Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Star Twinkle     Whatever warpgate you take to get here, it transports you into a brief interdimensional passage of spiraling cosmic colors, with high-speed streaks of iridescence rushing to either side like stars in FTL travel. Falling helplessly through yellow and pink space, the star-shaped exit appears on the far side, rapidly growing as you hurtle towards it. Yuma's cutesy wormhole dumps you out a moment later on the grassy forest floor, in a little seaside town sectors away from home.

    Mihoshi Town-- Hikaru's home-- is a rural town sprawling across idyllic rolling hills, overlooking a small cliff that drops down to the glittering ocean. Looking down towards the ocean, a bridge connects the mainland to a tiny island, which holds what seems to be the sparse shopping district of the town, along with a larger building that has a star symbol plastered on it that's visible even from up in the hills. Looking the other way towards the outskirts at high elevation, and the dome of an observatory can be seen poking out on the side of a high hill, telescope lens pointed towards the evening sky.

    Here, though, is a small clearing surrounded by forest, without any paths leading into it. Hikaru and Lala's big pink rocket is stashed here while they're on Earth, hidden by the trees on all sides, but over time, it's become more of a 'hideout' than a 'hiding place'. The heart-shaped porthole of the spaceship remains open with its ramp deployed so that the girls can easily come in and out of it, and a clotheline is strung between two trees for Lala's jacket to dry out on. They've commandeered a small round table from somewhere and placed it outside the ship, covering it with journals, drawings, and stargazing charts they've made, but they're all pushed to the side to make room for a platter of clumsily frosted cupcakes, covered with teal hearts and stars, with one of them having a crude depiction of Lala's head and antennae.

    Neither Hikaru or Lala are here right now, though! Instead, just Yuma is, and the little yellow alien has a big ribbon tied in a bow around her neck like she's a teddy bear. The fluid-light on her face swirls around to form a cheerfully upturned mask, and she raises one of her tentacles up to her face to mime 'quiet, hold on' along with a low synthesized hum. Then she goes over and sits down on the table next to the platter, sticking her tiny little stubby legs out and hanging her head lifelessly as if she really is a stuffed animal.

    There's only a short time to stand up and brush off the grass and dirt before Hikaru's excited rambling and footsteps are audible approaching the clearing. She's responded to by an unfamiliar's man's voice, with occasional softer interjections from Lala, and the tail end of their conversation becomes intelligible as they come into view.

". . . and Lala showed up-- moved in just a little bit after Tanabata last year so my whole last year's been super twincool and I've been on all kinds of fun adventures and made tons of friends!"
"Ohhhh? Adventures other than your internship at Hollywood? Oh, I know, you must mean adventures like *mine*, don't you?"
"Uh huh!!"
"Aaaahahaha! That must be why you didn't want to talk about them around your mother and grandparents! That's my girl!"
"Ehehe... and, and, I've learned a *ton* of things, so...."
"Of course, of course, we'll share notes! You should see this photograph I took in Peru, tracking down the appearance of a Chonchon--"
"Aaaaactually, I'll do better than notes!"
Star Twinkle     Hikaru, Lala, and a tall, tanned man come into the spaceship clearing, and Hikaru throws out her arm to gesture to all of you with a beaming smile. With her other hand, she pulls Lala around in front of her, including her in the group to her crunched-up-antennae surprise. "Meet my and Lala's new friends! They're all aliens from all different planets, even different Earths! Lala and I met them traveling around in her spaceship, because Lala's an alien from the planet Samaan!"

    Still smiling wide and holding Lala's hand, Hikaru addresses all the Elites next. "Everyone, this is my dad, a cryptid hunter! Now that we're all here, we can celebrate Lala's birthday together, since it's soooo galacticool that it's on the same day Dad visits home! Happy birthday, Lala!"
Sarracenia      Unexpectedly, it is Lala's birthday! And for birthdays, one must dress properly! ...but that is difficult even for Sarracenia on such short notice. The princess falls back on one of her dresses she has worn a few times now, a black velvet dress with a silver starfield flowing from the right shoulder down the front to the left side of the skirt. She also has on black silk gloves that reach up to about the middle of her upper arm and pointed, heeled black slippers. Her silver hair is done in its usual style of twin braids leading from her temples to meet in the back beneath her metal lotus hairpin to form a longer braid that rests atop the rest of the flowing silver.

     Sarra was not sure what to expect on this Tanabata. She also was not expecting Yuma to be dressed so cutely! As soon as she sees Yuma the princess lets out a rising 'haaaah?!' of cuteness and goes to give the little creature a hug before taking the hint and giggling a bit.

     Sarra reaches into her purse and pulls out her gift for Lala. A Luma plushie! It's a chubby green Luma to go with Lala's color scheme. Sarra sets it down beside Yuma, then pulls out a large pink bow and pins it to the back of the Luma plush. She giggles again, then turns to pretend everything is normal as Hikaru, Lala, and...Hikaru's father?! "Oh! We had heard rumors that Hikaru had parents, but so far there had been no sightings~!" she says, giggling a bit at her own joke.

     Sarra then curtseys politely and with a small twirl. "I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom. It is a pleasure to meet you~"
Timespace Riders      "The ground here is really soft," Sougo marvels after being unceremoniously dumped onto the forest floor.

    "I live to serve, sire," Woz utters only half-sarcastically from beneath Sougo. Having broken the fall of his Demon King, the retainer gently advises, "Someone approaches."

    The excited tone means it can only be Hikaru. Sougo slides off of Woz and gets to his feet, smoothing his pastel pink-and-blue button-up and the seat of his khaki pants.

    Woz purses his lips, rises and does the same with his greatcoat.

    "Hail to you, Mr. Hoshina. I am the somewhat unusual time traveler Woz, and retainer to the future Demon King of Time, Sougo Tokiwa."

    Sougo beams, wiggling happily in place and offering a little wave. "Hi," the Demon King chirps. "I'm Sougo. From an Earth! Nice to meet you!"

    Of course, Hikaru and Lala get greetings, too. "It is good to see you, Lala Hagoromo. I trust you've been well?"

    "Hi, Hikaru! What've you been up to since last time?"
Futaba Nuki After a long day of preparing for and hosting a festival back home, Futaba is still eager to head to Mihoshi Town and likely see the same kind of festival. Why? Because it's an excuse to head out and see the sights somewhere else! It's an excuse to visit friends! She does have to scramble a bit to find a suitable birthday present, but she seems satisfied enough with whatever it is that she brought in a corner store-wrapped box when she arrives.

She does look a little confused after a few seconds when she doesn't see Hikaru or Lala around, instead greeting the bright little Yuma with an easy-going grin. She's about to call out to her, too, stopping just in time at the signal to instead shuffle on over with elongated-tiptoeing to get over with iminimal noise.

"Hey, Yuma. Oh, that's a cute fit you got on right there... Mm. Good idea." After setting her present down on the table, Futaba joins Yuma on the table in the form of a small plushie-sized and shaped version of herself. While she tries to find a comfortable position, she ends up just tipping over and laying on her shoulder awkwardly whilst pretending to be a stuffed animal/thing as well.

As directed, Futaba bides her time, listening as the Precures and the mysterious man come closer. Once Hikaru gives the signal, Futaba bounces herself off the table and transforms back to her regular form with an exaggerated cloud visual, greeting the trio with a broad smile and a hand on her forehead leaf like she was holding down the front of a hat or something.

"Hey there, Hikaru! Thanks for the invite out here. Gotta say, your hometown looks pretty snazzy in person. Settling in alright now that you're-"

Wait. How much does her dad know about what she and Lala and Yuma have been up to, anyway? "-got your ship parked alright?" That's not a great segue, but it'll do.

"Glad to meetcha, Mister Hoshina. Name's Futaba, a ninja from a different Japan. Sotenbori if that helps ya place it. You ever need someone to do some hero business or do all sorts of cool party tricks, you can give me a call." She greets with a hearty wave upon lowering her hand. Her smile grows a bit wider when she sees Lala, reaching back briefly with a stretched out arm to grab the present she had brought.

"And happy birthday, Lala! Whew... Been a minute since the first time all of us met, huh? Looking forward to doing anything fun today?"
Tamamo     Tamamo arrives arm-in-arm with Lilian, though she almost has to separate immediately upon sighting the little star child -- but does not, in the end, because Yuma has a different role to play, one involving being quiet. Tamamo is perfectly willing to play along, and cuddles up to Lilian's side to wait.

    This isn't a black tie affair, of course -- or so was Tamamo's expectation. A teenager's birthday party probably wouldn't be. That being the case, she's dressed for summer celebrations. Her hair is up in double buns, dark ribbons and gold pins holding it all up to keep her neck cool, and her usual robes have been replaced with aesthetically similar versions, thinner and fewer in layer, shoulder-baring by reasons other than loose fit, and giving way to the sight of stockings before reaching knee-length. She hums, idly, in a tune unfamiliar to anyone here but one. "I wonder if Yuma would not--"

    The thought is interrupted by Hikaru's third reason. "Oh! A hunter...?"

    Tamamo squeezes Lilian's arm. Quietly, "What is a cryptid? Should I be worried?"

