(GS3) Field: Destroyed Shopping District

[Jello]

"E-Eh.... YOLO?" Haruka sat there a bit dumbfounded. At least Haruka found out that Shiki seemed to have a decent knowledge of the internet. Maybe he was normally a shut-in?

"Hey Shiki, err, I know I called you out here for my problems but what about you... anything been bothering you recently? Uh, women troubles? School not going so well? Trouble sleeping at night?"

Haruka was listing off his own normal problems in a vague notion as a way that Shiki might be able to relate. Hopefully.

[Nobody]

After a second to think very, very, very hard about it, Shiki shook his head "Nope, not in the slightest.. maybe minus the part where this sock is really uncomfortable to wear.", after the response he took yet another sip from the mug, and added "I don't go to school, no need."

[Beryl]

Satoshi stepped into StarGateBucks. He didn't normally go here, but the cafe he typically went to wasn't open for some reason. Unlike other days, where he tended to wear a long, flowing white coat, he was in his old tanktop. It was a bit of a warmer day today, and he felt like he needed to breathe a bit more.

He noticed Haruka conversing with...was it Shiki? He really had to remember names.

"Room for one more?" He smiled and gave a little wink. It had been a little while since he had talked to his other Triadmate.

[Jello]

Haruka laughed a little, realizing this man must be the freest man out there. No worries in life, doesn't attend school, kind of just does whatever he wants. And he gets to play Vanguard?

Haruka was contemplated a life switch if Shiki was up for it. But then he realized seeing Yukino and Hana everyday without being able to be with either of them would actually drive him mad so he immediately dropped the idea.

"Well, do you have any dreams then?" Haruka was actually trying to figure out what Shiki wanted to do with his life when he got older, but hearing about his actual dreams would be pretty interesting. Shiki is quite the, eh, colorful individual.

"Tell me about 'em." Haruka made himself a quick espresso by the counter really quick while allowing Shiki to gather his thoughts. He tended to do that often whenever they spoke, but that's okay. It means he was actually taking time to give valid responses, and that made Haruka a bit happier.

Suddenly a sound approached from behind. Satoshi? No way...

"Where have you been? No messages, not really coming to see me? You would be in so much trouble if I were your mother you know. Sit down there." Haruka pointed to a seat on the side in between Haruka and Shiki.

[Nobody]

There, he was done with coffee, for the time being anyways. He also didn't pay any real attention to the guy that just arrived, he felt familiar but he couldn't really remember him, so it must be Haruka's friend. Or something.

"Mm.. no, not really. Well, I can't remember them anyways, so maybe I do but I forget? What about you?"

[Beryl]

Satoshi slid into a seat. "Sorry about that, I've been...busy." He stretched out a bit. "Saw your girlfriend twice, though, so I guess you could say it was for a good cause."

[Jello]

Haruka stopped with the coffee he was making, sort of staring at the machine in front of him.

"How is she?" Haruka asked, finishing up with his cup. He made it, and drank it, without really sitting back down. He felt a bit worse than he thought he would at that remark. But he knew he sort of deserved the low blow, intentional or not. Yukino didn't need him anymore, Haruka was convinced. Until Yukino could really show otherwise, and for some god forsaken reason, she still wanted him after all he had done behind her back... he knew his only place was at Hana's side.

Against his moral code, sure, but at least he had a place there. That was the resolution for the time being.

"Ah, Shiki. Thanks for coming again, I forgot to say that earlier. I hope you feel better from the past few days." Haruka smiled, finally sitting back down at the table with a second cup of coffee. He was lightly gritting his teeth. Maybe not angry at anyone particularly, but himself in a few respects.

[Nobody]

"No problem man, speaking of which I should probably go rest a bit.. and read.. hm.. well, see you around." he lifted himself up from the table, and slowly made his way back to his house.

On his way, he actually admired how Haruka managed to date two girls at once, for Shiki that'd be borderline impossible and that guy just made it happen as if it was nothing. What a great guy.


