Saturday, roughly around noon, early summer.

Not quite noon yet, not quite time for lunch. The sun is still crawling upwards in the sky, rising above the skyscrapers and other buildings of the city. It's a clear day, without much in the way of clouds, save for a few straggling puffs of white cotton-candy-like balls that lazily sail high above. The sweltering heat of summer has yet to hit, and so the weather and temperature is quite delightful, neither too hot nor chilly. It's the first day of the weekend too, so school's are out and the streets are soon going to be busy with people spending their leisure time as they see fit. Already people are moving through the streets, talking to one another or in cell phones.

Your typical, average day.

The last Spacequake was roughly about a week or so ago, perhaps a little longer still., it wasn't a very big one and only minor damage was caused. You can't even see it anymore, since the goverment went ahead and repaired it almost right away. Though not known publically, AST didn't have much trouble with that spirit - true, it got away, but it was a weak and cowardly spirit,, one that ran away rather than fighting back. There were no casualities or injuries, neither du to the quake nor the ensuing battle with the spirit. People seem to have forgotten about it already, like it was nothing more than a passing nuisance.

Well, let's leave those minor unpleasantries alone for now, there are more important matters to pay notice to! First of all, there's an outdoor concert today in the local park! Apparently, some indie-band of some sort is going to perform a live concert, for free, and anyone is invited to come watch. They've had fliers and posters up all over the park and some of the city streets this entire week, so chances are high that a lot of people have seen it. In the market district, shops are getting ready for their weekend-sales and lotteries, which will surely lure in the frugal or big spenders alike. Finally, there's apparently plans for some new city-development, and construction has begun - making parts of the city quite noisy.

A lot of things are going on, no doubt! And on such a pleasant day as this, there're ample opportunities to do and endeavor in whatever it is you fancy. Well, at least for some....

Ratatoskr, the philantropist organization, has been trying fervently for the past week to locate the weak little spirit that caused the latest spaceequake. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to find her since AST chased her off. All they know is that it looked like a young girl, maybe in her early teens, dressed in something similar to a yellow raincoat, with various ornaments and red trim along the edges. She seemed to have the ability to control wind or air, as she used this in order to make it increasingly difficult for her pursuers to get close to her - and eventually she escaped. Last seen, she vanished around a suburban residential area and agents from Ratatoskr have been periodically patrolling the area, trying to pick up any trail or clues... But so far, it's been a complete bust.

Likewise, AST has been on the search for the same Spirit, though for entirely different reasons. While she wasn't a large threat or caused any serious trouble, such a weak spirit would surely be easy to take down once cornered. As AST has only been able to either repel or chase off spirits so faar, getting a confirmed kill - not to mention witnessing what happens to a Spirit once it dies - would be both a huge boost to morale, as well as an undeniable accompplishment with which they could prance about and stick it to the brass who have been trying to cut their funding and manpower for a while now. Thus, AST operatives - in the guise of regular civilians - have also been deployed in the area, and surrounding locations, to try and sniff out this low-threat spacequake-causing pest.

Yes, certainly... Everyone is busy, in their own way.... Be they part of Ratatoskr, AST or just people minding their own business...

Saturday, around noon, Chinese diner, Summer

Nigel- sorry, 'Erin,' was back in the kitchen of his Chinese diner. Being the delivery boy and the waiter whenever he didn't need to deliver, it was hard. And you know how in retail stores, there are shitty customers that want to get the lowest price. Well, sometimes, there are people like that here too. And those customers are sometimes TWICE as annoying. See, they walk in, Erin sits them, and they immediately ask 'Where's the discount section on thisssssssss menu?' So, after that, they leave you alone.

BUT, some people still persist on those items. And that is the case for today.

"Uh, Erin, what's the lowest price on the Special Mega Beef Bowl?"

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL NO. "I do not understand that question, madam. That is an item on the discount section of the menu, and that is the lowest price." See, nobody purchased that item, because it was the bulkiest, biggest item on the menu, and you literally cannot finish it. At least, nobody did yet.

"Yeah, but it says 80 percent off."

"Yes, from the original price. That item used to be 6155 yen, and it was in here for 3 years. We have been knocking down the price consistently in those years, simply because nobody has purchased that for incredibly long. It is now 4924 yen, and that is 80 percent of 60."

"But what's the lowest you can get?"

At this point, Erin was incredibly pissed off and just wanted to get this over with so he could get paid. So, his bitch mode was activated.

