(NYC) Field: Times Square

[Hope]

"Hi Harooka. Not much, except I was able to confess to Mi-hime yesterday day so I'm feeling <3 , also how have you been? Want to hang out sometime, maybe even tonight or tomorrow? ~ <3 BELLA"

[Jello]

Gulp. The coffee was indeed better than he imagined. But not better than Butler-san's. Not even a long shot.

Buzzzz-

"Oh, a text from Hana." Haruka picks up his phone and sets his halfway finished cup of coffee on the table. Evening was approaching and he only managed to dent the monster he'd been gifted with.

"yeah sure. im at the coffee place in times square. where do you wanna meet? -haru"

Pressing send, Haruka returns his attention once more to the monster in front him-

Confess.

She...

"omg omg omg omg omg omgo om go mgom ogm congrats hana! :33 -haru"

He was super happy for Hana for finally making a move. This was definitely a move up for her, as she seemed so pent up about all of it not only a week or so ago. This was progress, and Haruka was genuinely overjoyed for Hana's confidence.

[Beryl]

Satoshi was out on another walk in Times Square. New York was pretty interesting. He had spent a lot of yesterday, after his fight, exploring the sights and sounds of the city. Today, he was wearing a "Top of the Rock" t-shirt, a souvenir from a building he had gone to the top of that overlooked most of the city. It was absolutely gorgeous at night with all the lights.

Today, though, there was something slightly bugging him. It wasn't the fact that the triad had separate rooms, or that they hadn't hung out. Actually, it was unrelated to the triad at all. No, it was about a certain someone in his phone contacts.

Hey, Neu, it's Satoshi. Can we talk? I know things've been rough recently, but I haven't seen you in a while, so I wanted to check in. I'm in New York City all the way in America for the World Circuit, it's exciting!

With this text, he sent a picture of him making a closed-eyes peace sign, with Times Square as a backdrop. He then pocketed his phone and kept walking, only to notice Haruka sitting in what appeared to be a local coffee shop, having some to drink.

"Typical..." he muttered, chuckling a bit before going in and swinging right into a seat at the scarfed boy's table.

"Hey! I've been trying to get ahold of you and Yukino since the flights left. How've you been?"

[Jello]

Before bringing the the colossal titan of a coffee drink to his lips, Satoshi appeared before him seemingly out of nowhere.

"Oh, Satoshi! Hey!" Haruka flashes a casual smile and waves. It had sure been a bit, at least a few days since the plane ride. Haruka already wishes he could be on a plane again. The sky was comforting him.

The thought also created a sudden wind chill. Haruka shook a little, somewhat cold. His skin felt icy again. The blood was slowing down, even though the heat in his chest was still present. It was like two forces working against him physically.

"I'm good, mostly. Had to face off with her, actually. In the tournament I mean. She got me good both rounds. It was nice though. I enjoyed myself. I learned a bit about myself and I've made some... decisions." Haruka nods, taking a sip of his coffee. It was less tasteful, and more that it was still a warm drink and that was what kept him from freezing up.

[Beryl]

"'Her'? Who do you mean by---"

Oh. Right. Yukino and Haruka had to face off for the first round. Satoshi could've sworn he remembered that, but it didn't click at that moment for some reason. He gave a light shrug.

"It's okay, man. You still made it out here, and that's what's important, right? All of us, doin' this together." Lately, his dialect had started reverting from someone who wasn't a total country bumpkin to someone who was. But it was a happy medium this time, which was a relief.

He ordered a cup of coffee for himself, taking care to not order the largest size possible, as it appeared Haruka's hands were a little jittery from his typical hard-wire. "Yeah, apparently Yuki and I are the only two that are still in this from our little group of friends. Although, I haven't heard how Miyuki did or anythin', so I don't know for sure." He twiddled his thumbs. "Got revenge on Cero for puttin' me out of nationals, so that was nice."

