The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Hikaru was having trouble staying awake. Most people would presume that it was a bit early to be tired and that was exactly the problem: it was early. Actually rising whilst the sun was high? An early morning from her perspective, one not aided by having to remember to not just walk outside like it was dark. Nevertheless, the samurai had risen in order to make an attempt to reach the new ice-cream shop she had heard about before it closed for the day.

The path from her apartment lead through a slightly more up-market portion of the district, with actual separate houses. There seemed to be a little group gathering outside one and she looked at it curiously for a second, wondering what it could be about. Then it clicked: a few she recognised as part of that little youth club and the rest she had seen around the district. One of them, though, was definitely new and had no unusual features...

"This one is sorry to be a bother, but could it be that you are [I]human[/I]?" Akira asked, stepping forward to look at Akio. It was a strange question for her to be asking, from a stranger's perspective: nothing about her seemed that off, even if the sword pressed against the deep blue kimono was a little unusual. The paper umbrella suited the weather, after all...

[@Natsu]