[open]

[imaginex]

WHO: Sakura + you; some closed threads in the comments
WHERE: Various locations in Recolle
WHEN: 3/3 and throughout the month
WHAT: Sakura's ready to drive herself into the ground with her new training regimen... also boys are stupid and so are medals.
WARNINGS: None!

I. Medal of Honor (3/3)

[And here she’d hoped to enjoy her first Founder’s Day Parade.

Being called up for the medal is as much a shock to Sakura as to everyone else, and she can hear her poor heart screaming once pushed and beckoned toward the stage. The others are there – her comrades from the tunnels, the real heroes who pulled double duty saving the Mayor and protecting her after she stupidly lost her memory – but then they’re lost in the applause and the spectacle as the crowd cheers.

The obedient smile on her face only barely passes as normal.

And once she’s got her medal? She books it down the stairs, across the pockets of people trying to congratulate her, trying very hard not to lose her temper or her tears in her bad mood, on the hunt for the first opportunity to be rid of the damn thing.

She’d love a medal… but only if she deserves it.]

II. Magecraft

[Her grasp on magic (no, magecraft) is such a fickle thing. Sometimes she’s able to call forth spells only her body seems to know, and other times the power just won’t come to her. An entire afternoon can be dedicated to making one flower move, and only the edges of the leaves will shiver.

It’d be a lot easier if she had a teacher, or at least instructions to follow. But for now she’s lacking in both and so manages the best she can on her own merits, mapping out which emotions offer the best results, or how certain nerves in her body flair to life when ordered.

Most days she practices in the park, settled underneath her favorite tree to take advantage of the sun and air, so passerbys, beware. When she’s having a particularly hard time making her potted flower move and her frustration builds, organic life-forms tend to twitch by accident. Trees shudder, the grass bends. Maybe your leg freezes up or your arm spazzes without permission.

If she knew what was going on, rest assured, she’d at least apologize.]

III. Archery

[Or perhaps you’ll find her with her bow and arrows.

It’ll likely be at the outskirts of the forest if you do find her practicing. Her pink tote bag accompanies her as always, but rather than being filled with her usual art supplies, it's stuffed with towels, bandages, extra arrows, and books on proper archery techniques. If she’s not shooting, she reads, and if she’s not reading, she shoots. Simple as that.

Given what Minato showed her, there's a heavy emphasis on shooting quickly -- as many arrows as she can manage in a span of three seconds. She'll worry about hitting targets later, and ignores how her body aches from being forced to draw back the string in rapid succession. So long as the arrows fly straight, that's a win in her book.

Occasionally she’ll get fancy with her shots (or try to), aiming higher than is advisable. Really, she doesn't know why she bothers when they always get stuck in the tree’s branches. Wonderful. But that’s just another excuse for practice; after she’s done sighing at her bad luck, she’ll place her hand on the tree and… wait? For something?

As if hoping the tree branch will shudder hard enough to dislodge her arrow so she can get back to shooting. If she fails and nothing happens, the girl gives a full-body flop on the ground like she's been shot, and sighs loud enough disrupt her bangs and wake the forest. The struggle.]

IV. Mr. Nice Guy

[But even with the endless parade of practice, practice, practice, Sakura’s still enrolled in college. That comes with its own set of expectations, though it’s not as if she dislikes it. In fact, her drawing classes are one of the few things she can love with her whole heart and not feel guilty for it.

There’s just… a problem. A 5'10" human-shaped problem with oily brown hair and a cocky smile who is always waiting for her outside the art building, and with such punctuality that she could set her watch by his inability to take a hint.

So uh, to your left, is that bush moving? That bush might be moving. And there are definitely pieces of purple hair sticking out every which way as Sakura cranes her head for a better look, just enough to keep an eye on the front door without being seen.

Don’t blow her cover if you see her, okay? Grant her this one favor, friend.]

V. Wildcard

[make your own scenario if you'd like! Or hit me up on ignitible and we can come up with something.]