[NeoBuster]

Neo spent the entire day pondering in his hotel room. So he decided to get up and take a walk around. With the help of his map, Neo made it to Times Square. A big place, one of the main landmarks of New York City and its where every visitor and tourist goes. Neo blended in with the crowd quite nicely considering everyone was walking in huge groups. With his camera in hand taking as many pictures as he could, Neo decided to just keep walking around and enjoying this moment.

[Jello]

"Right, right." Haruka's shaking was pretty easily hidden, it was the fact that Haruka wishes had a second hoodie to wear or something because he could feel the cold rise up his neck and into his jaw, as well as his hands.

"Oh, you took some games? Nice man, grats." With another normal smile, he pats Satoshi on the shoulder. With that, he leans back in his chair, taking a few more enormous gulps of his coffee.

Why is it so cold today... errghh.

Sera had been awfully quiet since they landed in New York. More so than quiet. His presence was faint. As if he was exerting the least possible amount of energy existing, maybe to ease Haruka's body's workload? Or maybe he just wasn't in the mood to say much.

Out the window, Haruka noticed a certain Neo Isamu walking around taking pictures.

Sorta sketchy... but it's Neo so he probably won't do any harm.

"So, how's it been with you anyways, we haven't really talked a lot recently. Stuff happening and all, we don't get the opportunity like we used to."

[Beryl]

"S'been okay, I guess. You're right that we haven't really managed to do much in a while." Having received his cup of coffee, Satoshi dropped a little sugar in and sipped.

This cup was...okay. Nothing like the cups the Espoir's butler made.

"I mean, we met at the park, but then Hana was there and that was different. Then there was the beach, but that day, I was sort of trying to get a bunch of things off my mind since the flight to here was coming up. Honestly, since Yuki disappeared into the rift, even though she's back, the three of us haven't really had too much going on together, at least from what I'm lookin' at."

He grinned. "Well, at least, I haven't done much with you two. I dunno how much you two have done together. Probably a lot more than is worth mentioning, right?" He of course wasn't being serious; Haruka and Yukino hadn't been together that long, so it would be crazy if they had gone "all the way," as his father described it back on the farm.

Come to think of it, he was probably the only one of the four of them that wasn't in a relationship, but that didn't exactly bother him. At least, not at the moment. It might have, back when he felt something for the Chosen Sword, but that had since been replaced with him being more protective of her and Haruka, as well as trying to find ways to not get in their way when they wanted to be alone together. It just felt like recently, they weren't able to hang out in the ways that they were in the past, mostly because other things were troubling them.

"What're the Espoirs up to today anyway, any clue?"

[Jello]

Haruka continued to sip his coffee. 3/4th's down. He was getting to the bottom. The end was near for this fiend.

"Hm? Eh, oh. Well, Hana is out with Miyuki from what I remember. Maybe not anymore, I'm not too sure... Yukino, erm... Haven't heard from her today. I've been here for nearly four hours killing this thing. I tell you, this coffee is strong, and stays hot for a long time." Haruka pointed to the monster cup he was drinking from.

"Other than that, your guess is just as good as mine. Last I heard from Yukino was yesterday evening after our tournament fights." He scratches his head, then nods confidently confirming that was truly the last of their conventional meeting time.

Ah-ah-ow ow ow ow-

Haruka's shoulders, back and legs started to tense up. The chill that struck him early had him in a feeling of paralysis. He used his hands to calm down his thighs by rubbing them down a bit. He awkwardly leaned forward to break the freezing feeling off.

"S-Sorry. It's been a bit ch-chilly recently, ha ha ha!" Haruka laughed a bit at the end of that, realizing he sounded silly trying to talk with this teeth nearly clenched.

[Beryl]

Satoshi raised an eyebrow, but didn't press on about him being cold. Something was up, but a coffee shop wasn't the place to bug him about it. After all, he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and still felt a bit warm this evening, probably due to all of the cars generating heat with their exhaust, and that heat staying in place from all of the metal buildings.

