246/Very Melon

Very Melon
Date of Scene:	21 July 2023
Location:	Juuban Ward
Synopsis:	Catch My Heart! Very Melon! (Very Melon!)
Cast of Characters:	Jadeite, Naru Osaka, Kureha Senkenzan, Takuto Tsunashi

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Jadeite has posed:
    Very Melon, popular melon-focused fruit juice shop, has suddenly started an advertising blitz for their newest product. The rare-to-the-point-that-no-one-has-ever-heard-of-it Dark Melon has come to town, and is being served in a variety of new products, from shakes, to slushies, to pure juice, to smoothies, or even just the fruit itself provided as wedges or slices. It's a peculiar-looking fruit, to be sure, but the customers are going wild for it. The proprietor is standing behind the bar, arms folded, looking smug at all the profits she's making, while the servers race around trying to attend to the needs of the customers. On a hot summer day like today, some refreshing chilled melon, in any format, is a welcome treat.

    Especially after having to stand in a long line, in the sun and heat, just to get inside. Strange how many people go through the line multiple times though...

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's been just enough classmates who are RAVING about how amazing Dark Melon is that Naru's curiosity can't take it anymore. Sure it's hot and summery and there's a line, which are all down sides, but she brought a broad brimmed hat to shade her face and a book to read in line.

Not, to be fair, that she's actually doing much reading, but the theory is sound. Watching people is FAR more intersting than reading some english novel that is probably school work anyhow. She leans a little, to peer down the line and see just how far she has to go still.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Until just a couple weeks ago, Very Melon would not have even been on Kureha Senkenzan's radar. But after what the police are calling a riot at a local museum, she experienced what the medical professionals eventually decided to call a billion-to-one medical miracle brought on by extreme stress, that caused the tiny girl to go from sickly and frail, to exceptionally healthy. Kureha herself, and a few others who saw her first henshin, knows that her body was revitalized by some strange, magical transformation. She hasn't retained the strength or fier in her untransformed state, but she's certainly retained the good health.

    Since then, the tiny black-haired girl has been flexing her freedom, much to the chagrin of... two of her attendants, at least. Chisa has been happy to see her finally able to venture out into the world. Emi has been exasperated at suddenly having a much harder job. Yozakura...

    "Ugh. Standing out in this heat? No limited item is worth that."

    ...Yozakura has seemingly grown only more haughty towards the world, and increasingly irritable with Kureha's refusal to be chained down. And slowly, the red-eyed girl is chafing under her iron grip in turn. "What are they even standing out for?" she asks, briefly glancing across the limo at the woman. Yozakura sniffs disdainfully. "Whatever it is, I'm certain your father can acquire it. You don't need to concern yourself with whatever madness has taken those people out there-"

    Kchunk. Squeaak. Step step. Thunk.

    "-Lady Kureha?! Lady Kureha, come back here this-"

    Swiftly, Kureha strides across the street, stepping up onto the sidewalk and approaching the line - or rather, some random person standing in it. "Excuse me. What is this huge line for?"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
This absurdly tall redheaded boy's in front of Naru in line -- someone she's seen at the self-defense classes after school, if she's gone to them -- but he's texting texting texting. Then he overhears Kureha asking a question behind him and he half-turns to see who's asking, and who they're asking, but he doesn't butt in yet.

By 'his hair is red', we do not mean carrots, we mean fire-engines. And it's spiky. He'd look like a videogame character except for being all knees and elbows.

No, he butts in.

"Melon."

Jadeite has posed:
    As Kureha approaches, one of the people in line notices her shortly after Takuto speaks, and turns, wide-eyed, sallow-skinned, and sweaty, and screams, "BACK OF THE LINE!!! NO CUTTING!!!" Japanese people don't generally... You know... Act this way. Not in public anyway. So more startling than the fact someone did so is that various other people in the long line do the same, screaming, cussing, threatening, while most of the people around them just look horrified, stunned, and embarrassed for the gross lack of manners among their fellow citizens.

