(NYC) Field: Central Park

[Cherry]

The queen was kind of excited with her revelation and decided to finally go out for once. The heat wasn't killing her again, so she could finally enjoy the sights of New York. ... A couple of minutes and she wanted to be back in Japan. Times Square was so crowded it was borderline nauseating. Fast Food restaurants almost destroyed her sense of smell, American grease was overflowing. Maybe it was her groomed, gourmet appetite, but she just couldn't handle the kind of raw fat this nation could. Of course, she didn't openly state that. Still had to lie her way out of trying some of their famous McDonalds though.

The park was much more peaceful, save screaming children running about playfully. This place reminded her of home and the soothing park they had in town. Yugure kept a cheery attitude to at least try and get used to the time she'd be spending here. Seeing some of the kids playing Vanguard, she decided to watch them. Noting a very grumpy and upset one who complained about his third loss in a row, and a bit of a smug one who tried to help after bragging. The latter tried not to sound condescending about it, but surely a pitying tone was all the defeated heard.

This "Vanguard" solidified Yugure's revelation. Responses of victory thrice in a row and defeat in those three games were natural here.

Giving a deep breath, the woman watched other games in silence, surveying them while in thought.

[Hope]

Vanguard on its own was a strange phenomenon, something that was basically supernstural at this point, a gateway between two worlds. Hana knowing this is unable to thing of Vanguard as a mere game. In fact, can it even be fun? Whenever she fights, she can imagine an actual battle going on. Its fun with friends but when things get serious she has no choice but to adapt. The forces on Cray clash, the ones whom she has met and spoken to. The sense of joy and fun in Vanguard is what Hana needed, to find the reason to enjoy the game itself and go all out and stopnholding back on it like she has been. To become her old self. It wasn't the fact that Hana was attempting to find her kind of Vanguard, no she already has her way. The Vanguard of Cray, a kind of Vanguard that is about making all sides, and all forces on Earth and Cray happy. What she now needed was to find a way to combine this ideal with a way to enjoy thr game for herself.

She saw Yukino in the distance overlooking a game. Its been awhile so it wouldn't hurt to greet her and see how she's been. Maybe she could learn something here as well, that is of course, if Yukino has stopped useless and has startedbtaking actual action.

"Hey, Yukino."

[Cherry]

"Oh, hey", Yukino smiled, greeting her sister. Taking note of not being called Yukinee still, it was better to bare with it instead of pester her about it. Hana looked down, so easing into small talk instead of jumping straight at her woes might be a safer approach. Leaning back, the queen gave the princess her full attention.

"How are you enjoying the sights? Or the food for that matter, considering it almost made me sick."

[Jello]

On the pathway through the park, Haruka found himself alongside two women and another guy making their rounds through the park. Except they were exceptionally more fit than himself, and Haruka was out almost out of breath before they even reached the bend at the south end of the park.

With his jog mostly over, Haruka starts to walk off the rest of his fatigue. He started to sweat for sure, but he didn't get particularly warmer. It felt more like a cold shower than anything.

Where he normally would be sitting, his bench is now occupied...

Oh that's Hana and Yukino. He had messaged Hana earlier yesterday and they talked about hanging out, maybe she was still up for it? Haruka was at a crossroads. Literally. Off to the right side was the bench, and on the left was a woods path. With the decision to approach the girls, like he originally intended, he heads in their direction.

[Hope]

"I've been enjoying myself really, its great. Mi-hime and went on a date in one of the higher end restaurants. It was certainly different, but not as good as home? How have you been?" she asked.

Hana tried to keep a good posture and try to hide her feelings. She was genuinely hapoy, everything else that did not involve Vanguard and her sister were in order. She was kicking off her idol career, she was having a great vacation, she was in love, and her dog is cool. Its just this one portion of her responsibilites having an impact on her, but sadly it is one of the biggest. She tried to stay strong, to show Yukino and be better than how she was. At the same time she thought about easing up to find the fun in Vanguard that she's been missing. She also noticed Harooka make his way towards them. She was prepared for them to make out, how long would it be this time? She decided that if it went on for longer than last time she would buy herself some ice cream.

"Hi Harooka." she greeted him.

[Jello]

I was already spotted? Hide!

...Was Haruka's first reaction. He didn't expect Hana to see him before he even got halfway to the bench. She wasn't even looking at him at first. Also he felt a bit bad about intruding. Normally whenever Hana and Yukino were talking, Haruka tried to stay out of it. Probably important Cray business or sisterly stuff or something.

"Hm, oh, Hi!" Haruka waves, catching up a little. The chill was catching up with him again. After fixing his scarf, he pockets his hands away.

[Cherry]

"I'd be surprised if the slop here was better than home. Still, a date, eh?" Yugure gave a proud smirk. "I assume it's the same as my kind was."

