(GS3) Home Field: Espoir Mansion

[Crystalia]

Miyuki thought about it, and nodded. Yes it seemed like a good idea, everyone seemed down, this might be a good way to cheer them up. She was still worried however, that actively cardfighting would just flood Hana with memories of Bermuda Triangle. Well whatever, if Hana wanted to do this, then she'd help. That seemed to be all she could do right now.

'Of course we can Hana~ But first', she said, her stomach growling, 'can I have something to eat? I kind of only had coffee today and nothing else'. She laughed, keeping her voice bright and upbeat.

[Hope]

Hana called over a servant to fetch Mi-Hime a meal. Miyuki's upbeat personality and overall cuteness made Hana feel better. Miyuki may as well be a Bermuda Triangle unit, she was a real idol through and through. Speaking of fetch, there was something that could never go wrong in doing while waiting for dinner. A servant was immediately ordered to fetch the dog.

"Woof." Yes it is Hana's Labrador, a fountain of eternal happiness.

[Crystalia]

Thanking both Hana and the servant for the meal she started to eat. She noticed Hana call her dog, a Labrador over, and smiled. Hana was obviously trying her best to not feel down. She continued to eat, watching Hana play with her dog. She wondered where Haruka and the others were as well, he had just vanished, and she hadn't seen Yukino since they had returned from the weird shop.

When she thought of the weird shop, her mood darkened slightly. She still hadn't gotten her feelings straight with what had happened there. However, that wasn't important right now. She could do that once Hana was better. As long as she could cope until then, it'd be fine. She forcefully lightened her mood, by concentrating on her meal, and enjoying it. She kept that train of thought up until she finished her meal.

[Hope]

"Woof!" Hana yelled out.
"WOOF!!" The puppy answered back.

She placed her on the floor and let her play, running accross the living room. Hana turned to look over at Mi-Hime still eating. She wanted to check up on her as well. Of course yesterday she really was just making things worse by worrying, but now Hana was at least somewhat able to help. "Mi-Hime you're doing fine right? Not getting a fever or anything?...do you good grades?... hows your foot?" She asked whatever she could, even some jokingly just to maki Mi-hime laugh and feel better as well.

[Jello]

The walk home wasn't very long, but Haruka cherished a majority of the time on the way back. Once in awhile they would exchange small bits of information, nothing about the War of Liberation, but just small things that were going on.

But Haruka had two conflicting feelings. His heart was being torn and pushed by Sera. But at the same time, the wounds were healing at rapid speed by the comfort of Yukino and Satoshi being there. He didn't feel all too alone at the time.

The grip on his hand however, was firm, but caring. Warmth spread from his palm to all over. It was something Haruka would learn to cherish for a long time. That warmth he got from Yukino, whenever he was in shambles.

Haruka would've confessed right there and then, if he wasn't so physically fatigued and embarrassed and all. He would save that sort of moment later, should it ever arise.

"I wonder how Hana and Miyuki are... I sort of left them here without saying anything."

[Cherry]

The gate, then subsequently the doors to the Espoir Mansion opened with the triad's arrival. Yugure kept a firm grip on Haruka as internally promised, but then released it once they were inside. Surely, Seph was awaiting their return with Satoshi, and she wasn't going to have a part in their upcoming argument. Furious with the Guardian Dragon as it was, she started heading up the stairs to avoid the spirit entirely if possible.

"Yami..."

Yukino held her face in hand, starting to believe her growing depression was driving her to insanity. Yunos' voice echoed once again, but a quick scan of the area proved he was nowhere to be seen. She was about sick of these mind games, but had to live with them. It was either the taunting Blaster or the Rift nightmare.

Staying frozen, she felt incredibly sick at her choices. Almost puking at how both chained her mind to despair.

[Crystalia]

Hana checked up on her as well. That was nice, although she was worried that she'd noticed something off about her. 'Yeah, I'm fine for now, thanks for asking'. Hana was speaking about random things now, in an effort to cheer her up. 'I'm not the one who needs this' she said to herself. Now that she was finished with her meal, she got up, and started to put her plate away.

'Oh yeah, have you seen Yukino or Haruka recently? I saw Haruka a bit earlier, but he vanished, and I haven't seen Yukino since'.

[Hope]

"No I've been here the whole day," Hana replied to Mi-hime.

Hana had also been talking about a certain water crisis that was really hitting hard on Cray. It was bad, reaaaaaally bad. It was time for her dog to take a bath so she stood up and picked her up. She also turned to Mi-hime, and the Labrador started licking her face a little.

"Hey Mi-hime want to go with me to give this little puppy a bath?"

[Crystalia]

'Sure, let's go give the puppy a bath', she replied. And a water crisis on Cray? For some reason that brought to mind Satoshi of the thirsty footstools, she didn't know why though. She had once lived ina  country where there had been a long drought, due to her parents work. Resrictions were placed on how much water one could use, so perhaps she just naturally thought of the thirstiest person she apparently knew. There was probably some accident or something that had happened, with what was going on there. Or perhaps it was another of Hana's jokes, she had said some pretty random things whilst she had been eating.

