Charles Patricius

[Bloodedge]

The moment that line of saliva snapped, Kazuhiko's eyes darted down, settling upon Sakura's lips. He couldn't waste time and energy on whatever that apparent issue in reality was, nor could he log it away for later. Kazu had a certain sense for necessity in his current state. Either way, the sense of attraction between them seemed enhanced on both sides. Another time, perhaps. "No time..." he said. In truth, Kazuhiko was not in a state that would allow long-term residence on this plane of existence. He'd made it back to his physical body simply because it was already there, but the Nexus pulled at him even now. After claiming there was no time, he began removing his clothes piece by piece, beginning of course from the top. Each removal resulted in an article being dropped into a pile beside Sakura. All the while, he was mumbling more words. "So long. So much. Too much. Just... one chance," he chanted. Kazu was cycling through a million thoughts a second, but one thing was clear to him: there was no room for failure.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that there was some sort of rush. Sakura was always aware of the amount of attraction between her and other people so she fully understood that Kazuhiko wasn't actually rejecting her but instead simply had a goal which would require his direct attention first. Ah, but apparently before anything else he began stripping clothing. There was no time, for anything but he was getting naked. Sakura couldn't quite make sense of this, but it wasn't as if she was going to turn her eyes away from him. He dropped articles of clothing and she studied his body, it was definitely some improvement over even his last ascension. He was leagues beyond anything she saw so far from humans, she considered him to be in the top one percent of bodies she'd witnessed so far in her life. Of course, she didn't much care about other bodies to start with, she couldn't help but stare in awe while studying his form. Whatever he wanted to do, she'd allow of him. She kept a close gaze on him for signs of change, but he was mostly speaking to himself.

[Bloodedge]

In a matter of moments, Kazuhiko stood before Sakura without a single article of clothing on his body. He felt... free, more so than ever before. At the same time however, he'd never felt more constricted in his life. The Nexus's pull was not something he'd be able to escape. Good. If he could share this same thing with Angelica, she'd be incapable of remaining on Alaya the same way he felt incapable of remaining on Gaia. "Oh... I have to go now. We'll be back... eventually," he said. After that most recent visit to the Nexus, Kazuhiko truly had no idea how much longer he'd be. It was only the morning after his original departure, but far more time had passed for him. One might note that he had no Holy Grail presently, but space around him began to crackle until a path back into the Nexus opened at his rear. Kazu was being pulled inward, so... he turned away from Sakura and walked directly into the tear. It closed once passed through, as if the problem that caused it had been corrected in a single moment.

[Apollymi]

Every detail of Kazuhiko's departure was noted by Sakura, from his lack of grail, to the look of his butt as he walked away. Interesting it felt almost as if he didn't belong on Gaia presently, perhaps such was the reason for leaving whole. His body couldn't be separated from his soul for so long, they'd have to be brought back into harmony. "Go bujide!~" Sakura sent the young god off to retrieve their wife. She had all the faith in the world in the power he'd managed to acquire overnight as well as his desire to complete that task. If she was normal, she might have felt left out by his sudden exit, but she was far from mortal feelings of withdrawal and abandonment. The object of her affection was being true to his word and going to save someone from imminent danger. Only respect could be given and even if it was a while before they returned, she would be happy knowing that they would do so eventually. Oddly enough at some point in the night she'd received a message from Kaguya claiming they should all go to the convenience store early in the morning to help with the remodel that Hiroshi had planned.

At the same time, one Iino Miko was sitting in a bath relaxing after looking at her phone and determining that she needed to be somewhere soon-ish. She wished to remain helpful to her friend group and as such she'd be getting ready to return to help out with a remodel and see whatever this surprise was that Kaguya had for her. Still in this open concept room she could see out of the large window and found herself happily looking along the skyline from a very high up place. The world had an entirely different perspective from up here... she'd have to make sure she remembered it for later. Oddly enough she likely wasn't alone, as the room she was in belonged to one Marisbury Animusphere, whom she'd spent the entire night, getting acquainted with... in the biblical sense.

