(no subject)
WHO: Haruhi Suzumiya, Yuki Nagato, Mai Tokiha, Kyon (NPC: Yuki Nagato), Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi (NPC: Haruhi Suzumiya); also Chie Harada, Aoi Senou, and Takumi Tokiha (NPC: Mai Tokiha)
WHEN: Last night! Saturday, August 26, 2006.
WHERE: Lindenbaum, in the HiME Earth.
WHAT: The SOS Brigade is hungry, and Mai needs a few customers down at the cafe! It seems like a match for both parties, doesn't it? Not...quite...
WATCH FOR!! Mai getting Haruhi'd right in the secret identity. Also, the OOC dialogue that was left in, because some of that stuff is gold.
Lindenbaum (LIN)
The Lindenbaum is a quaint, moderately sized cafe with booths and tables a like. The booths seat four to six while the tables seat up to three or four. Waitresses in pink and white ruffly uniforms collect dishes and saunter around to take orders, while in the back behind the counter is the kitchen area. (There, there's a desc for you! FIENDS!)
Contents:
Mai Tokiha
Yuki Nagato has arrived.
Though Mai is normally found on the campus, lately she's been working extra shifts at the Lindenbaum to make ends meet. Overworking herself or not, this is not entirely obvious on the HiME, who's been occupying her time with playing with the kitten that Reito gave her, or spending much needed time with her little brother. Dressed in a frilly white and pink waitress' uniform, Mai holds a tea tray against her chest, hands crossed in front of it, as she catches up on events with her brother. Chie and Aoi are seated across from said boy, having offered to treat him to lunch - Mai suspected it was to grill him about things regarding the status of Mai's non(?) existent relationship with Reito. And of course, the new visitor, Ryuji.
Was Mai Two timing their Reito-sama, or was a love triangle in the works? Inquiring minds want to know! The redhead would have none of that talk however, and forestalls further gossipping by placing the menus on the table in front of her friends. If they're eating, they can't gab, right? Absently, Mai glances up and around the room - the cafe wasn't /too/ busy today, but it was still early, and more customers might still arrive for lunch.
(Why are we here?)
(Well, that's a question that's been mulled over by countless scholars, crazy old men, and people who've drunken themselves into a reflective mood. I can only assume that they've all come up with their own answers to this deceptively-simple question, which is all well and good. Of course, your average joes aren't smart enough to be DUMB enough to waste their time asking this question when they could be doing other things, like living out their day-to-day lives in the mindless enjoyment of the daily grind. That's what I saw myself doing throughout my high-school career, which is /meant/ for such mindless enjoyment. No time for existential crises, just the usual teenage drama, interactions, and bad romance stories...)
Kyon, dressed in a simple jeans-and-T-shirt combo, looks around his surroundings- outside of a cafe of some sort, in an Earth that appears to be almost exactly the same as his own (minus the existence of a Haruhi-type being, hopefully), his face set in its usual exasperated expression. (Instead, this is a question I've found myself asking all too often:) He sighs, slowing down his pace. (What am I doing here?)
Yuki Nagato would have no answer for this question, even if she WAS capable of hearing internal dialogue like some of us here. Even then, it's unlikely that the purple-haired girl would even deign to respond.
You are here, Kyon, because it is the Will of the Macrocosm, by which we mean the will of the small but well-proportioned young woman with the ribbon in her hair leading this parade. Her name is Haruhi Suzumiya, and she is chattering amiably with Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi - the former of whom is mostly whimpering in abject terror and the latter of whom is mostly just nodding in agreement. "I mean, isn't this really long for a first semester!?" she jabbers. "it's almost September! Summer break is from June to August, yet...we haven't had one! What gives!?" Hmph! "Stupid administration! I'll have to sell them all downriver! -- oooh, restaurant." She hmms. And then says, "KYON! Get your wallet ready, we're gonna eat! C'mon, SOS Brigade!"
ANd she moves to enter the Lindenbaum.
Ahah! Just as Mai predicted. Customers! Torn between protecting her little brother from the broad grins displayed on Chie and Aoi's face, Mai reluctantly turns and makes her way to the door as Haruhi & Co enter the cafe. "Hi! Welcome to the Lindenbaum!" The sunny redhead greets the trio, getting no particular sense of 'holycraprun' or anything of the sort from any of them. "My name is Mai, and I'll be your waitress today." Please take it easy on her. Though she'd be quite happy to point them to the 'We reserve the right not to serve' sign on the wall, in the case of obstinate customers. Best. POlicy. Ever.
"Haruhi, it's a miracle that I even HAVE a wallet after the past few months! Aren't you, as the leader, ever going to put forth /your/ money for your underlings?" By now, naturally, Kyon's grumbling is merely a routine, due both to sheer number AND because he knows that Haruhi's ears have the greatest filters known to mankind. (Naturally, I wouldn't be complaining if I were just paying for the grace of a lunch with Mikuru-chan only. And if it were just Nagato-san...) He squeezes his eyes shut. (... I'd pay because I'd rather not see how or where she pulls her likely non-existent money from.)
"Ah, hi. We're going to need seating for five," Kyon replies on behalf of the SOS Brigade, nodding genially to the redhead. Naturally, his gaze has already flickered to The Sign on the wall. He can already feel an ulcer coming on. As for Yuki herself...? Well, the petite high-schooler's fixed Mai with her usual- and perhaps unnervingly expressionless- stare.
Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi wave. Haruhi...looks bored, although she doesn't really do much in Mai's direction. Haruhi is crazy but she knows how to behave in a restaurant, at least. "Of course not!" Haruhi replies to Kyon, looking irate. "It's a brigade leader's duty to ensure that her subordinates are enduring hardship! It builds strong bones and character! If I gave you all the answers and paid for your meals, I wouldn't be doing my job to make you suffer!"
She smiles at him, as if this were somehow even remotely sensical.
Mai Tokiha smiles and waves to the friendly looking pair. The bored Haruhi is given a curious glance, and Yuki's stare..is.. just plain unnerving, frankly. "A table for five?" Mai nods to Kyon with a smile, wondering if she should give them a table faaaaaaaaaar away from her brother and her friends. ~.~; Nah, wht would the harm be, after all? Besides, as it turns out, the free booth, room enough to seat five with three on either side of the table, was across from where her friends were seated. "Right this way." She gestures grandly to Kyon, leading the group over to a table.
Once they're seated, Mai starts handing out menu's, "The special today -" She breaks off as she catches whispering from Takumi's table. Whispering in Aoi and Chie's voice, along the lines of, "So Takumi-chan, how are things with you and Akira-kun? Are you two getting closer? Spending all that time together, day in, day out, eating together.." Aoi's voice lilts as she drifts off into la-la land, shoujo sparkles as she imagines Takumi in an apron feeding a blushing Akira with a pair of chopsticks. And then later that evening --!
Before that daydream can progress, Mai's Sister Senses kick in, and there is a moment where her head turns the full 180 degrees, as she opens a mouthful of fangs, breathing flames as her eyes turn red. RRRRRRAaaaaaaaagggh--
But real life such a thing can't happen, so the most Mai does is turn to shoot the group a death-glare that can be felt as much as seen. Aoi flinches, jerking her head to look towards Mai, and promptly abandons that train of thought, shrinking behind her table. Chie chuckles, "Mai-chan's powers of Sisterlyness are truly formidable." She tips an imaginary hat to Mai, who turns to Kyon and his group, all sunshine and candycanes again, "As I was saying, the special today is the vegetable okonomiyaki with green tea.." Smile smile. n.n
Kyon stares at the smiling shorter girl for a moment, continuing to marvel at how someone smart enough to get stellar grades, cute enough to attract men like flies to a candle even DESPITE her personality, and skilled enough to give most high school sports teams a run for their money... can be still be so Haruhidamned /bonkers/. (If she suddenly gave us all the answers and started paying for all my meals, I'd start looking for a hidden camera.) "Since when was it your job to make us suffer? Come to think of it, when was it that the strength of our bones and character became your responsibility as Brigade Chief?!" Straight-man senses, tingling...!
But all that has to be put aside when Mai leads them to their table. Kyon finds himself at the inside end of one row, with the ever-unresponsive Yuki sitting next to him acting as an anti-overly-friendly-Koizumi and/or somewhat-distracting-Asahina buffer. Trying to dodge Haruhi's ire in such close quarters is probably a lost cause anyway. As Yuki Nagato focuses all of her attention on the menu, as if attempting to sloooowly strip the printed words right off the page and scan them directly into her memory, Kyon... eyes the suddenly-glaring-suddenly-sparkles Mai not quite with the same expression reserved for Haruhi's insane and oft-inexplicable actions, but getting there. "I think I'm going to need a few moments," he says carefully, before looking to his Brigade-mates. "You guys can go first." (Stickwiththecheapeststickwiththecheapeststickwiththecheapestdon'tordereverythingagainoraskforextraplanarMartianstewfortheloveofgodHARUHI).
"The vegetable okonomiyaki will be OK!" Mikuru says, smiling cheerfully and sitting next to Yuki and opposite Itsuki; Haruhi has taken the far side of her own bench so that she can beat Kyon about the shins and knees if he leaves her no other recourse. Or even just kind of looks at her funny. She seems totally unaware of Mai's amazing sparkles-to-deathrays super powers. "Hamburger!" she declares, eagerly. "As for you, Kyon, sometimes a person has to take matters into their own hands, you know. Just because you didn't ask, doesn't mean you don't need the loving hand of someone like me to guide you!" She smirks, self-satisfied.
Itsuki, for his part, asks for a salad.
Mai Tokiha nods once brightly to Kyon, "All right." She turns as if to continue about her duties, but... there is another glance at the group. She did, after all, recall something being said about torture and minions- but this group didn't look anything like some weird, S&M group or anything. For one thing, they weren't in leather and chains, or carrying riding crops.
.... no, Mai doesn't really know anything about that sort of thing, but Nao had been so very kind to mention the topic once or twice.
It was a very traumatizing experience.
She recalls to the here and now, glancing at Kyon, "Um - excuse me, I didn't mean to overhear.. you're all part of some.. brigade..? Like a volunteer fire department?" She can dream, can't she?
Drawing a pad out of the pocket of her apron, she jots down the orders; vegetable okonomiyaki, hamburger, salad.. that's three down. Mai glances towards the thus far silent and bookwormish girl, since Kyon still needed to order. "And for you?"
Kyon studies his menu, his mind working frantically. (Alright, one special- if it's Asahina-san, I can forgive her for that- one salad- please, I don't need YOUR sympathy, Koizumi...!!- and one hamburger... if I order a-) His eyes flicker back up to his Brigade Chief. (- a hamburger? What are you, a child, Haruhi? And YOUR idea of a loving hand is one that's either busy hitting me or dragging me or molesting Asahina-san!!) He turns his attention back to the menu, one eyebrow twitching slightly. (... if I order a soup, I should be able to scrape by without blowing as much money as usual,) he thinks to himself.
