2026-06-07: A Spark of Excitement
- Log: 2026-06-07: A Spark of Excitement
- Cast: Yuuki Hoshizora, Misato Fushihara
- Where: Renegdai Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: June 07, 2026
- IC Date: November 21, 2012
- Summary: Misato and Yuuki meet, discovering they're classmates before Yuuki has even started school. Misato also learns about a hobby that Yuuki wants to keep secret.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
It is a quiet day in Renegdai, not that far from Seven Sisters. Of course, today is Sunday; there aren't classes in session. But on the street running by the high school, there is a small urban park -- with a concrete wall blocking it off, there are really only trees visible. But the street also leads by apartment buildings, shops, and other place in the very heart of Sumaru City.
The little park tends to be the sort of quiet place that gets overlooked. Inside, it's peaceful, but being walled in -- well, people only go here if they want a nice, quiet place. Otherwise, people tend to pass right by.
Which makes it perfect for Yuuki Hoshizora's purposes. The park is currently empty, except for her. She has a dark blue jacket and skirt on. Her hairband is neatly set, and her green eyes are focused as she stands a distance away from what she has set-up. In the center of the park, there is a meter tall black and white rocket, with a little scaffolding setting it up.
She looks at it with focused green eyes. She holds a small remote in her hand. She counts down, quietly: "T-minus five, four, three, two..."
She presses the button on the remote. "...One."
There is a roaring THWOOM, as the rocket shoots high into the air. And someone walking past can see it: a huge plume of white water vapor, which shoots after the rocket as it soars up into the sky -- above the wall and the buildings. And there, in the park, is a girl looking up.
Yuuki shields her eyes with her hand, her teal hair swaying in the wind, as she stares up after the rocket with a look of awe on her face. The quiet, intense transfer student -- who has a look of delight on her face, for once.
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
It's Sunday, so class isn't in session. The bakery is open... but, she doesn't have a shift scheduled today. As a result, Misato Fushihara finds herself with not much to do today. As a result, that leaves her with not much to do. Go for a walk, maybe? Maybe she can angle toward the library.
That's just an idle thought, though - right now, she's walking rather aimlessly down the sidewalk. Her path takes her past the school...
...and as she passes it, she hears a THWOOM, shattering the malaise that had fallen over her. Her attention caught, Misato looks in that directly - and spots something soaring high into the sky. ...Is that a rocket? It leaves a distinctive white trial through the clear blue sky.
She stares up at it, eyes wide in surprise. That isn't the sort of thing one sees everyday... She has to check this out. Maybe this is the kind of thing she was looking for.
She calculates the location the rocket must have launched from, and finds herself at a remote little park. And at its center... a girl, about her own age.
Putting on a bright smile, Misato offers a wave as she approaches. She's dressed in her usual bright colors - a yellow track jacket with white accenting over a white t-shirt and shorts, her hair tied back with a yellow ribbon.
Looking at her now, one could hardly tell the gloom that had been clinging to her just moments before.
"Wow, that must've gone up at least a few hundred feet..." Misato observes. "Was that yours?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
The rocket, for better or worse, wasn't built to stay together. It comes apart -- it's a gentle cloud of debris that is mostly dust as it falls apart. It vanishes into the midair, and then Yuuki sighs softly. She lowers the hand that shades her eyes -- and then she blinks. She realizes there is someone there, and she is talking to her, and she freezes up for a second.
A nervous smile comes to her face, for just a second. Yuuki's hand lowers, as she looks at this new girl. Her eyes linger, for a second, on that yellow ribbon.
"...Um, yes," she says. "I'm sorry if it disturbed you." She hesitates for a second, before she nods her head. "If I had the calculations right, it was 587 feet high." She motions to a pencil and paper next to her bag.
That bag has a few patches on it. One reads "ISS 29," another "Apollo 11," and another with Cyrillic. Yuuki opens her mouth, then she closes it. "I can probably get higher. If I got some better propellant and lightened the model's mass."
Her fingers come up to her teal hair. She hesitates for a second. "...I, um, I'm rambling, aren't I?"