Comments

I

[thesettingsun]

[Roughly one minute after the award ceremony, Sakura's phone buzzes with a text.]

Sakura. What did you do last month?

[Can you hear the judging?]

[imaginex]

[God yes she can. At least Shuji is kind enough to start this conversation in text, give Sakura a few moments to collect herself.]

I participated in a mission.

[Obviously. The Mayor said as much in his speech.]

I

[falsepretentious]

[Byakuya had returned to the city not long before the Founder's Day festivities began. He barely had time to clean up and change into something nice - the suit he had from his other life. And yet, he managed to get there in time to witness the medal ceremony.

As Sakura was called up, he grinned and joined in the applause. ...Only to be puzzled as she practically made a run for it. She ran right past him, but he almost immediately attempted to call out to her.]

Sakura?

[imaginex]

[... Well, she can't just run past a friend she hasn't seen in a month, can she? For Byakuya she'll stop running, but it's with obvious effort and a very shaky smile still planted on her face.]

Byakuya-san! You're back in the city?

1

[livingimpaired]

[ Of course, he would go to the parade, as well. He has always gone to see the celebrations of the city; he is curious how it will pick itself up after the oddness that had happened. It seems like it was more-or-less business as usual until he hears Sakura's name among those that would be given a medal. He watches as she walks on stage, and it takes just a minute of observing her with the others before he leaves.

It takes some time but he finds her. One could call it luck or fate, but it may very well be a case of misfortune. In his hands, he holds a bouquet of flowers. ]

Sakura. [ He calls to her first before stepping forward. The flowers are carefully held out to her. ] For your birthday. I had intended to give you them yesterday, but I believed such a day is better spent with friends than me. [ A soft laugh. ] I also felt I should meddle just a little in giving you something slightly better than what you've just received.

So the day need not feel ruined.

[imaginex]

[She didn't make it far. The parade spans a good portion of the city, large enough to close off some of the main streets, and despite her anxieties, Sakura wasn't willing to break into a run with an audience watching her every move.

Even still, she looks surprised by Kei's appearance. The flowers earn a frozen stare, mouth pulled into a thin line until he mentions her birthday -- and in one breath she relaxes, taking the offered gift with her usual softness back in place.]

Thank you... They're beautiful.

[And yes... she does like flowers much more than the medal still gripped in her hand like a stone to be thrown in the lake. Her smile turns with slight embarrassment]

I hope I didn't seem... ungrateful on stage.

I

[sunnymerc]

[Soleil is not sure of the details of this 'rescue mission' or how Sakura relates to it. It's concerning, to be honest. Soleil left to play hero only to leave someone important to her in danger here.

But that doesn't matter right now.

What matters is Sakura is getting a freaking medal. As the girl goes up onto stage, Soleil loudly chants SA-KU-RA! SA-KUR-RA! from the crowd before sticking fingers in her mouth and whistling, loudly, as she frantically waves her jacket over her head. She may not know the details, but she is nonetheless so proud and is making that as painfully clear as possible.]

[imaginex]

[Great googly moogly, Soleil is making her pride abundantly clear today. Sakura's face nearly lights like a firecracker and she can't get down those stairs fast enough, especially when a small portion of the crowd takes cues from her friend and also chants her name.

She knows damn well escaping is impossible with Soleil likely on the hunt for her, but... well. If she can at least escape the worst of the crowd, maybe she can make it through the conversation without having a breakdown? It's all she's asking for.

-- Though when Soleil does find her at some point, Sakura will chance a smile, waving shyly at the other]

IV

[dandyofawolf]

[He isn't sure who this person is but he does know that Sakura is hiding in the bush for some reason. He frowns as he looks between the two before quietly sneaking over to the bush to get behind her. Mostly so he can very quietly whisper to her without the guy hearing him.]

Sakura, are you hiding from him?

[imaginex]

--Biffy-san--!

[Friend she lost five years off her lifespan and would jump into the air if there weren't so many twigs in the way. After heaving in a breath, hand pressed against her chest:]

Y-yes-- I mean, no, I--

[Damn it]

It's... it's complicated.