With decisive finality, Yuki Nagato closes the menu and turns to Mai. "Steak, cooked rare," she says in all seriousness.
Kyon spends the next three seconds trying not to choke on his shock.
Yuki turns to glace to the bedraggled student. "At the present time, such an amount of protein and fat is required to maintain nutritional balance in my body," she explains quietly.
Two more seconds are required for Kyon to get over his surprise that the humanoid interface even bothered to speak up on her own volition. After recovering, he gives Mai a fairly tired look. "It's a misleading name," he replies. "To put it bluntly, we're just a high-school club engaged in activities that no one kno-" Kyon pauses, remembering that the entirety of his legs, jean-protected that they are, are still in kickable range. "I'll let our Brigade Chief explain this one," he adds dryly.
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "I can see Kyon's expression."
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "JUst going slowly from ':)' to 'D:!!!!!!!!'"
Mai Tokiha LAUGHS
Natsuki Kuga says, "Wow. Yuki being evil. That totally blindsided poor Kyon."
Yuki Nagato says, "The world exists to make Kyon cry."
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "WHO SHOWED YOU THE DESIGN DOCUMENTS"
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "i mean uhm"
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "..."
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "hey look a giraffe"
Haruhi Suzumiya chases.
Yuki Nagato says, "... XD"
Yuki Nagato says, "I knew it. God IS a sadist, and She's out to get Kyon."
Haruhi nods. "You have good taste, Yuki-chan!" she says, with a broad grin. "I almost got that too, but we just had it the other night..." Mhm! She nods, sagely, and then...her FAVORITE TOPIC IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD comes up. She grins broadly! "We're the Save the world by Overloading with fun Suzumiya Haruhi Brigade!" she chirps. "That's the SOS Brigade, for short. We investigate strange happenings, looking everywhere for mysterious and amazing events so that we can get to the bottom of them, and find the aliens, psychics, time travelers and magical girls that cause them!" Haruhi's smile could possibly outshine the sun. She's really quite a pretty girl; it's a pity she's completely effing nuts.
Itsuki's eyebrows twitch, once, at the last item in Haruhi's list.
Mai Tokiha merrily jots down the rest of the order. A whole steak for such a small girl? This Kyon fellow must be very rich -- but judging from his expression, perhaps /not/. Nonetheless, once all orders are jotted down in her order pad, she nods, "That'll take just a few minutes then," She hasn't run into too many people who like their steaks rare. Medium rare, well done, sure, but rare?
Well, at least Yuki didn't say 'so rare it's still mooing'.
As another waitress passes by, Mai hands the order to her, and is handed a tray with full cups of tea on it in return. Nodding a thank you to her co-worker, Mai turns back to the table and starts placing cups down on the table. "Save the world by overloading it with fun?" Mai repeats, "That sounds like a lot o-" And then her world turns upside down and there's the faint sound of white noise drumming in her ears like being too close to a waterfall. "M..mysterious events?" Oh. Crap.
"Ahah .." Her and twitches just slightly as she sets the second glass down, "Ah - and .. and have you had much luck with that?" She almost drops the tea tray entirely when Haruhi mentions the magical girls. Knowing Takumi, Chie and Aoi were present and probably eavesdropping - at least in Chie's case -she keeps a firm grasp of the tray. Though Itsuki's not the only oine with twitchy eyebrows at that. "Magical girls.." o.o; She smiles, "Um - I don't think you'd find anything like /that/ around here!" No sir. Nothing like that at all. ESPECIALLY not magical girls. Yeah. "It's pretty boring!"
"Unless you cound the Seven Mysteries of Fuuka!" Pipes up a voice from across the room.
... thank you Aoi, for having the absolute worst timing to be 'helpful'.
For her part, Yuki Nagato doesn't apparently deem it fit to comment about her taste, or a reassurance to Mai that she can, indeed, put food away like no other- she merely nods while looking straight ahead, not even looking surpised at Haruhi's odd phrasing.
(Yes. Last time, we went to a steakhouse and everyone except Yuki got plates heaped with meat of cow worth more than should be physically possible!!) Kyon stares glumly at Haruhi's brilliant smile. (Is getting even the slightest respite too much to ask for?) he thinks, sighing slightly. "Not a lot of luck, no," is the slightly absent-minded reply. (Though, when did 'magical girls' get added onto that list? And what happened to having fun with them?)
Aoi's interjection causes Kyon to squeeze the bridge of his nose to stem the potential headache that he can already FEEL. Yes, thank you, Aoi, for waving a red flag in front of the good old Brigade Chief. "... Seven Mysteries of Fuuka?" he mutters weakly.
Haruhi largely ignores Mai's reply - she's just an ignorant normal human, after all, and is about to open her mouth to assure Mai that her utter ignorance is not her fault when Aoi speaks up, derailing that train of thought and sending it careening off into an abyss, where it will never be heard from again. "Seven Mysteries of Fuuka!?" she sings, and then Itsuki isn't sitting up quite so straight because Haruhi is literally leaning against his back. "Tell me more! I bet we can solve 'em!" Despite their current track record being a nice, flat zero...
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "so doomed. :D :D :D"
Mai Tokiha says, "So very doomed. XD;;"
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "The others are going to come back and wonder what's up with the psycho popping out of bushes and taking pictures of students at random intervals, gwahahahha"
Mai Tokiha Lol X.x
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "And then the girls will be like 'what have I dooooone T_T'"
Yuki Nagato says, "And thus, PSYCHO TOMOYO was born."
