La Trinidad de Manila Academy - 12/1/2022, UTC+8Myke didn’t actually say anything, maybe she doesn’t know it either? Then why say things you don’t know? Actually nevermind,
Perv does sound funny.
At least the other person answered, Tronka, Tonka, Tanka? New people names are hard.
"Think a really really gross place, where individuals abuse their captives in dehumanizing ways" Tonka wanted to say more, but the meeting quickly picked back up, before they were dismissed. Walking past Nil, she paused for a second "don't read to much into it, I think Mikey just wanted to ease the rooms tensions with a light hearted joke" winking at the woman before walking over to Myron.
Nil didn’t really understand, but at least it was an answer! And honestly, Nil was more interested in their reactions and words usage, rather than the explanation itself.
Myron dismissed Tonka after solidifying their planned meet-up later in the day to talk about the rescue mission. She felt good about the group, and she was grateful they’d trust her with something so important. Turning on her heels, she surveyed the room again, using Bound by Shadow to watch everyone begin to relax a little more now that the Headmaster was done sufficiently setting the tone, so to speak. She watched Nil, deciding that unique woman would probably be the easiest to start a conversation with
“I definitely need a friend to drink with at the very least” almost on queue, just on the very edge of her hearing, a scream so quiet, it would have sounded like the fluorescent bulb hum you hear in older buildings. Distractions were in big demand for the Russian, her legs deciding before her brain, and made her way back over towards Nil.
“Hey, I don’t really know if you…eat? But I was wondering if I could get your help on account of the” she pointed at her Blacked out circle sunglasses, pulling a white folded up cane from her pocket
“vision problem.” On the other side of the conversation there was a blank, slightly confused stare,
what does she mean by vision problem? Nil moved a little left observing Tonka’s weird movements, before responding to the first question.
”I eat, yes!”Tonka smiled at Nil’s excited response, looping their arms together, and pulling them both in the direction of the Cafeteria. Along the way, Tonka was still able to weave through groups with Nil in tow, probably adding to the confusing statement of Tonka’s supposed “vision impairment”. She wasn’t lying however, the last couple of days, she had to wait for the line to die down. The visual noise of everyone grabbing food proved to be a little more than what Tonka wanted to deal with, just for some grub at least.
Stopping at the doors leading inside, she unlooped the twos arms and pulled out the white folded cane out again, flicking it out. Deactivating Bound by Shadow, her regular clouded vision coming back. She had already more or less charted the path she wanted to walk, but the cane was more of a warning for others to look out for her. With a deep breath, she pushed through into the noisy room and was already incredibly thankful she wouldn’t have to be using her abilities to see through the sea of patrons.
“Do you mind helping me get food on a plate?” The various cuisines and the smells accompanying them seem to find Tonka and Nil, Tonka’s stomach growling in response.
On the other end Nil didn’t mind following Tonka, but was back to being confused when she began using her white cane for no apparent reason. Thinking on it, she remembered someone doing the same thing to appear invalid.
”Okay.” Nil replied, with an emphasis on the Y.
Cristina is disappointed that her question is not further elaborated upon. You would think that an Imperial Prince joining the frontline would get more coverage or buzz but she left the meeting scarce about the details. Unlike others he had already eaten her breakfast so she decided to just take a cup of coffee. A boost of energy before she heads to the training area to train her new powers, she can feel that it wants to be used and she's not really uncomfortable about letting the effects of Director Bathala’s procedure remain unknown.
She is already holding a cup of coffee when she hears a growl behind her, looking back it is the newcomer. What was her name again, Tonka right?
“Oh it's you two, is there anything I missed at the meeting?” Cristina asked to both Nil and Tonka.
”Oh, Perv.” Nil was the first to answer.
As they talked, a sixteen-year-old boy in JSSDF Fatigues plus a flak jacket walked into the mess hall, looking around and taking in the scene with an awestruck curiosity. His eyes settled on where Tonka, Nil, and Cristina were talking, and he walked over, the sunlight shining on his silver-colored hair, visibly struggling with what to say.