"Ma'am, I do NOT have that kind of power around here. I am a lowly delivery boy, and a waiter, and I am getting paid minimum wage if you buy that item or not. I am trying to pay for college books for each year, and I only have one left. Those prices are incredibly high, and we are trying to make these incredibly low. I am still going to be a middle-class member of this continent if you buy this item, as I stated before. If I was higher on the totem pole and had more power, or the owner of the store, I would knock it down a few hundred yen, because I realize that having a good customer relationship will benefit future sales, but as of right NOW, the store is actually losing sales because I am helping gibbons like you, instead of other customers who genuinely want to eat. I am following the guidelines set by the owner, and I will continue to do this because of me being a lowly server."

And right before the customer had the chance to respond, Erin got called for a delivery. Oh the sighs, oh the sighs. See, he had to work here to maintain his job, and help pay taxes for his family, AND he had to search for a spirit who called a recent spacequake. See, it was hard trying to do all of this shite, and trying to pay for college books for next year. So, it was incredibly hard to keep things up like this.

And it would stay like that, forever and ever.

---

Not paying attention to what just happened, Erin was out and on his swaggy scooter. Instantly putting the food that he had to deliver on the back, and his helmet on as well, he set off. But, he paid a small visit to the area where the spirit that appeared recently was, because maybe he would get very lucky.

Nope. Probably, it was a nope.

And then started a typical day, working and working and working and working and studying and working.

Saturday, noonish, at the concert

Kyoko was really charged for today. She had been looking forward to this concert. She had spearheaded a food booth for her cooking club, and had even done some work earlier with setting up the stage. She came here with all the other members of her club making the total number of people she came with four. The idea was to work in shifts delivering and cooking up food. Their booth had a good view of the stage as well.

She looked around at everyone in her group with a bright smile. "We all ready?" There was a quick positive response from everyone as they got in their positions. The time was soon that this concert would start and the people were already showing up.

---

Saturday, morning, Hamani Flower Shop

Suichiro was helping his father get a lot of flowers together for the concert today. They had wanted them to be fresh and to match the color of the concert which was purple and blue with a little white. He wordlessly handed the potted plants to the delivery guys that the people responsible for the concert had sent to pick the flowers up. All the while Whisker hung complacently over his shoulders. After all the flowers had been packed up the man in charge of the delivery guys handed Dad an envelope explaining that it was his payment as was discussed and they left.

Dad gave Suichiro a smile after the packing up and payment had been finished. "So, why don't you head out to that concert?"

Suichiro had a thoughtful expression on. "Are you sure? What if I'm needed here?"

Dad patted Suichiro's shoulder firmly and chuckled. "I can hold down the fort. I've been running this shop since before you were born."

Suichiro blinked a couple times and then nodded. "OK, I think I will then."

He went up to his room to change out of his work clothes and into something casual and made his way out. "I'm leaving." He would have looked over his shoulder, but his view would have been completely obscured by the overweight cat on his shoulders. He simply glowered at Whisker who purred back at him.

Dad waved. "Have fun."

Saturday, Early Noon, Tenguu City Public Library right near the concert

"Ok, let's go over this one more time, alright?"

"Ok."

"Do you have The Great Gatsby?"

"No."

This lively bit of conversation was taking place within Tenguu City's very own public library. To put it in descriptive terms...well it was a library. And frankly, no one should have been wasting their precious time in such a place on a warm summer day. Even so, two young individuals were currently conversing in this literary establishment despite these widely known facts.

One of them, the actual receptionist who checked out the books for her customers, was a short pale girl. Pale was certainly a way to put it, as her hair was a pure white while her eyes reflected orbs of a purplish-red shade. She wore the standard uniform of proud Raizen High School...which wasn't much to brag about really. Likewise, her conversation buddy was another student from another school with dark brown hair and a cynical nature about him. In all, this was a pretty average day for Reika Kuroki.

"Ok, well do you have any classical literature in stock?"

Reika shook her head. "No."

"Jeez, what kind of librarian are you?" The boy sighed. "Do you at least have any light novels?"

"We do."

"Wait...you're serious?"

"I am."

"Do you have Date A Live?"

Reika titled her head slightly. "I've never heard of that one before. What is it about?"

The boy stared at her wide-eyed. "You're...kidding right? Never mind."

"Sir, Tenguu City Public Library has a wide variety of published works made to see fit for entertaining, enlightening, and educating our readers. As such, if we fail to deliver a satisfactory experience, please fell free to file a complaint to our manager and we will gladly-"

"Do anything you can to insure my happiness. Right, I got that the first thirty times..."

"Is that all sir?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll just go by the manga shop down the corner then."