Mai Tokiha says, "That, or they'll encourage it for their own amusement :D"
Natsuki Kuga laughs!
Mai Tokiha says, "I can see Chie pointing out various rumors and sic'ing Haruhi on them :D"
Natsuki Kuga says, "And Aoi making up something so Haruhi can take incriminating photos of the latest gossip couples."
Mai Tokiha nods :D
Natsuki Kuga says, "(Including Mai and Reito~sama~)"
Mai Tokiha says, "...."
Mai Tokiha says, "o O ( Oh crap )"
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "She would, too."
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "And she'd be COMPLETELY CORRECT because that is how Haruhi rolls."
Natsuki Kuga fully supports all attempts to embarrass Mai.
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "'OBVIOUSLY SHE HAS MAGIC POWERS TIED TO A SHINING RED STAR, PERHAPS LOCATED NEAR THE MOON!' .... ._."
Can Mai take a raincheck on the 'having fun with magical girls' thing? On that note, can she take a raincheck on the magical girl gig period? Mai closes her eyes briefly in an 'Oh god, no.' manner when Haruhi perks up at Aoi's words. So much for a nice normal evening! Or .. well the evening is normal enough, she supposed. There were no Orphan attacks after all.
All too happy to fill in the newcomers to their Academy's mysteries, Chie and Aoi shift their posture to focus on Haruhi. Takumi seems to be doing his best to not listen to the crazy people. ._.
Aoi puts a finger to her chin, "Well.. there's the old clock in the school library - no matter how many times someone comes to fix it, the time is /always/ wrong.."
"There was also a mysterious ghost type dog that showed up on campus two years ago.. it seemed to be looking for something, but we haven't seen or heard anything about it for a while."
"Mm, there's also that one time where all the girl's lingerie vanished from the dorms - remember that, Mai-chan?"
"Urk.." Says Mai.
Chie smothers a laugh, absently lifting her everpresent cell phone and cycling through some pictures. "What else is there -"
Aoi claps her hands, "OH! And there's of course the most recent mystery of Mai-*grk!*" It's at this point that Aoi, victim of Mai's death glare, wilts and keels over in her bench, twitching.
Mai is looking perfectly innocent as she comes wandering back to the table with the table for the Party of Five. ^.^;;;
(... poltergeist clock, Unidentified Mysterious Animal, phantom panty thief, scandals revolving around-) Kyon gets a good look at Mai's figure, his spirits wilting even further. (- a girl with a Haruhi-magnet-body... ohgod, ALL of this stuff is /right up her alley/. We could be here ALL MONTH.)
Yuki Nagato is engaged in looking back and forth between Aoi, Chie, and the steak carried by Mai. Mmm. Meat.
Haruhi hmmmms, mulling on this seriously. She leans back, so at least she is no longer actually using Koizumi as a bar to lean over. "Hmmm!" she ponders. "A permanently broken clock...a mysterious ghost dog...disappearing lingerie...and..." Her eyes sparkle. "A mysterious transfer student!? A mystery! A real mystery!" She begins to do a reasonable facsimile of a boogie right there in her seat. "This is it! The mysterious transfer student is the surest sign of all! SOS Brigade! We've found...A CASE! Forget a month, Kyon! We'll be here as long as it takes, I don't care if it's years!"
She cannot stifle a giggle. It sounds perilously close to being outright maniacal.
Chie reaches over with her chopsticks and steals a bite of Aoi's lunch - as much of a drama queen Aoi tends to be, Chie knew the girl was fine. And this is proven when Aoi sits up abruptly and points, "Aaah, Chie, that was mine!" Fume!
"You snooze you lose, Aoi-chan." Chie winks rogueishly at her friend. The two both pause in what they're doing at Haruhi's rambling and the almost maniacal laughter that follows. o.o Wow. She was crazier than THEY were!
Mai, on the other hand, looks a little pale. "Ah.. years...?" ;.; While she didn't doubt they were perfectly nice people, that Haruhi -- Mai glances over towards her brother while he's setting his cup down. "AAH TakumI! You look awful!" She rushes over to her little brother, who looks . . totally confused. o.o
"What is it Neechan?" He was perfectly fine!
"Did you take your medicine? Is it another attack?" Mai fusses, "Come on, we'd better get you to the doctor!"
"But -"
"Don't argue!" She seizes her weaker sibling and proceeds to drag him out the door, with the younger Tokiha protesting the entire way. Leave it to Mai to use her brother as an escape attempt. Shameless!
"A few years? We'll /graduate/ in a few years, Haruhi!" With a grumbled 'thanks for the meal', Kyon then starts digging into his soup, doing his level best to ignore Haruhi's laughter and try not to think about what any of this will mean for the next few weekends.
Yuki Nagato, calmly, starts primly cutting into her steak. Somehow, the petite girl is eating faster than any of the other group members combined- entire forkfuls are disappearing into her mouth at a particularly scary rate.
"So?" Haruhi says. "The SOS Brigade lives on, as long as we believe in our hearts!" She waves her fork at Kyon, and one should really wonder why she even has a fork because she ORDERED A HAMBURGER. "THe sprit of the SOS Brigade is timeless! I'll be its leader forever, and you will always be my loyal menial laborer! You're lucky to have that position, you know, I could probably get anyone I wanted to work for me, but I chose you!" She grins. "So cheer up! Or else you'll be eaten at night by lawn gnomes!" She then glances at Yuki, noting, "Yuki-chan, don't eat so fast! If you eat like that you can't savor all the flavor! I bet it's good!" Then, she gets to work on her hamburger, humming a happy tune, and making a note to strike up a conversation with Chie and Aoi again after lunch is over.