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
The rocket comes apart in a cloud of debris. Even good things aren't destined to last, Misato supposes. And then - the girl in front of her notices she's here. Misato offers her a cheerful wave, undeterred by the hint of nervousness in Yuuki's smile.
"Oh, no, I wasn't disturbed at all. If anything, I thought it was awfully exciting~!" She assures, with a nonchalant gesture, as if waving away the concerns. She pauses. 587 feet? "Wow, you even calculated it out?"
That's... genuinely impressive. She isn't familiar enough with rocketry to recognize the exact missions her patches display, but she can tell they're connected. Between that and the way she starts rambling about potential possibilities, it's clear this girl isn't someone who just threw a rocket together on a whim...
How interesting. She can't help but be intrigued.
"Not at all. I was just impressed you were able to figure that out so quickly!" Misato comments with a shake of her head, as Yuuki comments on her rambling. She doesn't seem bothered, at least. "Do you do this kinda thing often?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
After a moment, Yuuki smiles. There is still a faint embarrassment to it, before she nods her head. "Still, I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
The apology, perhaps, is insistent.
"Mm," she murmurs. "I did. The calculations are important. Today's wind threw it off a little, but I didn't want it to go into an airplane's path or too high. There's regulations and such. And--um--you have to calculate the mass of the rocket, the type of engine you're using, and the type of propellant to determine how high you can take that particular rocket..."
The notes on her notepad are quite complex. In fact, there are equations and mathematical formulas that go beyond the ones they usually do in class. She looks up at the now mostly evaporated sut cloud that used to be her rocket...
...then at the ribbon again...
...and finally Misato's eyes. "I... um. Yes. I like it a lot," she says. "I've done this since I was about eleven. I don't... really have the time for it I used to..." She pauses, then bites her lip. "...But when I saw a rocket for sale, I couldn't help myself."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
She's apologising again, Misato notes. It's almost like she's embarrassed she got caught. The last thing she wants to do is scare her off and miss out on an opportunity to see something like this again.
"Well... apology accepted, then! But it really wasn't an inconvenience~." She assures with a wink.
Yuuki continues, and Misato listens. She generally keeps up well in school, at least until not too long ago, but she can't begin to imagine the kind of calculations and considerations that'd require.
"Wow... I didn't realise it was so in-depth. I guess it makes sense you'd have to follow the code! It's kinda impressive you've got all that down." Misato considers. She isn't just saying that, either.
She follows Yuuki's eyes as they track everywhere else but her own until, finally, they meet.
She smiles, as she comments she likes it a lot - though there's a tinge of sadness to it when she says she doesn't really have time for it like she used to.
"Wow... I don't think I've stuck with any one thing since I was eleven." Misato comments. ...There's a specific reason for that, of course - but it's the sort of thing that's better to not go into with someone she's only just met.
"It sucks, doesn't it, when you've gotta put aside the things you like doing." She sympathises. ...She can relate to that. "I'm glad you got an opportunity to do it again, though! ...And I'm glad I got a chance to see it."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
The wink makes Yuuki fluster. To the point, she almost sputters and glances to the side -- and her cheeks flush just slightly. "N-No, really, a loud rocket going off is... is very distracting, and..." She sighs, before she meets Misato's eyes again. She hesitates, still, for a moment.
"It is really impressive," she says. "Not... um. Not what I can do, but... all the advances made in rocketry. All the things that engineers figured out -- people like Goddard, Korolev, von Braun, it's... it's really something else."
But there is a flicker of hesitation. Even as Misato smiles at her, which sets her a little at ease. She... understands?
Except, no, she couldn't understand about her parents.
"I'm... um. I'm glad you did, too. Even though it was an inconvenience," she says, a little stubbornly. "It does suck, when you have to put something aside. But... sometimes, I suppose there's no choice."
Her green eyes fall to the ground, then. "Ah, sorry... that was a little much."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
"I was distracted," Misato admits. "But not from anything important. I've got nowhere I gotta be."