    In more across-the-clearing tones and volume, "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am known as Tamamo-no-mae, bunrei of Amaterasu-omikami, She of the White-Gold Face." She didn't hear a name, but expects he's more likely to give it than Hikaru is to realize one's parents are often called by name, in other contexts.

    "And a happy birthday to you, Lala. I have brought something... oh, but, should that wait until after everyone has spoken...?" There's a lot she can think to talk about.
Lilian Rook     Lilian, who actually sort of kind of knows a little bit about Tanabata by osmosis, has particular expectations about what the reasons for this 'super special day'. One has to be the celebration, and two has to be because something quaintly nice happened to Lala, so if there's a third that Hikaru had to think about a little bit, maybe Yuma evolved into a second stage like the Gamebrick critter raising sim she's recently gotten into?

    Being introduced to Hikaru's fucking dad wasn't even in her top two-hundred guesses. Not even her fiancée ever introduce her to her dad! She sure didn't introduce anyone to hers! She's already a little like a deer in the headlights before Lala introduces her as an alien, which softly drives the wind out of her like a gentle punch to the fucking diaphragm after all that recent arguing about being human. She doubles forward a little, presses her first to her lips, looks as if she's going to cough, gently wheezes in shock instead--

    'We had heard rumors that Hikaru had parents, but so far there had been no sightings~!'

    --and then her eyes widen all at once, shocked away, painting a visible light trail in snapping towards Sarracenia out of the corner of her vision. The sense of sheer bloodlust crossing her way is anime-grade palpable. The metaphorical OST cuts out for a few seconds while Lilian frenetically weighs her options.

    "Ahah . . . my apologies, Mister Hoshina, for suddenly meeting under these conditions." Lilian says, switching to her years-practised Japanese, and tilting her head forward. She has the air of revving up to being polite about his daughter's 'overactive imagination', but she already knows that Sarracenia can't hold a cover to literally save her life, and so she can't just casually play it off around someone so mythopoetically inept at reading the room. "Hikaru--" read: last name basis and appropriate suffix "--called out of the blue saying that she had a big surprise planned-- ah! We met when one of her adventures got her especially lost and in need of help, so she has my emergency number; I suppose I should have explained first."

    Of course Lilian has spent subjectively ten minutes sweatily thinking over this, but it's important to appear scattered about it. Devilishly machiavellian mastermind she is, she's managed to convince even herself that she feels authentically flustered and nervous!

    'Happy birthday, Lala!'

    "Oh! Lala's birthday?!" Lilian blurts out loud as if the cupcakes weren't the most enormous tip in the universe. 'Hikaru's father coming home being a special occasion' is still lagging with the rest of the pack on the mental race track. "Happy birthday! That was the whole reason I was-- Oh my goodness I was so shocked that-- how could I forget even for a second?"

    §That is, how could I forget I've already been to her school as Lala's foreign relative? I already have the perfect alibi! Not aliens here; I'm 'exotically european'. Hah. Not a bad try Hikaru, but you're still a long ways from outsmarting me~§

    Lilian smiles soooo sweetly about Lala's birthday, and allows herself to breathe out enough to finally process the question Tamamo asked four seconds ago. Even her giggle about it seems so authentic! Wow! "Of course not! Those are 'unidentified' beings or creatures that people associate with rumours. I'm not certain off the top of my head which ones are famous in Japan, but the typical examples are the loch ness monster, the chupacabra, or grey aliens. And 'hunter' means hunting for evidence as well; it's a scholarly profession that requires rugged fieldwork." Glaze glaze glaze glaze emergency glaze. Tamamo's full introduction isn't even remotely a worry, in this place and on this day, hooray!
Lilian Rook     Unwilling to actually separate her from Hikaru for the time being, Lilian settles for a hand on Lala's head and the most fond scruffle she can conjure (easy). "Lilian Rook; I swing by to check on Lala every so often." she says, whilst carefully avoiding bopping deelies with her palm. "I'm pleased as always to see that Hikaru has been taking good care of her so far from home~" she says, adding a ninth or tenth half-truth to the pile of careful option selects. "From what I can tell, it seems like you've raised a remarkable daughter. You don't even seem the slightest bit rattled by all this suddenness, so I suppose I can see where she gets it from, haha!"

    §Aren't these two always talking about how they can't divulge any of this to anyone? Does she expect her father to laugh it off? Or is she somehow aware that he's perceived as a credulous weirdo and thinks nobody will take him seriously? I suppose it's possible that she's already thought ahead and is putting Lala's mind at ease by taking advantage of his vulnerable points to deal with the risk.§

    Lilian thinks very normal thoughts about the relationships that daughters have with their fathers for a while.
Angela Love isn't really prevented from going where she wants to go anymore, but Angela would prefer she has someone with her and that is why Roland, professional Fixer in his mid thirties, is coming along with her. This isn't really a hard and fast rule but it's just ... calming knowing there's someone keeping an eye on everything.

"Wow... This is so cute...! But where is everybody? Do you know, Yuma?" Love asks. Roland is holding a heart-patterned gift box that is clearly something Love picked out and he's just holding onto for the moment but he cranes his head and says, "SEems like they'll be here soon..."

And Love bobs her head excitedly, spinnong on her heel and--

''Everyone, this is my dad, a cryptid hunter!''

Love startles and ducks behind Roland. "Ahaha... He hunts cryptids, you say? Well I'm just a normal magic---a normal girl, I'm not a cryptid or secretly some kind of creature at all, but it's nice to meet him...!" She pauses. "Oh!! Yes! Happy Birthday, Lala! I got you a present! Well Roland had to pay for it. But I picked it out!"

And then she hears Tamamo and she brightens again. "Tamamo's here too! And---" She sees Lilian. "I'm behaving so much and in very non-bitey ways."

"Reporting no biting, ma'am." Roland confirms.
Rita Ma      A couple comedic time-beats after everyone else has landed, Rita plummets through with a soft-startled "!!", nearly lands on her back on the soft ground, and twists around at juuuust the last second to land in a low three-point crouch as the tanned man approaches.

     "aliens!!"
     Just as she's letting out a soft 'whew' and probably turning to not-harshly side-eye Yuma, that arrests her mid-relief and makes her eyes bug out again. Dirty-handed from the ground, halfway hunched forward from her crouch, caught like a deer in the headlights.

     W-wait. No. She's saying that about everyone.

     For the second time, Rita perks back up- "Oh, it's Lala's birthday too? Congratulations, Lala!! How old are you now? And it's good to meet you, um, Mr. Hoshina? I'm Rita, a-"- and for the second time she hitches.

     Her eyes dart to Hikaru while pleading for a cover, panicked thrice. Hollywood internship?? So this guy knows about Yuma and Lala and spaceships, but not about being a Precure?!

     "... um, a friend!! We met on some of their outings." In her crisp usual preppy-girl jacket and skirt, unfortunately, she looks like she might be an actress or something.
Tamamo     'And 'hunter' means hunting for evidence as well; it's a scholarly profession that requires rugged fieldwork.'

    "Ohh, I see." Tamamo may have been imagining Hikaru's dad Releasing the Hounds. "Something to the tune of an academic detective, is it?"

    'I'm behaving so much and in very non-bitey ways.'

    "I am most pleased to hear this." Tamamo's soft smile is encouraging -- it's meant to be, at least. She drifts into 'enigmatic' a little easily, at times.
Star Twinkle     Yuma even *squishes* like a stuffed animal in Sarra's hug, neutral mask-expression popping into a bunch of green circles that spin around her face. Somehow, it's become easy to read the emotions behind her esoteric alien facial expressions, even more than you'd expect just from repeated familiarity. This one, obviously, means 'happy to see you', and it's accompanied by a theremin-like warble up in pitch.

    As everyone's fairly casual introductions come in, Hikaru's father's jaw drops lower and lower until his sunglasses slide down his nose. He's clearly a well-traveled man, Japanese but tall, tanned, and brown-haired such that he'd stick out among a local crowd. He's wearing big archaeologist-style cargo pants and tall hiking boots, a t-shirt with the letters UMA emblazoned across it, and a hiking backpack piled high with all sorts of things. He stands there flabbergasted for a moment longer, and then takes a big breath in.

    "These are *real* aliens?! Twincooool!!!" Oh. Apparently she gets that from him. Good luck, Lilian.

"I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom."

    Each person's introduction is animated as a separate panel, with Hikaru and her dad appearing beside them while Hikaru waggles her hands to the side like she's showing off an auction piece, and her dad zips around to inspect all of their Weird Traits. Apparently she gets *that* from him too.

"She's a *real* princess! She has these weird plants you can eat that give you a costume and powers, and she's from a place where plants are people! But you don't eat those ones!"
"Ohhhh! Living plants! That's amazing! Is she also a plant person?"
"I'm pretty sure she's not!"

"I'm Sougo. From an Earth! Nice to meet you!"

"From an Earth...! So that must mean that parallel universe theory is real! I knew it, I *told* those bureaucrats that they'd regret not publishing my paper! Hey, tell me, is there a version of me in your world?? Is there anything *strange* about your timeline?"

