(GS3) Field: Destroyed Shopping District

[Cipher Izanagi]

In a few was probably a stretch since Seifer was right behind Tsubasa, leading Rosalia along lightly. He made sure he wasn't seen or followed either as well as he stepped into the alleyway, his hands in his jacket pockets. He probably looked a bit different than he did a year ago to Hana and Haruka, what with the slightly disheveled brown hair, slightly taller frame, and the single red streak that seemed so vibrant in his hair for some reason. "That could of ended badly for you, ya' know." he directed the comment at Tsubasa, looking at this friend with half shut eyes. In any case... Turning his attention to Hana he gave a small smile. "Hey Hana... Been a while. Good to see you're doing well for yourself and your career... So it seems anyway."

[NeoBuster]

Neo saw Hana run off and her fans run after her, thats when Neo stepped in.

"Ride the Vanguard! Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion!" Neo screamed

A burst of wind came and everyone ran off scared as they saw Vermillion.

"Well then, a job well done" Neo said.

Neo then caught up with Hana, Haruka, Seifer, Rosalia and Tsubasa.

"Whatsup guys" Neo said to his friends

[RosaliaIzanami]

It was safe to say that out of everyone there, possibly including the fans, that Rosalia was the most confused. She knew nothing about Hana and Haruka, let alone what they really looked like since she wasn't able to pick them out from the crowd. She had only met Seifer, Neo, and Tsubasa after all, and even they were a bit hard to see with the swarm of people. Thankfully, Seifer found her easily enough, though the redhead didn't say a word as they walked. She only assumed they were meeting more of his friends from before, and in the alleyway, it was a lot easier to see who was who. Sort of. "I-i guess we're going to go shopping later?..." she whispered to her companion, her own hands still folded in front of her. It was a habit when she was nervous, and meeting new people was hard enough for her. Rosalia didn't even know where to start, and opted to remain silent, and half hidden behind Seifer, her gaze lowered just a hair.

[Hope]

Isabella took a deep breath. Nornally others would be exhausted from that large jump followed by a 100 meter lufe or death dash, but she didn't seem tired out by it at all. It really was all the dance practice. Too good. She wsited for the rest to gather up. In truth, she really didn't get a good look at who they were other than  and Neo.

"Thanks guys!" she happily gave them her gratitude as they made their way into the alleyway.

Its been a year since she had seen Seifer, Tsubasa, and Harooka. Everyone certainly had gone through obvious changes, especially Isabella herself. It looks like she aged from the age of 12 to 18 in a year. Viewing her first big concert in New York is both a cute and awkard experience. She leaned towsrds one of the walls and relaxed herself, moving her hand through her bag to make sure she didn't forget the song she was writing.

"So uhhh how you guys beeeen? I've been... Haha.HA.."

[Jello]

Haruka himself was more or less surprised by the arrival of new faces- wait. Most of them were people from New York: Seifer, Tsubasa of course, Neo was a familiar face as well. One person stood out altogether, but he wasn't much to speak up. She'd probably be introduced anyways, Haruka simply kept to himself and leaned against a wall. Sadly, it was hard to not stand out when you look like an albino.

"Hmm? Oh, I've been normal. Weird dreams lately..." Haruka's voice trailed off at Hana's sudden laughter. Panicked laughter? Embarrassed laughter? Haruka was honestly slightly taken aback.

"Eheh..." Haruka forced laughed along to cover up the fact that something seemed amiss. Instead, he turned to the rest of the group. Turning to see them was a bit creepy since the light from behind made them all look like silhouettes of gang members or something. With a sigh and a shrug, he directed the question to the rest as well.

"Yeah, about a year or so. How's it been for you guys?"

[OverDrive]

Before Tsubasa could reply Seifer added to the conversation by telling him that his stunt would have ended badly for him, so he felt the need to respond, so he turned around and replied.

"..heh..you and me went across dimensions and fought a messiah..i'm pretty sure we can handle some fans." he said, in a calm and collected manner.

Nevertheless Tsubasa was glad that they were all out of the 'line of fire' with those fans, generally he would step out of these kinds of gatherings as it was not his style. Nevertheless he felt the need to tell Hana about what he thought about this incident.

"..I've been okay, trip over the year was a bit long, but it was well worth it, i'm glad you both are doing well for yourselves Haruka, Hana." he said, as he placed his hands into his pockets and began to lean on the wall.

"Though, Hana I sincerely suggest that you keep your bodyguards close, especially that one.." he said, in a joking tone, while pointing at Neo.

[Cipher Izanagi]

"Fair enough, we did indeed." Seifer gave an exasperated sigh before turning his attention to the female that was behind him. "Right, I've been ok myself. Though several... Less than pleasant... Events occurred over the one year. Needless to say I ended up meeting this one..." he flicked his thumb at the girl behind him, while turning his attention to Hana. "And ended up getting a Shadow Paladin deck. She and I are here to attend school. This is Rosalia by the way. Rose, this is Hana, one of my friends." he spoke nudging the red head slightly.

[NeoBuster]

"Everythings good with me, I worked as Hana's bodyguard over the past year" Neo started to say

And I eventually I bought a house here close to the school im going" Neo said

"But you guys know me, I got myself a new Narukami deck. Its preety good, you can ask Tsubasa haha" Neo said

"Good to see everyone doing well" Neo said

[RosaliaIzanami]

Rosalia felt a sadly familiar warmth fill her cheeks as she was introduced, the embarrassment blush just a few shades off of her hair and eyes. She glanced first annoyed at Seifer, but shuffled her feet enough so she wasn't hiding as much behind the male. "U-u-um.. He-ello.. I'm ah... Rosalia Mooncrest.. Seifer got me involved in cardfight, and we're gonna be going to s-school together. I'm two years behind though... I-it's nice to meet you." After managing to speak up for herself, part of her seemed to relax, if only because she was curious as she tilted her head at Tsubasa. "Is.. going across dimensions and some messiah an inside joke or something?..." Well, she wasn't around when everything went to hell in a hand basket a year ago...