Yuuki admits that it's really impressive - but diverts it, instead, to the accomplishments of the engineers who came before her. She takes note of the names. She'll have to look them up later. Misato nods.
"Mm-hm. I can't imagine what it takes to get something down here all the way up there." Misato replies with a shake of her head. "I think anyone who can figure that out must be pretty darn smart!"
...She's implicitly including Yuuki in this - but if she doesn't acknowledge it, she won't press it.
She smiles when Yuuki agrees she's glad she got to see it too - even though she does try to insist it was an inconvenience again. She's got a stubborn streak, huh...
Well, that's more interesting than if she just went along with everything, Misato supposes.
Yuuki agrees with her, too - and Misato didn't expect it to hit her quite that hard when she does. Subconsciously she shifts her weight to her left side, suddenly aware of how much she's been putting on her right.
"...Yeah." She agrees with a nod. The smile falters for only a moment before it's pasted back on.
"No, no, it's alright." She assures, with another dismissive wave.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Mm." Yuuki nods, eagerly. Though she catches the way that Misato compliments her -- and that prompts a blink. She hesitates for a second. "They are really smart... and, um. I suppose I do okay. Just... well, until I realized I can't do that--there's still a lot of up to go."
The mission patches on her bag -- showing rockets and space stations over starry vistas -- may suggest exactly how far she wishes (wished?) she could go.
The mood gets more somber, though. And Yuuki hesitates, for a moment, because she sees the way that the other girl shifts her weight. The way her smile falters. There is something there, she realizes. She hesitates, starting to open her mouth to say more--to ask, maybe--
But then Misato waves it off.
She hesitates for a moment, more. Then, she hesitates. "Ah--all right. Oh, um--" She sucks in a breath and squares her shoulders. "Yuuki Hoshizora! That's my name, I mean. I'm... um. I start at Seven Sisters tomorrow."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Misato smiles as Yuuki agrees with her with - though she catches the way she hesitates.
"Just 'okay', hm?" Misato considers - but she doesn't press further on that point. She shrugs. "Well... you have to start somewhere, right?"
She can guess at far up her ambitions might lie. They do always say to reach for the stars, she supposes...
There's a somber moment. Misato can tell things get awkward for a moment, and she wonders if she let things slip too much - but Yuuki seems to accept that. Smiles a bit wider - then pauses, when Yuuki lets out a name.
It takes her a second. She's starting at Seven Sisters...? Misato feels a spark of excitement.
"Hey, what luck! That's where I go to school. I'm Misato Fushihara. Nice to meet you!" Misato greets brightly. "Say, do you know what class you'll be in yet? I'm in 2-C, Watanabe-sensei's class. Maybe we'll be classmates!"
All channels have been gagged.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"W-Well..." Yuuki hesitates. She still looks embarrassed -- but now there is a smile. At a point, the compliment can wear her down. "...I try my best, at least."
There is a moment's pause. She watches the gears turn in Misato's head; she sees the excitement build. And... and is it excitement about her? She hasn't had anyone excited about her in awhile.
Not since before she dropped out of Astronomy Club; not since she stopped talking to a lot of her friends. It feels nice.
It feels like something she doesn't deserve.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Fushihara-san," she says, with the more reserved tone -- but there is a small smile. "I'm... I'm actually in 2-C, too. So we'll be classmates. I didn't expect to meet one of my classmates before today."
A beat.
"I just moved here, actually." She pauses. "Um. Obviously, too..."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Misato looks pleased as Yuuki smiles and admits that she tries her best. She nods, satisfied by the response.
Yuuki echoes that it's nice to meet her, more reserved than her ever present(but not without effort) cheer. But, that's fine. And - she's in 2-C, too! Misato brightens.
"Oh, really! That's great news! I didn't expect to meet a new classmate, either... I guess we both get to be surprised." Misato replies. Yuuki explains that she just moved here - and admits that it might be obvious. Misato chuckles. "I guessed. Have you had any trouble finding your way around? If you're looking for anything, I might be able to point you in the right direction."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Yuuki laughs a little. They both get to be surprised. "True enough," she says. "Maybe... um. Maybe don't mention the rocket to people," she says, a little lamely. "I don't want people to... that's something I just don't have a lot of time for."