    "Er... I don't think it's like that, Dad, but he's got a cool belt that--" Hikaru cuts off with a wince and a glance past her dad (who's looking Woz up and down with a magnifying glass) at Sougo. It seems like Precure talk is a step beyond alien talk. "He's like a cool guy!"

"Glad to meetcha, Mister Hoshina. Name's Futaba, a ninja from a different Japan."

"Ohhohohoh! A mythical tanuki! And a ninja too! If I document this, it'll give evidence to my theory that all those mystical events *did* happen because of a tanuki's prank! So you *can* transform! Is this the only shape you can turn into, or are there more??"

"Well I'm just a normal magic---a normal girl, I'm not a cryptid or secretly some kind of creature at all, but it's nice to meet him...!"

    Hikaru's dad seems to take this as an opportunity to elaborate more on his profession, since clearly Love's phrasing of 'some kind of creature' means she was asking to know more about the specific kinds of creatures he investigates! "Not just any kind of creature! I've been traveling the world looking for evidence of the most elusive and fascinating animals on Earth! Yokai, spirits, monstrous man-eating reptiles at the bottom of lakes... twincool..!!!"

    Meanwhile, Lala is visibly cowed by Hikaru's dad's energy, and takes the stuffed Luma from Sarracenia with a grateful smile while standing a safe distance away. "It's cute, lun! Thank you. Like the star that we met in your world... but what're you giving me this for?"

    "It's your birthday, Lala! And on your birthday, you get gifts and sweets from the people who care about you! See, see, I made cupcakes!"

    "Oyo...? Is that how it works on Ear-- in Japa-- ... Earth...?"
Star Twinkle "I am known as Tamamo-no-mae, bunrei of Amaterasu-omikami, She of the White-Gold Face."

    "*The* Tamamo-no-mae... these fox tails... there's only three of them, but certain texts talked about age being a factor, and the myth in the Otogi-zoushi only described her as having two. Twincool...! They're so realistic! But what if I--"

    Hikaru's dad is squatting down behind Tamamo, enraptured with her tails and slowly reaching his hand out to touch one of them, when one of them shifts with undeniably lifelike movement. He suddenly freezes, as the transitive equation going from 'these fox tails are real' to 'who Tamamo-no-mae actually is' visibly plays out on his face, with a little bit of cold sweat nervousness cropping up.

    He hastily shifts his hand to the back of his head, pretending like he wasn't going to grab her at all. "Ahahaha, wow! Hikaru, did you go and break the Sessho-seki or something? Hahaha."

"... um, a friend!! We met on some of their outings."

    And yet he immediately moves on anyways! Hand on his chin and the end of a well-chewed pen in his mouth, he excitedly looks between Rita and a scrawled notebook in his hand. "And what kind of outings are those?? Different planets, right? I'm specialized in cryptozoology, not xenobiology, but you look *remarkably* human! Where are you from?"

    "Er... and I think I should reintroduce myself? My name is Lala ... ..." Slightly troubled, Lala leaves a conspicuous gap where her Hikaru-assigned surname would typically go. "... An investigator from Samaan, lun. But, Mister Hoshina, I really need to say--"

    "I *see*! I thought those antennae of yours were just a fashion choice, but now...!" Cutting her off, Hikaru's dad squats down next to her, pinching a finger around the bulb on the end of Lala's antenna. She stiffens up and goes silent, but before his investigation can go any further, Hikaru calls out from the other side of the clearing, with the platter of cupcakes in hand.

    "Lala, look! I decorated this one like you, so--" And then even Hikaru is cut off by her father, who practically flash-steps over when he spots the least human member of the group floating happily besides Hikaru, and grabs Yuma with both hands.

    "And this...! This glow, this shape... maybe a Furaribi, but there's no heat...! What is it??"

    "Dad!!!" Hikaru stomps her foot down and stares at him, finally having had enough. Of a certain thing, at least. "Introduce yourself first! These are my friends!"

    "Oh, right, alright." He puts his hand on the back of his head and smiles awkwardly, eyes closed. "I'm Youichi Hoshina, a professional cryptid hunter and globehopper. It's nice to meet all of my little Hikaru's... alien friends."

"And 'hunter' means hunting for evidence as well; it's a scholarly profession that requires rugged fieldwork."

    "Precisely, precisely! Oh, you sound very interested in the field, no wonder Hikaru gets along with you! I'm sure you'd be super interested in hearing about my research; I could go on and on about all the different yokai in Japan-- this latest expedition was searching in Chile for evidence of the Chonchon, also known as the Tue-tue, you'll see I've got some artist's renditions here--"
Timespace Riders      Sougo gives Hikaru a subdued (for him) thumbs-up. There's only a little enthused wiggle. "We're both time travelers," he says, sidestepping the issue of the transformation belts.

    "Indeed," says Woz with a slight inclination of his head toward's Hikaru's dad. "We could tell you much about our timelines. I haven't met any other version of you, for instance, but it's quite possible that one exists and is a different person entirely."

    "Mm!" Sougo nods. "There's actually a whole, like, community of time travelers where we're from? There's these two guys that always hit on each other," he begins, "One of them steals from the other all the time, but it's just so there's an excuse to chase him around. I think they're actually from different worlds too!"

    "As well, a half cult, half royal honor guard seeking to colonize other timelines for their king," says Woz casually, wearing their uniform. "Really, you might describe our timeline as a feud over who has the right of travel." Kamen Rider and Precure topics are thus successfully avoided by careful omission of any special-effects-laden fistfights between these parties.

    Lala asks how it works, and Sougo's nod is bright and cheery. "Yep! As a matter of fact," he continues, "I thought long and hard about what to get you, and Woz did too. But I think... well, you know how you've been getting really into reading lately? How there's something to, you know, appreciate about sinking your teeth into it compared to just listening to one?" He offers her his present, wrapped and tied expertly by Woz, of course. It's small but satisfyingly heavy in the hand. Inside it is an astrolabe. "Sailors, astronomers and... well, even priests, used these. It keeps the time, it can help you find out what the tide is, it can even help you track constellations. The little booklet in the box goes over a few. But there was an astronomer in the 10th century who wrote a huge book about all the ways you could use it, too!"

    "For my part," says Woz, "I wondered if your interest in literature might not also be the springboard for an interest in other pastimes for refined sorts." His present is flatter than Sougo's and wider. A notebook, maybe? No--a calligraphy set, including brushes and ink. "May it assist both in your studies and in your exploration of the arts," he says with a bow at the waist. Rising, he throws one hand wide and tips his head back, loosing a dignified, exultant, "Happy birthday!"
Sarracenia      Yuma's squish and theremin-like warble both make Sarra squeal in delight like she's a teen instead of a nearly middle aged woman with an eyepatch who looks like she's a bit over the hill.

     'She's a *real* princess!'
'Is she also a plant person?'
'I'm pretty sure she's not!'

     Sarra laughs a bit. "No no, I am not a plant. Merely named after one." she says with a smile. And a bit of nervousness as he inspects her. She doesn't have a lot of weird traits (at least she doesn't think she does) other than the eyepatch and the metal lotus. "Um...would you like to try one of my items? Not all are plant-focused. In fact, those are among the more dangerous ones. But, there is one plant-based one that is fairly harmless." Sarra pulls out a pair of large leaves, then hands one to Yoichi. "Here you go! Just give it a squeeze-" Sarra squeezes her leaf, and in a puff of white smoke she is endowed with raccoon ears and a tail, "-and poof! You have powers! Now you may fly if you wish!"

     'It's cute, lun! Thank you. Like the star that we met in your world... but what're you giving me this for?'

     Sarra smiles happily at the thank you and gives Lala a big hug, her raccoon tail swaying cheerfully. "As Hikaru said, it is your birthday! And you are quite welcome for the gift!"

     Yoichi's antics are amusing to Sarra, and she watches with a few giggles and a smile.

     Quite a few people show up, and so Sarra offers those she is okay with a wave. "Futaba! Sougo! Woz! Good to see you! And Miss Rita, too! And Love! Oh, and of course Miss Tamamo!" She is less enthusiastic as she says, "Ah. Roland. Lilian."
Angela Roland is feeling kind of frozen. He's not really sure how to speak to a dad of a coworker who happens to be young enough to be a kid of his. And they're not even really coworkers. They just had...adventures together. Fighting ... themed enemies and going to concerts. He has no idea what to say.

And how exactly is he supposed to introduce himself? Say 'Hi I'm a Fixer'? He's ... He could introduce himself as a librarian maybe...? That doesn't...feel right. Considering what THE Library is like. But what else is he going to do? Say his kids are hanging around professional killers over twice their age? He can't do that.

Yeah he's gonna have to say it that way.

"I'm uh. Roland. I'm an ... amateur librarian."

Huffh, he could've nailed that better couldn't he?

"Being a librarian involves uh ... stacking books and ... lending them out." He adds, wanting to die.

''Evidence of the most elusive and fascinating animals on Earth!''

"Like rats?" Love asks hopefully before flinching anxiously at 'man-eating reptiles.'.