IV

[beneathmoonlight]

[Atsushi attends college as well, and while he doesn’t normally venture over to the art building, today he’d had the opportunity to tour it in preparation for the basic art class he’ll be taking next semester. Everything is pretty much back to normal now that he’s returned home from his mission, except that he doesn’t remember the bushes around campus being able to move.

He raises an eyebrow before slowly approaching the bush and-]

Sakura-san?

[Good thing his voice is too low for the guy near the door to the art building to hear.]

Um...is everything all right?

[imaginex]

--- Atsushi-san!

[Sakura's voice, much like his, remains low in secrecy, but with the added factor of being strained with shock. How-- how did he see her? Is he a wizard?

It's also gonna look suspect for him to be talking to a bush in the middle of campus, so she hastily waves him over. She likes you, Atushi, but either join her or leave before her cover is blown]

II

[destiny_key]

[It's not unusual to see Sora walking Buck in the park at this time of day. Especially now that the weather is getting warmer and the days are getting longer, it's nice to get out and about to somewhere that isn't school. Not to mention, it's been a month since he's been able to take his dog on a nice long walk like this...

It's not really unusual to see Sakura in the park either. Her and Sora do seem to keep running into each other here. He's just about to go say hello when his leg freezes up mid-step, and down to the sidewalk he goes with a yelp.

Buck's leash slips from his grasp, and the dog yips at Sora and sniffs at him worriedly.]

Ow...

[imaginex]

[What in the--

Sakura's eyes snap away from her project, drawn toward the dog's yelling and soon after, the fact that one of her friends just collapsed on the sidewalk. She's on her feet in a heartbeat and jogging over]

Sora-san? Are you okay?

[She doesn't bother waiting for an answer, already kneeling beside him with her eyebrows knit in worry]

ii

[promisedyou]

[ The person who she manages to catch completely off guard is one green haired teenager who's just passing by, but what doesn't help is that her foot is pretty much frozen in mid-air and she's trying to move and instead she's just letting out a very loud and surprised noise.

Just screaming in her vicinity holy shit I'm so sorry. ]

[imaginex]

[Y I K E S]

M-miss?!

[That scream has Sakura on her feet immediately and nearly tripping over the potted plant still at her feet. There's a moment of frozen anxiety, she's not sure what's happened, but she assumes she has to move and so acts accordingly, rushing forward with her skirt billowing in the wind as she approaches the other girl]

Are you okay?!

I

[onemillion]

[Receiving an award in front of so many people should probably be nerve-wracking, but Rossiu finds it surprisingly easy. He probably doesn't deserve the medal as much as some of the combatants who were with them, but he's proud anyway because he did contribute to helping the mayor and the others.

But he's not blind, and Sakura's quick exit has him worried. He doesn't know her very well, but it's not hard to see that she's not taking this well for some reason. So he follows her and once the crowd has thinned a little, he speaks up.]

Are you okay?

[imaginex]

[There's a moment of honest surprise when she glances over her shoulder, noting who called out to her, and it's enough to stop her from striding further into the city. The tight grip around her medal lessens]

Rossiu-san...

[Oh, but he asked her a question, didn't he? One of her hands rises to smooth some of her hair back in order as she smiles automatically, even sheepishly.]

A little tired, I guess? I'm not really used to big crowds...

IV

[hairstroke]

[ Being a college student himself, Leon happened to pass by the art building when he stops an notices the guy with the cocky smile on his lips. Tch. He wasn't sure if that dude was a student here at this school or not, but just from a glance, he already knew that he didn't like this guy.

There's something about that arrogant smile of his that rubs him the wrong way. Not that Leon has ANY room to talk.

He's getting ready to simply ignore the creep and leave, but he stops when he notices something peculiar. The bushes were moving? Well that's odd. In an attempt not to draw the weirdo guy's attention, he stealthly makes his way over to check it out. Only to be surprised. ]

Oh? It's you.

