WHO: Ouka Nagisa, Nove Stelnum, Macua Huitl, Freijya Trettan, Meiya Mitsurugi, Yue Rohay, Kaname Chidori, Elpeo Puru
WHAT: Meiya and Kaname go swimsuit shopping together, only to have an unusual encounter.
WHEN: May 26, 2009; after school.
MISSION: Procure bathing suits for the upcoming summer holiday.
WATCH OUT FOR: High school girls, unusual disguises, and secret identities.


It's a hot and sunny day in Tokyo, the sort of day that only served as a reminder to those that might have forgotten that summer was fast approaching.

It was also the sort of day that reminded Kaname of a certain garment she wanted to purchase. With summer approaching, there'd definitely be a need for a proper wardrobe, the most important part being the must-have item of the season for any high school student: the swimsuit. No way was she going to go around wearing her plain school swimsuit to the beach.

But Macua had disappeared after first bell, and Kyoko had photography club to go to, so instead of the group excursion she had planned, Kaname and Meiya were forced to traverse the streets of Tokyo as a duo.

"Something simple, but classy," she says, listing off her requirements for the garment aloud, each time, raising a finger with each added requirement. "I don't want anything too -flashy-, either."


Meiya walks along with Kaname, seems like it'sbeen forever since they went out like this. She lifts a hand to her collar to cool herself for a moment. She wonders where Macua ran off to, she's been meaning to talk to her.

Meiya herself probably has a dresser full of swimsuits... well she got most of them from her sister, so she'd like one of her own. "Something simple, hmm." she looks up at some of the store signs. "Were you thinking of a two piece or one piece?"


Yue is present in Tokyo that day, to track down Macua for a short meeting. She has more to discuss with the Newtype that she didn't before, but she wasn't in her apartment... not to be deterred, and not really having any other time in her increasingly busy schedule to drop into Japan again, she hits the streets to try to find the green-haired gal. Along the way, she might even run into Kaname and Meiya first.


Macua Huitl had not been missing class much if at all now. Still she'd vanished after class, she'd had some things to do for Captain Jimil. So she'd got those done and she's been wandering to the mall at this point. The green-haired gal does stick out a bit in a crowd. Even with the rain bow hair colours non Japanese in the city were still not a huge part of the city's population. So yue would spot her waiting at a cross walk with a small haro with a mono eye. The small machine is bouncing up and down chirping. "Day off! Let's play! Zako!"


While she doesn't often actually go to class, preferring to gain credit through correspondence due to her busy schedule, every now and then Freijya Trettan, mysterious masked ace, makes a stop in Japan and looks /completely ridiculous/ at class, all day. Fortunately, the school day is over; as such, she's decided to go buy some new clothes, since she /really/ needs them. The same few outfits and a normal suit are getting pretty stale.

In particular, she needs a swimsuit; in truth, she needs two, as she anticipates a... change in situation, sooner than later.


Two piece, or one piece? Kaname raises a hand to her lips, mulling the thought through her head. She had no qualms with wearing a two-piece; last summer's bathing suit had been a white bikini. But plenty of this season's one piece suits felt the need to be more flashy in order to compensate for the lack of visible skin.

"I'm not sure..." she says uncertainly, gazing thoughtfully into a window display. "What do you think Sou--" She manages to stop herself, then quickly attempts a save. "So- so many people will be wearing?" A small, but nervous laugh falls from a forced smile.

Meiya wasn't on to her, was she?


Meiya glances sideways at Kaname as she makes that tiny slip. She smiles very, very slightly. "I think..." she starts "...that we should go and see how they look on you. That way you can tell if it's wwhat you're looking for."

Meiya then hears the mechanical voice of the Zako and turns her head. "Hmn...?" that hair color, "Macua?"

Yue approaches from a distance at the sound of the Zako - even amongst the rowdy, energetic ramblings of Tokyo that kind of machine and noise isn't common. They're more likely to go 'Haro', not 'Zako'. Spotting the unique head of hair is also a visual aid, which means Yue is stepping towards the Newtype.

"Macua... are you busy?" she asks, once she gets to the high school girl. She's draped in a rich purple poloneck this time, along with tight white pants. An ... odd choice for her by normal standards, but perhaps being in Tokyo's CBD is making her want to accessorize.


Macua Huitl pauses as she hears someone call he name, the Zako turns and looks in Meiya's driection bouncing up and down. "Meiya-chan! Kaname-chan!" It squeeks trying to get their attention, flaping it arm ears to get their attention.

Macua turns to Yue. "No I was planning to go do a little shopping." She pauses at Zako and turns to see what's got him so worked up. "Kaname! Meiay! Hey over here!" This might put a bit of a damper on Yue's plans.


Hearing /teenage girl shouts/ outside of the shop, Freijya covertly moves toward a window; she /has/ to know who's out there, since some of the voices seem almost... familiar, somehow. Admittedly, with school out in Tokyo, it's probably just someone from class -- nothing to worry too much about, but at least worth peeking in the general direction of, right?

In the meanwhile, she taps the back of her neck once. It seems, at least, like a harmless gesture.


"Yeah," Kaname agrees. There's no use describing what she wants; when she sees it, she'll know exactly what that perfect swimsuit is. "We'll just have to keep looking! Maybe we'll be able to find something for you too, Meiya!"