Bowing slightly, the young man said in clear English,
“Hello, my name is Shinya. Mind if I am the one to provide help and support? It will please me greatly.”Overly formal, as though not used to talking with ordinary folk in ordinary settings. But the kid, though unused to this place, clearly marveled at his surroundings and his nervousness did not stop him from approaching people. Upon seeing Cristina, the sixteen-year-old smiled out of the blue, before visibly trying to force a more serene expression.
The addition of two voices prompted Tonka to use her abilities for only a second, stealing a glance at the overall shapes of the two that now joined them. A smile crept along Tonka’s face at what she surmised to be a teenager offering to help instead “you would have my deepest thanks Shinya, i'm not partial to any food in particular, so ill leave it up to you to surprise me” Tonka spoke formally back to the teen, hoping it would make him feel less awkward. Christina asked them if she missed anything, Tonka looking to Nil to give a much more detailed account of what had been happening…if only because she had been so preoccupied by Myke’s joke from earlier to catch the tail end of the meeting.
Unfortunate that Nil didn’t know what had been said during the meeting, at least not any of the important parts. But at least she failed to understand Tonka’s cue as well, so at least they conversation didn’t awkwardly drift back to Mikey’s comment (or
Myke in Nil’s head).
Cristina will notice the smile but decide to do nothing about it. It's just a smile, there are many ways it could be interpreted. “Well Shinya, it appears that you’ve been here for quite a while so I'm curious on what you will recommend on dear Tonka here.” she asked as she took a sip of her coffee, it is clear that she's only staying here out of curiosity and ensuring nothing untoward happens to Tonka.
Now that she thought about it, Shinya sounds like a Japanese name? Maybe he knew something about the crown prince rumor. She'll ask him if she gets a chance in private. ‘Shinya’ couldn’t help but light up again as he replied, “I’ll get a tray of Chicken Kararage, some rice, some Garlic Ramen with Ggg, and a few fresh fruits; if Ms. Tonka does not know chopsticks, I can get a spoon and a fork.”
And off he went to get the mentioned items, his footsteps quick but not light as Tonka could hear them all along the tiled floor of the La Trinidad de Manila mess hall.
When getting the food, the server looked at him with visible surprise but suppressed her minor shock as he ordered the food, whispering at her to keep quiet. Either way, he returned after a few minutes, before saying to the three, as Nil was still there, “So, you three are Task Force Obsidian members, right? My sister was there during its initial founding; she was also one of those who left to go off on their own the very next day.”
A hint; maybe a blatant one. But he felt as though he could get away with it.
Tonka hadn’t had the chance to talk to Christina in a smaller group setting, though she could feel the woman's sincerity through what she assumed was a smile accompanying her words. The smell of the meal Shinra grabbed all her attention for a moment, and not only her as Nil was similarly standing in attention as Shinra served the food, the Russian made a note to ALWAYS have Shinra order for her. She hadn’t worked up the nerve to be adventurous with her cuisine here and letting the teen pick was absolutely the right choice. They had conveniently been standing in front of an open table while they awaited Shinra’s return, Tonka noting this Teen was evidently not your average run of the mill rugrat running around the campus. His steps felt…purposeful, coupled with the whispers as he returned only solidified her assumption.
“Chopsticks will do just fine, I might be blind, but I take pride in my hand dexterity” giving Shinra a thankful smile as the group sat down at the table
”I hate chopsticks, but i'll be damned if If I eat this Ramen with a fork”On any other day, Tonka might have waited for them to grab food, so she wouldn’t be the only one eating, but either by grace of whatever status Shinra was, or it being Tonka’s first meal of the day, she started eating ravenously. Only a watchful eye would notice that she was only managing to grab a handful of noodles, but Tonka spoke up first
“I’m new to the Task Force, but I have a feeling you’re someone important around here, if your sister was a founder” she looked over to Christina and Nil for some type of confirmation.