"I did send you both a text last night asking about getting a bite to eat. When you didn't respond, I figured you were prob'ly sleeping. Yuki turned me down again." He shrugged. "I was going to press her about it, but if I'm bein' honest, I don't want to bother her until she's ready to say whatever it is. 'Sides, I have to apologize to her for a lot of stuff, too, eventually. I didn't even come close up on those rafters."

He took another swig of his coffee. "Four hours just to down that? Sounds like I'm gonna be here for like an hour trying to down this."

[Jello]

With another grin, Haruka chuckles at Satoshi's remark about the coffee. Aside from the playful comment, he took some notice of the apologizing idea. Haruka could guess that Satoshi had a lot to say recently.

"Yeah, pressing her probably isn't good." Haruka took a straw from one of the table dispensers and stirred the remainder of his coffee for a little. Something to mess around with, keep his limbs moving. He felt his body stiffening by the second. After a bit he craned his neck to feel the skin on his neck stretch a bit. It was painful. He honest to god needed to like, sit in front of a fire. Or be set on fire.

"I actually need to get a hold of her eventually. Maybe I'll call her tonight or something... Er, hey, is it cold in here or is that just me?"

[Beryl]

"A...little bit," Satoshi lied. "I probably should've brought a coat with me. This coffee's alright at warming me up a bit, though."

He shrugged. "I should probably text her. I was thinking about going to this little place one of the taxi drivers mentioned. A nice little Italian place down a couple blocks. Dinner's on me if you're interested."

[Jello]

"Hmm..." Haruka contemplated it, but it was already starting to get a little late for him and he just wanted to rest. His body was not in great shape as of the moment and staying out any longer might cause a meltdown of some sorts.

"Thanks for the offer, and I am a bit hungry, but I'm actually unusually tired." This wasn't exactly a complete lie. He was really tired, sleep would help. But his body was wide awake in the wrong ways, causing his nerve endings to go into an infinite loop of pain, recovery, and pain again, causing this sort of stasis. He managed to sort of walk up to the entrance, and waved back to Satoshi.

"You have my number, text me tomorrow maybe." Haruka nods, smiling, trying to stretch as much as he can before he freezes all the way. Making it back to the hotel in one piece was his mission now.

What a trip that'll be.

[Beryl]

Satoshi gave a short wave himself, frowning a bit. He whipped out his phone and flipped to Yukino as a contact again.

Hey, sorry for the short notice. Dinner again? Haruka just left headed for bed, but I need to talk to someone. I'd pester Hana but we don't know each other as well.

[OverDrive]

Alexander concentrated on his cards amidst the rather peaceful area that was the Starbucks, a peaceful refuge amongst the boisterous city. Of course, by normal standards the coffee shop itself was also noisy, but being able to sit down and phase into your own little world always helped. His thoughts flew to his recent fights, and how he could possibly upgrade his deck, the teen reaching a blank and sighing in defeat.

"I guess I just gotta keep at as is, then." Resigning himself to the current situation, if he couldn't do too much with his deck he might as well focus on his own skills. Luckily the opportunity itself might have just come knocking.

Turning his head to the voice, Tusbasas' words registered after a solid five seconds. Blinking blankly for a moment before rushing out an answer "Ah, yeah, of course." The words spoken in an accented English, specks of a French accent still in his words. His eyes flew to the cardfighters deck, and a small joyful smirk formed on his face, his features brightening up compared to their previous state.

"So, a cardfight right? Best out of three?" Asking, still not having told the stranger his name yet, likely he would remember to after.

Tsubasa was intrigued that this person's way of talking resembled the french accent slightly, but he was even more impressed that the stranger understood his hidden challenge just by seeing his deck.

"..You don't waste time I see.." he said. " In that case let's get this going, I'm Tsubasa, Tsubasa Hayato."