She glances up to find that her friend's distracted by something else; a moment later, she knows exactly what that is:

"Macua?"

Kaname spins around at the sound of her friend's name. "Huh? Macua's here?" It takes just a moment for her eyes to spot her; Macua's distinctive hair color makes her fairly easy to spot, even in a crowd.

But before Kaname can call her name, a girl approaches her a friend. And somehow, Kaname can't help but think she's seen the face before -somewhere-.

"Who is she?" she mummurs to herself, but she can neither place the face, nor shake the feeling that she's seen this girl before.

But a second later Macua takes notice of the duo, and calls them to join her. "Macua!" she calls out, racing towards the teal-haired girl. "We were going to invite you to come swimsuit shopping with us, but you slipped out right after school! Where did you go, anyway?"


Meiya was going to say something, but first the Zako bounces over to her. "Ah, hello Zako." she's probably seen it before. "Lets go talk to Macua, okay?" she says to the bouncing ball of Zeon happiness.

Meiya kneels down to take the Zako in her arms, and follows Kaname over to their friend, Macua, and that other person, that Meiya has never seen before.


DESTROY THE INFIDELISH EFA AND THEIR CIVILIAN POPULACE, MORE BLOOD FOR THE THRONE OF SOLIS!

But Nove Stelnum is today on important business and cannot sacrifice souls to Solis's unending hunger today. Instead, she intends to enage in a most heinous of crimes: Shopping. Of course if the prices are too high, it might only be the second most heinous of crimes: Window Shopping. And she has brought along Ouka for the ride for Nove is very interested in seeing what will look good on Ouka and there is really only one way to see--no, not the imagination! Trying on swimsuits!

Nove has pulled her hair back into a bun and pushed her shades up onto her forehead, dressed casually in shirt, shorts, and sneakers--but she stalls when she approaches the store realizing... THAT SHE AND OUKA ARE NOT ALONE!

"Woah--pretty busy today!" She says.


Yue almost freezes when Macua calls over her friends, as if the introvert in herself is screaming at her brain to just bail and retreat. But she stands her ground and looks towards the blue-haired amongst... ...well, with Meiya there, there's /two/. But she's looking at Kaname. She may have met Meiya before, but if so, only in a battlefield capacity.

"Hello, Kaname... it's been a long while," she speaks reservedly. The large metal-clad hands do serve as a more distinct reminder of the person, as well as her expressionless face. She glances back to Macua and says, "We'll speak later."


Macua Huitl says "Oh sorry I had something work related to do before I could go out. I'd just finished up, sorry for vanishing like that!" A smile starts to form at Kinemes words at this point. "Shopping for swimsuits?! I'm good for that." She can't really brush Kaname off right now, one she's a friend two it might make Kaname ask uncomfortable questions.

Zako seems to be in a good mood and it's quite happy to be picked up by Meiya too.

Macua nods to Yue and pauses for a moment thinking on something. "You should join us for the shopping Yue. It will be fun!" She's also unaware of Nove and Ouka, she's never met either face to face or had a long trek battle with them, so it's doubtful she'll notice them. She does remember their voices from the radio but visually she has no clue for either.


Oh, she thinks, after a few seconds -- it's Macua, Kaname, Yue, Meiya... this is an unusually familiar group of people. She starts to move outside to greet them... and that's when she spots Ouka and Nove. The former she doesn't know, but the latter... Should she even go out there, she wonders, briefly? Is it worth the inevitable -- complications?

... Yes, she eventually answers herself, slowly poking her head out of the shop. "... It figures," she says. "You guys -- are from Jindai, too, right?" She tries her best to be as inconspicuous as a person with a big fruity mask can be.

Which is not very.


And suddenly, it all comes back to her. "Hey, it's you! Yue, right?" Then, Macua's words confirm it. "You should come shopping with us, it's going to be--"

And then an unfamiliar voice behind her calls out; she spins around, lips curled into a smile only to find--

What seems to be a normal Jindai High student dressed in uniform wearing a totally abnormal mask.

Kaname blinks, her mouth slightly agape. "Uh..." A moment later she recovers, the ends of her lips forced into a smile. "Yeah! Well, most of us are, anyway." She clears her throat. "I'm Kaname Chidori, student council vice president. Umm," she hesitates. "You aren't one of the new first-years, are you?"

She definitely would have remembered any student dressed like -this-.


"Oh yeah, true enough, it is that time." Nove admits, "Do you want to try and find another place?--but this is one of the better stores in terms of selection." With regards to Ouka, who does not (apparently) get out a lot, Nove is the sort of person who drags people kicking and screaming outside. She doesn't neccessarily do this physically, but she has mastered the art of pouting--if she was younger it'd be more effective but that isn't to say that she hasn't trained hard in the arts of looking pathetic to get someone to go somewhere they would otherwise not go on their own. If Ouka and Nove remain friends, she'll probably be taking Ouka outside a lot, Ouka will be too busy to go, or Ouka will get very good at stealth operations.

She is about to add more when she sees Freijya. She assumes she's talking to the actual Jiddai students but, really, she's shocked to see someone dressed like that while shopping for swimwear. It's...totally inappropriate!

Frowning at Freijya she outright says it, "I hope you're at least taking that thing off while trying on the outfits." She crosses her arms skeptically, "I mean...it's just weird!"


