The three girls sat together, chattering amongst themselves. They were waiting for two of their other friends, waiting at the pub in Hillcrest. It served food and non-alcoholic drinks, and they were meeting for a weekly sort of event they'd established when Etsu came back. It was just a friendly get together--nothing special. None of them--but Mayako--wore anything particularly nice. Sarah was still in her work clothes (albeit somewhat perfumed to block the smell of animals--and cancel out entirely) and Emma had just thrown on a t-shirt and slacks. Mayako, on the other hand, wore a light green sun dress over a tight black undershirt and tight black--cotton--pants.

Though, it was always like Mayako to look like she was going out for some sort of special photography session at all times. Her wardrobe was littered with these kinds of things.

They sat at a table in the corner, and had already told their waitress to . . . well, wait. It was early evening, so the two they were waiting on were definitely awake by now, but they hadn't the slightest damn clue where they could be.

"You really think that's true?" Emma asked her sister, a clear cut disagreement in her voice.

"Yep. Saw it with my own two eyes," replied Sarah.

"Th-that Eld-kun and Hikane-san are . . ." Mayako trailed off.

Sarah nodded. "Gettin' loveydovey again, yep."

Mayako frowned.

"Yeah, you know the whole thing--them just disappearing to Galaens for a couple of days?" Sarah asked, gossip on her mind--Mayako's feelings not so much.

"Yeah?" Emma asked when Mayako said nothing.

"Totally got a room together." Sarah said with an affirmative nod.

"I doubt that," Emma scoffed, "Etsu's way too prudish for that."

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. Unfortunately, that wasn't a point she could contest without feeling bad about it, personally. "Well, we'll just have to ask when they get here, won't we?"

Two figures arrived at the door to the pub. Uncharacteristically, the one in front hesitated before opening the door. He frowned; he knew something happened here recently, something that made him not want to come back, at least for a little bit, but it took him a moment to remember what.

Oh, right... His heart grew heavy once more, something that was likely not lost on his companion. Lately he'd had no small amount of depressive episodes, though they were becoming less frequent with time. By the time he got to the point where he'd be willing to tell anyone about it, the details were slipping from his mind...

He shook off the feeling as best as he could; he didn't want to drag down the spirits of his friends any more than he already might have. Taking a deep breath, he entered.

Eldridge Tsukimono was somewhere between Sarah and Mayako as far as dress went--in a green sweater and pair of blue jeans, he looked nice but far from dressed up.

"Hi," he said as he reached their table, though noticing the way they were looking at him he hesitated for a moment. "Ummm...is something wrong?"

Eld's mood changes was noted by the girl next to him, and she searched for something to do to calm him--but by the time she'd thought of something, or thought she did, Eld already had it covered.

Etsu Hikane entered the pub by Eld's side. Etsu's wardrobe was fairly random, depending mostly on what she was provided by others, and while she had a preference for things that were more traditional in a Cizokian way, she didn't often care what she had available to her to wear--just as long as it wasn't shameful. Today, it was something of a dark blue overcoat, clearly large on her person, but not so much that she was drowning in the thing. She kept her hands stuffed in her pockets, and would have looked like some sort of would be child detective were it not for the bright color of her coat, the bright color of her hair, and how genuinely out of place she looked.

"Ohhhhhhh, nothin'," Sarah whistled innocently as she looked away from the two of them.

Mayako greeted the two sheepishly, while Emma regarded them with a brand of It took you long enough stare. Sarah simply whistled to herself in mock innocence.

There were five chairs at the table, three of which were already occupied, but the two free chairs weren't side by side; Emma was situated between them, while Mayako and Sarah sat side-by-side across from Emma.

Eld frowned at Sarah; he knew her too well to believe that it was really nothing, but at least by her reaction he figured it wasn't anything serious. They were probably just talking about him before he came in anyway, and he knew from experience that asking what they said about him was usually just inviting trouble.

If it had been Sarah or Mayako sitting between the chairs he might have been suspicious, but as it was Emma he didn't think much of it. He pulled out the nearer one for Etsu to sit in before sitting in the further one himself.

"Sorry we're late, it was just...well, you know that feeling you get, like your room is a little too dirty and you need to give it a good, thorough cleaning?"