[Bloodedge]

In that penthouse suite's bathroom occupied by Miko, there was indeed another body. Marisbury Animusphere sat in the very same bathtub, and in fact filled the space between Miko's back and one of the tub's edges. He had one arm slung over the tub, and one hooked around her midriff as he, too, gazed out the window. "You haven't been here in a long time. I can feel it," he mused absently. That particular line had little to do with their discussion over the past few minutes, but... that topic had mostly faded away. "Anyway, if we're waiting a bit for that date... I figured you would need a few more outfits for the time between. I took the liberty of... acquiring a couple of outfits you might like; they're over by the couch," he said. Whenever she checked, Miko would find two dresses suited for spring weather ─ one more of a sundress while the other was dark and flowery. His claim of 'acquiring' them was a bit untrue. In truth, he'd made them with magic that wasn't meant to be abused for such menial things. No matter.

[Apollymi]

Miko cuddled happily in the bath with Marisbury Animusphere. She was sitting basically within his lap, using him as a backrest while she looked out at the city skyline. "Yeah, it's been a long life for me... and it only recently became good..." she mused. It'd only been a week since her fall from Aincrad and the trajectory of her life changed drastically. When she thought about it objectively, living within Aincrad stunted her growth as a person immensely, and traumatized her base self in a way that she couldn't have explained. Her life on Alaya had exploded in the last week, multiplying exponentionally as she came to peace with her life's true path and began to traverse it in the way it made the most sense to her.

Beyond this point it seemed she had some new clothes, as Marisbury had acquired them for her to hold her over for a few days. She would be getting out of the bath to look at them, but before she did, her head would turn and she'd be pressing her lips against the side of his face. "Arigatou gouzaimasu!~" she thanked him for his kindness. And after wrapping herself in a towel and drying off her legs outside of the tub, she... found her way to the couch to stare at two very different but very beautiful dresses. "Kawaii!~ They're so pretty!~" she seemed to be amazed. Which one would she be wearing out though? the sundress which was red, would be easy to wear and move around it. It wouldn't draw too much attention to her recently plumped frame but would also allow her to still commit to the activities she had planned for the day. It would take her a few minutes to decide on a little red lace thong for her under clothes and then she'd dress in this little undress complete with a golden belt which helped to solidify the dresses form on her person. She could easily adjust it and she felt quite comfortable in it, and it would be in this outfit that she made herself ready to leave Marisbury's present. Even so, she packed up the other dress to take along with the rest of her shopping so that she could wear it for their next date.

[Bloodedge]

While Miko prepared to head out, others were also on the move. Hiroshi himself had never left the shop, spending the sexless portion of his night creating a detailed, drawn draft of the store's new design. It looked like some evolved form of blueprint placed on a normal sheet of paper, though another, lesser version was drawn upon the office's whiteboard. He seemed to have need of the finer control afforded by a pen. Hiroshi's display detailed every inch of the shop, every aisle, and every item down to the exact number currently available. All things were in a new place on the drawing. Ah, but that hadn't taken him very long. Hiroshi had plenty of time remaining through the night and morning leading into the teens' arrival, so he also took the liberty of... first learning that foods in this world were terrible when it came to mana quality. He'd been through the entire menu of hot and cold foods alike, creating and tasting samples of each item... and they were, for the most part, atrocious. What he did as a result was, of course, make a few... gentle modifications prior to the group's arrival and assistance effort. By his approximation, they could easily meet the goal before the store opened.

[Apollymi]

Quite a bit of time would be passing this morning before the store opened. Miko would leave the penthouse suite. A few stumbles along the way would occur but she'd end up at the convenience store to help the rest of her group in no time at all. Before the store opened, Nara Rita on the other hand managed to gather the necessary funds to pay the workers and had tentatively put together some minor changes she thought would help with the store's grand reopening. So, she made her approach to the convenience store with new life in her eyes and when the door opened she was surprised.

"Ara? When did all this happen?" she asked seeming to not understand. She hadn't expected to come in to her own store being completely reogranized and a group of teens placing items back on shelves. The entire store was clean and had a new look and it seemed she'd have... nothing to help with. She'd come in prepared to do a lot and gain multiple different bits of feedback but here and now it seemed that there would be not much for her to do at all.

[Bloodedge]

The convenience store was not the same. Shelves and aisles were organized differently. Those newspaper dispensers and ATMs were placed near the registers. Every sudden change Hiroshi mentioned the previous day had been made, and so many others ─ all the way down to the placement of inventory items. There were a few changes he thought about, but they didn't seem plausible in a setting such as this; a bit of magecraft may have been required. "I do believe this will be sufficient. Excellent work, everyone. Look alive; she's here," Hiroshi said to the group at large. Nara Rita was entering the building, and what she had to see... was not her store.

