recolle | (no subject)

WHO: Okita Souji and you!
WHERE: Cabaret Club Sunshine / Black Lion Bakery / Park
WHEN: September 9 onwards.
WHAT: Sakura's moping at the perceived loss of her girlfriend to some alternate world bs. (Like with all sorrows, its only temporary.)
WARNINGS: Drinking, possible violence. Huge akitas.

Cabaret
[ Sakura's got her head down against the table in a booth somewhere in Majima's cabaret. In front of her looks to be a table full of appetisers as if to offset the giant bottle of sake she's got there. Beside her in the booth is a fancy looking wooden bokken in its sheathe as if it were her drinking companion.

She's not really one for drinking, but she understands it has its uses. ]

Stupid Aki...

[ she hiccups into her arms. The red tinge on her face may indicate that she's a little tipsy, but not completely gone. ]

I regret falling in love!

[ wails Sakura to the whole club, looking up with tears in her eyes. ]

Bakery

[ Sakura loves dogs - she can't place it, but she has a special affinity for them. Even if they are big, huge and somewhat spoiled.

During a nice, warm day she takes Akita Souji around for a walk. And when she's satisfied that Souji's gotten her daily dose of exercise, she takes her to the Black Lion Bakery so that she can get a snack and Souji can have a treat herself.

It's a great day for people watching and playing mobile games, so she idly taps the screen on her phone - half paying attention to it, but more gazing off into the distance and watching people. Occasionally she'll take a sip out of her coffee but she seems not entirely here.

Her dog on the other hand, is a floof of boundless energy and will happily go up to people, annoy them and generally look for pets. ]

Park

[ When she couldn't stand staying in her apartment when she wasn't at work, she heads to the park with her bokken and her gym uniform. The park lends itself to be a decent training locale because of the large open spaces. She wasn't going to hit any one, nobody found it particularly strange and she could practise her slices and strikes without interruption until she got tired.

She's going through the motions - her heart isn't really in any of the downward slashes she's doing, but each one is clean and precise. Sakura raises her sword, concentrates for a minute and stops before looking at her bag. Inside there was a real sword. She wasn't sure whether she was scared to use it, because now that the adrenaline had stopped coursing through her every time she used it, Sakura bordered on apprehensive. Who was she in a past life? There was no way that plain old Sakura Fujiwara would have -- ]

Guh --!

[ The memory hits her like a train - which was where she was in. The carriage was narrow and long, swaying ever so gently in the night. But the air was tense - Sakura had her sword raised as if primed to strike. She sensed danger.

At the other end of the carriage was a woman, floating in the air as if with some magic. She laughed imperiously, cackling as she pressed her advantage. The bullets on the ground and the matchlocks floating in the air next to her opponent seemed to suggest that she dodged a torrent of them heading her way. ]

One strike is all I need...

[ With a singlemindedness, Sakura dashed towards the other woman with her outstretched sword. She had to be fast, she had to strike while her opponent was revelling in their circumstance. There was no time to laugh!

She closed the distance with a lightness of being that she could barely get to grips with, like her feet barely made contact with the earth beneath her. The point of her sword inched forward and with one precise strike, she aimed straight and made contact!

Her opponent let out a strangled yell. Was she really not... expecting the strike?

What a fool.

Sakura pressed her advantage, she couldn't stop to breathe as she thrust the sword in deeper before --

She was back in the park?

She blinked.

Somehow she had sunk to her knees, clutching the sword as if her life depended on it. Her head was swimming as she was now keenly aware of her breathing, letting the air fill her lungs.

She couldn't move. Not yet. Her legs wouldn't let her. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Sakura sits there in a daze, not sure how to process what she just seen. It was another memory, she concluded. With each memory, she really doubted who she was and her life in Recolle - which if you told her this a month before, would have been stupid.

And to think she said her girlfriend was drunk or hallucinating when she told her about these... !

Sakura doesn't immediately respond, but she does look at his direction with a blank gaze. ]

[ Well, that's probably bad, right? Kiryu steps a bit closer, leaning over Sakura and slowly waving a hand in front of her face. He's no doctor or anything, but at least she seems responsive? ]

Do you need some water or anything? Are you hurt?

[ She couldn't place it, but where has she heard this voie before? ]

You sound familiar...

[ The world felt it was slowly coming back into focus, from the sword in her hand to the ground beneath her. This was, odd. ]

I'm okay.

[ Sakura shakes her head, moves the hair out of her face but her legs still refuse to move. ]

... I'll be okay in a minute.

[ Kiryu tries to think back, maybe he's seen this girl before? Her voice sounds kinda familiar, but after the mess last month, things kind of feel like a blur. They'll figure it out. ]

That's okay, take your time.

[ He stays crouched down with her, mostly in case she needs help standing up. ]

I'm Kiryu. Have we met?

Oh... Kiryu-san. I'm Sakura Fujiwara. We talked on the phone.

[ All of this is said a little weakly, as if it was taking her a little bit to construct her sentences. These pulls into the other Sakura Fujiwara's memories were so weird, it was almost as if she got hit by a train every time one happened.

She experimentally tries standing up, and just about manages to get back on her feet while taking up Kiryu's help - mostly clinging onto his shoulder for support. ]

Oh, yeah. Fujiwara, I remember.

[ He nods in understanding, holding her steady while she regains her bearings. ]

Are you alright? Did you get one of those memories just now?

[ He's seen plenty of people space out for them... it's stopped being much of a surprise. ]

Yeah...

[ She inhales, then exhales deeply. She looks around to try and find where her sword is, and finds it at her feet. Bending to pick it up, she resheathes it before bowing to Kiryu. ]

Thank you, you didn't need to do that.

It's no problem.

[ Kiryu shakes his head and returns the bow. Even yakuza have good manners! His gaze travels from her to her sword, but he won't ask. ]

Are you gonna be okay? Was it something bad?

Umm... sorta?

[ Her being unsure about that was only because she didn't necessarily like the idea that she was a trained killer in any sense. ]

I definitely was a samurai in a past life.

[ she nods, with a renewed constitution. ]

There's no doubt about it.

[ And then after a moment's pause. ]

Sorry, that sounds really weird doesn't it?

[ Kiryu almost smirks. If Majima heard her, he'd say that was super cool. Kiryu has a little more tact though, so he just shakes his head. ]

It's not any weirder than anything else.

[ Remembering you are a yakuza is pretty high up there too. ]

Now you know for sure. That's a good thing, right?

[ That causes Sakura to sigh with relief, because it means he didn't think it was weird!! In fact, Kiryu-san's even very encouraging! ]

I guess, but I wonder... was I some sort of big shot? Or was I just a foot soldier?

[ She pauses. ]

I couldn't have been a foot soldier. I'm sure I was better than that.

[ The grip on her sheathed sword is practised, honed by the mysterious years she has lived out of training. ]

Which means I must have been someone important... aaaaaah! No no no that's even weirder!

This stuff is all pretty weird, don't feel bad.

[ Being a samurai is awesome, actually. Kiryu's retention for weirdness has always been pretty high though. ]

You might be someone famous. That would be pretty cool. [ He pauses. ] But I can see how it'd be kind of scary, too.