WHEN: Last night! Saturday, August 26, 2006.
WHERE: Lindenbaum, in the HiME Earth.
WHAT: The SOS Brigade is hungry, and Mai needs a few customers down at the cafe! It seems like a match for both parties, doesn't it? Not...quite...
WATCH FOR!! Mai getting Haruhi'd right in the secret identity. Also, the OOC dialogue that was left in, because some of that stuff is gold.
Lindenbaum (LIN)
The Lindenbaum is a quaint, moderately sized cafe with booths and tables a like. The booths seat four to six while the tables seat up to three or four. Waitresses in pink and white ruffly uniforms collect dishes and saunter around to take orders, while in the back behind the counter is the kitchen area. (There, there's a desc for you! FIENDS!)
Contents:
Mai Tokiha
Yuki Nagato has arrived.
Though Mai is normally found on the campus, lately she's been working extra shifts at the Lindenbaum to make ends meet. Overworking herself or not, this is not entirely obvious on the HiME, who's been occupying her time with playing with the kitten that Reito gave her, or spending much needed time with her little brother. Dressed in a frilly white and pink waitress' uniform, Mai holds a tea tray against her chest, hands crossed in front of it, as she catches up on events with her brother. Chie and Aoi are seated across from said boy, having offered to treat him to lunch - Mai suspected it was to grill him about things regarding the status of Mai's non(?) existent relationship with Reito. And of course, the new visitor, Ryuji.
Was Mai Two timing their Reito-sama, or was a love triangle in the works? Inquiring minds want to know! The redhead would have none of that talk however, and forestalls further gossipping by placing the menus on the table in front of her friends. If they're eating, they can't gab, right? Absently, Mai glances up and around the room - the cafe wasn't /too/ busy today, but it was still early, and more customers might still arrive for lunch.
(Why are we here?)
(Well, that's a question that's been mulled over by countless scholars, crazy old men, and people who've drunken themselves into a reflective mood. I can only assume that they've all come up with their own answers to this deceptively-simple question, which is all well and good. Of course, your average joes aren't smart enough to be DUMB enough to waste their time asking this question when they could be doing other things, like living out their day-to-day lives in the mindless enjoyment of the daily grind. That's what I saw myself doing throughout my high-school career, which is /meant/ for such mindless enjoyment. No time for existential crises, just the usual teenage drama, interactions, and bad romance stories...)
Kyon, dressed in a simple jeans-and-T-shirt combo, looks around his surroundings- outside of a cafe of some sort, in an Earth that appears to be almost exactly the same as his own (minus the existence of a Haruhi-type being, hopefully), his face set in its usual exasperated expression. (Instead, this is a question I've found myself asking all too often:) He sighs, slowing down his pace. (What am I doing here?)
Yuki Nagato would have no answer for this question, even if she WAS capable of hearing internal dialogue like some of us here. Even then, it's unlikely that the purple-haired girl would even deign to respond.
You are here, Kyon, because it is the Will of the Macrocosm, by which we mean the will of the small but well-proportioned young woman with the ribbon in her hair leading this parade. Her name is Haruhi Suzumiya, and she is chattering amiably with Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi - the former of whom is mostly whimpering in abject terror and the latter of whom is mostly just nodding in agreement. "I mean, isn't this really long for a first semester!?" she jabbers. "it's almost September! Summer break is from June to August, yet...we haven't had one! What gives!?" Hmph! "Stupid administration! I'll have to sell them all downriver! -- oooh, restaurant." She hmms. And then says, "KYON! Get your wallet ready, we're gonna eat! C'mon, SOS Brigade!"
ANd she moves to enter the Lindenbaum.
Ahah! Just as Mai predicted. Customers! Torn between protecting her little brother from the broad grins displayed on Chie and Aoi's face, Mai reluctantly turns and makes her way to the door as Haruhi & Co enter the cafe. "Hi! Welcome to the Lindenbaum!" The sunny redhead greets the trio, getting no particular sense of 'holycraprun' or anything of the sort from any of them. "My name is Mai, and I'll be your waitress today." Please take it easy on her. Though she'd be quite happy to point them to the 'We reserve the right not to serve' sign on the wall, in the case of obstinate customers. Best. POlicy. Ever.
"Haruhi, it's a miracle that I even HAVE a wallet after the past few months! Aren't you, as the leader, ever going to put forth /your/ money for your underlings?" By now, naturally, Kyon's grumbling is merely a routine, due both to sheer number AND because he knows that Haruhi's ears have the greatest filters known to mankind. (Naturally, I wouldn't be complaining if I were just paying for the grace of a lunch with Mikuru-chan only. And if it were just Nagato-san...) He squeezes his eyes shut. (... I'd pay because I'd rather not see how or where she pulls her likely non-existent money from.)
"Ah, hi. We're going to need seating for five," Kyon replies on behalf of the SOS Brigade, nodding genially to the redhead. Naturally, his gaze has already flickered to The Sign on the wall. He can already feel an ulcer coming on. As for Yuki herself...? Well, the petite high-schooler's fixed Mai with her usual- and perhaps unnervingly expressionless- stare.
Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi wave. Haruhi...looks bored, although she doesn't really do much in Mai's direction. Haruhi is crazy but she knows how to behave in a restaurant, at least. "Of course not!" Haruhi replies to Kyon, looking irate. "It's a brigade leader's duty to ensure that her subordinates are enduring hardship! It builds strong bones and character! If I gave you all the answers and paid for your meals, I wouldn't be doing my job to make you suffer!"