Meiya takes in Yue briefly, "Hello, I'm Meiya Mitsurugi." that name isn't on EFA combat roster at all, nope.... okay thats a lie.

Meiya turns back to the store as Kaname turns around to look at Freijya and that mask. "..." her reaction isn't all that different then Kaname's "Ah, uhm... Hello."

MAn, who wares a mask like that?


Yue spots Nove out of the corner of her eye as well - like Freijya, she does not recognize the green-haired lady she's traveling with, but by association... her mind crunches as her hands prepare for Trouble, and make it Double.

... speaking of Freijya, Yue has to devote some time to staring blankly at her. Last they met, sure, they were in a resupply facility, freshly out of duty... but all the time? How uncanny.

The invitation from Kaname and Macua to go shopping makes her inner monologue scream again, although she then spots the one true weakness that will melt Yue Rohay's heart: '50 PERCENT SLASHED CLEARANCE SALE ALL STOCK MUST GO'.

"... certainly," she politely speaks. "Yue Rohay. A pleasure to meet you."


I, Ouka thinks, may be the oldest person here. She could play off the cousin from a different country angle... however, Nove commits her to a lie. Very well, there is nothing for it. "Hello." She greets Butterfly Rider in a diplomatic fashion. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Do you two know each other very well?"


"I'm new, but not first year -- I'm a class ahead of you, I think. Or maybe the same? It's... kind of complicated," the mysterious masked woman says, when asked. "I'm Freijya Trettan -- usually I take classes by correspondence, since I'm a test pilot assigned to the Archangel." God, she thinks -- I feel /ridiculous/ saying all this."

She then turns to Nove, narrowing her eyes a little. "Yes, I /do/," she half-spits. "I'd like to show the world my face... but until I've secured the future I'm seeking, this is the way it has to be. ... at all times."


Goddamn, she thinks, this is some melodramatic bullshit I have to say.
Macua Huitl looks at Freyijya for a moment a mask? She's just not going to ask. She wonders why a fellow student is doing a Char impression but really is she one to talk given she cosplays from time to time her self?

"Sure I'll come I do need a new swimsuit for this summer my self."

So shall we get going? We got swimsuits to get right? Don't worry to hard about it, Kaname She's not hurting anyone."


Goddamn, Nove thinks, when'd she get so melodramatic? Well, if she's being melodramatic, then she should probably be melodramatic too.

"Very well..." Nove fans out an arm to the side with a SWOOSH! "Chara Aznable, the Midnight Butterfly!"

It could be worse, though. You could be Chara Soon.

"Oh yeah," Nove adds to Ouka, "I tried to take her prisoner but she punched me in the gut! So we're real close." She makes an OK sign with her hand before turning back to Freijya--but not before taking note of that /sale/ sign. Hm hm hm!

"But you see we too are here for the future, Masked Warrior! For there will be no beach party tommorow if there is no swimsuit today."


"Oh, so /that's/ why I haven't seen you around," she says. Still, it's pretty weird how many pilots seem to be attending Jindai High. There's no telling if there's any more that she doesn't know about.

The Nove pipes in; maybe the whole mask thing /is/ pretty weird, but there's no need for /that/ sort of reaction! Who does she think she is, anyway?!

"Hey, do you go around just voicing your opinion to everyone like that? If she wants to wear the mask, then it's /her/ perogative! It's none of your business!"


Meiya looks back and forth as Freijya and Nove start getting melodramatic, and just a tiny bit confusing. "Ah..."

Meiya offers gently "There might be... a good reason for it as well."


Well. That's a bit needlessly melodramatic. Ouka can not help but wonder... seriously, what the bloody hell is /with/ that mask? No, seriously, why a butterfly? Why not... a mask? "Oh, I see." Ouka replies mildly, having become somewhat accustomed to Nove's strangeness by this point.

She shrugs a little at Meiya. She doesn't get it either.


Yue is just going to steer absolutely clear out of this one. Her MO is keeping a low profile, just about the direct opposite of what Freijya is doing! She gestures towards one of the bins to try to grip people's attention off the mask.

"Weren't we all here to sample the new summer fashions?" she throws out, as a topic change. The young Gundam-esque pilot reaches into a bin without looking and pulls up... a ruffled 'whipped cream'-colored thumbnail bikini, and stares flatly at it. Then throws it back in the bin.

"Good grief."


Macua Huitl just isn't going to even go there on the mask, it is best not to. Nove's comments just about get her to laugh out loud. But some how she manages not to." She pauses looking at Nove, prisnor? Oh dear. Distraction time. "Shall we go get the swimsuits people?"



"Huh?" Nove asks, "Well..." She adds after a while, "...It isn't my business at all, so what?" She doesn't seem sorry in the slightest of impunging on Freijya's secret night life. Then again, she actually knows the reason so maybe she's just giving Freijya a hard time because she can.

"Anyway, what's your favorite color?" Nove asks, intending to actually step inside the store. After all, they could GLOWER at the EVIL EFA forever but it'd be better if they had shopping bags filled with things to buy while they do it. That's just science.


That's a little /too/ much melodrama, Nove.

"My name, like I /said/, is Freijya Trettan," she says, before heading back into the store as everyone else starts coming in. "And, uh -- thanks, miss... uh... damn I feel like I should know your name, you're a class president, right?" At least she isn't /completely/ oblivious to how things are done at Jindai High, it seems.