She may not be here that long. After all, if -- no, no, when -- she finds that Atelier, she might well have to move back to Choju. Except... she doesn't have many friends there.
She gets quiet for a moment.
She has to shake her head, bringing herself back to reality. "...I haven't had a chance to find much. Or... much luck. I know where I'm staying and the school, but... the library, maybe? Um, places to eat...?" She hesitates.
"You haven't seen a blue and white minibus, have you?"
What?
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Misato smiles - but she considers what Yuuki says next. She looks at her for a moment. It feels a little like she's making excuses for herself... But she smiles, and offers another wink.
"Then it'll be our little secret~." She assures. Yuuki goes quiet and Misato waits until she brings herself back to reality. She 'hm's thoughtfully, then, as she considers what she asks about.
"The library isn't too far from here, actually - if you go a little ways... that way," She points. "You should start to see it."
"As for places to eat... There's a lot of good places in the Lotus Plaza... but if you ask me, if you're looking for something to take home the best place to eat is probably Bakery Pan-Pan, in this district." Misato explains. She lets that hang in the air for a moment before adding, "I'm a little biased because I work there, though."
And then, before she can think of another question, Yuuki asks something else that brings her train of thought to a halt.
"Pardon?" She starts. A blue and white minibus...? She frowns thoughtfully. What could that be about? "I can't say that I have... but I haven't really been looking out for one, so I might just have overlooked it. What's it for?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
That wink. That damn wink!
Yuuki's cheeks redden -- and there's a somewhat hasty glance to the side, as her fingers tug nervously on the lock of teal hair hanging down by her cheek. "R-Right," she stammers. "Just... just a little secret between... um... classmates."
She does look back at Misato, though, as she starts to explain. "Right," she says. "That way--and--um." She blinks at her. "Bakery Pan-Pan? Do you bake, Fushihara-san?" She hesitates, and her expression turns thoughtful -- curious, even. "I'll have to try it."
Her other question, though, threw a spanner in the works. Yuuki is quiet, as she listens to her answer. Though, it was a slim hope -- and it probably just confused Misato more than anything else. "Just a..." She trails off. "...just... curious. It's no big deal, don't worry about it."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
If Misato realises what she's done, it doesn't show on her face. She just looks pleased. There is something fun about sharing a secret with a (future) classmate...
She nods as Yuuki considers her directions.
"I do! I'm best at making sweets, but I make other things, too." Misato confirms. It's something to keep her busy. Sometimes she has a need to occupy her mind with something. "Definitely drop by sometime."
She considers Yuuki, though, as she tries to play that question off.
'No big deal'... Yeah right. There's definitely something there, but she can't tell what yet.
That's all the more intriguing to her.
"Mm... If you say so." Misato replies. "If I do see one, I'll let you know."
She'll definitely be keeping an eye out now.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Yuuki can't help but notice that Misato seems unflappable -- which is both confounding and endearing. She smiles, as the other girl confirms that she can bake both sweets and other things. And she is best with sweets!
"I like sweets. And... other things," she says. "But especially sweets."
She quiets down -- and wonders if what she said was obviously an excuse. Misato doesn't call her on it, at least, though. Yuuki swallows, but she nods when Misato says she will let her know. "Thanks, Fushihara-san."
She sighs a little, before she crouches down -- and takes the scaffolding for launching rockets. She starts folding it up. "Well... I should get this packed up and head back," she says. "But..."
She looks up at Misato. She finds herself smiling -- looking forward to school, for just a moment, when she had been dreading it. "...I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Misato laughs good-naturedly at that. If there's anything two people can bond over, no matter who they are, it's bound to be sweets.
"Me too." She agrees.
She nods, with Yuuki thanks her. She's sure that if she asked, she probably wouldn't get much more - so she doesn't press her on the 'why'. Yuuki begins to pack up, then - and when she smiles, Misato smiles back at her.
"Mm-hm. See you tomorrow, Hoshizora-san!" She echoes.