She smiles at him, as if this were somehow even remotely sensical.
Mai Tokiha smiles and waves to the friendly looking pair. The bored Haruhi is given a curious glance, and Yuki's stare..is.. just plain unnerving, frankly. "A table for five?" Mai nods to Kyon with a smile, wondering if she should give them a table faaaaaaaaaar away from her brother and her friends. ~.~; Nah, wht would the harm be, after all? Besides, as it turns out, the free booth, room enough to seat five with three on either side of the table, was across from where her friends were seated. "Right this way." She gestures grandly to Kyon, leading the group over to a table.
Once they're seated, Mai starts handing out menu's, "The special today -" She breaks off as she catches whispering from Takumi's table. Whispering in Aoi and Chie's voice, along the lines of, "So Takumi-chan, how are things with you and Akira-kun? Are you two getting closer? Spending all that time together, day in, day out, eating together.." Aoi's voice lilts as she drifts off into la-la land, shoujo sparkles as she imagines Takumi in an apron feeding a blushing Akira with a pair of chopsticks. And then later that evening --!
Before that daydream can progress, Mai's Sister Senses kick in, and there is a moment where her head turns the full 180 degrees, as she opens a mouthful of fangs, breathing flames as her eyes turn red. RRRRRRAaaaaaaaagggh--
But real life such a thing can't happen, so the most Mai does is turn to shoot the group a death-glare that can be felt as much as seen. Aoi flinches, jerking her head to look towards Mai, and promptly abandons that train of thought, shrinking behind her table. Chie chuckles, "Mai-chan's powers of Sisterlyness are truly formidable." She tips an imaginary hat to Mai, who turns to Kyon and his group, all sunshine and candycanes again, "As I was saying, the special today is the vegetable okonomiyaki with green tea.." Smile smile. n.n
Kyon stares at the smiling shorter girl for a moment, continuing to marvel at how someone smart enough to get stellar grades, cute enough to attract men like flies to a candle even DESPITE her personality, and skilled enough to give most high school sports teams a run for their money... can be still be so Haruhidamned /bonkers/. (If she suddenly gave us all the answers and started paying for all my meals, I'd start looking for a hidden camera.) "Since when was it your job to make us suffer? Come to think of it, when was it that the strength of our bones and character became your responsibility as Brigade Chief?!" Straight-man senses, tingling...!
But all that has to be put aside when Mai leads them to their table. Kyon finds himself at the inside end of one row, with the ever-unresponsive Yuki sitting next to him acting as an anti-overly-friendly-Koizumi and/or somewhat-distracting-Asahina buffer. Trying to dodge Haruhi's ire in such close quarters is probably a lost cause anyway. As Yuki Nagato focuses all of her attention on the menu, as if attempting to sloooowly strip the printed words right off the page and scan them directly into her memory, Kyon... eyes the suddenly-glaring-suddenly-sparkles Mai not quite with the same expression reserved for Haruhi's insane and oft-inexplicable actions, but getting there. "I think I'm going to need a few moments," he says carefully, before looking to his Brigade-mates. "You guys can go first." (Stickwiththecheapeststickwiththecheapeststickwiththecheapestdon'tordereverythingagainoraskforextraplanarMartianstewfortheloveofgodHARUHI).
"The vegetable okonomiyaki will be OK!" Mikuru says, smiling cheerfully and sitting next to Yuki and opposite Itsuki; Haruhi has taken the far side of her own bench so that she can beat Kyon about the shins and knees if he leaves her no other recourse. Or even just kind of looks at her funny. She seems totally unaware of Mai's amazing sparkles-to-deathrays super powers. "Hamburger!" she declares, eagerly. "As for you, Kyon, sometimes a person has to take matters into their own hands, you know. Just because you didn't ask, doesn't mean you don't need the loving hand of someone like me to guide you!" She smirks, self-satisfied.
Itsuki, for his part, asks for a salad.
Mai Tokiha nods once brightly to Kyon, "All right." She turns as if to continue about her duties, but... there is another glance at the group. She did, after all, recall something being said about torture and minions- but this group didn't look anything like some weird, S&M group or anything. For one thing, they weren't in leather and chains, or carrying riding crops.
.... no, Mai doesn't really know anything about that sort of thing, but Nao had been so very kind to mention the topic once or twice.
It was a very traumatizing experience.
She recalls to the here and now, glancing at Kyon, "Um - excuse me, I didn't mean to overhear.. you're all part of some.. brigade..? Like a volunteer fire department?" She can dream, can't she?
Drawing a pad out of the pocket of her apron, she jots down the orders; vegetable okonomiyaki, hamburger, salad.. that's three down. Mai glances towards the thus far silent and bookwormish girl, since Kyon still needed to order. "And for you?"
Kyon studies his menu, his mind working frantically. (Alright, one special- if it's Asahina-san, I can forgive her for that- one salad- please, I don't need YOUR sympathy, Koizumi...!!- and one hamburger... if I order a-) His eyes flicker back up to his Brigade Chief. (- a hamburger? What are you, a child, Haruhi? And YOUR idea of a loving hand is one that's either busy hitting me or dragging me or molesting Asahina-san!!) He turns his attention back to the menu, one eyebrow twitching slightly. (... if I order a soup, I should be able to scrape by without blowing as much money as usual,) he thinks to himself.
With decisive finality, Yuki Nagato closes the menu and turns to Mai. "Steak, cooked rare," she says in all seriousness.