Affinity +1 for Harooka

[Beryl]

"Hard to tell." Satoshi put his arms behind his head. "You know how it is with her. Tryin' to be the Chosen Sword and having a duty and all that again kinda made her a bit, y'know, distant again." Recounting the beach last night, he debated telling Haruka about the black ring and what he had discovered about it, which was the detailed reason as to why he was busy, but he decided against it. At least for now.

"What've you and Hana been up to recently? I see you two hanging out a lot. Is it just school?" He kicked a leg over the other. Noticing Shiki was on his way out, he gave a nod and smile of acknowledgement. The guy really didn't seem that bad at all.

[Jello]

Haruka scoots over one seat to the left after Shiki left, allowing Satoshi and Haruka to both be facing each other instead of the two sitting awkwardly next to each other. So Satoshi was interested with what was going on with Haruka and Hana... Figures. They'd been hanging out together nearly every day since just before school started. It was actually a bit too commonplace.

Well, Shiki just left, and Haruka still needed advice on the women situation... ehh... has Satoshi ever dated someone though? Haruka tried to be optimistic.

He tried.

"We've been hanging out a lot for a few reasons, I guess." He sipped his coffee, debating the information in his head. Trustworthy? Anyone was close enough. If Satoshi were to backstab him anyways, well, Haruka could always rely on Sera. Or some other means of disposal.

"Me and Hana have been spending nights together... Yukino had been gone for so long without notice. So I ended up, well, doing stuff with Hana. Kissing, cuddling. Normal couple stuff... It's been weird, I guess." He took another sip, nonchalantly mentioning his new relationship with the idol. He wasn't sure how else to make it more clear either.

"Now that Yukino is back, thoughts have been stirring. I've actually been wondering what I should do. Shiki already gave me his piece... what do you think?"

[Beryl]

Satoshi blinked. <What.> He cleaned out his ear with his pinky finger, making a motion as if he didn't hear him right.

No, Haruka had just said, plain as day, that he had cheated on Yukino with her own sister. Her younger, popular idol sister. Haruka. This guy. How could he do that? What in his right mind was making him choose Hana over Yukino? They had been so perfect together, and made the Triad stick together more often than not because of their bonds growing tighter. How could he actively throw a stone in the middle of---

"They made it through the year with moving forward. That's admirable in itself..."

...Come to think of it, if the Chosen Sword herself had no qualms with a year being time to move forward, then was it actually an issue that her boyfriend decided to see other people? Did it not make sense that someone who decided to separate herself from the rest of humanity for a year because of some oh-so-important duty get to keep everything she had in the past, when she keeps advocating for people to move on with their lives and leave the past behind?

Satoshi was initially going to chew him out, but now found himself nodding in agreement towards Haruka's decision. If the two of them were happy and able to kindle a new flame to replace the one that had doused itself, then there was no reason to dampen it.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you made a good choice." He rubbed his forehead a little, letting it settle that he was basically turning his back on Yukino. "Yuki's been away for how long, a year? More than that? And she hasn't said a word to any of us until now, and here she is, acting like nothing should have changed, and that something big's going to happen and she needs to rally people again like she's some kind of general..." Haruka hadn't necessarily been told any of this, from what he was led to believe, so it felt reasonable to the farmboy to let some details of their meetings come up. "She's even likely been targeting people that were associated with the War of Liberation, people who don't want anything to do with something nuts like that again so soon after those hardships."

He shook his head. "I can't say I'm too sympathetic to her right now, and considering how she was to Hana last year, most of the way through...it blew my mind that you two got together in the first place, last year, and it would probably blow my mind again if you somehow decided to favor her over her sister at this point."

A sweatdrop formed on the back of his head. This was likely the worst advice he could possibly give, because he cherished honesty over anything else, and he could feel his hand wanting to collide with his face for saying it. But all the same, with what he had to work with to justify it...was it really that dishonest to say that Haruka's feelings could have faded just a tad for his former love? Not especially. It was plausible. His mother had talked about it with him once, how she and his father managed to stay together because they lived, worked, and laughed together. Being apart breaks that up a bit.

He started to fiddle with his torn knuckles a bit. He accidentally forgot to wear his knuckle-gloves that covered the bruises, so they were peeling a bit.