“I'm also recruited long after the founding, so I do not know where she is.” the freelancer spoke, she ignored any news about Task Force Obsidian until she got recruited to fill their lines which is why she cannot fill in the blanks.
But she knew the feeling of losing a sister and could feel that he's in the same situation.
“If you need something, just try to find me.” she spoke to Shinya before finishing her cup of coffee.
“I think I’m done here, I need to do some training.” she spoke before starting to walk away.Nil was the only one of the three who saw the person being mentioned, the Japanese Princess Fuyuko, although Nil only saw her in Lingayen, and she definitely didn’t want to remember that day. Missiles, Earthquakes, a fucking Volcano raising from the ground, next day she even got less sweets than the planes the grounded, what a scam!
So Nil just stared back at Shinya, partly knowing but also unsure what the title of
Prince and
Princess actually entailed. Next moment she was voraciously eating her own ramen, without chopsticks or fork… just dropping it in her mouth.
The door opened once more, and a fifteen-year-old girl in a black and red military-esque uniform with red stockings (?) strode in, her footsteps purposefully poised as she approached Shinya, before saying, “We need to talk; you’ve been avoiding sparring with me since the assault on Bamban City and the Pro-Chinese Militiamen there, and now I find you telling everyone I disappeared, which then again, is the truth; other cities need protecting -
Our allies need to be protected.”
Faced with the girl’s accusation, the small JSSDF soldier refused to flinch, whose silver hair was the same shade as his own, before saying, “To be honest, I thought you were avoiding
me. War has changed you;
imotou. But I am glad you are still focused on protecting our allies and the people within them. But it seems you’re back with us, at least for a while?”
Shaking her head, the girl spoke, “No; I’m only visiting Task Force Obsidian for a little bit. It seems that Noel was the glue keeping the team together; he wasn’t the best, but he was good enough that the mix of personalities the Task Force had was able to fight as one.”
She then raised her head enough to cause her eyes to glint, then continued, “Fair warning; don’t smile too much at foreign girls - Or boys for that matter. If that happened, you’ll be out of the line of succession, and I’ll have to wave my Noble Arm around until
our cousin gives me what I most want - He’s not an Arms Master while I am, and to the JSSDF and various other factions, that’s more important than an outdated tradition.”
Shinya, or rather, ‘Shinya’, raised an eyebrow, before saying, “You’re seeing things. That said, I appreciate your concern; I presume you’re visiting others too? Maybe the Director?”
The response was an elegant, yet aloof nod, as the girl spoke, “Yes. Contingencies have to be made for False Turing’s re-emergence - Do not let yourself be captured by him; you and the girl who caught your eye can be used in his plans. Whatever our differences, Noble Arms must not fade away, understand, brother?”
She then introduced herself to everyone with a bow and a Western-style flourish, “Greetings, I am Imperial Princess Fuyuko, ninth daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako; of those, only Princess Aiko exists in the ‘One True Timeline’. My brother is Crown Prince Shinyahito, although considering how he constantly rubs himself out of reality, he may find that status removed should he slip up…”
Tonka was glad to hear Nil eating next to her, though she was certain she was seeing the woman bringing the entire bowl to her face, Tonka’s attention was pulled away to the two siblings talking. Hearing the reveal of who the two were, happened to hit Tonka while she was in the process of swallowing, prompting a coughing fit as the food seemed to catch in her throat. The food being so good, the peoples collective whispers in the cafe, everything started to click as she went to stand and return a deeper bow to the Princess.
“I’m Volunteer Tonka, forgive me for not realizing who was talking too, or letting your brother get food for me!” Tonka racked her brain for any memory of the two in the SVR, The Princess being the only one she was familiar with. A good political target if the SVR ever had the means for it. Upon hearing Fuyuko remark about Shinya “rubbing” himself out of reality, she only had a slight clue to why she hadn’t heard of Shinya before..
”definitely someone important, shit Tonka” Tonka’s formal, if slightly startled, voice did wake up and annoy Nil, probably since they were eating close. Look down, ramen is pretty much gone, look up, oh there’s Fuyuko, speak of the Devil. Nil struck a barely-there smile at Fuyuko, it was the second, maybe third time they saw each other, then she waved to her.