"BUt not uh... Man eating reptiles ... that aren't at the bottom of lakes?" She asks.

"Oh uh." Roland adds, offering the box to Hikaru since Lala's hands seem pretty full. Inside is also a stuffed entity. This one's... A SNAKE.

"Uh it's Love's gift I was just um. It's for Lala too." He adds.

''I am most pleased to hear this.''

Love brightens. "Oh! Yeah?? Really?? Great!! Thanks Tamamo. Yes. Normal um. Non-reptile behavior..."

Man, he has a great relationship with his kid, Roland thinks. I could really use a smoke. Guhhh. But he can't exactly step away for a cig right here.

"Did you find any?" He asks, of all these various entities he's been hunting. "--Oh, did you teach Hikaru your techniques?" That might explain---wait isn't it just coincidence? Roland's brow furrows in thought.
Lilian Rook     'These are *real* aliens?! Twincooool!!!'

    §Oh god dammit.§

    Lilian watches in stunned shock as this grown-ass man with a hiking backpack and a build goes animation cel sliding around from person to person exactly like his daughter. Unwittingly saving budget herself in her indecision, Lilian contemplates how she assumed Hikaru is a wacky little critter precisely because of the lack of influence of her family to normalize her, then wonders how she retained this trait while seeing this man hardly ever, and then finally begins to wonder if it's her fault that he acts like this, before finally exhaling with her head tilted into her fingertips and exhaustedly murmuring "I don't understand families at all."

    'From an Earth...! So that must mean that parallel universe theory is real! I knew it'

    Lilian's eyebrow twitches. "I-I suppose that's true." she says, nervous for just how easy this softball is to pitch over the plate. "But if you ask people about their timelines, you really will be here for days, haha . . ." Unfortunately, she can't help but pull Tamamo a little closer to herself when Hikaru's dad comes running over to her, practically body to body.

    'Ahahaha, wow! Hikaru, did you go and break the Sessho-seki or something? Hahaha.'

    "I'm afraid that was my doing, Mister Hoshina." Lilian says, strained-polite as can be. "So if I could politely ask you to refrain from doing anything that might cause any inconvenience?" she says, as Hoshina crouching down rapidly drains her 'oh no a respectable adult' meter.

    'I'm Youichi Hoshina, a professional cryptid hunter and globehopper.'
    'It's nice to meet all of my little Hikaru's... alien friends.'

    "It's a pleasure to meet you." is the newest addition to Lilian's list of half-truths. "I assure you, however, I am quite an authentic human being. If I hear 'alien' enough, I might start feeling unhappy about it!" she says, sooooo sweetly. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some interest in the veil of secrecy that separates little joys like Lala and Yuma from the rest of us, but I'm afraid I've had a long day, and it's Lala's birthday besides, so if you could slow down just a little?"

    'Something to the tune of an academic detective, is it?'

    Lilian leans very close, and whispers "Crank." out of the corner of her mouth. "Unfortunately, he's right that they do actually exist here; and the government knows. So perhaps he is more like a detective after all." She's already forgotten what she was planning to do to Sarracenia for instantly throwing shade at Hikaru's family; this guy is a freak.

    'Being a librarian involves uh ... stacking books and ... lending them out.'

    Lilian nods solemnly at Roland. It's so hard to be responsible.

    "Miss Hagoromo?" Lilian says, emphatically and on purpose. "Would you like to sit down? Cake first, or opening gifts? It's your birthday, after all." she says. "Regardless of everything else happening, we're here to celebrate that occasion."
Rita Ma      In Rita's introductory-torment panel, she's leaning away from Youichi at forty-five degrees with outline-shivers running up and down her body, queasily aghast. "Look... human...?"

     It'd be sooooo weird if you were some kind of gross tentacle monster with DNA from outer space using chromatophores and morphic tendrils to imitate normal clothes, Rita! Good thing you're just a secret magical girl!!

     Wait, no. Rita knows Hikaru from trips, so she's a Hollywood person. A Hollywoodoid. How do those act? Leaning back in and smoothing her outline, Rita clears her throat into her fist and shuts her eyes. "Mr. Hoshino. It's rude to say a woman only 'looks human', you know. I'm from a future Earth too, so I'm barely an alien at all," she says while producing a handkerchief to wipe off her dirty palms with.

     But I can't let him down after Hikaru talked me up, so... Professionally-serenely brightening: "Oh, we once went to a world where everything was a lot bigger. Or maybe we shrank? It was beautiful, though. A barrel of oil was the size of a whole building, and there were beetles like cars."

     "But it's mostly 'cryptids' from your own world you're interested in, right? Of course stuff from other planets is weird, so that's almost a little too easy."

     ----

     Rita instinctively gravitates towards Roland, nodding when he introduces himself as an 'amateur librarian'- "Aren't you a professional by now? They put you through a lot"- and giving him a sympathetic look about his cigarette-agony.

     From that spot in the unobtrusive background, she lurches forward in alarm when Youichi grabs at Lala's deelyboppers, only not quite making it in time to bat his hand away before he's already moved on to the next thing. Shooting Lala a look of high-tension alarm, she rummages in her little leather bag for a colorful band-aid and silently offers it with a grimace.

     "What's, um, the 'Star Festival' about anyway, Hikaru?" she calls over, trying to put an interruption on the man's frenzy. "Are the cupcakes meant for everyone, or...?" Anything, god.
Tamamo     Tamamo's tails do, in fact, move 'on their own.' They may be mostly fluff, but there's all the expected aspects of a living body under there, too. It is, additionally, relevant that she's quite taken, and even if they've been introduced -- even if she were single -- there are things impolite to do. Fortunately, Youichi thinks better of the impulse before it becomes an issue.

    "Hoshina-san the globehopper, then...? My, little wonder Hikaru-chan--" a familiar form that could make one sound either similarly young or fairly old, which her own nonhuman nature makes less obvious, "--is so interested in seeing new places! Ah, not that she has visited my world... rather, I am 'from Earth,' but my Lilian is 'from another Earth,' and I presently reside in her world's secret continent." She could have said 'Britain,' but that would have been technically incorrect.

    'Hikaru, did you go and break the Sessho-seki or something? Hahaha.'

    Oh, dear. Laughing that off would be easier if she didn't have an intimate connection to the Killing Stone. "Oh, no, it was a fragment of a wish-granting relic that formed a connection with a past era, you see," which is an explanation Tamamo only realizes might make things more confusing only after she's said it.

    "That was how I came to join the Paladins, and engage with disaster response and relief efforts across this sector of the multiverse." See, it's nothing like the legend. A perfectly safe presence to have around one's home... and child. She's not sweating, and her heartrate was always like that, probably.

    "I suppose..." upon seeing another birthday gift be given, "there is no need to wait, after all. Though it is only something I happened to make, please accept this."

    Welcome tone and subject shift aside, the plain little jewelry box that Tamamo offers to Lala will prove to contain a hairclip. Somewhat contrasting the star motif, this one is a double-layered sunburst, like a reminder of this particular star, rather than an emblem of the other places she goes to explore together with Hikaru. It could easily be mistaken for glass and plastic -- but Tamamo made it out of materials she has in plenty in her workshop, and she has no means to make plastic, so it's mostly made out of gold, instead.
Futaba Nuki "Twincooool!!!"

So that's where Hikaru gets that from. Eager to keep the good vibes flowing, Futaba grins again while nodding once at the maybe-archaeologist. "That's right. There's all sorts out there, too, includin' super cool and extra hot metal ladies-"

A beat, and then Futaba asides to Hikaru's father "-literal hot, not.. I mean, she's super hot in the other way, too, but..." She tries to clarify, stumbles over her own words, then coughs into her hand lightly before trying to barre right past that. Good thing Dimo's not here to see her blushing a bit right there. "Anyway. Yeah, liquid metal people, laser-shootin' brick shhhouses, horse knights, mirror folks, magic trains, royalty of all sorts..."

She gives Sarracenia, Sougo, and Tamamo some knowing nods. "Even this one place that was larger-than-everything. Gonna miss those little vegetable guys..." She adds after Rita reminds her about that adventure, sighing fondly and looking back wistfully on the whole thing. "Yeah... There's all sorts just waitin' out there, y'know? And don't even get me started on the yokai we got back home..."

"all those mystical events *did* happen because of a tanuki's prank!"
"or are there more??"

"Well, sure as heck can't prove that the tanuki didn't do all that stuff." Futaba approves with a laugh, her eyes lighting up from his followup question. "Oh, definitely not. I've got all kinds of forms! Like..."

A poof of smoke, and the first form she takes is that of Mister Hoshino! The leaf is still plastered right on her forehead, and her voice still sounds like her own. "Lookin' like other folks is one, but I've also got..."

Another puff and a leap, and Futaba's transformed into a stepladder! The steps are covered in leaves, and there's a gold bangle wrapped around one of the spreaders. Also, her face is still visible across two of the steps. "I can turn into stuff, too. Big, small, and everything in between!"