[ He recognizes the girl, they've talked over the network a few times. This was his first time seeing her in person. However, that didn't matter too much to him at the moment. If she was hiding like this, then clearly something is wrong. He crouches down besides her, looking both curious and concerned. ]

Hey. Are you okay?

[imaginex]

[Sakura is starting to think this bush idea was not one of her brightest, especially with all the sharp sticks jabbing into her side, or how she's certain there's a spider nearby and that why she keeps having to pull bits of web from between her fingers.

-- And the fact she apparently can't hide worth a damn. Leon nearly makes her jump out of her skin, but given that he keeps his voice in a hush, she settles back down and tries to duck her head further into the bush.]


Oh yes, I'm fine! [Hahaha look at how fine she is, huddled in a plant like she's hiding from someone. Brilliant.]

I'll be sure to come out in a moment -- um, Leon-san, correct? [That's his name, right?]

V

[heritrix]

[It's March 2nd for a few hours still, and a Friday night. The address Sakura gave her leads Rin to the docks, late enough that it's starting to get quite dark out, but that was part of the idea. Rin has no idea if her sister was out celebrating tonight, and she's coming unannounced, so she's trying to find that magic hour of where a good girl like Sakura would think to be home by.

Will it work? Only one way to find out! Once she climbs up the walkway and finds a door, Rin sets some things down by her feet and knocks loudly.]

[imaginex]

[The last time Sakura went against the grain and partied, she killed the shadow version of her past live's older brother -- so damn right she's around to answer the door. Her assumption is it must be one of May's friends or acquaintances, and so her smile is polite but distant as the door swings open and she stares at the person standing in front of her.]

... Nee-san?

[The smile dies, first from disbelief and then from her wide-eyed staring, but once the truth of it hits her, she jumps with a delighted squeal and shoves the door the rest of the way open, hands clapped together]

Nee-san! You got back!

iv

[adoringpast]

[ that bush is definitely moving, and sena could not believe his eyes. maybe. is it really that hot out today? it's not even spring yet...

but anyways, he's just going to approach the annoying bush because it's bothering him so much, parting the foliage to reveal one purple-haired girl.

uh. okay? at least he's not saying anothing for now, as he's only giving him a confused raise of his brow, mutely demanding for an explanation. luckily the skeevy guy who's waiting by the door is looking the other way, and there are a lot of students going out and about anyway. ]

[imaginex]

[... Well this is awkward.

It speaks to how little thought went into this plan, but Sakura actually looks shocked that someone would be bold enough to investigate a mystery bush in the middle of a college campus. Can't a purple-haired girl spy on the bane of her existence without being silently judged?

But this stranger isn't going away, and after a few seconds of muted floundering, her mouth opening and closing like she's catching flies--]

H-hello, sir...

[Nailed it.]

III

[angealwings]

Need help?

[ Andrew tends to vary his running routes, so he didn't actually mean to run into her or anything like that. And he didn't actually see why she's trying to shake the tree, but he thinks he can reasonably aid her.

Probably. ]

[imaginex]

Eh?

[She hadn't known there'd be an audience, and Sakura turns away from the tree to regard this stranger with a curious stare.]

You mean with my arrow? [The one that's caught up in one of the tree's higher branches, mockingly swayed back and forth as the wind breezes past]

I wouldn't mind help, no...

training montage

[me_matey]

-May didn't even think or hesitate to agree to help Sakura when she proposed she take a direct hand in training the girl, helping her out physically and guiding her towards becoming more valuable as a part of any group. Some things didn't particularly need to be said, and while there were still a lot of parts of Sakura that May didn't fully understand, this one she felt she had a pretty good grasp on. And while she didn't pretend to get how Sakura's powers work, a good training regiment was well within May's ability to provide.

Plus John could hopefully help on the super power side of things. All May really had going for her was her strength, which... couldn't really be replicated. But hey, that wasn't the point right? The point was to take Sakura and mold her into a lean, not-very-mean, fighting machine.