"I hadn't picked anything out, but I like pink and red a lot." Red Comet fangirl.



"Kaname Chidori," she says, her voice still tense with anger. "I'm in class 3-B." As of April of this year, she's officially a high school senior. "Macua and Meiya are in the same class," she says, gesturing to the two other girls around her.

As the others move into the building, Kaname turns to the others. "So," she says, more cheerful now that Nove has slipped away. "Any luck finding anything in the sale bin?"

Meiya nods hello to everyone she's introduced to, pauses at Freijya again, thinking she looks kind of familiar, but there is shopping to be done. "Will you really get what you're looking for int he bargin bin?" she asks Kaname.


Sometimes you have to concede that your test subjects are human. This doesn't mean letting them run wild, it just means letting Ouka shop for them. Failing that, letting them shop for themselves and get the mandated hour-per-month of social interaction time. So it is in a chattering throng of pre-pubescent boys and girls that Adler Koch wanders through a shopping plaza. He's in a hooded robe and looks, honestly, a bit like a druid. Around him, his subjects, children from the New School, chatter to themselves. They are all heavily armed, and their suits are parked conveniently using the G Gundam Method (inside nearby monuments or fake monuments, like the World's Largest Y, which has sprung up in a cardboard backdrop stage-town nearby for the express purpose of said concealment).

Adler Koch meanders past clothing stores, settling his lazy and elderly body on a bench while thirty young people (assumably a class on a field trip, to any investigating eye) dash off to stores in different directions. He's not worried about defection, that's why the God of Mad Scientists made cortex bombs. Adler had invested them all with a small amount of money and "Big Sister's" general location. They would pick up clothing and the minimum of social interaction which might keep THIS class from going the way of the Latunes. Slowly, Koch creeps toward a nearby vending machine and puts in some coins, pressing the button for Neo Diet Coke and watching the distribution of students throughout the plaza.

Yes, diet. He's that evil.


Having full, and free, reign of some of the Zeon's budget.. or rather, Glemy's pocketbook, Elpeo Puru currently bursts out of a toystore, holding a rubber bath frog - it floats on the top of the water of the bath! Just one of the few things that'll actually get use for her.. or at least, might get the most use.

"Purupurupurupuru~! Now let's get me a new suit froggy! Heehee!" She barrels towards the swimsuit store holding the frog above her head. "Let's make it purple with spots all around it!" She doesn't notice the other, more adult shoppers and their older, more adult problems.

She's just focused on the scraps of cloth that seem to be necessary for baths. For real, why do they even worry about things like that? The water and bubbles will TOTALLY cover and clothing so what's the point? Geeze! At least they'll so let her everywhere with water if she wears one of these!

She staggers when she senses Macua, eyes widening as yet another needle like force interacts with her. "Oooh.. Is SHE here too? Maybe I can still get that bath if she is! .. Kinda feels different though, huh Froggy?" Yep, it's still held over her head.



A lot of the outfits in this bin don't seem to be the most fashionable. In fact, most of them appear to be last season's outfits, likely dug out of some back room where they'd been since they were clearanced last fall. The few that looked almost reasonable weren't Kaname's size, so it didn't take long before she came to the same conclusion as Yue.

"Oh, nothing really." Though in actuality, a lot has happened. Between moving from second to third year and everything that had happened on the Tuatha Dé Danann, it was about the biggest understatement of the year. "Just schoolwork, really. And student council elections."

A beat.

"What about you? Have you been okay?"



Nove Stelnum is moving into the store so it's not really leaving the others if they, too, are moving into the store. She has already gotten to pushing through a variety of swimwear which ranges from modest, to, well--the alternative, though Nove apparently doesn't find too much interest into outfits that are TOO skanky but she is perfectly okay with revealing swimwear because she's not a tsundere (Kaname).

She isn't going to pretend to be a student of Jindai like other soldier between thirteen and twenty, though. Instead, she perks up, hearing the faint sound...of Puru.

"Mm." She says.



The children mill around, a few of Adler's kids seeing Puru running around with the frog over her head and looking definitely envious. As one, a whole group of Bronzos turn to Adler Koch, and make The Face. Adler Koch mentally reproaches himself for any concession to the tiny puppy eyes, but, sighing, he opens a shovel purse and takes out some extra credits. Handing the Boosted Children and Coordinators an addition to their allowance, he allows them to go buy froggy pool toys of their own, in various colors. This process (given the soulless stare of most School Kids) may terrify the store owners.

Adler Koch sips his coke and leers around the mall at random.


Macua Huitl pauses and mutters under her breath without thinking about it. "Purupurupuru." She then realiss a moment later as she senses the source of that stray urge. She pauses looks about. Is there another newtype around here? She's pretty sure there is but they are not hostile! That's a welcome change, from say like going near the man from jupiter.

Macua is looking about through several swimsuits having left the bargain bin her self. "Humm Yue? Kaname! Meiya! I think I found some good ones here." She holds up a two piece in Kaname's size. "Kaname I think this one might fit you!" Macua's also picked out a few of her own by this point. She's also very unaware of Adler and his swarm of school kids.


