The Shrine Maiden's Return (Sakuya, Aoi, Jessie, Mizu)

Card Capital 2. To think she'd been gone so long that they'd opened up a second branch; That thought was amusing to the girl who now stood just outside the door, peering in through the glass panes of the shop. She could see teens and children inside enthusiastically playing Vanguard with each other, a sight that brought a smile to the girl's face. It was relieving, in a way, to see everyone so happy and carefree, to see things were normal. She briefly recalled the last time she had been in Japan, when it was anything but normal- But those were memories of a terrifying time she would sooner forget. She frowned for a short moment, shaking off thoughts of fear and regret that were beginning to worm their way into her mind. She was done with those feelings, she reminded herself. Putting her smile back on, the girl moved forward.

The automatic doors to the card shop slid open and a gentle breeze wafted inside, carrying a few stray cherry blossom petals with it. A few of the shop patrons might look up to see who'd just walked in, their eyes being greeted with a radiant figure. A bright girl dressed in a peculiar white dress befitting of a shrine maiden or priestess stood in the doorway. An extravagant, sky-blue hairpiece adorned her head and held a portion of the golden blonde locks of her hair in place, the rest of it hanging behind her head, reaching all the way down to her waist. She kept a smile on her face as light practically streamed off her, emitting a radiant, but gentle aura to all who were present, feeling much like a calm spring breeze. Sakuya Fagan, the current Korean Champion, had returned to Japan at last. As luck would have it, Sakuya noticed a familiar face amidst the other shop-goers, her eyes locking onto the person she'd wanted to meet the most.

Sakuya approached the Chinese Champion, Aoi Undyne, looking excited to see her friend again for the first time in years. "Aoi! Oh, it's so nice to see you again." Sakuya clapped her hands together, an even brighter smile than the last appearing on her face, making her appear even more incandescent than before.

Jessie was admittedly a bit overwhelmed by the gradual flooding on Card Capital 2, it felt like. Poor boy was a bit out of his element, especially when two girls had entered. One looking toward Aoi and the other waving to them, which prompted him to wave back, but he wasn't sure who he was greeting. The brunette leaned against a wall near the hyperactive gumball, feeling a lot more like an aspiring young man as opposed to the kid who hung out with thugs at Umano. His entire attire had changed, even his hair changed color for some reason. Little did he know that he was the average ball of confusion and confidence any adolescent would come across, it was just a little late for him since he's more outgoing.

Aoi gave a 'oooo!' as more people came, waving to them and seeing cherry blossoms fly through the open doors because of Sakuya's return. "Ni hao, ni hao!" She held her arms up childishly with a cheerful greeting.

"Who is...?" Jessie chimed in, raising his hand.

"This is Sakuya!! She looks different! Like you, Jessie! That person over there is also someone who looks different! Everyone is different! Individuality and changing with seasons! Though I'm not sure why people have new hair colors now. Is hair dye popular in Japan? I thought it meant you were a delinquent."

You know, some people actually missed this loon.

Mizumi was quite intimidated by the sudden appearance of another national champion in the vicinity. She was something between excited and determined, all lightly masked over by her sudden anxiousness. What if she had been overlooked? Her wave seemed to go unnoticed by Jessie and Aoi, though in fairness she wasn't exactly tall enough to see where they were so easily in the crowd. Even as they moved around she struggled to keep a sight on them. As Mizumi had overheard while trekking towards them, everyone had sort of changed. It was almost like malformed doppelgangers has struck the world by storm over the years.

She set her deck into her small, scarlet handbag and approached the two champions and Jessie, having to pass through the swarming crowd with some tight-knit prying and crowbar like strength. For such a small girl, she was able to maneuver nicely. She nearly flopped out of the crowd and onto the floor, barely catching herself with her hands on the tile floor. She quickly picked herself up, taking a huff and a breath to posture herself, then proceed.

"H-hi!"

Good start. Mizumi meekly smiled, her words only just barely audible over the hubbub of the Card Capital commotion.

"Uhm, I, well I didn't really know what..." Mizumi started murmuring to herself, trying to figure out what her line of introduction was but she lost it all almost immediately. Instead she started blinking at the floor, then at Sakuya and Aoi. Then herself.

There was one fatal difference of them that took Mizumi startlingly by surprise. Her face flushed brightly red as he arms wrapped firmly around her chest, the cheeks of her face become near crimson like her handbag.

"Y-you all have such dignity! You're great Cardfighters! H-hi! My name is Mizumi! You might remember me or maybe not but that's okay!"