"Very good sir. Have a nice day and please come again," said Reika robotically.

As he turned to exit the front door, he couldn't help but glance back at the seemingly emotionless girl. "You know, you remind me of someone I know. Are you an alien?" Reika fixed an unblinking stare on him.

"An...alien, sir? No." Well, Spirits were technically aliens, but probably not in the sense the boy was thinking of.

"...never mind. Sorry to bother you."

With that being said, the boy left the library to no doubt experience more strange things in his long lifetime. But that was another story entirely. Having finally received the time alone to herself, Reika mentally went over her observations of the boy. He had an uncanny presence about him, but he seemed to be telling the truth, albeit bluntly.

"You...shall not be judged."

The Spirit known to humans simply as Reaper turned her head to observe the bustle of activity outside taking place a mere two feet away from her precious sanctuary. A concert was being held today for some reason; she heard about the event from her homeroom students. She didn't think they'd actually hold the thing so close to her existence...humans were strange. Most of them feared her power, and yet they will found time to separate that fear and convert it into joy?

Reika did not understand.

Didn't humans realize that they were all destined to die? Meet her in their final moments? To meet Death incarnate? Often, the Spirit wondered why she didn't just cause a Space Quake and deliver them all painlessly. In fact, what was stopping her from doing that now?

She could do it. Would anyone stop her? Probably. But the loss of life...it would at least assist in her cause. Her mission. Her purpose in life.

And yet...

Something didn't seem right. Seeing all those smiling faces...Reika hesitated, finally opting to not go through with the decision. It didn't feel right to cause something like that with so much destruction at this kind of event...humans were so confusing.

Frowning to herself, Reika directed her blank stare out the window to watch the concert develop. Silent as a stone.

Saturday, Noon, Tenguu city's "The Magical Baker"

Being in the back of the Bakery and working on baking was something she did not like too much. While she was well aware that it was the most important part, she did not like getting herself too hot with the oven. Yoshikuni was somewhat pleased when the last batch for her shift was ready, and she took it out to the front carefully.

"The final batch of the morning is ready!"

After placing the tray with fresh breads in its place, the owner of the bakery, a 40 year old man, gave her a nod and turned back to talk to a customer. Yoshikuni went and grabbed her bag before looking at the owner again.

"You remember that the concert is today? You told me I could leave my shift a bit early to go there." She said in a sweet voice, and he turned to look at her once more after finishing to deal with the customer.

"Yeah, I remember. And I remain a man of my word. You finish early today, Yoshikuni."

"Thank you, Mister Rei-Sama!"

The older man smiled as he watched Yoshikuni go around the counter and give him a wave before another customer approached him to pay. By the time he had a chance to look around, the teenage girl was already gone from his bakery.

Walking towards where the concert was at, Yoshikuni couldn't help but feel excited. She had never been at a concert before, but she also wondered how many people will be there. When she asked her classmates, they told her it was going to be crowded with people, but that it was going to be lots of fun too. She moved to stand at the shadow of a tree, managing to see from the distance the place where the concert was going to be held. It appeared like a place which could hold quite a lot of people, which made her lick her lips. So many shadows in one place...

This was going to be fun.

She then continued to walk to where the concert was at, taking out a small umbrella she always had as protection against the sun. While people always questioned her about it, she kept saying she had a somewhat sensitive skin and did not want to risk have burns while walking normally. She already figured that she couldn't be with the umbrella and stand in the middle of the place, as it would most likely make people who want to see irritated, so she decided to take a spot in the back. Now all she wanted to figure out was if she will simply have fun or get herself a snack or two while she was there.

She approached the place, now standing at the edge of the park, and looked at the whole thing being set up. It looked really nice, with blue and white flowers being set up in some places of the concert. Yoshikuni moved to stand under a tree before leaning on its trunk, watching from afar, waiting for when it will start, and waiting to see if anyone she knew would show up.

Saturday, Noon, "Get-On-Gaku" Record Store

Kouhime set the last CD in the return rack and glanced at the clock.

Good timing, her shift was just about over. She headed over to the front desk.

"Mr. Yamauchi. I'm done for today. See you tomorrow."

"A-ahh... yeah. See you tomorrow," he responded. Even though she'd been working at the store for over a year, she was still just as terse as she was when she was just starting out.

Kouhime exited the store, putting on her headphones and starting the next track on her MP3 player. She crossed the street, heading down the incline. The narrow street opened up to a wide avenue, sidling a park, where apparently a concert was being held. Kouhime inwardly shrugged, before setting herself down on a park bench, a bit away from the actual venue. It was far enough away that the music from the concert wouldn't completely drown out her music. She wasn't averse to the idea of the concert itself, but she couldn't handle crowds, and so she decided to stay away from the heat of the main event.

