(GS3) Home Field: Espoir Mansion

[Jello]

The coffee was, as usual, perfect. Haruka downed two cups and found the afternoon show up faster than he thought it would. He peeks into the door to notice Satoshi was finally awake, sitting on the bed he had left him. Haruka was somewhat hesitant to walk in. Instead, he turns off from the door and goes up to Hana's room, where Yukino was. His first intention was to visit Yukino and talk to her about...

Something.

However, what ended up happening was a bit different. Hana was sitting in a chair talking.


"Nociel, do you have someone like a boyfriend on Cray?..."
"No..."
"Of course you don't."


"Hoh... Pffft...!" Haruka covers his mouth almost laughing. Instead, he slowly nudges the door open and waves to Hana. He whispers, "Hey, mind if I come in?" His expression was easily described as amused. It was obvious Haruka had heard what Hana had just said to, who he believes to be Nociel.

"Also I don't think units date..." Haruka scratched his head, still poking his head through the somewhat open doorway.

[Hope]

Hana from the corner her eye noticed someone signaling her to come to the door. Turns out it was Yukinee's bf, asking to enter. She went over to the door and opened it for him. There would be not trouble in him coming in, it wouldn't really disrupt Yukinee's sleep as long as they stayed in the other side of the room. Hana's room itself was split into two sections, one that looked like a living room with all her recreational stuff like a TV, and even a dog house for her dog. The other side was her bedroom and bath. She went up to the door and silently gestured Yukinee's bf to come in and invited him to sit on one of the couches.

"Well we just have to quiet yeah just so we don't wake up Yukinee. Anyways I'm pretty sure units date because that's how grade 0s are made." She takes a comb from a table and starts combing her hair, still wet from the shower she had just taken.

"Anyways, other than to watch my sister sleep, what brings you here?"

[Jello]

Haruka was going to make a retort to Hana's comment about watching Yukino sleep, but in all honesty if she wasn't awake and Hana wasn't there, he would probably would have gone and checked on her anyways.

"Hm? Oh, I was gonna talk to Yukino about- er..
....
.......
Something."

Haruka looked up, then back at Hana, then nodded promptly. This confirmed his answer. "Anyways, I'm 99% sure that's not how Grade 0's are made by the way... But there is that 1%." Haruka contemplated the idea for a minute...

Then shook his head because that was a completely asinine idea and was definitely not going to believe that units actually did that. While in theory it all made sense, he didn't want to believe. Not one bit.

"Your room is, uh, really big." Yukino's room was decently large too, similarly sized. However they were decorated somewhat differently. Maybe it was the way the rooms were organized that made the difference?

He lightly facepalmed, trying to get back on topic. "So, what made you so interested about dating? Did you think Nociel was stealing hearts or something?"

[Hope]

"I-Interest in dating?..." Hana was flustered by the way that that was said.

Maybe interest was the best word for it, but still something she didn't expect. Her interests used to only be in the performance world. She never paid attention anything other than that. Then again, Mi-hime is part of that world too, her singing-dancing partner in crime. Overall, Hana's interest began when Bermuda Triangle had disappeared for sure.

"Well it makes Yukinee happy, so I think it would be nice if she really did get more into it. The kind of feel kinda makes me happy as well I guess, so it isn't bad I think. At least, right now while I'm not fully invested in trying to be an idol, its something nice to think about. It makes my heart go doki doki... Also Nociel is a Love Machine Gun."

[Jello]

"Hoh? Who's the lucky fella? Or maiden. I don't judge." Haruka put his hands up, showing he wasn't crossing his fingers. "Honest." He smiled, wondering just who she was interested in.

Neo? Err, he's a bit rambunctious. Also really nosy.

Satoshi- yeah, no.

... Jellal? Well, not out of the question, but still a long shot.

"So, who is it? I mean, if you don't mind my asking that is."

[Hope]

Hana blushed at the question and started to sway back and forth. She sat down an started hugging her knees.

