The Customer is Always Right... right?

[reflectedstasis]

Who: OPEN.
When: The day of August 31
Where: Sector 5, at the Cat's Eye Bistro
Summary: Mysterious flowering cherry trees have sprung up overnight. They're beautiful, but their petals have some strange effects...
Warnings: Eventual violence thanks to an out of control 07 Ghost. Aside from that, just mark your warnings in the subject!

The up side of

Comments

[kaijuusakura]

Sakura still had fly card activated, so when she arrives in Kurogane's dojo, she slowly lands on the floor. She stands there for a minute, trying to remember everything that just happened. It all went by so fast, and soon she remembers why she was sent here in the first place.

"Mister Kurogane!"

[not_yourdaddy]

He was well aware of her arrival, though he wasn't one to rush to the front the minute someone entered. It could wait until those first words, tone deciphered and the necessity driving it all put together. Urgent then.

Wiping his hands on a towel, he steps from the back room and takes several steps towards the center of the main room. He's careful to conceal the knowledge she's given him, expression serious though far from overebearing.

"What is it, kid?"

[kaijuusakura]

"Something bad happened at the Bistro." She looks down a little, wondering if it was her fault, but she scratched that thought out right away. There must have been something else that was going on.

[not_yourdaddy]

"What do you mean by 'something bad' exactly"? he questions. Because that could mean a whole hell of a lot considering who was likely at the heart of it. And yet, whether he got a decent answer or not, Kurogane is already preparing himself to head over to the place.

Even as he keeps an eye on Sakura, he's walking over to retrieve Souhi from where he had set it, reliving himself of his practice session for something that apparently (could be) a bit more serious. He keeps it in hand, ready, as he moves closer to the girl. Relaxed, but ever ready, waiting to see if this scene would set itself before his arrival.

i am very late but promise to backtag forever

[escapedpandora]

He didn't know anything about special teas, but walking across this shop felt... nostalgic somehow. His mom loved things like this: tea and pastries and just spending the day outside enjoying the fresh air and cool breeze.

He had managed to stay quiet the entire time he's been in this strange place, just observing and trying to make sure no one took notice of him. Was this where people ended up after they were crystallized? It didn't seem like the right answer to him, but he had to grasp on to something in order to keep himself going, even if it was a out-of-the-world theory like that. For one, he knew that no one else really knew about the l'Cie, or even Cocoon. For two, there was no way so many people managed to fulfil their Focus

[kaijuusakura]

Sakura is keeping busy inside of the store. This is one of the most hectic days they had, and it isn't because they were getting more customers, but it is because strange things were happening with just about anyone.

Of course, she didn't really complain, in fact, it encouraged her to work harder. Even with the customer who randomly decided to burst into a musical number, knocking out a couple of tables in the process, she assumes that it was just another one of those things that happen in the port. It is also something that she finds is incredibly amusing as well.

By this time, the sun is beaming directly into some of the windows, annoying some of the customers, and she is standing on a chair to adjust the blinds.

[escapedpandora]

Hope blinked to see the girl on the other side of the window, looking cheerful and familiar in a way he hadn't expected. Maybe the stop for tea was a really good idea...

Had he seen her before, though? Still, despite his avoidance of people the half month he'd been here, it would be nice to at least... talk to someone just slightly familiar. For a little while. Or just continue his observations, that could work, too.

He had the little bit extra on him for tea, so it couldn't hurt, right?

Finally having made up his mind, he shoved a hand into his pocket nervously and pushed past the door, only to be hit with an immediate wave of uncertainty as he realize he wasn't sure if the place was one where it was polite for him to... wait and catch someone's attention before claiming a seat, or whether he was being a fool just standing around and not sitting down.

[kaijuusakura]

By this time, Sakura is done fiddling with the blinds, and she is just finishing speaking to the lady who requested for the blinds to be closed.

"I hope that is all right for you." Sakura smiles warmly at the woman as she thanks her. "You're welcome. Your food will be ready shortly."

She walks away after the woman nods in acknowledgement. That is when she heard the familiar sound of the front door opening. When she looks to the newcomer, her smile widens and she walks quickly to meet him.

It is Hope! The friend who left and came back. With that in mind, she slows down, trying her best not to scare the boy away. She grabs a menu and holds it with both hands in front of her. She stops a couple feet in front of him.

"Hello! Welcome to the Cat's Eye bistro."

For Kurogane and possibly Sakura?

[reflectedstasis]

[The wound at his neck was already closing, so as soon as Fai stepped away from the spare room and Frau, he made his way right back down to the cafe, frowned at the spill of blood on the floor when he headed towards the front door.

He stopped, glanced at the windows, then stepped past it to pull the curtains shut. Best to simply close up for the rest of the day, until he can figure out what was so different that the customers had been rude, short-tempered, loud, and in Frau's case, deadly-violent.

For now, he simply had to get the place cleaned up, and himself, before Kurogane arrived, probably with Sakura in tow.]

[not_yourdaddy]

[Unfortunate thing in that, because once the story had come to light, Kurogane hadn't wasted much time in getting from Point A to Point B. Even if the place was spotless, the air would have been something else entirely, and with the truth already laid bare before him (what was known of it at least), there was no point in dancing around playing coy.

He lets himself into the cafe without much warning, tread light despite his size, movements quick and accurate. And yet, it's hardly the look of a man worn by worry that surveys the scene, but rather, the keen-eyed gaze of one set for whatever hell might have greeted him. Completely unperturbed.

Only to find. . . .

So much for that. Though, it wasn't entirely surprising. After all, he knew a good damn deal about what Fai was capable of underneath it all.

Lifting his sword to his shoulder -]

So, where the hell is he?

[reflectedstasis]

[Fai didn't turn with the question - he simply let the last curtain fall into place. Once that was done, he crossed back to re-lock the door, his steps wavering slightly before reaching the door. Only then did he turn to face the ninja, and he did so with a small, hopefully reassuring smile despite the crimson stains trailing thickly down the front of his chef's tunic.]

In Miss Nemu's old room, sealed behind several barriers. How's Sakura-chan?

[not_yourdaddy]

[Kurogane gives a hard stare at that, making it well known that he saw that waver, can see the blood, and even if he didn't quite condemn the man behind the door, it didn't mean that Fai was entirely to blame either. Rather, leveling the situation for what it had probably been and leaving it at that.]

She's fine.

[Safe. Folding his arms over his chest, he sets Fai with those crimson eyes. No escape.]

How much blood have you lost?