As if on cue, she immediately bowed down to the group of three still clutching over her chest in embarrassment, realizing she was a few tiers below these alphas. She didn't want the awkwardness to level out the conversation too poorly, so she kept her head down until she was addressed again.

"Ah, my my..." Sakuya let out a nervous laugh, surprised and embarrassed by the spontaneous act of worship she was receiving. It was nice to see her skills being recognized, but this was just a bit much for the modest girl. "Now now, there's no need to bow your head. We're all just regular Cardfighters here today, are we not?" Sakuya spoke to the girl, beckoning her to raise her head up high. "We're all equals under this roof. There's no need to lower yourself so." She gave the girl a small bow of her own before turning back to face Aoi and Jessie.

"Yes, my name is Sakuya. It's a pleasure to meet you too." She gave another small bow to Jessie as she introduced herself. As Aoi said, Sakuya had certainly changed since her last time in Japan; Just how much she'd... grown... was evident by simply averting one's eyes slightly down. "And you seem just as high-spirited as ever, Aoi. I can't help but admire that attitude." Sakuya laughed a bit more freely now, feeling Aoi's goofy and energetic personality rub off on her, just a little.

Aoi had her mouth open in a cheerful smile, turning with the others to see Mizumi stumble out of the crowd. Jessie chuckled nervously, seeing the struggle and understanding it through her speech.

"Hello, hello!" Aoi happily greeted Mizumi to their conversation. She didn't mind the bit of awkwardness in her fumbling, but the motions to her chest went completely over her head, thanks to reverting to her airheaded ways. Since Bashiro wasn't around, she forgot all about the plush bubbles hidden under a brand new sweater. Instead, she listened to the praise and Sakuya stating they're all equals. "Now hold on!" The gumball interjected, pointing a finger to the ceiling. "We aren't equals, for you're talking to the next big name of this generation!" She declared with a proud smirk, puffing out her already too-large chest.

"Uh huh, okay." Jessie mocked, then turned to Sakuya. "Yeah, it's like she actually has no off button even now after all these years. It's as annoying as it is refreshing."

"That's mean! I'm not annoying!"

"Your hyperactive attitude is gonna scare Mizumi here. I'm Jessie, by the way. And as you've already heard, this knucklehead is Aoi." He tried to play it cool, and it was working out, honestly. He kept a grin on him, whether it was a jeering one to his friend or a warm welcome to the other girls, the younger Hakaisha was social enough without his brother nowadays. Admittedly, neither of them remembered Mizumi, but they were going to do what they could to make her comfortable around her. Though, Jessie spoke his mind aloud on his companion's seemingly endless surge of energy. "Man, after everything that's happened, I don't get how you're so jumpy anyway."

"A lot has happened... You almost died, Jessie! And actually did, sort of. On top of that, I poofed twice!" Aoi started out deep in thought, reminiscing with Jessie, but he was bewildered by how casual she was about it. The thought made him uncomfortable, but from the little bits and bits he heard, Aoi had things a lot worse. She never went into detail on how, but the fact that she could bring it up so non-nonchalantly, looking back at those nightmareish days...

"I almost regret every second of it."

"That's no good, Jessie. Think positively! We're here now, you know?"

"Yeah... You see? She hasn't changed. Still a big ol' ball of sunshine."

"Sunshine is strooooong...!" Aoi playfully brought her hands together, leaving a empty circle behind her fingers, then separating her arms to mimic shaping the sun.

After a brief moment she was told to erect herself from the bent position, being met with one in response from Sakuya with kindness. She smiled once more, her feeble frame jittery with excitement. She was referred to directly instead of being ignored and that was at least a hundred points in her book. On top of that, Aoi had the energy of the rising sun that the country represented. She was awestruck, rather than afraid, but Jessie was kind enough to directly mention her. He even remembered her name after she said it out loud!

She had stars in her eyes.

Mizumi recognized her usual bland qualities on a regular basis, so being even remotely cognizant that this time around she was somewhat on the same level, or at least according Sakuya and not Aoi, as these superstars and Jessie, who Mizumi found to be relatively comforting in the nearby area, was a score she'd never be able to beat in a million years. Or so she believed.

"Really, you're all so kind. I don't know what I expected, but I'm really a big fan of both of you. Ever since those years ago, things have been changing so fast I kind of forgot just how much I missed everyone..."

She retracted herself from this slow, comforting daze into an upright, startled position.

"N-not that I'm comparing my lives to yours! You have so many duties and responsibilities and, and, and accolades, and... Just..." She gripped the fringes of her dress, bowing once more lightly than back up.