So out they were on the Mayship's docking wing, with a plethora of workout tools and gear around. Weights, benches, and... she really needed to find a way to suspend a punching bag, didn't she? Maybe they could just convert one of the rooms in the ship to a gym of some kind... Oh well. She also insisted on work-out clothes for everyone. Which for her was a loose basketball jersey and some yoga pants. And it was hard not to notice that both still had their tags on them...

May had managed to figure out some of the functions of the Mayship, real simple things, and one of those was hooking up her phone to the main PA system. Which was why she was blasting her workout playlist. No surprises there.-

Alright. We're gonna start with the basics. How many sit-ups and push-ups can you do?

[imaginex]

[-- May what in god's name is this music? Sakura is a Japanese bumpkin, she only has a passing familiarity with rap--

Which sets the bar for Sakura's involvement in all of this: a lot of wide-eyed surprise, like she can't believe where all this equipment came from or why she's standing in a room with gym shorts on (she hates it, why can't she work out in a skirt, just blindfold John if it's such a big deal).

Oh wait she's being asked questions. Ha-- haha. Her eyes drop rather quick to the floor as she fiddles with the front of her shirt.]

I'm... not sure.

[... hanging her head] Probably not many.

[And here she thought they were just gonna kick and punch each other for thirty minutes straight. Like true heathens.]

IV

[ohrlyeh]

[Sometimes Howard likes to be nice and drop by the art building to say hello to Sakura whenever he has time - it's always a little bright part of his day to get a sneak peek on whatever she's drawing for the class.]

[However, today is strange, because, well, she's nowhere to be found. Howard furrows his eyebrows, adjusting his sunglasses as he looks over the students leaving the building. No one he recognizes. He turns, thinking she's gone away somewhere, when...wait, is that bush moving?]

[He stares at it for a moment, before approaching, his voice low enough to be a hiss:]

...Sakura? Is that you?

[imaginex]

[Bushes don't go "pop!" when teenage girls suddenly poke their heads out from underneath their branches and leaves, but Sakura looks very much like a gopher all the same, hair strewn about like it's waged war on the foliage.

And it's Howard, so of course Sakura's smile is bright and honest upon seeing her friend. She'd wave if her hand wasn't stuck by her side in an effort to keep it from getting scratched]

Howard-san! Good afternoon. Do you teach today?

[N o r m a l]

II

[burningblossoms]

[There are a lot of things Yukiko is expecting to see today, but a tree shaking in the park over Sakura's head is far from one of them. She blinks, looks again, and blinks one more time.]

What on earth is going on?!

[Walking over, she waves at Sakura.]

The tree is shivering, Sakura-chan.

[imaginex]

... The what?

[It's Yukiko, so Sakura is quick to shove her irritation under the radar (or as much as she can, it's difficult when she looks exhausted on top of it), but she also glances behind her at the tree in question.

... Except the exact moment Sakura's concentration is broken and she looks up from her flower, the tree behaves as a tree should, still and quiet in the background. Sakura's head tilts]

It was moving...?

i

[vitis]

[ john had known she'd planned on accompanying that mission; recalls telling her "please be careful," but had ultimately been wary in being too overbearing. ... sakura's a big girl! she should make her own decisions! even if he'd wanted to fight that decision, he'd reluctantly trusted. so when he spies her apart from the crowd--

she sure showed him, huh. he's waving, equally enthusiastic in congratulating her as he strolls over. ]

Well, would you lookit you. Heroine of the month, yeah?

[ and as teasing as the cheery lilt might be-- it's an honest, pleased observation. ]

[imaginex]

[John's timing is impeccable today.

It's a bad sign when Sakura can't work up a proper "Thank you" when praised, and the smile she shoots her friend is already worn thin from having to stand up in front of a crowd. The medal is held less like treasure and more reminiscent of a dagger, though she quickly lowers her hands to her front in an non-threatening position.]

... Yeah.

[Huffing out a sigh]

Something like that.