Futaba creates one more poof of smoke to turn into her tanuki form, still having that leaf on her forehead and the big gold bangle wrapped around the base of her tail. She's still got some of the orange coloration even now amidst all the gray and stripes. She's even got a little version of her jacket on. "And then there's this! In case I gotta be marketable for the silver screen once your girl makes it big, y'know?"

She gestures at Hikaru with her head, inwardly feeling quite clever for being able to tie it all back to the movie internship that totally exists. "Glad to finally be meetin' ya, Mister Youichi. Cryptid huntin', eh...?"

That actually catches Futaba's interest. : "You ever work with other cryptid hunters in other parts of the world? Always wondered if they've got different ways of findin' em than folks around here, and..." She hesitates briefly, actually looking just a little bashful about admitting: "Figured seein' some of 'em might give me ideas of what to turn into that the local yokai haven't already."
Star Twinkle "Here you go! Just give it a squeeze-"

    "Hahaa! I see!" Youichi claps his hands together in delight and eagerly takes Sarracenia's power-up. He squeezes it, and with a poof, Hikaru's dad is wearing a big furry suit with the hood up instead of his previous gear. "Amazing! I hardly felt anything moving at all! How does something like this work? Are you able to make them?"

    "Yaaaa--! Let me get one too!" Hikaru slides in and yoinks one from Sarracenia's offer too, poofing into a tanuki suit alongside her father, as a smaller pink-eyed clone beside him. "See? It's a lot of fun!"

"BUt not uh... Man eating reptiles ... that aren't at the bottom of lakes?"

    "Oh, no, any man-eating reptile would do!" Youichi's cheerily joking answer is the worst possible one for Love, but he doesn't seem to notice. "Not crocodiles though, ahaha! Totally normal reptiles, those ones. I did a tour in Africa looking for a mythical giant one; ended up finding a footprint but nothing much beside that! And the darn journals didn't even accept the footprint as proof."

"Oh, no, it was a fragment of a wish-granting relic that formed a connection with a past era, you see,"

    "Time travel... I have a colleague with theories about secret governmental time travel devices spread across Europe, but I won't pretend like I expected to encounter it in my life! Nebulamazing!" Then he seems to remember something, and holds up a finger, sweating a little bit more. "So, ahah, Lady Tamamo, you... how exactly did you end up meeting my daughter?"

    It seems like the talk about the Paladins doesn't mean anything to him! So instead, he focuses on, "Secret continent...? Atlantis...?" And then to Lilian, smiling again, "Oh, of course, no convenience intended! I'm just a researcher you see, so I can't help being curious...."

    Hikaru slides in to intercept again, after smoothing out Yuma and making sure she was okay after being dual-handedly gripped by her dad. "Miss Tamamo's super duper nice! We met her at a concert with an idol-- with an idol performance and a big monster that looked like a dragon turtle made out of crystal!"

"Really, you might describe our timeline as a feud over who has the right of travel."

    Youichi's eyes sparkle with excitement, nodding several times. "That's spacetacular!! *Multiple* different intersecting parallel universes... and they're so well known that people can argue about them?? Am I the only one not in the loop about traveling to all different worlds?"

    He puts a hand to his chin, scratching at his goatee thoughtfully. "Maybe I *am*... would the DUAC hide that from me? Maybe there's someone at the top... some grand conspiracy to keep Japan from discovering this information... or maybe it's not the DUAC at all, but something higher up, and the Department was founded to try and counter them. With more investigation... I might become a global hero from publishing this information...! Awesome...!!"

"It's rude to say a woman only 'looks human', you know."
"If I hear 'alien' enough, I might start feeling unhappy about it!"

    Since Rita, Lilian, and Roland are the ones coming across as 'normal' to him now, Youichi does settle down some with a sheepish smile at his own excitability. "Sure, yeah. Sorry for getting away, it's a bad habit of mine, haha. Just, you know, this is an unprecedented breakthrough in my career. My entire *field*. And brought to me by my own darling Hikaru! You can imagine my excitement, right?"
Star Twinkle     Only a tiny bit more subdued, Youichi slides over to Rita. "But, you said you were from the future! So I just didn't want to assume anything about, whether a parallel timeline would have the same kind of ideas about humans-- hey, who knows, you might be the next stage of human evolution, right? What happens in the future?"

    While Youichi goes around to everyone, Lala accepts her birthday gifts with grateful surprise that builds into shock and then eventually some nervous shame, like they must have only done this for her because they were misled about something. Arms full, she hugs the plushies and astrolabe, hairclip, and calligraphy set to her chest, antennae wrapped around the top of the pile to keep it stable, but they're sizzling with nervous electricity as she buries her face behind the snake plushie.

    "A-ah...! Thank you everyone, b-but--! I'm already an adult, lun! I became an adult last year! S-so... I'm not supposed to get celebrations anymore, a-and all of these gifts, I've n-never... oyo....."

    Hikaru appears to hug Lala's shoulders from behind, carefully not disrupting the pile. Lala startles for a second, and then relaxes when she realizes who it is. "That kind of thing doesn't matter, Lala! I like you a lot, so I want to give you presents every year no matter how old you get, on your birthday, on Christmas, and the day we found Yuma! Lala's birthday is special because it's Lala's, so we want to make you feel special! That's what gifts are for!"

"Lookin' like other folks is one, but I've also got..."

    Youichi is absolutely enthralled by Futaba's performance, and whips his camera out from within the tanuki suit (he's still wearing his; Hikaru's is gone) to start snapping pictures of each new form. "Amazing! Incredible! Do Hikaru next! I've never seen anything like this!"

    Meanwhile, Hikaru is carrying over the platter of cupcakes, happily humming to herself. "Okay! Lala, that one with your face is especially for you! Come on over, Dad, everyone! We should make Lala's first birthday on Earth a suuuper nebulamazing one!"

    The next person to sneak up behind Lala isn't Hikaru, but the other Hoshina, and she yelps a bit when Youichi holds a magnet nearby her antenna bulb and it automatically sparks and color shifts to blue instead of the default yellow. "Oyo-?!"

    "Incredible... hey, little Lala, you wouldn't mind an interview, would you? My flight out is tomorrow morning, but I've *got* to hear about this alien planet of yours. Xenobiology isn't my field, but darned if the DUAC wouldn't be able to deny those little wigglers of yours as proof." He turns his head aside to Futaba while running the magnet up and down Lala's antennae, seeing the electromagnetic color shift in the static they emit. "Oh, sure, I work with other cryptid hunters sometimes. The Department of Unexplained Aerial and Cryptid Investigations's a Japanese bureau, but we cryptid hunters have got to stick together, right, Hikaru? Hikaru?"

    Hikaru doesn't respond for a second, having completely frozen in place with her face going pale. Silently, she tugs Lala out of her father's hands and shifts her behind her, shooting the Elites a wide-eyed expression. "Dad...? You don't mean-- you...? The Department of...?" That look must mean one thing: the same Japanese government bureau that's been after Lala and Yuma this entire time.

    "You-- you can't tell other Earthlings about aliens, lun! You have to keep this secret!"
"... Huh? No, I-- why not? Look, nothing's going to happen to you; this is just a *really* incredible discovery for my career, it's my job, you know? The government's got a right to know about stuff like this."
Angela ''I became an adult laster year!''

"Oh I guess maybe this is a year late then, if you're not supposed to get gifts anymore?" Love is willing to accept Lala's explanation at face value but brightens at Hikaru's own resolve on the matter. "Oh yeah...! That makes a lot of sense, Hikaru!"

''I don't understand families at all.''

"Ah, well, I think you'd be a good parent actually. I mean, if you wanted to be. You and Miss Tamamo compliment each other well--you don't actually have to understand everything, right, if you've got a partner who can back you up?" Roland rubs at his neck. "Not every family is going to need the same things. So long as you can adapt for the people you're looking after." And he doesn't exactly just mean kids with that. But he seems to realize he's sort of talking from a realm of total inexperience too. Oh sure, he read books. He talked to his wife but...

''Aren't you a professional by now?''

Roland half grimaces, half smiles, turning to Rita. "Ahah.... i gotta say it's nothing like I expected. To be honest, but I don't mind being around books or anything. There--" He hesitates, because mixed group. "--The challenges aren't really related to the uh. ... Handling guests is the toughest part." He ultimately settles on that, making it sound like a customer service issue. "They aren't easily dissuaded."

He brings his hands behind him to keep them from reaching for a cigarette. "Oh actually--can I get your private line? I wanted to ask you something privately sometime."

He glances at Lilian briefly, the other person he wants to have a private chat with but he has more time with that, he figures. Wedding isn't happening yet.

Love does really want to show Hikaru her transformation because she really likes Hikaru and it seems to her like Hikaru is totally fine with her showing her dad it! And it might be nice. It's been a while since she transformed.

The problem is that there's not enough animation budget to actually show the full transformation sequence so Love says, "Okay be right back!" to Youichi before jogging over to a tree and stepping behind it before stepping back out from it in her queatzacoatl form which still is, of courrse, about two and a half magical girls tall and about two or three magical girls long.