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Etsu whispered to Eld when he pulled a chair out for her.

She sat next to Mayako, between she and Emma, and scooted in comfortably. It was only then that Eld's statement registered with her, and she joined in with the rest of the girls in staring at Eld confusedly. Even someone as dense as he could be sometimes would have to acknowledge that resounding silent no.

Mayako looked between Eld and Etsu briefly, wanting to ask about what Sarah was talking about--but knowing that Sarah was probably going to say something with or without goading, she decided to talk about something else instead.

"I-I like your coat, Etsu," Mayako remarked awkwardly, albeit truthfully, "I-it's really cute."

Etsu didn't really think of it as cute, per say. Actually, she thought of it as kind of dark and brooding, but in a cool sort of way. Like the way boys wanted to dress as ronin when they're little. Not having a mind for color (and just liking the color blue in general), though, Etsu didn't see much of a stylistic difference between an overcoat in blue, gray, brown, or black. Mayako did, however.

The Reaper became somewhat self conscious. She lifted her hands and watched the way the sleeves hung so far from her arms. People always said small things were cute--like small people. She was short and the coat was big on her. Maybe that's what Mayako was getting at.

She decided to try and avoid wearing this coat if she were ever trying to look some brand of "brooding cool" again. It hadn't been her goal for today, but she was at least endeared by the look of it earlier today. Etsu would have cursed in disappointment would it not be so improper.

Eld mumbled something about hygiene when no one responded affirmatively to his question. Or responded at all. In fact, they seemed to be pretending he hadn't said anything at all. Blushing slightly, he slumped back in his chair. Is it really that strange? Though when he thought about it he supposed it was; Sarah was definitely not the neat type, and he'd found out that Mayako was surprisingly careless when it came to cleaning her room. He hadn't been in Emma's room to his memory, but he imagined it was probably filled with random trinkets from whatever had caught her interest most recently.

And of course Etsu regarded cleaning with the same enthusiasm with which she regarded hospital visits.

Ultimately he decided to just move on with everyone else, so he responded to Mayako. "Isn't it? Of course, Etsu's cute no matter what she wears." He added the last part kind of absently, as though it was an objective observation, once again forgetting that a girl calling a girl cute generally received different reactions from a guy calling a girl cute.

Eld's outright declaration caught Etsu--and just about everyone else--off guard. Etsu stared at him with a furrowed brow. It was weird. She felt extremely happy about the compliment, but she felt her cheeks burning, as it was said so brashly in public, and she'd always had problems showing affection in public. It was embarrassing. Not, say, embarrassing to be with him--she wasn't embarrassed about Eld at all (even though they technically weren't together like they used to be), it was just . . . embarrassing.

"W-well . . ." Mayako paused, a bit taken aback by Eld's brashness, a bit offended that he never said anything like that about her, but mostly in agreement with him--so, she had no qualms adding to his statement, but specifically refrained from mentioning her first two issues. "Y-you're right, yes. E-Etsu is just a really cute person like that."

Seeing how embarrassed Etsu was getting, Emma couldn't help but try and add to it--while being truthful herself, of course. "She's got a habit of that, yeah. Makes the rest of us look lackluster sometimes."

"Y'know," Sarah chimed in, "I saw Blueberry in her skibbies once."

"Yeah?" Emma said to urge Sarah to continue.

"Pretty impressive," Sarah nodded confidently.

Etsu by that point was red faced, tensed up, and staring down at the table. All this public praise made her feel self conscious--extremely embarrassed, for that matter. "P-pr-rease stop," she whispered in high pitched meekness that could barely be heard, but very clearly understood.

As usual, Etsu only got cuter as she got flustered; it made Eld want to tease her a bit more. However, there wasn't much he could say after Sarah's comment that wouldn't be taking things a bit too far. Even mentioning that he agreed was probably a little much. Not to mention it would invite teasing onto him too, most likely.

"Did you know the first time I saw her, she was in a tuxedo?" Eld mentioned instead. "And she was still cute...though, she was also kind of cool..."