"I'm just so excited to see everyone prosper. You both look lovely as ever and Jessie..."

She blushed a bit, blinking, then shaking her head. She was thinking to refer to him as lovely too, but quickly became too embarrassed to refer to him as such, instead slinking a little more into her frame. The events of the past were difficult to remember, even for her. Both because they were painful and even moreso because they affected more than just her. There was your own pain to bear, and then watching someone else bear theirs was a compounding effect. Terrible.

"It's good to see you again. Like Aoi said, the sun is strong and we're all here today. That's more than enough for me, I think." She smiled, clutching her dress a bit less as the tension slowly dissolved.

Sakuya gave a joyful laugh Aoi's declaration. "Yes, she really does just keep going, doesn't she?" She added onto Jessie's statement, nodding her head. It was good to see her in such high spirits, especially given the topic that got brought up momentarily right after. The war, the thing Sakuya had fled from in fear the last time she was in Japan. She was stunned at how casually Aoi could talk about it, but she supposed that just further attested to Aoi's strength of heart. But Aoi's playful personality didn't let the unease of the topic linger, keeping everyone in high spirits. "Ahaha, you are strong, Aoi, just like the sun!"

Sakuya was happier than she'd been in a long time to be laughing in such a carefree manner with her friend again. And yet, there was something she felt she had to get off her chest. "Ah, but Aoi, about all of that, actually..." She looked her rival champion in the eyes, now giving her a sad smile, and bowed her head. "I feel I should apologize, Aoi. I'm truly sorry for running from it all, the way I did. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

Jessie couldn't help but take note of how Mizumi was a big ball of nerves, and he couldn't blame her for being in the presence of two foreign national champions. It was only thanks to knowing one of said 'champions' was the biggest goofball in the world that he was able to brush off most of the intimidating pressure. Despite this, he admittedly failed at talking directly to Sakuya a lot, nor was he able to manage looking her in the eye. If he did, it wasn't for very long. It was thanks to this he could relate, at least, and he decided to try to help her ease more into the conversation with a joke. "What? They get 'lovely' and I get a 'nice to see you'?" The brunette spoke in jest, giving a humorous grin.

"Ah!" Aoi chimed in, responding to Mizumi. "I missed everyone too! Aaaaah, I wanted to come back to Japan to visit, but my teachers wouldn't let me until I was properly trained!" The gumball whined childishly, even slumping forward and letting her arms dangle for needless emphasis. Though, hearing Sakuya, the bubbly china girl stared at her in confusion. "Oh, you left? That's why I never saw you anywhere!" While said in her usual bright tone of voice, that came off a little as if she didn't realize Sakuya fled the country... "I don't blame you. Things got really bad, a lot of people were losing hope, but things turned out okay and we're all okay, so no worries! Don't mind!" She gave an energetic thumbs up, not holding it against her at all. Any sane person would've left the country with what was happening, really.

Was taken aback by Jessie's playful comment, sly as it was, easily pierced her defenses. She opened her mouth, inhaling air quickly and hiccuping as result, causing her frame to jolt up a bit. Mizumi shook her head, laughing a bit at herself and also to wear off the comment awkwardly. Aoi and Sakuya continued normally, one personality bright as a lightbulb, the other quite pleasant and formal. Mizumi scratched her cheek trying to keep up with their demeanor but she was so mentally feeble from Jessie's unintentional attack on her heart that she could barely keep up.

"You're lovely too, Jessie. Really, really lovely even! I mean, in a nice way, like, good! Like Aoi and Sakuya lovely too! Erm..."

She starts making weird gesticulations, worriedly looking to Aoi and Sakuya for backup. She was in need of help. It was like a daunting, complex puzzle of handsomeness confronted her and asked to be solved. She was thirty levels too low to be solving a puzzle of this scale.

"You're really lovely!"

She said that a bit louder than the commotion of the room was, and it became obvious when the crowded shop went somewhat quiet for a moment staring at Mizumi, who was now furiously blushing and skittishly looking around her, then to Aoi and Sakuya with shaky lips.

"S-so, you guys are back in town finally, anything you've been meaning to do... attractions to see....?"

Her sentence ended in a high-pitched squeak, as the commotion returned to normal and the attention on her faded in the room. Mizumi's face slowly returned to a normal shade.

Sakuya brought her head back up, looking at Aoi with eyes full of awe and amazement. She forgave her, just like that, without even having to think about it. What a kind gumball she was. "Ah... I really am no match for you, Aoi. Thank you."