"Here comes Magical--Oh wait shoot." Love corrects herself. "Here comes... um... feathered serpent...!ansI+pink,")

Roland, stares at Love for a long moment and starts fumbling for his cigarettes again.
Timespace Riders     "Hmm..." Sougo taps his lower lip as Lala explains her feelings about receiving so many gifts. "I think..." He smiles warmly. "Hikaru's right! After all, Woz and I are older than you, and we give each other presents every year. You know?"

Why not?

    "Mr. Hoshina," begins Woz, with a sigh. He would have preferred not to have this discussion with someone he's just met. It's Hikaru's father, so he's willing to extend some grace. "You are one man. What will you do if someone who commands several *hundred* men decides that something *will* happen to Lala? That it *should,* and that Hikaru's happiness is a fair price to pay for the advantage Lala would provide them?"
Tamamo     Seeing The Hoshina pair in matching costumes is at least a little funny, and takes Tamamo's mind further from the topic of transformed stone corpses suffused with deadly poison.

    'So, ahah, Lady Tamamo, you... how exactly did you end up meeting my daughter?'

    Tamamo glances quickly between Hikaru, Lala, and the spaceship standing nearby, taking a moment to recall that she'd met the two at different points, only by chance, and not sure whether that trip was more 'meeting aliens' or 'magical girl business.' Does this father know that it's a functional spaceship...?

    She's immediately saved from this question by Hikaru sliding in, thank goodness. "Though she was an artist of whom I had only recently learned, the concert was quite the experience, and the dragon turtle... well, not a truly conversational type, but few turtles are. I may, perhaps... perform a small bit of singing, myself."

    'Am I the only one not in the loop about traveling to all different worlds?'

    "On this particular world, I would suppose that most are unaware of such things, though such secrets rarely remain so for terribly long." Not unless especially powerful groups are maintaining the secret and, critically, they don't provide anyone outside the world with a good reason for broaching it. But this line of thought...

    'What happens in the future?'

    "It would not be your future, mind, of which she may speak. You would be as or better served by asking a diviner, if you wish to know your own path. Even so, far easier to speak of 'that which is possible' than of 'that which will be.'"

    'I'm not supposed to get celebrations anymore...'

    "Ah, do you not have...? I suppose your home's traditions are different, then. It is quite normal to observe gift-giving between adults, on Earth." Finally, an easy point to cover. Tamamo could even head to try a cupcake, at this point. Hikaru's cupcakes? As an amateur baker and treats-maker, herself, she'd like to see...

    '...it's my job, you know?'

    But oh, there's that worrying line's conclusion. She'd really like to take Youichi aside to talk in private, but that's a little difficult to do, here. The most she can do, reliably, is lower her voice a bit. "Hoshina-san? Are you... quite, quite certain that nothing would happen to her? It is one thing to interview and report upon..." She can't say 'adult' when Lala literally just insisted that she is one. "...legal independents, like ourselves, should they be willing, but drawing attention upon those unready for it can make school life rather difficult, you know?"

    She takes enough space to whisper to Lilian, "Whatever his crankiness, he is the father whom Hikaru wishes to be proud of her. Be gentle."
Tamamo     'Ah, well, I think you'd be a good parent actually. I mean, if you wanted to be. You and Miss Tamamo compliment each other well--you don't actually have to understand everything, right, if you've got a partner who can back you up?'

    Roland's evaluation greatly increases in Tamamo's eyes. Humu, humu.
Rita Ma      you might be the next stage of human evolution, right?
     Ah. Hm.

     Rita straightens up from trying to covertly offer Lala a band-aid like she's been caught shoplifting, eyes a little too wide for her very politely restrained smile. "Sorry, Mr. Hoshina, but I really am just Rita. Let me think..." Oh, no. What's something that'll get his attention??

     "Oh! A huge comet hits the Moon around the year twenty-one-hundred. Chunks of ice rain down for decades, flooding the planet by about nine kilometers. Humanity almost goes extinct." Smiling perkily while hiding the band-aid behind her back: "Um, but don't worry! That doesn't happen most futures. You'll probably just have robot prosthetics and way better reactors in a century, Mr. Hoshina."

     Unfortunately, Roland has her looking away for a minute. She smiles sympathetically in her earned break from Hoshina-wrangling: "She has you working 'the front', Mr. Roland? That's hard. Customer service is... oh! Did I forget to give you my number? I'm really sorry, here!"

     "Oyo-?!"
     She's showing Roland a sequence of digits on her phone when there's that Lala-yelp bzzt of the magnet behind her. Rita's head twists, eyes widen, and then the rest of her body pivots on her heel into instinctively batting Youichi's wrist away with the back of her hand.

     "Hey, that might hurt her!! You've at least got to ask first! That's..." Balancing 'protecting Lala' and 'helping Hikaru bond with her dad' is really hard, and the two conflict in her tense-pleading tone. It's about to get a lot harder.

     "Dad...? You don't mean-- you...? The Department of...?"
     "You have to keep this secret!"
     "this is just a *really* incredible discovery for my career, it's my job, you know?"
     With her blood running cold, Rita spares a short moment to look from Lilian, to Tamamo, to Sougo and Woz. Disagreements aside, they're the people whose judgement she thinks she can trust here. But the feeling that she can't wait for their call swells in her chest.

     She steps unsteadily beside Hikaru and in front of Lala, hands balled up by her sides. In the absence of any actual familial expertise, the 'Cure Glow' persona bubbles up to put firmness behind her bewildered tone. "What-- what are you talking about, Mr. Hoshina? Hikaru trusted you by showing you all this! She trusted that you'd go along with her judgement, and not make it a mistake! Shouldn't you be honored you have a daughter who feels like that?! Think about what you're saying!"
Sarracenia      it is always nice to meet someone who appreciates the whimsical items that Sarra uses as tools to solve problems and win fights. Sarra blinks in surprise as both Youichi and Hikaru are clad in tanuki suits. "Oh! I thought I grabbed the leaves." she says with a giggle. But since neither of them mind she just watches with a smile as they enjoy the items.

     'Oh, no, any man-eating reptile would do!'

     "Does merely being giant qualify a reptile as being a crytpid? I know a rather large fire-breathing turtle dragon. But...he is fairly easy to find. I suppose that makes him not a cryptid." Sarra says.

     'A-ah...! Thank you everyone, b-but--! I'm already an adult, lun! I became an adult last year! S-so... I'm not supposed to get celebrations anymore, a-and all of these gifts, I've n-never... oyo.....'

     Sarra smiles warmly, an expression not usually seen on her face. "Adults are just as welcome to celebrate their birthdays and to receive plenty of nice gifts for as long as they have people who appreciate them. Especially when they are cute and kind." she says in a tone a bit more storybook princess than usual, then reaches to give Lala's head a pat between the dealies. She takes a cupcake when they are brought by. "Oh! How cute!" she says as she looks over the slightly misshapen cupcakes and icing decorations. That doesn't slow her down from enjoying the cupcake with a happy smile.

     'Here comes...um...feathered serpent...! Pink!'

     Sarra ends up staring. Sarra has seen this form before, but it has been a long while. But, a pink, winged serpent is more amazing than scary as long as it isn't hissing at you or trying to eat you. "Oh! Love! How lovely!" Sarra says, then blinks and looks at Youichi before back at Love before shrugging. "I suppose one more thing he cannot tell them is nothing serious..."

     'Ah, well, I think you'd be a good parent actually. I mean, if you wanted to be. You and Miss Tamamo compliment each other well--you don't actually have to understand everything, right, if you've got a partner who can back you up?'

     Sarra nods in agreement and starts to say something to that effect, but all that comes out is a short "R-" before...she realizes who said it. And just what he might say if she dares to agree with him or say something nice about or agree with Tamamo or Lilian. So, Roland receives a glare that could wither plants if such things were possible. But, she also isn't going to -not- say anything, because Tamamo is nice. "Yes, you have a kind heart and plenty of patience. You would be a wonderful parent." Sarra agrees, managing a proper smile at the end. Which fades slowly as she imagines just what the backlash might be for daring to say such a thing.

     'Dad...? You don't mean-- you...? The Department of...?'
'You-- you can't tell other Earthlings about aliens, lun! You have to keep this secret!'
'... Huh? No, I-- why not? Look, nothing's going to happen to you; this is just a *really* incredible discovery for my career, it's my job, you know? The government's got a right to know about stuff like this.'

     Fortunately, she can disguise that faded smile as a reaction to Rita. Sarra isn't always the best about knowing when information needs to be protected, but this time she has had Hikaru to explain things. And if she didn't, Rita and Woz made a good case for it. "Mr. Hoshina...we cannot take that chance. Miss Lala could be in serious danger if certain elements find out about her. And as Mr. Woz says...their methods may not be so kind. I understand wanting proper recognition for your work..." Sarra's expression turns more serious. "...very much so. But, sometimes there are more important things. Do you not want to protect your daughter and her friends?"
Lilian Rook     Tamamo . . . Lilian kind of wishes you said Britain . . . but she understands. Nobody wants to be in Britain.