The queen remained chipper, refraining from telling Hana that she isn't that good at hiding things from her sister. Still, until she earns "Yukinee" back with the princess, it wasn't her place to pry into it. She took a moment to contemplate an answer for Hana's second question. Saying "I feel great!" would probably rub salt in a bad wound, but lying would just grant another urge to get slapped. Thankfully, her knight in shining armor arrived before she had to say anything. Shooting him a smile, she welcomed him: "Hey cutie."

[Hope]

"Hey cutie.!"

First of all. Eewwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Second of all, Yukino completely avoided her question. She just assumed that she came down with a bad cold like the butlers told her when she asked why Yukino's flight was moved. Since she decided to not say anything. She must've louging around and slacking off. A cold would've at least made it understandable. Now that her boyfriend waz here, Hana reached for her phone and got her timer open. She was ready.

[Jello]

Haruka smiled at Yukino. He liked that.

Cutie.

"Hey sweetheart! And oh, Hana, err, I meant to ask you something."

He noticed also Hana had her phone out. Maybe she was texting Miyuki or something? No use worrying them over the icy feeling, but at the very least he should make mention of something new.

"How did the, uh, confession go? Was it as amazing as you thought it would be?" Haruka leaned on the bench side and planted a kiss on Yukino's cheek. He turned his attention to the two girls, zipping up his hoodie all the way. He seemed to be mostly okay for the time being, but he felt it was getting only chillier but the minute.

Gotta get more hand-warmers before I go home...

[Cherry]

Yukino gave a soft, happy giggle to Haruka's pecking of her cheek. She would've felt his chills if the Soul Sublimation didn't have her body temperature bordering a fever. It was a miracle that she wasn't drenched in sweat. Hearing about the confession confirmed the queen's earlier question concerning the outing.

"So it was the same kind. Do tell, how did it go?"

[Hope]

Hana knew their date was a disaster though because Yukino was bad luck incarnate, but when it came down to confessing, sure. Mentally insane foreigners? Maybe?... Wait, she was the foreigner in this case. Food coming late was a no because Hana had everything ordered and set well ahead of time, plus talking to Mi-hime was fun. Of course, she should make it sound super extravegant and make them jealous, yes, this was the best way to go.

She stood tall yet again, even puffing her chest out a little and spoke with confidence, " It went great, Mi-hime and I were able to talk about a lot and the restaurant service was top notch. Nothing really got in our way and things were really really cool and then I confessed and-" she suddenly started blushing a litttle, she covered her cheeks to hide it. "T-then Mi-hime was surprised but she also said she l-loved me and she held my hand and stuf-... And-" her face grew redder as she kept on going, "and then I-I.. k-kissed her for a long long time notlikeyouguysdoitwastotallybetterineverywayandnotgrossatall, b-but yeah I." She started squealing and basically messed up being all confident and cool about it.

[Jello]

Haruka stood there unfazed for a moment. And then a small smile formed. Which then grew. And grew. He then had a huge simper across his face. Hearing Hana's story was at first a bit too deliberate it felt. Then the embarrassment showed on Hana's face and she was redder than Yukino was the first time she had been kissed too.

"Sounds nice, Hana. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself-" Haruka started to laugh a little, covering his mouth and turning around to avoid tipping Hana off how silly she looked right about now. Still turned around, holding in his current need to burst into laughter, he started talking again.

"I hope you and Miyuki are happy. And kissing isn't gross you know." Haruka checks his nails as a front to feign disinterest, but in reality he really was sort of curious at how everything went down and it was nice to hear Hana talk about her personal life sometimes. It made him feel more connected to everyone else. The smile remained for a bit.

[Cherry]

Yukino covered her mouth, trying to hold back laughter from how Hana's bravado fell apart halfway through. And yet, the giggles still came through anyway. Ah, the big sister was happy, and how adorable was it seeing her favorite people fumble on their words. Looking over at Haruka, he was feeling the same as her. The duo were practically snickering like Akane and Marron would when gossiping.

"I'm very glad Miyuki answered your feelings", the queen began, expressing joy. She stood up and continued: "Our kissing isn't gross though!"

The tempting idea of making out with Haruka right now just to annoy the princess came to mind, which made the woman chuckle a bit more.

[Hope]

They were laughing at her and she easily took notice, but she was too preoccupied with her internal and external scresming to care for a good amount of time. Hana eventually got back into her senses and shook her head. Then she put her hands on her hips, looking in charge and tough. She let out a grin and walked up to Haruka.

"Heeey cutiee." She joked by saying this a flirtatious manner. Hana immediately turned back to Yukino and point at her with a neutral expression. "That is how you look. Grosssss."

She gave a nod back at them, it looks like they were having fun. Hana planned to set up their next date and purposely sabotage it this time. She giggled to herself with a grin and kept the plan noted.

"I'm glad she did, it made me feel very doki doki. Happy in a way..." She looked around the park, certainly it made the the back home look like a small sandbox. "So what are you guys up to here?"

[Cherry]

"What, he's cute, so I'll address him as such!"

The queen sat back down, feeling better while seeing Hana's mood lighten.

"I'm here watching other people's Vanguard before heading off."