Kyon spends the next three seconds trying not to choke on his shock.
Yuki turns to glace to the bedraggled student. "At the present time, such an amount of protein and fat is required to maintain nutritional balance in my body," she explains quietly.
Two more seconds are required for Kyon to get over his surprise that the humanoid interface even bothered to speak up on her own volition. After recovering, he gives Mai a fairly tired look. "It's a misleading name," he replies. "To put it bluntly, we're just a high-school club engaged in activities that no one kno-" Kyon pauses, remembering that the entirety of his legs, jean-protected that they are, are still in kickable range. "I'll let our Brigade Chief explain this one," he adds dryly.
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "I can see Kyon's expression."
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "JUst going slowly from ':)' to 'D:!!!!!!!!'"
Mai Tokiha LAUGHS
Natsuki Kuga says, "Wow. Yuki being evil. That totally blindsided poor Kyon."
Yuki Nagato says, "The world exists to make Kyon cry."
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "WHO SHOWED YOU THE DESIGN DOCUMENTS"
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "i mean uhm"
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "..."
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "hey look a giraffe"
Haruhi Suzumiya chases.
Yuki Nagato says, "... XD"
Yuki Nagato says, "I knew it. God IS a sadist, and She's out to get Kyon."
Haruhi nods. "You have good taste, Yuki-chan!" she says, with a broad grin. "I almost got that too, but we just had it the other night..." Mhm! She nods, sagely, and then...her FAVORITE TOPIC IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD comes up. She grins broadly! "We're the Save the world by Overloading with fun Suzumiya Haruhi Brigade!" she chirps. "That's the SOS Brigade, for short. We investigate strange happenings, looking everywhere for mysterious and amazing events so that we can get to the bottom of them, and find the aliens, psychics, time travelers and magical girls that cause them!" Haruhi's smile could possibly outshine the sun. She's really quite a pretty girl; it's a pity she's completely effing nuts.
Itsuki's eyebrows twitch, once, at the last item in Haruhi's list.
Mai Tokiha merrily jots down the rest of the order. A whole steak for such a small girl? This Kyon fellow must be very rich -- but judging from his expression, perhaps /not/. Nonetheless, once all orders are jotted down in her order pad, she nods, "That'll take just a few minutes then," She hasn't run into too many people who like their steaks rare. Medium rare, well done, sure, but rare?
Well, at least Yuki didn't say 'so rare it's still mooing'.
As another waitress passes by, Mai hands the order to her, and is handed a tray with full cups of tea on it in return. Nodding a thank you to her co-worker, Mai turns back to the table and starts placing cups down on the table. "Save the world by overloading it with fun?" Mai repeats, "That sounds like a lot o-" And then her world turns upside down and there's the faint sound of white noise drumming in her ears like being too close to a waterfall. "M..mysterious events?" Oh. Crap.
"Ahah .." Her and twitches just slightly as she sets the second glass down, "Ah - and .. and have you had much luck with that?" She almost drops the tea tray entirely when Haruhi mentions the magical girls. Knowing Takumi, Chie and Aoi were present and probably eavesdropping - at least in Chie's case -she keeps a firm grasp of the tray. Though Itsuki's not the only oine with twitchy eyebrows at that. "Magical girls.." o.o; She smiles, "Um - I don't think you'd find anything like /that/ around here!" No sir. Nothing like that at all. ESPECIALLY not magical girls. Yeah. "It's pretty boring!"
"Unless you cound the Seven Mysteries of Fuuka!" Pipes up a voice from across the room.
... thank you Aoi, for having the absolute worst timing to be 'helpful'.
For her part, Yuki Nagato doesn't apparently deem it fit to comment about her taste, or a reassurance to Mai that she can, indeed, put food away like no other- she merely nods while looking straight ahead, not even looking surpised at Haruhi's odd phrasing.
(Yes. Last time, we went to a steakhouse and everyone except Yuki got plates heaped with meat of cow worth more than should be physically possible!!) Kyon stares glumly at Haruhi's brilliant smile. (Is getting even the slightest respite too much to ask for?) he thinks, sighing slightly. "Not a lot of luck, no," is the slightly absent-minded reply. (Though, when did 'magical girls' get added onto that list? And what happened to having fun with them?)
Aoi's interjection causes Kyon to squeeze the bridge of his nose to stem the potential headache that he can already FEEL. Yes, thank you, Aoi, for waving a red flag in front of the good old Brigade Chief. "... Seven Mysteries of Fuuka?" he mutters weakly.
Haruhi largely ignores Mai's reply - she's just an ignorant normal human, after all, and is about to open her mouth to assure Mai that her utter ignorance is not her fault when Aoi speaks up, derailing that train of thought and sending it careening off into an abyss, where it will never be heard from again. "Seven Mysteries of Fuuka!?" she sings, and then Itsuki isn't sitting up quite so straight because Haruhi is literally leaning against his back. "Tell me more! I bet we can solve 'em!" Despite their current track record being a nice, flat zero...
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "so doomed. :D :D :D"
Mai Tokiha says, "So very doomed. XD;;"
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "The others are going to come back and wonder what's up with the psycho popping out of bushes and taking pictures of students at random intervals, gwahahahha"
Mai Tokiha Lol X.x
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "And then the girls will be like 'what have I dooooone T_T'"
Yuki Nagato says, "And thus, PSYCHO TOMOYO was born."
Mai Tokiha says, "That, or they'll encourage it for their own amusement :D"
Natsuki Kuga laughs!