Surprisingly, this was his first time mentioning it. He supposed part of the reason was the events surrounding the first time he saw her: it was at Remmy's funeral, just two days after the shade attack. If it wasn't for her conspicuous appearance (especially in a small town like Hillcrest), he probably wouldn't have even noticed her, given that he hadn't talked to her until later that night.

The girls were somewhat taken aback by that--but only slightly. Almost unanimously, they could imagine Etsu in a tuxedo. Well, more likely a suit and tie; a New Xexorian style suit, like Eld had made for him from Mai. Etsu had worn a similar style of suit on the day she and Eld met.

"Wow, a tux? Really?" Sarah asked, a bit more surprised than the other girls.

Emma and Mayako, on the other hand, had long since documented Etsu Hikane's eclectic styles of dress. It was strange (and interesting) to imagine, but not entirely out of the realm of reality.

"I can see it," Emma nodded.

"Mm," Mayako nodded, too. "I-I'd like to. Um. S-someday."

Etsu regarded Mayako with a cautious, but curious stare. She hadn't the slightest clue what her intentions were, but knowing some of the awkward moments that had passed between them before, she had the sneaking suspicion that they were far from pure.

"Well, damn," Sarah leaned back in her chair and stared at Etsu, confidence written all over her face. "Way to make a good first impression, Blueberry. Good show."

The Reaper might have taken this as an offense if she doubted Sarah's sincerity--but no. Sarah was completely sincere and congratulatory. In the end, all Etsu could do was look to Eld pleadingly--she said nothing, but the way she subtly pouted when she looked to him might sufficiently express her want of a subject change.

"Well...she did kind of stand out...though I guess only to me." Given that no one else had commented on seeing a foreign blue-haired girl at the funeral, he could only assume that she had been in Purgatory for the duration of it. Which made dressing up for it a bit strange, until he remembered that a strange person picked out most of her clothing...

Seeing Etsu's pouting look (even though he thought it was cute) made him figure it was time to change subjects. "So...I hope the flooding didn't affect you guys too much," he commented, but he couldn't prevent a hint of sadness from inflecting his voice. Thinking of the flooding made him think of...

Not now! he scolded himself. I don't want to worry them.

Etsu gave Eld a slight--very slight, she rarely did this for any reason whatsoever it seemed--thankful smile. Considering how rarely she smiled, that was sometimes the best a person could get out of her. She could be cheery sometimes, but unless she had no inhibitions, she just didn't much like showing it.

"Nah, not too much. The hogs really loved it, lemme tell ya. I kept the horses in the barn and got the chicks penned up fast. Rutherford wanted to get out there, but . . . well, y'know, he always wants to," He's still lookin' for you know who. But Sarah didn't say that. Just as Eld didn't want to bring down the mood, neither did she. "So, wasn't too bad all aroun--"

"Speak for yourself!" Emma suddenly interrupted as she folded her arms over her chest defiantly, "I lost so much crop it isn't even funny. Sure, the bigger stuff's fine--like the oaks and all that, but shit. Do you have any idea how expensive lilacs are? Cocoa? Ephedra? Thyme? Cannabis? And not to mention, I gotta start all over from generation zero when they get in . . ."

The flood was a bit of a touchy subject for her . . . for obvious reasons. The best crop was obtained through generations of breeding to get the preferred traits of plants to show up more often than not. Losing it all, at the point of generation ten, and having to start fresh from generation zero (for most of her crop) was a terrible problem to have. She trailed off when she realized she was complaining loudly, pouted slightly, and slumped in her chair.

Mayako didn't say anything. She was tempted to, but the truth was, she was just in the house for a long time--with Etsu. They had a pretty fun time together, and weren't at all effected by the excess of rain. Neither had much that could be threatened by it.

He couldn't help but smile slightly back at Etsu--as much as he liked teasing her sometimes, he'd do anything for her.

Eld was relieved by Sarah's response, but Emma killed that feeling pretty quickly. He was forced to bite back an instinctive apology; while they probably knew he was up to something at the time (he had, after all, spent the next few days in the hospital), they hadn't guessed it had anything to do with the weather. He'd given Etsu a basic explanation, but he hadn't gone into terribly heavy detail, both because of what happened and because the details were already slipping from his mind.