More importantly than what Rita saw, was the fact that she'd been seen. Hiroshi knew what the woman looked like. Yuuya bowed upon seeing her the first time, as he was technically under her employ. Ah, but... one more male was present. Whether he was seen or unseen, he'd be making himself known. "Helloooooo Nurse!♥~" he sang, barreling toward the buxom woman from one side. The skirt-wearing lad's absolute intention was to latch onto her and squeeze, even applying a few none-too-platonic rubs of hand and crotch here and there. "Mite mite! It's like MILFy An─err Miko! MILFKO! MILF-ko supreme! LUCKY!!~" the pink-haired male chanted. Unfazed as usual, Hiroshi took the time to explain the goings-on. "Ahem. We've been working recently to make all necessary and possible alterations. I personally spent the night learning about the wares you offer, and drafted a new look for the establishment. I also took the liberty of altering your menu. For something called a convenience store, it seemed to operate in a very inconvenient manner for you, the one working here by yourself. I still recommend acquiring some help, but it should now be possible for a single person to effectively see to all business. The menu is perhaps the key factor in that. Most of the customers late night were stopping by to acquire quick sustenance, but making what you had available took valuable time and energy that could be used to make exchanges at the register. So... I did some research on local cuisine and comfort foods. Your hot menu now primarily consists of... what was it? Ramen, miso soup, and for more filling meals... donburi. I managed to find an open store, and was able to acquire a large rice cooker."

[Apollymi]

Everyone was to look alive and Miko had just finished stocking the shelf she was at. Low to the floor she looked up as if she was seeing a ghost, and finally managed to stand after placing the last item and sticker where it needed to be. Rita who seemed surprised by the sudden changes, truly held an uncanny resemblance to iino Miko's mother and thus to Miko herself. All who had seen her thus far understood it. Sakura was included in these thoughts as she looked up with an impassive face. Even so, this lady looked a great deal like the girl she'd come to know and felt a bit like her too given the energy signatures. A bow came from Yuuya as Rita looked around and she held her hands up like she was the one in trouble. In fact she might have been thinking that this group of teenagers was way too attractive but that was just a passing thought, obviously she just needed a little attention. "Oh, no. Don't do that. You guys have really helped me out imme....eeep!~" Of course there was an eep. The one called Saika wouldn't be kept from well... being himself. He immediately latched on to her and it was far more physical contact than she was used to having with another person lately. He seemed to think she looked a lot like another calling her the MILF version of Miko. MILFKO, wasn't it flattering for such attention to be paid to the previously underutilized housewife. Kaguya took notice of her surprise but the lack of immediate shutdown of Saika led her to believe she was likely right about her thoughts concerning the woman's husband. Still, Kaguya would be keeping that to herself. "Ohayou, Rita-nee~" she offered the woman. Today's skirt on Kaguya was a dark blue and her white button up had a blue ribbon to match it. Such was her choice in attire. She'd spent quite a few moments earlier teasing Miko about her sundress but the girl did look cute as she made her way over.

Still, Hiroshi was very much himself and while she tried and seemed to fail at prying the rather handsy lad off her person, she did indeed listen to what Hiroshi had to say. He'd spent the night learning her wares and changing the menu for the store to make it easier. He'd even gone out of his way to acquire a large rice cooker to make the whole of her work day easier if she continued to work alone. "You really didn't have to do all of that. It's a bit outlandish. I expected to have to do more to get this process started properly. You've been a huge help!" she exclaimed. "You should let me reimburse you for the costs of that rice cooker as well... that should have come out of store funds regardless," she added. "I was even going to ask about the menu but those things are much easier to make than others. It means I can get back to offering sweets since I won't be spending most of my time with the regular cooking..." she seemed to be in a reasonable amount of thought. It would be Kaguya who approached properly with Miko at her side. "Hai hai, Hi-aniki is great like that. Also this is my surprise, Iino Miko this is Nara Rita..." Kaguya made an introduction while Miko reached out to grab Saika by the hair and give him a swift little yank as if it were a collar around his neck. "Down. Stop harassing what is obviously my aunt! Yep, definitely my mother's sister..." she demanded of him and then analyzed of Rita seeing her face and aside from eye color viewing her in the same light she did her own mother. "He's just like that... feel free to kick him or step on him or something... don't leave him openings!" Miko added. "Yoroshiku!"