"Umm.. it's Mi-hime..." She muttered, very silently. She was kind of squealing a little, lowering her head down, due to the thoughts of Miyuki. She raised her head after a few moments now wondering if this was all he came for, hopefully not, so she asked him, her face still red and her voice randomly breaking up.

"S-so... why a-re you here exactly?"

[Jello]

"That's... that's nice." Haruka was actually rather happy she liked Miyuki. He had always thought they were very cute together, especially when they hugged or held hands. He never caught them often, but one time they were falling asleep on each other in the fight room, and Haruka found that adorable.

"O-Oh, me?" Haruka's face turned red a little. Then, it faded all so quickly. He wasn't embarrassed now that he thought about it. He took pride in this emotion at this point. If he stayed super embarrassed forever, it would make anything close to a relationship simply awkward.

"I, well, wanted to tell Yukino. That I want to be with her." Concise. While he had a lot of things to say, they were all things Hana already knew. She was her sister after all.

"She's just... " He bit his lip and looked back to Hana. "Amazing, y'know?" Haruka was twiddling his thumbs, now blushing again. He really was still anxious, but he was confident all the same.

"I was hoping she'd be awake so I could tell her. But, I don't actually know if now is a good time or..." His voice sort of trailed off, becoming slowly more and more nervous about the situation. Confidence dwindled fast.

[Hope]

"A confession!" Hana screamed internally.

She saw his confidence go down though, and Yukinee was still asleep. Right now wasn't right, they should set a scene. Hana remembered that there's a really fancy restaurant that overlooks the forest trail. From there, is a view of the beautiful stream and open field that she and Mi-hime once spent time in. It was quite pricey for the average person, but no problem for the Espoirs. She enthusiastically hopped up and walked to her room's entrance.

"How about during a date later on tonight?" Hana suggested. She gestured for a worker to come in and she had him write down some specifics and details. She even took a large sum of cash from her wallet and casually handed it to him. It was enough to pay for any meal they could get there, as well as a tip if necessary. She turned to Haruka and assured him, "that's just leftover money from when I went to the amusement park last time so no worries."

She sat back down to the couch in front of Haruka and handed him a paper that another servant was working on that told him the specifics. "It's a really fancy restaurant that overlooks the forest area, it's basically around the entrance of the thing. I made a reservation for tonight just for the two of you guys and you guys are gonna get a really nice window seat with a cool view of the stream, romance under the moonlight and all that. You'll need a nice suit, and I don't think dad's would fit you, I mean you can ask one of the butlers for one. Sound good?"

[Jello]

He had no words. He simply cried a tear of joy and nodded, smile still on.

What did I do to deserve this blessing?

Haruka thought for a moment how quickly everything was falling into place. He was a bit too excited maybe, but that kind of happiness came with that sort of feeling.

"Thank you, Hana. Err, finding a suit shouldn't be that difficult..." He decided that Butler-san would be the one helping him pick one out. Haruka always admired his suit. Refined black from top to bottom with a white tie. He could change it up and use a grey button-up...

"Wait, what about you and Miyuki? Aren't you eventually gonna confess?... Or... are you waiting for her to confess to you?" Haruka pocketed his hands, eyebrow raised. While he knew Hana was currently trying to help him out, he was still interested in knowing how she fared in her quest for the maiden's heart. Or if she was said maiden, and was waiting for Miyuki instead.

[Hope]

Upon his agreement, Hana nodded back. "I better get Yukinee a dress too...ummmm" she thought to herself as to where and how this could possibly be done. "Guess I'll have to look around or just ask when she wakes up..."

Hana then thought about confessing to Mi-hime. Certainly, she wanted to be the one to do it, but as for the time, she wasn't sure herself. When it comes to the place, Hana had so many in mind already. The thought of the event made her head feel light again, and made her body feel like she was flying again.

"I-I don't... know when but, I want to be the one to conf- ... confess to her..." Hana stuttered, "And... no problem."