Meiya shuffles away from the bargin bin, especially since a lot of people seem to be crowding it. She looks over at the racks of this year's fashions. She pulls out a white two piece with a brass colored ring holding the center together, and another ring on each hip. "What about something like this?" she holds it up to Kaname.



Elpeo doesn't even notice the gaggle of others nearby Koch, too focused in her quest for a swimsuit. There are many things in the way of this thought - Nove deep within the store tells her she's within! She can't SEE her though, and in her odd, bellyless clothing, Elpeo looks left and right, twisting her body about to peer away from some racks. "Awww they're all in the way! Can ya see her froggy?" She has it peek over, but no, he does not tell her.

She takes it as no. "Then if she's inside, we better find her!" Holding the frog up, Elpeo barrels into the store, pushing aside a few people who are standing there - and coming onto Macua, Kaname and Yue's group. "Puru PuruUUU~!" She cries happily, stopping.. Aw, they're in the way. Elpeo takes a moment and ...

Dives right in, pushing and squeezing past them. "Get outta the way! Heehee!" Pushing past, Elpeo finally finds Nove. She saw her before, after all. "Nove! You are here! Thought I'd never find ya!" A swimsuit drapes over her, rustled free from her barreling through.


"Well I was already--" Nove begins, taking the swimsuit over Elpeo's shoulder and setting it back on a rack since that, really, isn't exactly the one she seems to be looking for.

"There." She says eventually, "Now purple, right? One piece or two piece? Or do you want something with a bit more flavor?"

She rifles through the options for a while before pulling free what appears to be a purple one piece with little white flower designs pushing down one side. "Oh I like this one." She says, though she might just be saying this to encourage Elpeo.

Not that she really needs more of it, anyway.


Kaname opens her mouth to give her opinion on the proferred suits. "They look--" But before she get it all out, a little girl barrels right past them. "--nice," she manages to get out, shooting /a look/ at the little girl who rushed towards Nove. Kids these days!

"Let me see," she mummurs, carefully examining the chosen swimsuits, a hand pressed against her chin thoughtfully. "All right!" she declares. "I'll try on this one first!"

It's the swimsuit Meiya's selected, a two-piece swimsuit in white. "I'll be right back!"


Adler Koch watches as the Schoolkids come gambolling back with a horde of froggies of their own. Their soulless little eyes glare around, as if challenging the universe to mock their particular frog. Then, they set out on errands to buy functional clothing of their own. Koch had stopped instituting a general School uniform during outings, to lessen the chance of identification. The frogs are all piled on the bench next to Koch, so the kids can have their hands free. Moreso than ever, Adler now looks like some kind of crazy frog man.

His kids, with meticulous efficiency, dash to clothing stores, but none go for bathing suits. Koch's bench is down the plaza a bit from the bathing suit store into which Elpeo just ran, but he can see that store, along with others, and spends some time observing the mall at large.

"If you frown all the time," Nove tells Kaname, "And butt into everybody's business, then you're going to look like you're 80 by the time you're 40." She rifles through some more suits. She doesn't notice poor old man Koch.


Macua Huitl uses a G Fighter unit at times, her sense of modesty is a bit different from Kaname's it seems but then suddenly? It is a Puru! she goes diving through. She nearly falls over at this. She manages to recoer by grabbing on to the nearest rack of clothing. "... Hey pleas ebe careful!" She calls out at Puru. She looks over to Yue and nods. "Like compairing the Nether Gundam to a real Gundam Fighter Gundam." She's a bit of a mech geek but prehaps it's also her pride as a gundam fighter who knows? Though Puru seems to have no malaice she was just after the suit she wanted it seems. Kids these days. She's still diging and says, "I think I got one I'll try on now." She's also heading to the back with her chosen suit, it's a dark green two piece from the looks of it. As for oldman Kotch she just thinks it's some summer camp deal or school trip. Japan can be a strange place after all.


URGH! Kaname feels her forehead tense with anger; her fists are clentched at her side. What is she doing, saying something like that?!

She takes a deep breath; it's these deep breaths that keep her from going completely haywire on Sousuke when he blows up the lockers or booby traps the school bread sold at lunch. And while her anger hasn't completely dissipated, it has been qualmed... if own slightly.

"If you can't say anything nice," Kaname says, her nose in the air. "You shouldn't say anything at all!"

And then, she proceeds to the dressing rooms after Macua.


"Ya shouldn't have blocked the way!" Puru calls back.

Turning her head to the swimsuit that's pulled off her, Puru puts the frog under her arm, nodding. "Yeah! Purple! ... Uhm.. Hmm. One piece! Cause I don't want to lose it or anything!" Though the next matter of suit finding draws her attention, "It's not like we're gonna eat it or anything so just take the normal one alright?"

She looks around a bit herself, peeking at the various swimsuits that they have all over. It's when Nove actually picks one for her that Elpeo seems attracted to - for a variety of reasons. "Oh this one's nice! It's purple and it's like I'll be a water lily!"

Nove's sass is sass'd back to. Puru turns to look at who - glancing at Kaname. "She's only tryin' ta help! Your face looks funny like that anyways!" The Puru giggles, watching her storm off.


"... hn," is all that comes out of Yue as Puru crashes into her. She steps aside, the slightest bit thrown off-balance, but it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference in her expression. Another... very bizarre... children, of which there seem to be many.