    She knows that it's unrelated to why she feels Tamamo's pulse spiking on her inner arm, though. That's a much more familiar feeling. One that makes Lilian mentally reel from a moment of vertigo where the intrusive thought tries, and nearly succeeds, to reframe Tamamo as feeling like that as often as she herself does, and still introducing herself by name everywhere anyways. Lilian blinks as if she'd just secretly fallen asleep on her feet, and rubs her eye to match. "At a concert." she says, and with the noble resignation of one expecting to take a bullet without hesitation, "I brought her there on a date."

    'Am I the only one not in the loop about traveling to all different worlds?'

    Lilian sigh-laughs in a proportion where she herself isn't sure which impulse came first. "If only that were the case. It's a small minority in the end, but the sheer number of people that exist across all of time and space means that a small minority is still a large number. Please try your best to understand." she says.

    'What happens in the future?'

    Youichi wasn't talking to her. This, in fact, has nothing to do with Lilian or Rita. But thinking about it out of habit, Lilian subtly flinches with the feeling of a stray grazing by, and says, "Nothing important. But if you're really worried, just in case, please move to one of the inner Tokyo special wards by twenty thirty five; or at least find an excuse to visit for six months. An outer ward is fine if you're locally employed."

    The moment passes in the blink of an eye. Just saying the words out loud are enough to erase the irrational trace worries about Hikaru's future. She said that Lala's birthday is the most important thing here herself. With Tamamo giving over her present, Lilian (somewhat self-consciously) goes through her bag for two. "I wasn't sure if the concert would have put you off Mao, so I had a backup, just in case." she says, sheepishly, with two individually wrapped boxes that could fit little more than a soda can. "And putting them in the same one just looked so big I thought it'd look like trying to one-up people."

    Lilian has been holding on to one ever since she timestop cheated her way into the front of a merch line at the concert (while nobody could see what she spent on it), and it felt like a shame to throw it away on an uncertainty after Lala had expressed complicated feelings after. Ordinarily, this would go without explaining, but she's extra double careful not to presume High Society company today.
    Because Lala is an alien and all!

    "Adults still get presents on Earth, Lala. I do on mine, you know."

    'Ah, well, I think you'd be a good parent actually. I mean, if you wanted to be. You and Miss Tamamo compliment each other well--'

    Lilian downgrades a Critical Hit to a Close Call by sheer power of will and only turns a little red. "Thank you very much Roland, but I hadn't meant to voice that thought aloud." she says. "And if you must know, I only meant that I never managed to understand my father well before he passed." Something about the way she says it feels unusual. Like she means every word, no half-truth involved, and couldn't bring herself to care if she tried.

    'Whatever his crankiness, he is the father whom Hikaru wishes to be proud of her. Be gentle.'

    Lowering her voice extra because of Roland, Lilian starts to whisper back, "Oh, sorry, it's the same as 'loon' or 'kook' or 'mad man'. I'm certain he's perfectly fine. It's just a career usually associated with--"
Lilian Rook     'Dad...? You don't mean-- you...? The Department of...?'

    Lilian stares at Hikaru with every possible layer of 'you didn't know?' fighting for space on her face, achieving nothing.

    '.. Huh? No, I-- why not?'

    She swivels to Lala, then Youichi. Her mind is made up in a heartbeat; a decisive course of action as concrete and practical as possible. Lilian slides her hand down to Tamamo's wrist to get a little moving room, starting with "Hikaru, I thought it went without saying that your father was someone trustworthy to share all of this with. Was my assumption wrong? If there's been a mistake, I'll gladly take responsibility." She says it all so calmly and reassuringly that it's easy to neglect that she's physically approaching Youichi.

    "Sharing knowledge of not just 'cryptids', but other worlds, other timelines, the future, and present company's secrets; that's quite a lot to do without asking, I agree. I, for one, don't recall signing a waiver. Is this something that you and your father would prefer to talk out yourselves?" Lilian glances between them, and lets her fingers slip to just maintaining contact with Tamamo's fingertips. She makes brief eye contact with Rita. "It's always okay to ask for help from your friends, Hikaru. If you don't know how to handle it, then Mister Hoshina and I can work things out as adults." The two women looking at her hear what she thinks.

    §I'm sorry, but he has one chance to take a bribe and some 'alien artifacts'. If he won't back down after that, I'm going to have to alter what he remembers. If Hikaru gets upset, then I'll tell her it was me.§
Futaba Nuki "I'm not supposed to get celebrations anymore, a-and all of these gifts, I've n-never..."
"Oh I guess maybe this is a year late then, if you're not supposed to get gifts anymore?"
"That kind of thing doesn't matter, Lala!"

"Pssh, so what? Folks 'round here give gifts to folks they like all the time." Futaba replies, chuckling lightly at Lala and Love as she tries to reassure Lala with that grin she usually has on her face. Seeing those gifts in Lala's arms reminds her that she needs to reach back and pick up her little wrapped up box from all the way over there. "Hikaru's got the right idea, and there ain't no rules against it. If there are, I don't see anyone trying to slap me in cuffs over it. Now here, enjoy these in... Somewhere cool. THey melt pretty easy."

One arm-stretch later, and she holds it out to Lala and offers to set it with all the other stuff in her arms. It's chocolate! A family-size box of some pretty fancy stuff dusted with cocoa powder for extra indulgence, great for sharing for months or binging on over the course of a week or two.

"I've never seen anything like this!"

"No kidding? Alright, well, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Here's Hikaru... Oh, I saw this one suit I thought was a cosplayer at... Birds ain't too hard long as I don't think too hard about..."

Futaba's truly too eager to show off her transformation powers. She goes through a whole suite of forms, all too easily distracted by that right up until cupcake time. There's a little pause during her transformation into an office copier/fax machine all-in-one when she sees Youichi getting those uncomfortable looks out of Lala and Hikaru.

"You do? Oh, heck yeah. I've been meanin' to... Uh."

Cupcakes might help, but there's not much time for her to even snag one or try and defuse or distract a little before things start getting weirder. Even Futaba catches on when Youichi namedrops that government department and acronym. What could she do to get Lala and Yuma out of this mess?

Lie out her ass, probably. Futaba can't exactly do that in the shape of a pterodactyl easily, though, so she shifts back into a humanoid form, but not the same orange-haired and jacket-wearing one from before. Instead, she takes on a vaguely regal-looking form with brown hair and a ceremonial robe, doing it all without any of the poofing and smoke puffs she had added to her transformations for visual flair earlier.

"Mister Hoshino." Futaba's tone shifts entirely, too, sounding nothing like her usual drawl-having self and actually enunciating everything clearly for once. "I was not aware you already held such sway over the affairs of the Japanese government. I will update my people's records accordingly."

A pause, just to give him a little extra time to process that. "Do you have a list of contacts prepared? Departments and employee IDs will speed up the process, but a date of birth will be enough. I trust your judgment, but my people need extra assurances to convince them." Another pause, in the hopes of letting more confusion seep in. "Miss Hagoromo's safety notwithstanding, I have a personal interest in Miss Hoshino's future endeavors, so we have to make sure everything is accounted for before we continue."

It's a good thing Futaba's able to redirect the sweat somewhere else, because she doesn't really have a good idea of where she's going with any of this.
Rita Ma      Rita's gut turns thinking about Hikaru going back home with a father who's had Lala's birthday pithed out of his head. Lilian can see the little squirm on her face with the side-eyed contact. But...

     "I understand," she thinks back, in that spine-whispering other-voice. "I thought about it too. If we can't talk sense into him, then... it's better than Lala spending the rest of her life on the run, right?"
Star Twinkle "Though she was an artist of whom I had only recently learned, the concert was quite the experience,"
"I brought her there on a date."

    "Oh, I see." Youichi looks between Tamamo and Lilian for a moment, and then his gaze slides dowwwwwn to the fox tails before returning back up with a politely cheerful expression. He's obviously just a little bit awkward about that declaration. "Congratulations!"

"It would not be your future, mind, of which she may speak."
"Oh! A huge comet hits the Moon around the year twenty-one-hundred."
"But if you're really worried, just in case, please move to one of the inner Tokyo special wards by twenty thirty five; or at least find an excuse to visit for six months."

    That gives Youichi the longest pause he's had since arriving here, the sudden knowledge that on several alternate Earths, wide-scale apocalypses occur within the next century burned into his mind like Cassadra's prophecies. Then he smiles again. "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of technology or alien contact! Though it turns out that 2025's the year that one happens, haha!"

    Hikaru pops over to correct him, holding Lala's hand high up. "I met Lala last year, actually!! So it was 2024!"

    And then...."You are one man. What will you do if someone who commands several *hundred* men decides that something *will* happen to Lala?"
"Hoshina-san? Are you... quite, quite certain that nothing would happen to her?"
"And as Mr. Woz says...their methods may not be so kind."

    Youichi is immediately put on the wheedling defensive, raising up his hands to move the magnet away from Lala. "Hey, it's not like that. The Department's got good guys in it! Come on, I know them; don't go telling the kids ghost stories like that or they'll never be able to trust an authority in their lives. Besides, the DUAC's barely hundreds of people big. Cryptozoology's a tiny field, because stuff's always getting covered up. I want to shine light on the truth!"

". . . but drawing attention upon those unready for it can make school life rather difficult, you know?"