In the end, he couldn't help but feel vaguely guilty, though. There was no getting around that he was partially responsible for the flooding; he just hoped it didn't show on his face. Especially because he got the impression that if she learned someone was actually responsible, Emma would kill them.

"W-Well, at least it didn't last," he added awkwardly; of course it wouldn't, but they didn't know that.

Emma wasn't too convinced by Eld's reasoning. The things she didn't lose wouldn't have been lost to another few hours worth of rain. Granted, she didn't actually know the source of the rain--but still. That said, none of them did. Even the explanations were barely memorable anymore. The whole event was real to only a couple of people: Eldridge Tsukimono and Etsu Hikane, and in the latter case, the reality of it was fading a lot quicker than Eld's, for lack of direct involvement in the situation.

She only knew one concrete fact about it:

Who--or what, rather--was behind it.

"M-maybe it's not so bad," Mayako reasoned.

Emma gave her a look that demanded elaboration.

Suddenly a lot more nervous (it was times like this, when Emma was especially upset about something, that Mayako feared that Emma might someday break her nose or something, purely out of bottled up anger), Mayako replied, "W-well . . . y-you h-have to s-set new dirt--"

"Soil."

"--a-and then you have a lot of r-room again, right? S-so you c-can start over with new crops. M-maybe some things y-you've never worked with before, a-and maybe wanted to try sometime."

". . . well . . ." Emma trailed off. It was written all over her face: Mayako had a point and she was just trying to brush it off, but was failing miserably. ". . . I guess I have wanted to work with opium--and Alphonse is always ordering the stuff from Xexoria . . ."

Mayako experienced an internal sigh of relief. Sometimes, all Emma needed was a bit of rationality. Now that things were a lot more laid back, Sarah decided to take advantage of the moment and get in one of the more important questions of the evening:

"Well guys, what're we gonna have tonight?"

Eld sighed; this was the fun part of the evening. Somehow it became tradition for them to order large portions and split everything, but the problem was the variety of tastes involved. He and Mayako would eat most anything, but Sarah by and large preferred meat and fatty foods (she was active enough every day that it hardly mattered what she ate). Etsu preferred fish and more moderate ones, but while she wouldn't complain about anything (after all, she was essentially a freeloader) it wasn't too hard to tell if she disliked something. He also suspected Emma was secretly a picky eater, but tried not to show it due to it being a childish trait.

"How about that...what was it called? Pizza?" he offered; it was something new the cook picked up recently, supposedly a delicacy on the other continent and in Greoul.

Now it was just a matter of seeing how well (or poorly) the idea was received. Let the games begin, he thought dryly.

******

It was dark by the time they left, and after their goodnights everyone headed into their separate ways: Sarah and Emma to the ranch, to prepare for tomorrow's work. Mayako to her home, likely to study. And Eld and Etsu to the clinic, to...well, relax, he supposed. The fact that he did very little day to day anymore compared to his friends would make him feel guilty if it weren't for the instances of violence that seemed to be growing more frequently in his life.

"It's getting kind of cool at night, isn't it?" he asked Etsu, and then promptly sneezed. He was still recovering a bit of a cold he'd caught...well, during the flooding. "You dressed a bit better than me." He imagined she was probably plenty warm in her jacket, whereas his sweater wasn't quite enough to protect him from the chilly breeze.

Etsu walked next to Eld--but not quite. By his side, but half a foot behind him. She always did that, and it was unnerving whenever Eld did things like slow down to get her to keep a perfect pace with him. She didn't like it. The only time she ever walked next to him was when they were officially dating--before and after that, though, it was always like this. It was like a personal space bubble, but only when in public.

Nonetheless, it was a pretty good night. It all felt so . . . normal. Evenings like these were nice.

"Wour-rd you r-rike it?" Etsu asked upon Eld's observation.

Remembering all the times that Eld had given her his jacket when they were out, and she was obviously chilly, she didn't think it too odd to ask him this. There were many things that men did that girls simply did not, and she didn't recognize this as one of those instances.

Especially since it'd probably fit him a lot better than her. She had decently warm clothes beneath it, anyways. She hated the cold, but it wasn't like they were that far from Eld's place.