Yue doesn't really comprehend the Gundam Fight, so Macua's comment comes off more like a playful jab at the Netherlands more than anything, and she winds up nodding silently as she listens to her speak about the difference in quality.

She also reserves some internal surprise at Kaname's build-up, unaware that she can turn from cheerful into a raging inferno in quite a short time! Then she stares Puru talking to Nove, definitely confident that they know each other... another Divine Crusader?

"I apologise, Kaname, Macua, Meiya, but I must depart now. Duty calls," Yue remarks softly, starting away... before glancing back at them for a while longer. She has an empathising look on her face, before she departs on out the store and passes the hooded man on her way out... staring back for a while, and then away.


"It's true!" Nove shouts after Kaname. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that if you keep your face like that, it'll freeze that way?!"

When she's gone she laughs righteously, murmuring towards her, "She's pretty fun--and fun to tease. But you have to be careful or she'll totally freak out. Keep it light and it's endless entertainment."

She lets Elpeo hold onto the suit and adds, "How many do you need?"


Macua Huitl gives Yue a wave, she needs to talk to her later still and she shal not forget. Zako will likely pester her if she does. For now she's got a dark green bikini to try on. She heads into the change room and well? Changes out of her clothing into the swimsuit and comes out. She's going to get Meiya's and kaname's input on this one.

At about the time Kaname gets out of the changing room, Macua would be bending over to pick up her back of clothing, her hair bands off for once and her hair's going lose. Kaname would likely catch a glimse of a tatoo on the other girl's neck two actually. One's a serial number like string of digits the other's a bar code of some sort. "So Kaname what beaches were you planning to hit and you know? There's a resort colony I know of..."

Grinning wide, the Puru listens in, leaning towards Nove, and nodding as Nove goes on to explain the do's and don'ts of the Kaname. Fun to tease, check, but within reason.. check. Endless entertainment!? "Hooray! I'm gonna take care not to then!" She explains, giggling, as she holds up the suit with the non-frog filled arm.

"Hmm.. Two'll be perfect! Uhm.. maybe a red one this time!" This might be to give to .. Puru TWO.

So she'll join her in the bath! She still doesn't notice anything beyond Macua's sense. "That girl here is kinda weird. I can feel something from her.. I bet she'd be fun to play with! Heehee."

This could mean anything from 'shoot at' to actually play with though.


URGH! Kaname's fists clentch even tighter at her side as she storms to the dressing room; thankfully, after a few minutes of examination in the mirror from a variety of different angles, she decides that this one is it. It is /the one/.

It's not often that Kaname finds something that looks nice on her on the first try.

Kaname slips out of the dressing room right before Macua, the swimsuit draped over one arm. "Oh, Macua!" she greets the other girl. It's only when she turns that she catches sight of the tattoo on her neck, which until now had been obscured by her hair.

"I didn't know you had a tattoo."

Adler Koch's children have, by now, fetched most of their supplies and clothing, and bustled back for their frogs. Rising slowly from his bench, Koch begins to make toward the door, one hand on the head of a small child, ostensibly ruffling her hair. In actuality, he's restraining one of the kids who's begun to come out of her heavily medicated daze. The Bronzo pairs march in front, followed by some others, and they all march in unison.

Koch thinks to himself that it might be a good idea to someday invest them all with subterfuge talent. Then he spots a sweet shoppe. It's one of those dingy little Chocolate Shop places that charge a lot for chocolate that is more than worth the money, and Koch's German heritage calls to him from deep within.

Stalking over to it, Koch allows one concession, letting the kids pour inside. After all, a diet consisting solely of nutrient paste was one mistake he'd made with the Old School. then he begins to look among the chocolates for something of his own, the owners of the shop mentally balancing between dismay at overcrowding and the potential profit to come from so many frog-children.

BEWARE, KANAME, BEWARE...YOUR IMPENDING DOOM!

"Oh I /see/." Nove assumes it's for the clone, but if she gets a swimsuit similar to Puru Two's, Puru Two will destroy her. But if she gets one that Elpeo doesn't like, Elpeo will destroy her. IT LOOKS LIKE NOVE STELNUM IS IN A PICKLE! But rest assured, she's a trained pro!

Nove filters through the suits before opening her mouth to add something, when SUDDENLY.

"AHH!! KIDVASION!" She yelps.




Macua Huitl humms nearly bolds up and hits her head on the wall with how fast she's moving. "Wait what yattoo?!" She pauses thinks and then finally realises what Kaname's talking about. "Oh! Those umm err I forgot about them honestly. Yes I do have a pair of tatoos." She's trying to not be too evasive on this but not give away the real answer at least in public. Also there was something strange about that girl who dove through her and Kaname too.

"Well there's not much to say I can't even remeber why I got them or even where. Also, that looks good on you Kaname. I think you might be turning heads a bit in that one." Yes distract, distract!


Suddenly, the budget for the episode is increased and with it, Ouka steps out of the background animations to start herding children as if she were a shepard.

"No... not that one." "Try this one." "No running. Dr. Koch will be angry." Nove is forgotten amidst the sea of children. The children, oddly enough, react well to Ouka's presence and her orders are met with a dutiful, 'Yes, big sister' almost every time.


"You don't... remember?" Kaname's tone is skeptical, and her expression reflects this. It's pretty hard for her to believe that someone can't remember getting a tattoo--well, unless they were very highly intoxicated. Somehow, Kaname doubts that Macua's much of a drinking type.