[Jello]

Satoshi was apparently on board with Haruka and the path he was currently on. Haruka leaned back in his seat, still on that coffee spree. He tended to go to it for answers, even though it didn't actively respond, it allowed him to think a bit more clearly. After a sip and some seconds of thought, Haruka sighed. He wasn't expecting Satoshi to tell him that, and he wasn't particularly disappointed or anything. It just wasn't what he expected to he was trying to figure out what sort of opinion to form from what Satoshi and Shiki told him.

"Hmm... Yeah, that was my thought process. She was gone for so long... I thought she might have died for a bit, but her father reassured me that she was alive and well." He turned his attention to Satohi's hands for a moment, only to get a glimpse of some discoloration. It definitely worried him a good deal, but a lot of stuff was going on at the moment. He would ask him about it next time for sure, but right now Haruka was focusing on the big idea.

"I think I'm gonna tell her about it at least... It's not fair to lie to her. She deserves to at least know the situation. I mean, I don't know when. But I definitely will tell her." Haruka ruffled up his hair, coming to a strange yet doable conclusion. It was the best option he could salvage up. Except it was still a half-baked answer, considering he hadn't actually decided when or how he would explain this whole deal to her...

"Doesn't mean I don't still love her though. I can't just let her go so easy..." Haruka finished his coffee, leaving sugary dregs at the bottom of the Styrofoam cup.

[Beryl]

"Well, she's likely going to kill you. Or, Mr. Espoir would," Satoshi chuckled nervously.

Actually, that was something he didn't think of. Dad was going to destroy Haruka for fooling around with both of his prized daughters. At the same time, though, as far as he was aware, Hana was her own woman now, despite still going to school, and rumor had it she had her own penthouse suite. And Yukino was growing up to be that destined soldier he always wanted. So with both of them being much more adult...did it actually matter that much at all? If anything, what was really going to happen was that, once again, Yukino would have something to be all weepy, sad and depressed about. Which was somewhat annoying, but unlike losing her clan, this was something she could get over, and should get over, because it was a part of life.

"I wouldn't worry about it that much, though. If both of his daughters are their own women now, their lives are out of his hands, no matter what he says." He gnawed at his knuckle a little.

Once again, the voice he had heard, two days ago now, resonated in his brain. "Lock away your problems, Kurosaki." Giving similar advice to Haruka didn't seem that wrong, especially if it would destress him a little. He motioned to the counter. "Mind making me a cinnamon espresso? I'm hankering spice today."

[Jello]

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, nearly forgetting about Mr. Espoir, Satoshi came to the same realization these women are on their own now. He wasn't going to be the one taking care of them everyday like he used to.

"On it boss, just a moment."

Haruka leapt up from his seat and put his barista-workmanship to the test once more. Cinnamon espresso was pretty easy to do since it was all machine work, not a lot of actual ingredient or proportional stuff. It was all work-automated. But he still added his own splash of French Vanilla creamer for sweetening. Works like a charm for new and veteran caffeine addicts alike.

"Here you go, sir." Haruka didn't bother mentioning the cost. It'd just go on the tab for now.

"So... what's up with, er, that?" Haruka said awkwardly, pointing to Satoshi's hands.

[Beryl]

Satoshi was reluctant to respond, but given how lying twice in the same day would literally kill him...and from the fact that the French Vanilla added to the cinnamon smelled absolutely divine...

"The other day I had a weird vision." He sat the cup on the table. Taking a sip wasn't what he needed right now. "I saw a black ring. I blacked out for about an hour, woke up, and my room was completely wrecked. Apparently I went on a bit of a rampage when I saw that ring. I don't know why it happened, though..." He looked over his peeling knuckles. "Yukino said that apparently I've been 'marked' by whatever she's fighting against, but she won't tell me anything about it. Kind of sucks when someone who can help you refuses to tell you what's happening, doesn't it?"

He sat his gold deckbox out next to his espresso and pointed at it. "Fortuna won't say anything either. Apparently they've been observing me, Genesis. Something's come up, but they won't tell me anything about it, either. Said if I know, it's a security risk or something." He shook his head. "So much dishonesty..."