Spying a vending machine a bit further out she stood, heading over and depositing the spare change in her pocket. With a clunk a can fell into the bottom bin and she picked it up.

Coke.

Excellent.

She returned to her spot, watching the venue from afar.

She spotted a girl with pink hair, standing near the venue. Come to think of it, she'd seen her around the area. Didn't she work at the bakery or something?

Inwardly shrugging again, she popped the tab open and took a swig.

---

Saturday, Noon, The Venue

Concert! Concert! Conceeeeeeeeeert!

Needless to say, Mayumi was excited for the concert. Not because of the music really but because of the people. So many people were going to be there that the chances of seeing someone she knew would be quite high. And then, she could surprise them with Mayumi's Super Hugging Tackle Special. Oh, she couldn't wait!

She rushed out of the door with a quick and customary goodbye to absolutely no one in her room as she rushed down the stairs of her apartment.

Pssh... who needs elevators?

She ran down the street, heading towards the park.

...

"Hah... hah... I'm... here now... yaaaaaaaaaay..." she mumbled, collapsing onto the ground in the middle of the venue.

Yeah, maybe running about seven blocks on essentially one breath wasn't the best idea...

Kyoko was pleased to see several people enter the venue. A few customers had arrived and gotten food when a dark blue haired woman entered the scene by collapsing in the middle of the venue. It felt a bit silly to her for someone to sprint to a concert, but Kyoko appreciated such energy. She walked over to her with a bottled water from the food booth and knelt next to the young woman with a soft smile. She offered the bottle to the girl. "Are you alright? Need a hand getting up."

She gestured over to a chair. "I can help you get to a chair if you need. I hope you're not hurt."

To her helping those in need was second nature to her. Even if it was a minor thing, she couldn't help but offer assistance. She got a lot of attention at school because of this, but most of it was positive, so she didn't mind. "I'm Maya Kyoko by the way, what's your name?" Again she gave the woman a brilliant smile gleaming of positivity.

---

Saturday, noonish, near the venue

Finally, Suichiro had made it to his destination. He missed the first train by a few minutes and had to wait another fifteen before the next train arrived and even then that train took him only nearby, so he had to walk the rest of the way. Instead of being early to the concert, this left him just barely on time. Whisker mewed once and looked over at a girl who was sitting nearby at a bench nearby listening to music. He frowned at the cat. "What? I'm don't want to bother her." Whisker responded with a quick series of blinks before he continued to make his way to the edge of the venue.

As he passed the girl listening to music, he smiled and gave a friendly wave to her. He then noticed a pink haired girl standing at the edge of the venue as if she was waiting for someone. Then at a more inquisitive glance he realized she seemed to just be curious about the people coming to the show. Whisker shifted on his shoulder a bit. He still found it amazing how the cat managed to stay on his shoulders without using claws, except for the initial leap. He found the cat to be a bit of an irritation more than anything else, but still found himself amused from time to time. The cat yowled again this time looking at the pink haired girl.

He sighed and facepalmed. "Next time I meet a cat, I will not save it from a big scary dog."

Her regained some composure and made his way over to the girl. "Find a good view over here? Or are you looking for someone?"

OH.

MY.

GOD.

SO.

"CUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!" Mayumi shouted, suddenly jumping and grabbing the other girl in a tight hug.

"I'm just fine. No wait, I'm better than just fine. This is amazing! A cute girl comes and offers me things. Oh... this is heaven! Heaven I say! Has God finally rewarded me for all these years I've been living on this Earth? Oh it must be! Thank you God, thank you thank you thank you! I will cherish this Kyoko-chan with all my heart and soul! My name is Mayumi but it would be just fine if you just called me Onee-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!"

Mayumi was blissfully unaware of anything else that might have been going on at the time. There were only two people alive in this moment in time: her and the cute girl she'd managed to get her hands on.

---

Kouhime took another drink, watching the scene unfold, before smirking and rolling her eyes. She then turned her attention to the new boy that had arrived on the scene.

Watching as a young man approached her and asked if she found a good seat, Yoshikuni gave him a gentle "I was trying to see if this is a good spot. It's not the best, but it is shady and nice here." She said.

Taking another glance at the young man, she raised an eyebrow upon realising there was a cat on his shoulders "I wasn't waiting for anyone, simply trying to see if I could find anyone I know." Yoshikuni told him.

