~ Perfect Blossom Tea Room ~

[Timmy]

Tetsuo didn't pay much attention to others untill he heard his name. Without turning his head he quickly looked on the source. Recognising his fellow pilot he turned his head, looking straigt at her with a little signs of surprise. However in a seconds his look became indifferent as before.

"Konbanwa, Nakamura-san." he replied with a smooth and quiet voice. Slightly squinting he examined that expression on her face. After a second he looked away, and without change in his look or voice added:

"I wasn't expecting to meet you here."

Then he took a cup in his hands and made another sip of tea, closing his eyes in a barely visible joy.

[Teta]

Being somewhat relieved about Commander Shimizu san not being in any disputatious mood, she answered:

"Ah, I was ordered to appear here... and well, I did not expect to meet you either."

The bartender silently placed the request cup of tea next to Nakamura. Seeing this, she nodded slightly, and lowered her head. Focusing only on the cup for a moment, she struggled for words, and if she should say something about last time. In the end, she did not want to let it just stand without being commented on. Taking a deep breath, she answered in a somewhat forced tone:

"Please accept my apology for the improper conduct of mine on our last mutual assignment! I am sure this is not how a Kusari Naval Forces officer should act."

She gulped and tried to ignore the heat she felt rushing into her cheeks.

[Timmy]

Those words surprised him, but he didn't give a sign.

"I should appologise for my behaviour as well." Tetsuo replied calmly, putting the cup in front of himself and slightly turning his head to Nakamura, avoiding looking straight at her however. Observing her actions with corner of his eye ammused him, but he didn't changed his look. After a few seconds of pause he added with a light smile:

"So, if you would take my appologises, I will gladly accept yours."

Before giving her a straight look he made another sip from his cup. No emotion but a light smile could be read on his face.

[Teta]

Confused and still clearly feeling her own heartbeat, she stared at Shimizu san, not understanding his words at first. Going through them again and seeing something like a faint smile on his lips, she was unsure if he made some sort of joke at first, only to let her down later on. But then she assumed the Commander must just be in a very good mood, well, in his way. She turned towards him, and while still sitting, tried to bow as deep as possible, almost shouting:

"Hai!"

She felt a lot of tension falling of her, and with a gasp of relief, she took a first sip from the still hot tea. Clumsily trying to change the topic as fast as possible, she later added:

"Oh, the tea tastes very nice here."

[Timmy]

Nodding in agreement Tetsuo took his cup, looking inside before making a sip.

"Aa. This tea is very good indeed." he answered, making a last, long sip.

Once his cup was empty, he put it back on the counter. Resting his elbows on the counter, he slightly turned his head to Nakamura. Curious about her previous words he made his indiferent expression againt and asked:

"So... Why were you summoned here?" Feeling it uneasy to keep looking at her constantly, Tetsuo slightly lowered his look, pointing it on the counter space in front of her.

[Teta]

Nakamura placed her cup back on the saucer as the Commanders words reminded her of the initial reason to enter the Blossom. Not eager to share the fact he might as well already know, she tried to avoid saying it bluntly.

"Actually," while wondering to herself, "I do think I am expected to learn a lesson or two about the conduct of Naval Forces officers from Lieutenant-Commander Kawamura."

"Do you know him by chance, sir? Either he did not arrive yet, or he has not spotted me by now..."

[Timmy]

"Kawamura? Hmn..." Tetsuo rised his look, trying to find anyone with such name in his memory. Failing to find anything, even similar to that, he lowered the look back at Nakamura. Her words about conduct seem to trouble him a little, but he calmly said.

"No, I don't think I've heard that name before..." his look changed to doubtful, as he couldn't take a thought that rose in his mind. After a second of consideration he added:

"I hope that case is not related to your appologises earlier?"

[Teta]

"Oh, you do not know Kawamura san either, I see."

She again considered avoiding the Commanders question, but in that case, it seemed rude to just ignore a question as direct as his. Ideally, she had hoped to never ever talk about what happened again, but that seemed to her like a foolish dream now. This way, it would at least be a lesson not to forget.

"If... I understand you correctly, yes, you have guessed right. I was summoned here because of that misconduct, and if you did not hear of it yet, it earned me a demotion."

While regarding honesty as imperative, she almost regretted telling him the truth, as she would have preferred not losing the Commanders respect. With this, her expression turned somewhat gloomy.

"Maybe I can at least learn something from Kawamura san."

[Sol]

A young man entered the scene, with the door bells jingling calmly behind him. His hands in his pockets he walked lazily towards the far end of the counter. He was wearing a rather flashy looking white suit with his shirt unbuttoned all the way to his upper chest, revealing the outer parts of an elaborate tattoo.

He tapped his knuckles on the counter to take the attention of a young girl who was already tending to a couple of patrons. "Oi, Ooeey..." he spoke rather bored, "Where's ol' uncle Genzou? Tell 'im that Taiyouji-sama is here, and make it quick, arright?" he turned his back rather dramatically to the girl and leaned against the counter as he started to scan around the bar, litting a cigarrete.

The girl frowned, "What do you want? And no smoking in here!" she complained, then hit him good on his back with her elbow, making him drop his still unlit cigarette.

With the pain and his hurt pride Jiro coughed. "Owch... Gimme a break, woman! Jus' call the uncle, dammit..." he reached to his back, massaging to ease the pain mumbling, "Tch... dam' gorilla."

"Hey, I heard that!" the girl shouted, still looking at Jiro with fire in her eyes. She said towards behind the bar, "Oji-san... this baka-Jiro is here again." she then turned to the two patrons she was tending to earlier... "U-uh... forgive us... uh... ignore that guy please... may I take your order?" her voice turned to a soft and polite tone then, in contrast with how she spoke to Jiro, she still thew his way some spiteful looks from time to time.

[Timmy]

"Demotion?" Tetsuo questioningly said, looking at Nakamura a bit surprised. For a couple of seconds he thought about how much truth was in her words. However in a moment his thoughts were interrupted with some strange noise near the entrance.

Tetsuo reacted immediately, forgetting for a while about the chat they had with Nakamura. He turned to the entrance, noticing the two people almost fighting there. Recognising his another fellow pilot made a sign of annoyance appear on his face for a second.

While examining Jiro, he also noticed the anger of the other person he didn't knew. Tetsuo considered the ways to end this fight but when he rose from his seat and was about to start action everything suddenly calmed down. With an indifferent look he kept observing both, still expecting them to resume fighting.