Mai Tokiha says, "I can see Chie pointing out various rumors and sic'ing Haruhi on them :D"
Natsuki Kuga says, "And Aoi making up something so Haruhi can take incriminating photos of the latest gossip couples."
Mai Tokiha nods :D
Natsuki Kuga says, "(Including Mai and Reito~sama~)"
Mai Tokiha says, "...."
Mai Tokiha says, "o O ( Oh crap )"
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "She would, too."
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "And she'd be COMPLETELY CORRECT because that is how Haruhi rolls."
Natsuki Kuga fully supports all attempts to embarrass Mai.
Haruhi Suzumiya says, "'OBVIOUSLY SHE HAS MAGIC POWERS TIED TO A SHINING RED STAR, PERHAPS LOCATED NEAR THE MOON!' .... ._."
Can Mai take a raincheck on the 'having fun with magical girls' thing? On that note, can she take a raincheck on the magical girl gig period? Mai closes her eyes briefly in an 'Oh god, no.' manner when Haruhi perks up at Aoi's words. So much for a nice normal evening! Or .. well the evening is normal enough, she supposed. There were no Orphan attacks after all.
All too happy to fill in the newcomers to their Academy's mysteries, Chie and Aoi shift their posture to focus on Haruhi. Takumi seems to be doing his best to not listen to the crazy people. ._.
Aoi puts a finger to her chin, "Well.. there's the old clock in the school library - no matter how many times someone comes to fix it, the time is /always/ wrong.."
"There was also a mysterious ghost type dog that showed up on campus two years ago.. it seemed to be looking for something, but we haven't seen or heard anything about it for a while."
"Mm, there's also that one time where all the girl's lingerie vanished from the dorms - remember that, Mai-chan?"
"Urk.." Says Mai.
Chie smothers a laugh, absently lifting her everpresent cell phone and cycling through some pictures. "What else is there -"
Aoi claps her hands, "OH! And there's of course the most recent mystery of Mai-*grk!*" It's at this point that Aoi, victim of Mai's death glare, wilts and keels over in her bench, twitching.
Mai is looking perfectly innocent as she comes wandering back to the table with the table for the Party of Five. ^.^;;;
(... poltergeist clock, Unidentified Mysterious Animal, phantom panty thief, scandals revolving around-) Kyon gets a good look at Mai's figure, his spirits wilting even further. (- a girl with a Haruhi-magnet-body... ohgod, ALL of this stuff is /right up her alley/. We could be here ALL MONTH.)
Yuki Nagato is engaged in looking back and forth between Aoi, Chie, and the steak carried by Mai. Mmm. Meat.
Haruhi hmmmms, mulling on this seriously. She leans back, so at least she is no longer actually using Koizumi as a bar to lean over. "Hmmm!" she ponders. "A permanently broken clock...a mysterious ghost dog...disappearing lingerie...and..." Her eyes sparkle. "A mysterious transfer student!? A mystery! A real mystery!" She begins to do a reasonable facsimile of a boogie right there in her seat. "This is it! The mysterious transfer student is the surest sign of all! SOS Brigade! We've found...A CASE! Forget a month, Kyon! We'll be here as long as it takes, I don't care if it's years!"
She cannot stifle a giggle. It sounds perilously close to being outright maniacal.
Chie reaches over with her chopsticks and steals a bite of Aoi's lunch - as much of a drama queen Aoi tends to be, Chie knew the girl was fine. And this is proven when Aoi sits up abruptly and points, "Aaah, Chie, that was mine!" Fume!
"You snooze you lose, Aoi-chan." Chie winks rogueishly at her friend. The two both pause in what they're doing at Haruhi's rambling and the almost maniacal laughter that follows. o.o Wow. She was crazier than THEY were!
Mai, on the other hand, looks a little pale. "Ah.. years...?" ;.; While she didn't doubt they were perfectly nice people, that Haruhi -- Mai glances over towards her brother while he's setting his cup down. "AAH TakumI! You look awful!" She rushes over to her little brother, who looks . . totally confused. o.o
"What is it Neechan?" He was perfectly fine!
"Did you take your medicine? Is it another attack?" Mai fusses, "Come on, we'd better get you to the doctor!"
"But -"
"Don't argue!" She seizes her weaker sibling and proceeds to drag him out the door, with the younger Tokiha protesting the entire way. Leave it to Mai to use her brother as an escape attempt. Shameless!
"A few years? We'll /graduate/ in a few years, Haruhi!" With a grumbled 'thanks for the meal', Kyon then starts digging into his soup, doing his level best to ignore Haruhi's laughter and try not to think about what any of this will mean for the next few weekends.
Yuki Nagato, calmly, starts primly cutting into her steak. Somehow, the petite girl is eating faster than any of the other group members combined- entire forkfuls are disappearing into her mouth at a particularly scary rate.
"So?" Haruhi says. "The SOS Brigade lives on, as long as we believe in our hearts!" She waves her fork at Kyon, and one should really wonder why she even has a fork because she ORDERED A HAMBURGER. "THe sprit of the SOS Brigade is timeless! I'll be its leader forever, and you will always be my loyal menial laborer! You're lucky to have that position, you know, I could probably get anyone I wanted to work for me, but I chose you!" She grins. "So cheer up! Or else you'll be eaten at night by lawn gnomes!" She then glances at Yuki, noting, "Yuki-chan, don't eat so fast! If you eat like that you can't savor all the flavor! I bet it's good!" Then, she gets to work on her hamburger, humming a happy tune, and making a note to strike up a conversation with Chie and Aoi again after lunch is over.