"Thats a cute cat you have there." She said and moved to stand a bit closer to him, placing her hand on the cat's head and petting it a bit, hoping it won't bite or scratch her.

"What's your name, stranger?" Yoshikuni asked, looking from up close at his green eyes.

Kyoko blushed as she felt the eyes of her club members on her thanks to this spectacle. The sudden burst of energy from the woman had completely caught her off guard. She had a hard time coming up with the right words to say for a short while. This woman was certainly informal to the nines which also kept her a bit off guard for a bit. Her expression was a mixture of surprise and red. "Well, um, I'm glad you're alright."

She paused a moment and blinked a couple times. "Mayumi's a good name."

She felt a little uncomfortable from the long embrace and wiggled weakly to signal her discomfort. "Ummm... Hugs are nice and all, but isn't this one a bit... long?"

---

Whisker responded positively from the petting as she purred and pushed her head happily into the girl's hand. Suichi pushed his glasses up his nose with a slight blush at her comment about the cat. He really wished Whisker wasn't such a pest. She was the first topic of conversation in every exchange he had with strangers, and not every comment was pleasant. "Yeah, shade's nice. Whisker's nice enough I guess. She's a bit of a pest. Never leaves my side."

The girl then asked for Suichi's name and he smiled. "Right, sorry. I have the best manners. I'm Hamani Suichiro. I'm fine with being called Suichi. You don't have to call me that though if you aren't comfortable." He liked to be known on comfortable terms with strangers. People were nice to have around. He enjoyed their company for the most part. He spent a lot of time dealing with people at the shop, and he found it to be one of the most enjoyable parts aside from the flowers.

He looked towards the stage and saw Mayumi embracing another girl in one of her outbursts and then he looked away feeling adverse to getting involved. His gaze returned to the pink haired girl. "So... My Dad suggested I come here, but I actually don't know the performer... do you?"

Saturday, Still Noon, Tenguu City Concert
What was she doing? No really, what was Reika doing? Standing outside in the warm summer air, the pale girl stood silently alone farther away from the commotion. Seeing as she was working on the weekend, her boss decided to release her early for the festivities. Reika didn't understand; wouldn't sales go down if she skipped work? Her boss told her to enjoy herself, maybe meet a cute boy or something. And so here she was, sill confused about the generosity of humans.

What did people even do on days like this? Reika supposed she should maybe scout out the area and determine who was rightful to die early...or she could actually follow the advice given to her and maybe find some of her classmates. From her position near the library, Reika saw many things and considered them all into her observations.

The girl who offered someone water, the woman who was hugging said girl repetitively now, the girl who stood in the tree shadows, the girl with the headphones, the boy with the cat on his shoulder, the girl who spilled her ice cream, the boy who looked like a singer for the concert, the old woman yelling for the music to stop, the-

Reika frowned.

This was supposed to be....fun? She must be doing something wrong....perhaps a more hands-on approach then? But who to interact with? The girl near the tree and the one with bobbing headphones; Reika could sense similar amounts of energy to her own radiating off of them in waves. They were just like her. Spirits.

And then there was the strange duo causing a commotion near the streets. The white haired girl couldn't sense any sort of power from that direction....deciding that this was the best course of action, Reika automatically crossed the crowd of bustling people until finally approaching the two. The girl with the dark blue hair looked young, probably a student. Therefor, Reika first turned to the obvious more mature adult woman slowly crushing the student girl in a death hug.

Wait, was she trying to kill her? A small smile grew on Reika's lips. At last, another human that shared her drive and passions! Someone that understood the futility of life! Reaching out, Reika gently pulled on the woman's sleeve. Being...well, Reika, she asked the one thing that appeared in her mind.

"Excuse me, do you need help in reaping her? I would be glad to assist in your active departure of life," she said quietely.

"Hehe, what a nice name you have, Suichi-kun." Yoshikuni said before hearing his question. She shrugged her shoulders before taking a back step away from him, giving Whisker a small smile before looking at him again "I was told by my classmates it was someone I was bound to know once I heard him. I have a bit of trouble remembering names from time to time, but I'm sure I'll remember your name." She answered before noticing more people were arriving and slowly begun to gather around the stage.

Looking up at the sky, she thought for a moment before speaking again "Why don't we move a bit closer? There is another tree with some shade over there. Its closer and we could probably get a better view over there. And we could also try and see if we know anyone else on the way. There is a girl over there who seems familiar. Why don't we go say hey?" Yoshikuni suggested before motioning to him to come with her.