She stood up, ready to follow Hana to where they needed to go. Hana had talked about wanting to cardfight, but they could do that after the puppy was cleaned. Plus it'd probably be nicer with Haruka and Yukino there, this way they'd have time to come back from wherever they were. 'Lead the way' she said, whilst having a quick look at the Labrador.

[Jello]

Haruka travels through the front door as Yukino makes her way ahead. He's determined now. That trip had instilled a bit of hope in keeping everyone together. Haruka still trembled at the thought of being abandoned, but that didn't worry him anymore.

Of course he was now met with a decision.

Follow Yukino upstairs, and see how she's doing,

or travel around the house searching for Miyuki and presumably Hana. He wasn't too concerned about Satoshi at the moment, remembering he still needs to have a chat with Seph, so Haruka thinks for a moment.

"Hmm..." The easy way out would be leave Yukino alone with her thoughts and give her time to figure out an answer. He never knew when a good time to bother her was anyways. However he also felt as though maybe talking to Hana and Miyuki would be a great pick-me-up, considering their excited demeanor and ability to make anyone smile, despite the circumstances.

With a deep sigh, Haruka made his decision.

Time to go bug the Queen. That was what Haruka felt he was doing.

With a couple steps up, Haruka notices Yukino is in some sort of pain. She's holding her face in her hand, her face was warped and upset. Haruka's cause for concern was well-warranted, as he rushes up stairs to the queen.

"Yukino, hey, what's going on? Are you okay?" He says, resting a hand on her shoulder.

[Hope]

Once they reached the restroom, there were a bunch of workers already there and ready to give the dog a bath. Hana handed it to one of them. After that, they gave each other a mutual bow and the worker went off. Hana actually has yet to learn how to give the dog a bath, but she plans to in the later future. For now she shall wait for it as the workers give it a good cleaning.

"Things really have been weird lately huh, but I swear I'll bring things back to the way they were!"

[Crystalia]

After following Hana to the restroom, she noticed workers in there. 'Figures that Hana hasn't washed a dog before' she thought. So instead they sat down and talked for a bit whilst the dog got cleaned. Hana seemed to have at least slightly recovered, which was good. They casually chatted, for what felt like the first time in ages. Although it had only been yesterday since they last did so, the last day had seemed to last a year.

At Hana's mention that things had been weird, she nodded. 'Yep, things sure are weird. But at least we know a bit more about what happened, so we can try to stop it.' Again she tried to speak brightly about it, refusing to let the topic drag down anyone's mood. 'Oh, by the sound of things, the puppy's been washed' she said, and indeed a worker was back, holding a clean dog.

[Hope]

Hana hopped up and hugged the doge.

"Woof."

Now with the dog clean, and dinner done, Hana was set for the night. Tonight she just planned to relax and fight her heart out. The Angel Feathers have been feeling quite neglected lately, but at the same time, they understood why. Now Hana was ready for action once again, in order to save the Bermuda Triangle, she must be in tip top shape!

"Let's go Mi-hime," she said while holding the dog. At that time also, when Mi-hime and her would walk together, she planned to go and walk a little closer to her, and even lay her head on her shoulder, just because she was curious of what that feeling was from before.

[Cherry]

Yukino was sweating some, breathing a bit heavily. She sat on the stairs, trying to catch her breath while holding her stomach. The realization hit her: the was no escape. That made the queen incredibly nauseous, knowing that there was no way out until the blasters returned, and all the clans were back together on Cray. Initially, a response to Haruka wasn't given, trying to calm down over this revelation. Honestly, all she wanted to do was cry. Neu was too strong for this to end immediately, so she was forced to suffer through this grueling War of Liberator until one of them was strong enough to bite back. While Yugure wants it to be herself, it wouldn't be in the state she's in.

"I'm... okay", finally breathing normally, she got back on her feet.

[Jello]

I'm okay? Try again, sweetheart. That wasn't anything close to okay.

"That wasn't okay. Yukino, you're obviously in bad shape and need to rest up. You probably don't wanna get lectured by me right about now..." Haruka was actually mostly unable to do anything close to a lecture. His speeches were rather poor and words didn't help. All he could really do was console her and he wasn't sure if that was going to help.

A small smirk appeared across his face.

He walked up to Yukino, placing a hand on her face. A caress, like before. But this was different. It wasn't for the one sole reason it had been for before. It was to signify comfort before, but this time, it was a let-know.

"I'm here too, you know. Maybe it's not my place to judge but," Haruka wanted to make his message clear, maintaining eye contact with her, "I want to fight whatever battle you're facing with you. That's what friends are for-" Haruka stopped for a moment.

Friends was the word he had used, but he wanted to say something else.

"That's what I'm here for, after all." Haruka corrected himself. He was wholly unsure what it would take to fix this, or what it would take for Yukino's shell to come down.

I hope Miyuki is having more luck with Hana. This thought lingered for just a bit in his head. But his attention immediately flipped back to Yukino. His words weren't great, but with enough courage he felt his actions spoke enough for them.