The Puru nods to Nove, looking up to her with great big eyes, smiling up - clearly she has found her swimsuit - so clearly she will be able to help her!

The day is saved by th-

And Elpeo is swept away with the kids. "This isn't fun! Stop pushing! Watch where you're going!" It's only as Ouka intervenes that Elpeo Puru is saved from drowning in the sea of children tossing her about - she's only ten y'know, so while she might be their age, they have alot more of them.

"Oh! Hi!" She waves to Ouka, "Ya saved me so lets be friends! I'm Elpeo Puru, nice to meet'cha!"

Koch digs in to a large piece of caramel fudge, having tucked a variety of chocolate truffles into a pouch at his waist. The druid-looking Doctor observes Ouka's shepherding with a faint smile. It's saving him work, and the Aurum Class is at least intensely loyal... if unaccountably frivolous. "Well, this isn't the EFA any more. My results don't need to conform to their rigorous results process. Unmanned units will replace them anyway... I suppose they can be allowed to be "human"." Adler mutters this to himself, shuffling back to his bench to let the kids do their shopping. Observation is high on his list of personal scientific obligations, and so Koch observes...

Especially Elpeo and Macua for some reason.


When they come for you, Nove thinks, they see right through your flesh and bones for soon you'll be their home! Guess that reference and you win a free mastery!

Nove Stelnum is probably not very interesting to Adler Koch which is, for once, something Nove is glad for someone to not be interested in her. She looks up from her suit-shifting towards Elpeo and Ouka and laughs. "You're a savior, Ouka!"

She taps her teeth with her fingernail, thinking--she still has to find one for Ouka too. Nove thinks she'd pull off a good black but they have come too far for a plain bathing suit!


Ouka glances towards Dr. Koch for a moment, with the faintest of smiles. And to think, just ten years ago this was the little girl that had the audacity to kick him in the shin and try to run away. The wonders of science truely never cease.

As Ouka turns her attention back to the children, that soft smile brightens a bit. She places a hand on Elpeo's left shoulder and replies, "Alright then. It's very nice to meet you, P--" She's self-interrupted so she can turn and scoop up a particularly young child in her arms. "I told you, no running. Okay?" She gives Nove a faint chuckle.



Perhaps it is best that Puru doesn't notice old guys watching - wait, yes she does, turning as if she almost knows he's watching..

She blows a raspberry right towards his direction. Chances are, she'd still knee-cap him, how Ouka did before. Double to nothing it's pre-determined.

Creeepy guy looking at her? That's a problem. Nove comes though, and Elpeo grins up at her. "Yep! She sure is!" Elpeo agrees, without such a dilemma that Nove faces, to find yet another swimsuit.

"Mhmm! Nice too meet ya too! .. But my name ain't P! It's Puru! Elpeo Puru." She corrects Ouka, suddenly cross that Ouka decided to give that rugrat more attention than her, while she's right infront of her!


Meiya waits outside the dressing room, having not picked out her own swimsuit yet, because of freaking lag.... ahem. She looks out across the store and sees and old man leering at the dressing room (IE: Macua) she narrows her eyes slightly.


"The heightened management skills make her a competent childcare professional. I should consider that in the manning charts for the New School...Or sell Boosting courses to make parents competent." Koch takes a moment to reflect... if only he could have Boosted daddy and mommy to make them love him more. Cold memories of root cellars and old science textbooks make the Doctor's blood momentarily go cold.

Adler is muttering into a small tape recorder now. Pulling the robe closer, he leans back on the bench and stows said recorder. Then, he opens a small case taken from his pocket and begins to write on a screen with a digital stylus. He's evidently taking notes. On a bench outside the store, he leers into the crowds of children, at Ouka, at Macua, at Meiya, and at the area in general, still reflecting on wholesome childhood experiences that could never be...


Nove is oblivious to Adler until it becomes apparent that someone (Meiya) is staring at him. She glances between Ouka and Adler, surprised--does Ouka...actually like Adler Krotch!? Maybe she just likes the kids, she thinks--she probably sticks around so they can have nurturing that isn't from a guy who puts toddlers into two pieces.

"So!" She says, "Didn't find a red one I liked yet, but what do you think of this?" She holds up a black one piece, with a thin red stripe zigzagging around it. It's not predominately red, however, so she must not think it's appropriate for PURU TWO but maybe Ouka Nagisa?!

She glances to Adler again, figuring the lolis are with him. Does he know, she wonders, about the previous problem and her involvement or is he just, like, pissed off at Chibodee?


Macua Huitl has a feeling something horrible is watching her. It's not KAname either she also makes up her mind she needs to stop lying to her friend and soon. Even if it costs her friendship with Kaname. "I don't remeber I really don't." She knows likely where she got them but doesn't remeber.

Unaware that Adler and the school was here, she knows at least on DC pilot was here but hey she's not causing trouble so why pick a fight right? Side's she's got other things to worry about.

"I really don't remeber Kaname."


Kaname bites her lower lip, her expression concerned. Now that she thinks about it, it's all a little weird. Macua's sudden appearance, her frequent disappearences... But she's not going to push the subject any more than she has already!

"Oh," she says, forcing a smile, as she turns; now it's her turn to change the subject. "Meiya's looking at us! I wonder if she found a swimsuit that /she/ likes."