[Jello]

Haruka was rather intrigued by the bunch that he was surrounded by. Haruka was easily amazed by others and this wasn't an exception either. The biggest change in Hana, seeming more less like just a girl and more like a.... woman. She was catching up to her sister quickly it seemed. Not only that, but everybody else seemed to beef up a bit, Seifer and Neo looking like young men than simple teenagers. Neo was even younger than Haruka, but could easily pass for an older brother. Tsubasa was attending a university this fall, and looked the part as an intellectual.

And then there was her, Rosalia. She wasn't so familiar to Haruka, and yet he's seen her before-

Oh right, she was across the street when he left the shop a couple of minutes ago. So no Haruka, she was not someone you've seen before really. However the anxiety was written all over her voice, nearly stuttering on every word she put out. Haruka chewed his lip and took his eyes off of everyone. It was getting to him again. The whole "staring" thing. He ended up looking at the sky instead, awkward silence filling the alleyway.

...

.....

.......

Crickets.

Haruka was done cloud-sighting and spoke up instead. This would be the rare occasion. Dusting off the shoulders of his shirt, he turns to the group, standing next to Hana. His vacant, childlike expression sort of showed through again.

"Well, who here is excited for high school, huh? Err, university of Tsubaka over here, but how about everyone else? I hear there's a culture festival and a camping trip and everything."

Haruka pocketed his hands, a small innocent smile forming. His old huge grins had been replaced. It's not that he wasn't as excited as he used to be, but after a year he felt too complacent. The fire wasn't as hot anymore, and neither was his attitude. He'd cooled to a gentle warmth, rather than an explosive blaze.

[Hope]

"I've only gotten back from my tour so I have a lot of catching up to do..." Isabella gave out a rather dramatic sigh then poked Neo on the forehead, "I just said you were off-dutyyy mister offffff DUTYYYYYY, that doesn't mean you're off the hook just yet. ALSO! The chief of the staff of bodyguards-san said you have a lot of catching up to do on your schoolwork too DogeBuster!" She backed away from him and gave a cute giggle, then a mischeaveous grin formed on her face.

Isabella coughed, "Tsubasa is hitting on the Messiah." Then she turned away and looked at Seifer and the new unfamiliar face. "Speaking of which..."

She observed her closely, eyeing her from head to toe. The mischeveous grin stayed as she leaned over towards Seifer. "Hey, she's kawaii. Good job, when'd you guys get together?"  She gave him a thumbs up. Then Isabella thought to herself. "She still isn't as cute as Mi-hime lol."

[OverDrive]

Rosalia's question caught Tsubasa somewhat off guard, he was certain that by now Seifer would have mentioned if not told her the full story about their struggle a year back.

"....I'll let Seifer explain tell you about it in more detail it can be quite long for a story, but don't worry the longer you spend with us the more you'll be kept posted." he said, giving her a slight thumbs up, as he turned his head and attention towards Haruka and Hana.

Tsubasa was glad that the mood began to lighten, allowing everyone to take part and smile. Nevertheless Hana did not waste anytime teasing everyone about their individual lives, but aside from that Haruka took the chance to also tease Tsubasa.

"..Haha..yea university is tough but it's not something I can't deal with...though..I guess this makes you a kid compared to me huh Mr. Senior." he said, giving a joking grin to Haruka.

At that moment he heard Hana's tease regarding Neu, "..What can I say Hana she's a real catch." he said, in a joking tone. "..Though what's this I hear about Mi-hime?"

At this point Tsubasa was smiling regarding Hana's teases as he was glad to have seen her grow into a more confident and happier woman, "..Good for you Hana.." he thought.

[Cipher Izanagi]

"I mean... I wasn't thinking clearly. Lost Kagero again ya know?" he replied to Tsubasa. However one being teased by Hana his face turned a very dark shade of red. "It's not like that Hana! We just happen to go to the same school now and her parents let me live there since I had no where else to go! I'm just paying them back!" he protested frantically waving his hands in front of him. He really wasn't helping his case but it probably didn't matter much anyway. "Gah... I need a drink..." he grumbled, still highly taken aback by the teasing that he had so foolishly thought wasn't going to happen. Now he knows better.

[NeoBuster]

"Dogebuster? Havent been called that in awhile" Neo said

Neo knew Hana was right, Neo was off duty but still wanted to help with the situation at hand.

"So what do we do now?" Neo asked

[RosaliaIzanami]

Rosalia's fading embarrassment was brought back tenfold at the teasing, almost missing Tsubasa's answer about the backstory. However, instead of waving her hand as if to defend any more comments flying her way, the female moved in front of Seifer, standing between him and Hana. Though she was visibly shaking, if just a bit, she didn't look away to hide her fluster. "I-i-it's not like that! W-we met and ju-ust got to know each other when my par-rents let him stay when he needed a place... I-it makes sense to become f-friends with someone that got you into V-vanguard, ri-ight?" If she were a cat, imagine fluffed up fur. That about sums up how Rosalia felt right now, yet still didn't back down. Instead, she shut her eyes, hands in fists by her sides. "A-a-and.. And I'm no-ot cute!!!!"