she began to search for other people she recognised.

edited 29th Aug '12 1:55:16 PM by Speedchesser

"Well..." said Sakura slowly. "I just have this feeling... I won't be seeing the last of Kei any time soon. This is too much like a Magical Girl animé. Other words: my Genre Savvy sense is tingling. Well... you said that we were to train today, after school. Where? And when?"

Go rubbed his ear as the world came back into focus, temporarily stunned by Kimi's scream with flashbang-like force. "Ow. Well. Anyway. Arcade Sailor Moon, after school? Sound good?"

Kimi nods with a shy smile. "I'll be waiting you." She walks off, still looking at Go... right into the wall next to the gate, then trips and falls on her butt. "Ow! Must work on that later." She manages to stand up and get into the gate.

"As soon as you like, after your responsibilities to the school are over" says Sakura "As for the location... Lets see... the Castle is an option, though there's a good friend of mine who lives in another temple of the city. Might be more interesting to train at his place"

"Ah! There he is!" says a light feminine voice somewhere behind Ryota.

"You decide. I know not the other temple anyway," said Hana, and waited for Sakura to say something.

Ryota stopped moving when he heard that voice, it probably was another one of Sakura's servants. The boy turned around to face who was talking to him.

"Then the other temple it shall be. I can introduce you to my friend that way" says Sakura, settling that deal.

He would find... a kitten. A kitten standing on a wall and looking down at him. A kitten that should be fairly familiar to him "Oh, he's looking at me!"

While she was on class, thinking on her appointment with Go, she couldn't help bu blush about it. She was really getting the hang of being a hero. She didn't expect her friends or her brother to understand it, but she had a wish deep in her. I wish this could last forever...

Orihime found herself spacing out in her classes, still wanting to get a rematch on the battle that occurred the night before. She made a promise of restore her mistress on her "rightful" throne, and she wasn't gonna allow a ghost to stop her.

edited 31st Aug '12 8:35:27 PM by RESP

Ryota had some memories of that cat. She was that hungry one that he gave a snack too. The boy wanted to bring it home but he doubted his parents would let him keep it. Ryota thought that this kitten would have been adopted by now but it was now right in front of him, talking.

Looking at the kitten, Ryota said "Yeah, I am looking at you. How are you talking?"