”Hej Fuyuko.”Salutations over, Nil noticed Tonka’s distraction, her bowl wide open, if she is not eating might as well take it. Now that Tonka was
’not looking’, Nil extended her arm and grabbed her ramen, intending to eat it very much like the one before.
Amidst the ongoing whirlwind of thoughts is Cristina who is internally fighting an internal battle of what to do. First Shinya lied to her then she learned that his sister is an Imperial Princess which means that he is the crown prince that she will follow for the naval mission!
Then she learns that the imperial siblings had a vested interest in keeping the timeline.
And Shinya or is it Prince Shinyahito now lied to her!
She let out an annoyed sigh which might probably gather everyone’s attention but she doesn't care if she's commiting lese-majeste right now.
”Then you should probably start lecturing your brother right now, I know that he is staring and smiling at me the entire time, your Highness.” Cristina spoke before using Sinagtala to blink away, leaving the crown prince to his sister's mercy. That should be enough as a payback.
Crown Prince Shinyahito was blushing red; he had lost this round.
His sister looked at him in shock as she said, “I see I was right. While I want the succession laws changed, you putting yourself out of the running this early means
our cousin will be the heir and I need to oppose that. More to the point, discrediting yourself in such a way dirties my reputation as well. So be careful, brother.”
A moment passed, before Shinyahito sighed, and said, “Sister, you’re
fifteen, just one year younger than me. And yet every other moment is filled with you talking about the throne, about fighting, about politics, and the JSDF’s role in world affairs. Our childhoods are already drained away by war and death; any time we have to just ‘be a kid’ is running out.”
His eyes glinted as he continued, “As it is, I spend a lot of time and energy watching my back for reasons both of us know. Live a little, sister; learn to live a little.”
Tonka took the lack of acknowledgement as a pass for any potential missteps she had made earlier. Turning to scoop her bowl in one motion, she brought it to her mouth, mimicking Nil and gulping it down.
“Nice try búsinka, you’re gunna have to be much faster” taking a seat again, she stifled a burp, pulling out a small pocket watch with embossings and hands she could touch to read the time. She whispered to Nil
“Do you think it would be rude if I left spontaneously?” Nil looked at Tonka, a little sad that she wasn’t fast enough but at least the ramen didn’t go to waste so it’s not a big deal. She shrugged her shoulders a little, not sure how to respond to Tonka’s question.
”Eh, it fine.”Princess Fukuyo’s response to Shinyahito was a simple, “No. I’d rather you keep stonewalling my efforts out of mere suspicion than shame the Imperial Throne in such a way. If you must excuse me, I’ll go see if the other training rooms are free…”
And then she left, with Shinyahito sighing in response, then asking Tonka and Nil, “Should I leave too? Take my leave, I mean?”
Nil waved as Fuyuko walked away, turning to Shinyahito with an oblivious expression. She really didn’t care if he was royalty or just some bloke, he got them ramen so he’s good.
Tonka reached over to touch the teen’s shoulder
“don’t be too hard on yourself, it just sounds like your sister really is trying her best to prepare you for the life you already find yourself in. Thank you for the Ramen Prince Shinya, I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other” standing, she looked over to Nil
“thanks for keeping me company on the way here, and eating with me, I’ll find you again some other time to eat if you don’t mind” she hadn’t really gotten the chance to ask Nil about herself or how she fit into the equation here with the force, and Nil’s lack of caring for Tonka’s blindness was definitely refreshing. With a bow, shadow tethers yanked her into the shadows legs first, and winked at them both before her head dipped before the shadows, aiming for where Myron had said to meet after grabbing food for herself. She hadn’t gotten word back from The General, assuming he had his hands full, but her contact in the SVR had already condensed what they could find on a cursory glance of the information privy to the SVR regarding the Mines here mission was intending to infiltrate.
Shinyahito nodded at that, then went to eat…
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