"I suppose that..." Ouka begins, but is cut off by the squirming child in her grasp. She sets him down and he gets two running steps before Ouka sternly orders, "Walk." and recieves instant compliance. Two years, she thinks. That one will last two years or less. He reminds her of Aurum-17. In a way, they all remind her of someone else. A name and a face committed to memory over the years. She's retroactively assigned nicknames to those that didn't survive long enough to get a nickname from Dr. Cero. She hasn't told anyone about that, the thought is a 'deviant' one and Ouka has long learned what to withhold from Drs Koch and Setme.

But, still, as her amber eyes sweep about the room, Ouka forces herself into a brief moral quandry; does she know these children well enough? They've started giving her more responcibilities, including as an instructor. Her relationship with this class... it isn't the same as it was with the Ferrums, the Bronzos, the Latoonis, and the other two classes. She knows that in six years, perhaps three of these children will be alive. They will need help, help that only she was able to give the younger Children before... is she too old now? Do they really see her as their 'Big Sister', or do they see her as another adult and only call her that because she told them to? How many will be comforted if she holds their hand while they die? She doesn't dorm with them now; how will they know that it's okay to cry themselves to sleep at night? Whom will be there that isn't crying themselves to sleep at night to be looked up to if she isn't?

"...alright." Ouka concludes to Nove a moment later. Ouka's life carries on and she is unphased. This became routine years ago. "You should try that blue one over there."


Glancing at the black and red one piece, Elpeo takes some time, focusing on it - hmmmmm. She doesn't realize it might not be Puru Two though, and certainly pays much attention to it!

Holding the frog and the dress - Elpeo can feel .. something from Ouka, as she is silent. There's a bit of an inching away, before Elpeo tosses a good amount of money away and takes both suit and frog, and begins to pull away. "Alrighty I got what I need so I'm goin' to find what else I came for byyyyyyyyyye!"

Gosh, Ouka has that weird feeling and she's just so hard to talk with! Elpeo runs out of the store, happily going to the next part of her /shopping extravaganza/.

Meiya snaps out of her little world, and looks away from from Adler - she gets the feeling she needs to be weary of him. She hasn't been spending much time looking for a swimsuit, but there is a white halter top style that catches her eye... she probably needs the extra support, all things considered.


"Uh--?" Nove blinks as Elpeo pulls out. What's her deal, she wonders, not being able to read into Ouka's internal dialogue as well. She knows those kids are in a pretty screwy position but the TRUE HORRIBLE TRUTH of the School isn't something she really is cognizent of. She can tell that Ouka has some level of care for them but, then again, that was pretty obvious from her interactions with Seolla and Arado--that she still...

"Uh, sure!" She says, "You really like the kids, don't you?" She hands Ouka the suit she picked out for her and pulls out the blue one she thinks Ouka is referring to. Nove likes modest suits and unmodest suits both but she hasn't really had much time to get a wardrobe going and she's been trying to save what money she's earned. There's a little pink star along the abdomen of the suit.

"Hey I like this one. Nice pick!" She tells Ouka, sensing something going on behind those eyes but Ouka keeps her cards fairly close to her chest.

Macua Huitl realises the force smile she makes up her mind she's going to tell Kaname the truth sometime this week. Whatever the cost. She does a little spin unaware of the horror going on outside. She comes out in the dark green bikini and calls out. "So Meiya what do you think? Kaname likes the onw you picked."


"Hmmm," Kaname says, hand raised to her chin as she examines her friend from head to toe. "You know," she says, after a brief appraisal. "I think I like it. It looks good on you!"


The elderley doctor waves the children in his direction once their purchases are made, and begins ambling toward the door with the horde around him, leaving Ouka on her own. So, very, alone.


Meiya looks up from the suit she was looking at, and smiles at Macua. "You certinaly like green. It looks good on you though." she holds up the white halter suit and holds it against herself "What do you two think of this one?"


"Of course." Ouka replies. "How could I not?" But she's withholding part of the truth. Every child that survived the School had something to cling to desperately, something to keep them alive. Arado and Seolla had each other. Latooni had Ouka. Allenby had the Gundam Fight. Ouka had the addictive, unconditional love of every Child younger then her to keep her going, if only for their sake.

"They're my little brothers and sisters, how could I not?" Ouka follows through, picking up a bathing suit. It's green, her color. "Hmmm... well... maybe something a little more conservative." She replies, placing the bathingsuit back down.

"Well," Kaname begins, eyes running over the suit; it certainly is fashionable! "It looks good to me. Macua," she turns to her classmate, "what do you think?"


"I dunno I've seen lots of families fight." Nove admits, "Never had a sister or brother myself but even though we usually love our families the most we also sometimes want to choke them or hit them with a bat."

"But the black one's conservative!" Nove whines, "You have to live a little, or you'll just regret all the things you didn't do when you die." She says this, of course, as if speaking from experience. And she definitely uses the word /when/. She seems to like the Blue one. Her favorite color is obviously red though. OR IS IT? She just pilots red mechs exclusively almost as if she's trying to emulate someone.

"I'll even pay for it so you don't have to feel bad if you don't like it."

Macua Huitl says "Shall we pay for them and I like it. Also why not the suits are on me." Macua grins a little bit at this.