She then walked over to the girl with the headphones on, who was listening to some music. She gave her a slight wave with her hand "Hey, I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I think we go to school together. Have we met before?" Yoshikuni asked with a smile, hoping the girl heard her and she wasn't speaking to herself right now. Standing in the sun was a bit annoying to her, but soon enough she will go to the shade of the other tree and be just fine. Taking another glance at the people who slowly started to gather for the concert around the stage, she figured she could have a feast with all those shadows, but too many weak people will draw attention. Perhaps she could go there during the concert itself and consume a single shadow, make it appear like a heat stroke of sorts and then enjoy the rest of the concert. She then decided to wait and see if anyone would accompany her or not.

"Never mind that, never mind that! You just gotta enjoy it, see? Just sit back and... heh?" Mayumi said, interrupted by someone tugging on her sleeve.

She turned, noticing...

She really was close to hyperventilating. Seriously.

She didn't even register what the girl had said, really. She simply took her arms away from Kyoko only to put them around the new girl instead.

"OH. EM. GEE. Another cute giiiiirl! This must be a miracle! Oh, God, I don't know what I did to deserve this gift, but whatever it was it wasn't enough! Thank you God! Thank you Mom! Thank you Dad! I..." she stopped, suddenly releasing her arms from the girl.

"H-huh?" she stammered out, staggering backwards. Stray tears fell from her eyes. She wiped them away, looking confused.

"Th-that's funny... why am I...? Ah..." she sniffed.

"I'm... fine... really..." she slowly stood up, grabbing the water bottle from Kyoko's hands and downing half of the bottle in one gulp.

"Aha... ahaha... I don't know what came over me. Sorry..."

---

"You must be mistaken. I'm not a high school student." Kouhime replied. She had been lucky enough to get talked to when the song had ended, so she moved one phone behind her ear. That way she could listen to her music while listening to what this girl had to say.

"I work at the record store down the street," she stated, matter-of-factly, pointing towards the store. "Maybe that's where you've seen me."

She tossed the now empty Coke can into the nearby trash bin.

"You work at the nearby bakery, correct? Please get me a discount on your sweet buns."

Kyoko couldn't help but laugh at her situation as Mayumi explained to her to just let it happen and enjoy it. Then another girl walked up to them and said something, but Kyoko was too focused on being crushed by hugs to understand. Then she was released as Mayumi's priorities changed to hugging the stranger. Kyoko sat down on the grass a bit dazed at what she just went through. Suddenly, Mayumi started to cry and took a bit to wind down from her explosion of energy and apologized.

Kyoko smiled as she stood back up. "It's fine. I wasn't prepared for surprise hugs today." She chuckled a bit. "I like your energy." She was a bit concerned about the tears, but Mayumi explained how she was truly fine, and decided to not pursue too far unless another outburst happened with the same outcome.

She then looked over to the newcomer. "I'm sorry, I missed what you said during that incredible embrace."

---

Suichiro smiled as his name was complimented and gave a slight nod of thanks. He was about to ask for her name when she suggested they get a little closer to a different bit of shade and she noticed the girl from earlier and suggested they approach her. "Alright." He would have shrugged, but Whisker was a bit too heavy for him to do that without dislocating something, so he simply waved his hand in a gesture to let her know to lead the way.

As he got closer Whisker hopped off of his shoulders and walked up to the girl listening to music to sniff her leg. He stretched his shoulders a bit glad to be rid of the cat for a few minutes. Now that he had a look at her, she did seem a bit familiar. He chuckled a bit at her request for a discount and then snapped his fingers his expression full of recognition. "I remember now, I was helping deliver some flowers from my Dad's shop to the record store." He then looked at Yoshikuni. "I remember seeing you too for the same reason at the bakery. I was the one that delivered those daisies and petunias last week. Not sure how he does it, but Dad's flowers are in just about every store in the area, and he even manages to get them to events like this one." He pointed over towards one of the large wooden flower pots with white roses.

"Ah, okay. Excuse me for my mistake. And I could arange a discount for you, but I'm not sure how much it will be.My boss is a bit picky when it comes to discounts." Yoshikuni told Kouhime before turning to look at Suichi, who now remembered where he knew both her and the other girl from "Thats really nice to hear. I really enjoy the feeling the flowers give to the store, and so does the boss. So thank your dad from us." She said and then looked at the direction of the tree that was closer to the stage.