And that was all that needed to be said. Sakuya felt just a little more relieved with her confession made, and the mood was back to being bright and cheerful. At least, it was, until Sakuya noticed Mizumi's awkwardness. Given how she was acting, she seemed to be struggling a bit with her feelings- Sakuya vaguely remembered Mizumi's identity as a reincarnated seed, like Sakuya herself, only... She'd been a boy in her past life. Oof.

Catching Mizumi's hint, Sakuya spoke up quickly in response to her question. "Oh, were the first round of Quests not due to be posted soon? I had been meaning to get involved with some of those, actually. I've been away from the Japanese Vanguard scene for far too long, I think. Why don't we go check them out?"

Jessie chuckled, seeing at how baffled and winded she was by his retort. He was messing around, really, but he underestimated how the bundle of anxiety would take it. It was nice she started complimenting him like the other girls, which he was content with, but she kept going on, not letting him speak. "Uh, alright. Mizumi, I was just-" Mizumi had turned to Aoi and Sakuya for assistance, and the brunette couldn't get a word in, which led to Mizumi suddenly blurting out her statement which quelled the hustle and bustle of the shop for a moment. "A-Ah... t-thanks..." Jessie was sweating nervously, feeling eyes on him until everyone resumed talking. "I was just kidding, Mizumi. I wanted you to loosen up a little." He gave an apologetic smile.

Aoi laughed, "Hahaha! Lovely, lovely! You're lovely! I'm lovely! They're lovely! They're all lovely! I like you, Mizumi!" She mindlessly blurted out. The gumball wasn't trying to make fun of her, but instead try to work with her burst of emotion in a playful way. Though, Sakuya trying to make up for the nervous girl's blunder reminded the ponytailed wonder of what she came here for: Quests! FICA! "Ack! I forgot about those! The first quests should already be up! Oh nooooo, they're gonna take all the good ones!!" She complained in her forgetfulness, quickly taking off to one of the many hub screens to look for quests.

"Hey, wait!" Jessie followed behind.

As Sakuya professionally and quickly dissipated the tension in the air with a flick and swish, Mizumi showed a pinch of gratitude in her expression toward her. Even Aoi tried to work with the strange string of conversation Mizumi made. She brushed the hair that was now covering parts of her face to a point behind her ear, pulling her bangs to the size a bit so she could see a little more clearly.

In a flash, Aoi was disappointed then excited again, and the attention was all off to the FICA hub screens for quests. Mizumi breathed a sigh of relief, having experienced more than enough startling for a lifetime. She quietly trotted over to an empty hub screen, tapping along its interface next to the excited duo who were only a few feet away themselves, and Sakuya who was presumably going to be right behind to peruse what was left of them as well.

"Ah.... Wow, there's still so many. Feels like more are being posted than people can accept quickly enough! I wonder which one I should pick?"

Off to Mizumi's other side, the one where Aoi and Jessie were not, was a younger man who was probably in his late teens. He seemed to be angrily mashing his finger into the screen, accepting a quest himself then strolling out of the hall with his hands in his hoodie pockets. Mizumi's expression read fear, being glad she wasn't on the other end of that aggressive procession.

True to form, Aoi immediately searched through extremely difficult quests for her opening. Jessie tried to talk her out of it, wanting to go on a quest with her, but she would not be swayed from starting off the new era with a bang. Having a goofy, open-mouth smile on her face as she scrolled through the S ranked missions, there were actually a scarce amount since everyone was still loading up tasks to do. "Hey, hey!" Jessie still tried to stop her, knowing how fruitless it'd be. "Are you crazy?! Come on, let's just pick something to get it over with before you jump headlong at the hardest ones!"

"No way! Don't you get it, dummy?! We have to start strong, that's how we get noticed!"

"Or we just fall flat on our asses and fail our first quests."

"Only with that pessimistic attitude of yours! Listen, we gotta get FICA to earn lotsa points for events and maybe positions like Clan Leaders! Plus, we'll get experience to eventually beat our seniors! Like for me, I can surpass Jellal and Haruka!"

Jessie's eye twitched, seeing how she rationalized a reckless start purely on the basis that crazy idiots like her will be the center of attention. He couldn't take that, especially at the thought of 'surpassing' their superiors. It was easy for Aoi, since she actually looked up to admirable and sensible people. Whereas... "I'd love to be enthusiastic, but Tachikaze isn't as popular as Aqua Force. That leaves me with my older brother or... Cero." He gave up quickly on the latter, judging by how dejected his tone of voice was. Unlike Aoi, he was entirely confident that he could NOT bring down a titan like the Kaiser.