    "Oh, you actually do go to school? I thought... I mean, you're an alien, I just thought it was a cover story for...." Youichi stares at Lala for a bit, focusing on her antennae. Hikaru tightens her grip around Lala's wrist, but it's Lala who responds first from behind her.

    "Lun. I do go to school with Hikaru, because I like to, and I *want* to learn like Earthlings do. I don't want to lose that, lun."
Star Twinkle "Do you not want to protect your daughter and her friends?"
"Hikaru trusted you by showing you all this!"
"Hikaru, I thought it went without saying that your father was someone trustworthy to share all of this with."

    Hikaru takes a breath and closes her eyes, drawing resolve from the others' words. She puts her fist to her chest and slips her hand off of Lala's to step forwards and meet her father's eyes. "Dad. It's really, really important that other people don't know about Lala, or else they might hurt her, or she might get in trouble, or forced out of school, or draw attention from bad people, or any number of other things. No matter what your job is, that isn't okay, right?"

    "I remember... when I was little, and you'd read me stories about cryptids, and aliens, and everything, and then I would draw pictures of them and we'd make up stories about finding them.... and isn't that what's important? Being happy finding the special and amazing things in the universe?"

    "I love Lala." Hikaru sweeps her hand behind her, gesturing at the clearing. "And I love all my friends, and I love traveling the galaxy and meeting all kinds of new ones, and I don't want to let them down for anything! I'd hide the truth from everyone forever if it meant keeping Lala safe, because... she's a special person who found me, you know? And I want that to always be... safe. I want to be someone who an alien can contact, or a cryptid can be found by, or a time traveler can talk with, and never ever worry that I'm going to choose anyone else over them!"

    "Okay? Can you promise, Dad?" A little teary-eyed by the end of her speech, Hikaru's fists are clenched and her breathing is heavy, but her stare at Youichi is unflinching.

    Her father sighs, obviously defeated, and he pats his hand on Hikaru's head. "With a look like that, how could I say no to you? But... you're asking me for a lot. Like...." He turns his head to look at the whole group, right as Love crashes out of the treeline as a giant serpent. Obviously he's interested in that, but now the *mood's* gone.

    "A shape-changing tanuki, a three-tailed fox, an alien princess, time travelers, a quetzalcoatl... if I have to keep all those things secret, when it's been my dream to discover them, what *do* I have to present to people? What am I going to do if everything I want to study gets put in danger when I study them?"
Star Twinkle     Lala steps out from behind Hikaru, with her eyes down and voice quiet but firm. "... Isn't learning fun enough on its own?"

    "Lala?" Hikaru turns her head and steps aside, letting Lala talk to her dad directly. Lala takes a breath and grips Lilian's gift in her hands.

    "If you want to know about Samaan, then I can tell you, lun. I don't mind being interviewed if it's just you. You're Hikaru's family, so... you're important, lun. As long as you don't tell the government about it."

    Youichi's expression softens into a gentler smile, letting his shoulders relax. "Ahhh... you two really are so grown-up it makes me feel silly by comparison. I guess a lot can change in a year, eh, Hikaru? I'd love to hear about your home if you want to talk about it, Lala."

    A heartfelt moment passes, and then Hikaru impacts his side with a hug with so much force that his gifted power-up suit puffs away and vanishes. "Thanks, Dad!!! I love you!"

    She pulls away and runs over to the Queen of Hatred, circling around her in awe and admiration, and then waves both hands excitedly over at Youichi. "Oh!!! I have an idea! I can't let the government know about my friends, but what if... we had you take a picture of Love in this big snake form, from far away? And if she's moving around a bunch, it'll be all blurry and hard to see, just like all your other photos, and then you don't have to leave empty-handed, right?"
Lilian Rook     'Congratulations!'

    Honestly, discounting the bland apathy generally expressed by the average Elite, Youichi's reaction is still in the mild zone of what Lilian is used to. "Thank you." she says, not insincerely, but also "We're getting married soon." just to hammer a nice little stake into where the overton window is right now.

    Sarracenia saying something positive about her elicits an eyes-narrowed stare that screams 'What's your game? What are you up to?'. Lilian stops to glance at Tamamo, presses her lips together, uneasily decides that she's probably just being nice to the woman who isn't mean to her face, then ignores it.

    'Hey, it's not like that. The Department's got good guys in it! Come on, I know them; don't go telling the kids ghost stories like that or they'll never be able to trust an authority in their lives.'

    Lilian sighs from so deep at the diaphragm that it sputters out into a whisper-quiet wheeze. She looks at Rita, plaintively, and mouths, "I don't sound like that. Do I?"

    'I just thought it was a cover story for....'

    "Of course she goes to school." Lilian says. "How irresponsible do you think I am?"

    'if I have to keep all those things secret, when it's been my dream to discover them, what *do* I have to present to people? What am I going to do if everything I want to study gets put in danger when I study them?'

    Lilian lets Hikaru finish, but it's only an uneasy pause for her benefit. She hovers close to Youichi's periphery, tenuously extended out from the group, waiting for the right time to seize the moment before he starts making up his mind.

    What he says instead drives the breath out of her in a completely different way. A sharp gasp. A searching look of disbelief between them. A momentary frown. A noise disguised behind a sideways look and a throat clearing gesture. Improvisation, for the improbable outcome she has to coldly accept as fact without understanding it.

    "Thank you very much for your understanding, Mister Hoshina. In the interests of cooperation, I'd be happy to show some goodwill of my own." Lilian says, gathering herself up. "If it's for the sake of your career, what you're trying to introduce to your colleagues would be too much to believe if it were all at once, wouldn't it? In my experience, they'll be more likely to respond positively if you have something to 'point them in the right direction' instead. Indirect evidence. Trace activity and an exciting 'alien artifact' or two. Something they can spend a few years studying without causing any harm."

    Lilian sighs, then smiles, relieved at Hikaru. "Your daughter has the right idea." Retreating back to Tamamo's side, she says, "Let's sit down and cooperate, shall we? I'm certain we'll be able to negotiate something you can feel happy about." Now she's back in her bag, surveying what she could part with. "Are they the sort to respond positively to 'youkai' and not just 'aliens'? If so..."

    She has a whole ladder of options from there.
Angela Love is confused by Sarracenia calling her lovely briefly before she realizes she must be indicating she has a lot of Love in her which makes sense. She's the magical girl of love after all! She feels the urge to bite Sarracenia's face for completely unrelated reasons but it's easy to resist when there's magical girl friends nearby and also Lilian who told her she better not do that again and also she dimly recalls that she's Poison? She better not nibble on her just to be safe no matter how chompable she happens to feel.

Roland doesn't write the number down but he looks at them for a long moment, murmurs wordlessly, and then seems satisfied he'll remember them.

"Ah...y-yeah... It can be rough but..." He feels he doesn't really have the right to tell Hikaru's dad how to engage this situation so he's relieved that others are stepping in. He doesn't seem like a bad guy to him so he's not too worried about it. It's what he just said right? He'll adapt. He's confident in that. He has to be.

She really doesn't feel like a Star, Roland thinks again. Unless maybe it was because she is compelled to stand up like that, just as she's doing now...

He pushes it out of his head. Won't do him any good to think about it.

But then again, it's the Stars, the Urban Legends and Nightmares and so on that make more sense to him lately. Maybe, he thinks, the problem is with him. He's already put himself in a position where he can't be a real Fixer anymore. And he's certain if he got bit by a thousandth of whatever poison changed Rita, he wouldn't be human at all.

Maybe he already stopped being one when he wasn't looking. He sees his face too much these days.

But while Roland is diving deeper into his own soul and seeing pitch black all around him...

Love is given an opportunity...to help HIkaru and Lala! AND THEIR DAD TOO! Love is excited. It's not violence, but this is a good thing too. She can't quite smile while a snake monster but she can bob her head repeatedly to indicate excitement.

"Yeah!! I'll go fast! Snake fast...!" She slithers away some distance. "Is this far enough??" She starts wiggling in place rapidly. "Magical GIrl of Love Snake Form Blur Mode Omega...!" She wiggles more. And then wiggles more on top of that.
Rita Ma      The knot that Rita's stomach had tied itself in tightens throughout Lala's plea, and then abruptly comes undone. Her tight hands loosen with a breath of almost startled relief.

     Oh. Right. Sometimes an earnest plea really does work. I can't believe I was thinking about Lilian mind-controlling Hikaru's dad.

     ... I'm definitely not cut out to be a Precure, am I? Even Love's perfect for it.

     "Y-yeah! And even if it's not as cool as an alien planet, I'll tell you about future reactors and weird fish from outer space, okay?" she says, fumbling a little to match tone. "... Thanks for being someone she can trust."

     "I don't sound like that. Do I?"
     Rita shakes her head in Lilian's direction. But she had to think about it for a second. "Well... um... not recently."

     "Anyway, I'm sorry about all this, Lala. Today should be about you, right? It doesn't matter how old you are- a birthday's supposed to be about celebrating the fact that you made it here," she says, summoning the sparkle back to her eyes while turning back. "And we're all glad for that. Right?"