After a moment, she looked at Suichi again "Lets go to that tree's shade now. I don't like being in the sun for too long." Yoshikuni told him and took a step towards the tree "You are also welcome to join us." She said to Kouhime before grabbing Suichi's hand "Come on Suichi-kun, I think they are going to start soon! Lets hurry there!" She said and begun pulling him to the tree's shade, hoping to reach it as quickly as she could. She didn't want to open her umbrella due to thinking it might look like too much in the eyes of someone she just met, so she kept it hidden folded and closed in her pocket.

The Park, still noonish.

Just on the street running parallel to the park, a large van finally came to a screeching halt. The backdoors and sidedoors flew open and a gang of what could only be described as mismatched characters exited, holding various instruments. One was a tall fellow with sunglasses, a mangy beard, mangy black shoulder-length hair and looking like he could be in his forties. The next was a skinny punk, with spikey hair and cheap, filthy clothes. The next was a young woman in maybe her early twneties, with the brightest and most neon-red hair yo'd ever seen. The fourth was a heavy-set fellow with glasses,, a necktie and - who for some reason - was wearing shorts...

After the seemingly random group of people exited the van, the driver's side door opened and the final member of the crew emerged. Unlike the rest of the rabble, this one looked incredible, in more ways than one. Sh was a young woman, with short, silver hair and attractive. Indeed, the pretty woman drew more than a few head-turns with her and her gang's arrival. Wasting no time on the onlookers though, she quickly locked the van and then proceeded - followed by her cohorts - towards the stage, making their way through the mass of people which seemed to part and step out of their way when they came close.

Climbing onto the stage, the sun-glasses wearing older guy went to the drums, the spikey-haired punk took the base, the neon-red-head swiped up the electric guitar and the fatty with glasses went for the keyboard. The silver-haired girl didn't pick any instrument, but rather just made her way over to the mic-stand at a leisurely pace, picking the small microphone from its place and holding it up to her mouth. Inhaling a long breath, she then let out a melodic and charming voice.

"Hello everyone! So glad you could make it! We're Metal Fairies!"

Apparently, this was the band that was going to play. A short moment of silence followed her announcement, before a roar of voices cried out in cheers and excitement. Now, obviously there were only maybe a couple of hundred or more people here, but it was still a large enough gathering to make you really feel the energy and volume of all those voices calling out in unison. The lady on the stage smiled in a pleased manner.

"Sorry it took so long to get here, Kai-kun lost the map and we spent an hour just driving around looking for this park!

An explosion of laughter followed this statement, and the punk with spikey hair rubbed the back of his neck, with slightly reddened cheeks and a sheepish smirk on his face. Apparently the group was from out-of-town, otherwise they would surely have known where the park where they were holding their own live would've been. As the crowd calmed down again, the woman went ahead and continued.

"Well then, let me introduce you to the members of Metal Fairies! First, on the base we have Kaito!" The punk-kid plucked a few strings and played a short meloy, the crowd cheered. "Next, on the drums we have Moko-chan!" The improperly cutesy-named older guy with sunglasses and a beard drummed up a short storm, the crowd cheered again. "On the keyboard we have Hayate-kun!" The fatty played a small tune and the crowd cheered again - especially some younger girls, apparently the chubby one was popular. "On the guitar, we have the lovely Yume-chan!" The neon-red haired girl let a resonating riff echo through the park, and the crowd went wild with shouts of approval. "And finally, on vocals, we have me - Tokiko, nice to meet ya'll!" A blast of cheers and chanting, with many of the male guests crying out the silver-haired vocalist's name over and over.

"Well then, with that out of the way, what do you all say we get started, huh?" A final round of cheers. "Alright then, let's get started! first song of the day, obviously it's gotta bee...." She paused and the crowd cried out along with her. "CRY OF IRON ECHOES"

And so the concert finally began, with the music booming out and washing over the jumping, dancing and cheering crowd.

However, if one actually took the time to look away from the spectacle at hand, you could notice that in the very distant, just on the gorizon, some grayer clouds had formed. They were still very, very far away, but it looks like in maybe a few hours the weather would change to overcast and cloudy. Oh well, who cared about that stuff? There was a fun and lively concert in the park, a tasty foodstand and lots of fun things going on! Something as trifling as the weather wouldn't be a downer at a time like this.

However....

"Suichiro! Come in, this is Commander Kasumi." The ear-piece in Suichi's ear suddenly cried out for his attention, interupting any pleasantries he might be involved in, as it needed his attention. "It's a good thing you're at the park, we just caught a glimpse of someone who we think might be Spirit from last week." The commander was very business-like and matter-of-factly on the matter. "Get into the thick of the crowd and see if you can catch an actual visual of her! We'll gather up any nearby operatives to back you up, now get to it!"