"She isn't wrong you know." An employee spoke to the two of them. "Even if you don't feel you can do it, it is a good start for experience... for hard mode. You see, Quests are tasks for Vanguard organized by the Association, sometimes even requests from the Branch Directors can show up. Though, it's usually civilians or lower ranking officials. You guys can definitely have shots of becoming the next clan leaders - they represent entire clans, if it wasn't obvious! You could even get a good job at a nation, becoming one of the elite. It's not just a way to participate in competitive tournaments, you can set up your future through this." The worker of CC2 gave an explanation to the duo while also making sure Sakuya and Mizumi heard him well, wanting to inform them of the system as best he could in seeing promising new faces of the new generation.

"Yeah, so stop being a wuss, Jessie." Aoi chided, randomly accepting an S Rank quest.

"Hey!" Jessie hissed. "What did you just take- oh." The young Hakaisha stopped as he and his friend stared at the screen. They read the quest, written by a girl who requested someone come to Miyaji Park and defeat her. That sounded incredibly simple, almost too simple for the difficulty rating. That's why the duo was awed by the name upon it: 'Hana "Isabella" Espoir'. "That's right... Director Yukino has a sister."

"Huh." Aoi squeaked curiously. "She was that super strong fighter in the Messiah Scramble, right? We don't really know her beyond that she was the Commander's motivation in the war, and she was suuuuuper strong in the Scramble!" The gumball repeated and emphasized on why she was interested, showing a strong desire to fight the one who probably had the greatest performance in the ceremonial reunion tournament. Though there was a bit of a crisis behind it, Hana showed decisive skill by not only trouncing Solis, but even nearly defeating the Evil Dragon by herself if not for a random heal trigger. "Jessie!"

"Oh, boy. You're practically glowing with giddy excitement. I don't like where this is going to go..."

"This is the time for us to see where we stand! Hana is strong, but we're not totally inexperienced! We just don't know where we're supposed to be generation-wise, since we didn't get a high position or anything."

"You're not totally wrong, I guess. We're not exactly fresh out of the waters... But Hana is going to steamroll us."

"Not if we think positively!"

"That's not how that works... But... you know what? Your optimism is usually on point, and it doesn't hurt to try to be more into it. So sure, let's do it."

"Yes!! In that case, we have our quest! You guys find anything?!" Aoi bounced giddily to Sakuya and Mizumi at their FICA hubs after she and Jessie took on their obnoxiously hard quest.

Sakuya found herself giggling again at just how much energy Aoi could put out on a given moment. It really was impressive to watch her immediately take an S-ranked quest right off the bat without a moment's hesitation. "Aha, starting off with such a difficult quest is fitting for you, I'd think. But I'm sure you can clear it, Aoi!" Sakuya encouraged her friend, throwing up a fist to cheer her on. "I'll come with you too, even. I'd love to watch you fight again after so long. Perhaps I'll even give it a go myself...?" Sakuya wasn't so foolish to believe she could take down a vanguard titan like the esteemed sister of the ex-commander, but Aoi's bouncy and spirited personality had her feeling swept up in the moment. If Aoi was cheering her on, she felt she could put up a worthy fight against even someone as strong as Hana. With her friend's excitement sparking her own, Sakuya accepted the unreasonably difficult quest as well, turning to Aoi and enthusiastically putting her hands up. "Let's both do our best, right, Aoi?"

Listening between the shop manager's informative statement on the FICA system, Aoi's enthusiasm to reach fast and far, and Sakuya's supportiveness, Mizumi was somewhat lost in her decision. She was afraid to fail so fast, believing in Jessie's philosophy of taking it slow and easy. There was room to fail once she understood what it meant to achieve success, but it was far more demoralizing to fail first and not what it really is you're striving for.

She tapped her chin indecisively, eventually just closing the hub interface and waiting for a better opportunity in the future to do something. For now she was content just catching up with the past she'd left behind so suddenly and without warning, though it seemed not much had changed between the people inside of it. Maybe their faces were different, but they were all the same on the inside to her.

"Good luck, Aoi, Sakuya... Jessie. I hope you find lots of success and I hope we meet again soon."

She paused briefly, still trying to remedy the initial encounter. Her voice was even softened to a lull when his name was spoken. She smiled sympathetically, taking her handbag in palm and waving away as her petite frame trotted into silhouette from the visage of the sun rushing through the doorframe. She exited the card shop with a newfound sense of purpose, even if it wasn't so clearly defined yet.