[Jello]

"Hmm, I see. So you want to make the first move?" Haruka smiled a little. Definitely cute.

He was definitely ecstatic until he remembered something. It was eerily important to him.

"Wait. What about the scarf?" He said, pointing to the one he was wearing now. He blinked. Wandering around the Espoir house without the scarf was one thing, he didn't hate showing his burns to his friends as long as they didn't constantly bring it up. But in public he felt as though they would draw too much attention and people would stare at him. This became a genuine concern very quickly.

"Err, I probably shouldn't wear it, should I?" He scratched his head. Once again, a slight decrease in confidence. Nothing to change the fact that Haruka wanted to make the confession. But, it was just quite difficult to consciously figure out how he wanted to say everything, how he was going to figure everything out afterwards, all while not being as comfortable as he usually is. And also,

How to tell Father Espoir. Oh boy. A shiver goes down Haruka's spine. Even Sera feels the cold grip of death slowly reaching towards him.

[Cherry]

Yukino shot up, awaking in a cold sweat. The queen breathed heavily, nearly being sealed away again in the exact same nightmare. Every time she fell asleep, it felt like the chances of her getting locked grew higher and higher. Each time the space-distorting sphere would get closer and closer to her. Each time Ahmes and Yunos would get slower and slower, almost not reaching her in time. Whenever she blinked, she saw the sleeping faces of her comrades as they floated off, including those of Kagero. The slumbering Overlord, the comatose king, dreaming dogs, silent knights. A distorted voice that was almost demon-like kept trying to say something to her, and it came from that gravity-wielding monstrosity. A threat? A declaration?

Face held in hand, she didn't notice Hana and Haruka in the room for a good few minutes. Lost in her own fear.

[Jello]

"So, should-" Right as Haruka was going on about making a point of his scarf and the mismatching of the suit to Hana, he notices Yukino move. At first it only seemed like she was moving in her sleep, but she had instead completely sat up, with an awful look on her face. She either saw ghosts just now, or that nightmare she told Haruka about had returned for another visit.

"Y-Yuki...? Hey, hey! Are you okay?" He turned to her and walked to the bedside, sitting at it's edge.

She obviously wasn't okay, considering she was breaking more than a sweat and the look on her face simply says "horrified." Haruka scoots over to her and takes one of her hands in his. This was one of Haruka's ways of helping Yukino calm down. Thing is, they haven't really seen each other much recently, since he had spent the night in her room.

"... The dream again?" He knew it was the dream. There would be almost no reason for her to freak out like that when she was sleeping so peacefully only a moment ago.

[Cherry]

"It's trying to talk to me... It's trying to talk to me...!" Yukino held her head with the free hand, panicking. The hissing roars were enough, but the garbled mess of speech it was offering to the queen terrified her even more. "It's getting closer..." she continued, trembling. Haruka's hand almost didn't register to her sense of touch, and actually didn't for a few seconds. Once she recognized it, she stopped speaking, trying to calm her breathing. The free hand darted to Haruka's, clinging onto it like a lifeline, the queen gripped at it tightly. "Ah..." a light cry, feeling more relieved when seeing his face.

Finally, her breathing regulated, and her pulse slowed down.

[Jello]

Haruka heard what she was saying. It wasn't that he particularly was dodging it either. But he felt as though Yukino wouldn't want to talk about it right now, and even if she was sort of up for talking about it, the conversation would most likely go south quickly. So instead, he took a different route.

"Yuki..." He said, warmly. Now that her senses had calmed down to a reasonable degree, I gripped her hand back. It was signifying "I'm here", in a way.

He then put his free hand over to her and ran it through her hair, slowly. His expression turned from worried to caring in a split second. Quite frankly, his inner workings typically mirrored his outside appearance. There wasn't really a way for him to lie to her, body language or actually speaking.

"Hey, sweetheart. Can you hear me?" He pulled his hand through several times, combing through her long, white locks with his fingers. Her hair was extraordinarily silky and smooth. He smiled at her.