Now, why was she asking Suihiro to do this? There were other Ratatoskr agents and personnel nearby as well. The reason was simple - this Spirit seemed skittish and cowardly, and sending the sarcastic waiter or the other girl might just scare her away. Suichiro's calm and docile manners and personality was most suited to this task. Still, that didn't mean things would go flawless, and as such she needed a contingency plan.

"All Ratatoskr ground-operatives in the vicinity of Tenguu City Central Park, heads up! We think we might have located the spirit from last week! Move to the location and aid Suichiro in confirming if she's really there. Do not try and seal or even approach her! We just want visual confirmation." This message message rang out to the other Raatoskr-agents, who would hopefully do just as instructed... But with their personalities, you never knew what would happen.

"Ahah... thanks," Mayumi said to Kyoko.

"Anyway," she continued, turning towards the new girl, "I-"

That's when she heard the Commander's familiar voice in her ear.

"Oh my..." she said, before looking around. She managed to spot Suichi near the back.

"Sorry! I... uh... remembered I was supposed to meet someone. My... uh... boyfriend."

She couldn't help letting a mischievous smirk escape her face, as she waved goodbye and headed over.

---

Kouhime stood up as the boy finished his explanation.

"Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom."

Then she put her free phone back on her ear and left.

Suichiro followed Yoshikuni back to the shade tree after the girl listening to music explained how she had to use the bathroom and left. Whisker immediately stopped sniffing at her and returned to her place on Suichi's shoulders. "Ouch! Whisker!" Suichi winced as claws dug into his shoulders as Whisker found a comfortable spot and then settled down retracting her claws. He wiped a couple tears from his face and looked at Yoshikuni. "So, uh what's your name?" Now that the band had arrived he wanted to know before they started playing music.

Just as he finished asking when the Commander called him out as the one in charge of this next mission. He felt less happy about the fact that the others would be backing him up. If he was dealing with a skittish Spirit then he'd prefer to go it alone. Neither of his coworkers were fit for dealing with a Spirit that scares easily. He then noticed Mayumi making her way over to him. Whisker let out a yowl right next to his ear with the earpiece and looked directly at Yoshikuni practically begging for attention. Suichi rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. "I swear..."

He looked around the area looking for someone that would match the description of last week's Spirit. He then looked at Yoshikuni apologetically. "I'm sorry, I'd love to get to know you better, but I just realized that a friend of mine might be here, so I really should go and find her." He then walked towards the crowd.

Reika tensed up as the older woman began tightly hugging her, a small blush warming her pale cheeks. This was the same move she used on the girl...it wasn't strangling her? Did that mean this woman wasn't trying to kill? And what was this warm sensation in Reika's chest? She didn't understand it at all. And then the woman began tearing up, only to quickly leave.

As the woman released her, the Spirit couldn't help but feel a twitch of...sadness at her departure? However, it was a good thing the woman had left when she did. Had she held on any longer...and who knew what would have happened with the rise of a Spirit's energy.

Still a bit startled by the whole event, Reika looked at the blue-haired girl from before. "What I...said?" Well, it appeared that the woman wasn't trying to kill her. No point in bringing that up; Reika would just have to reap the girl before her personally. But for now...

"I was inquiring about your....hair color," Reika said mechanically. "It's a...deep shade of blue." As she said this, her expression remained completely the same. That is, until the band of the concert began playing their musical entrance. At the sudden exposure to the loud sounds, Reika covered her ears and frowned.

"This is...too loud."

"Oh its fine, just go and find your-"

Before managing to finish her sentence, Suichi already left. Yoshikuni smiled a bit before watching the area of the concert. It seems like such a feast in her eyes. All she needed to do was to go and get in the crowd, and she would be in a shadow paradise. But only one or two shadows would be enough for her right now. The she shook her head a bit and decided to sit down on the grass. The concert sounded really odd in her ears, but she figured thats what people liked nowadays, and she didn't see a reason not to stick around a bit longer.

She then leaned her head against the trunk of the tree that was behind her and closed her eyes. She wondered if Suichi went to school, and if he went to her school. Deciding that will have to wait until monday. Yoshikuni opened one eye and watched as the crowd enjoyed the music. She could also see Suichi walk towards the crowd, and she realised she had been a bit rude by not saying her name to him. How would he be able to find her afterwards? By going to the bakery? Its not like she lived there. Letting out a small sigh, she stood back up.

Yoshikuni scretched her arms out before making her way to the crowd as well, hoping to find Suichi and his friend, and properly introduce herself.