    That's... Some intense reaction. But hey, no one likes line-cutters! The wave of hostility is still a bit much though.

    One or two of the people further ahead in the line look much like the ones who engaged in the yelling and threatening, with dark rings around their eyes. They may even be muttering to themselves and obsessively wiping their faces with their hands, or scratching at their own throat.

    Yikes.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru blinks at the vehement reaction from her fellow line standers. Sure, no one likes line cutters, but generally it's a matter of quiet grumbling and complaining, not screeching.

Naru is amongst those who look vaguely horrified at the reactions. "Apparently it's some fancy new melon and it's delicious." she replies calmly to Kureha, trying to offset the hollering with utter politeness. It's not really working.

Naru leans a little out of the line, considering those who are muttering and mumbling and then back to the other teens. "Seems a little intense, but super popular." She looks to Takuto, giving him a little nod of recognition. She has been attending fite night, even if they've never been paired together.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Kureha is just turning to give Takuto a puzzled look when the person in line suddenly lashes out. It's such an unexpected, unwarranted reaction that the normally-calm girl stumbles back a step in alarm. "W-what's your problem?" Her response quickly evolves from startlement to cold irritation, giving the addict a hard stare. It softens when Naru at least provides a better explanation, but her tone remains cold. "I had no intention of getting in line in this heat. I was just asking a question. No 'melon' is worth... this..."

    She looks down the line, noticing the large number of people with a very similar look, and a deep frown etches itself onto her face. Something about that just doesn't feel right. She's seen after-school specials with people that look like this. And the people in line... parents with their kids. Elderly who shouldn't be standing out in this heat. The more she looks at it, the more something feels... wrong. No melon is worth this. She feels like she should be leaving. Her instincts are screaming at her; this is weird. You have no obligation to these weird situations. Don't get involved. Don't get involved. Don't get-

    Her eyes keep darting back to those people in line who really ought not to be.

    Damn it.

    Briefly, the tiny girl glances up at the much taller Takuto and very-slightly-shorter Naru. "I recommend you both get out of this line. It's not worth your health." Then she turns and starts fast-walking her way towards the front of the line.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto nods back to Naru, and then flinches back from all the sudden yelling-- and then he, too, notices the extreme tired that the line-standers are displaying, and he shoves his phone in his pocket.

And then Kureha starts marching toward the front of the line, and the tall boy gets this worried grimace on his face. "Is she just going to tell everyone to go home, you think--?" he asks Naru, and then looks past her to the people queued up behind them, and the same hostility and addiction is present there as well. "I don't think it's going to work."

Jadeite has posed:
    Oh, boy. Walking to the front of the line after the reaction to just the idea that Kureha might join out-of-order. Even more violent screaming, cursing, and threats chase after her. The man who first yelled, a typical-looking middle-aged salaryman still in his work clothes, takes off running after the teenager. Kureha may hear the sound of rapid footfalls on the pavement as he comes charging towards her, with no indication he intends to slow down or stop. If he isn't stopped, he launches himself through the air in a flying tackle attempt!

    Following his example, several others leave the line and go running over as well. The calmer people cringe away, duck down, cover their spouses or children, but the good dozen otherwise-normal-looking people, old and young, male and female, going after one person so viciously is like watching a crowd of running-type zombies from a horror movie.

    The large purple-black splotches appearing on their skin add to that appearance.

    Maybe someone should do something.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"She might." Naru agrees with Takuto as she watches Kureha march her way up the line. "And, yeah no.. not going to go well."

And then there's a salary man who is literally aiming to flying tackle a tiny teenager. "Alright, that is super uncool." She leaves her spot in line, cause no melon squishy is worth /this/ level of crazy to run over and try to get ahead of the crowd and put her equally tiny self between the zombies and the other teenager. "Hey! None of that! There's more than enough for everyone!"

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Between Kureha's size and her sheer athletic agility, she's a surprisingly tough target to tackle. She darts and hops, almost dancelike, yukata flowing around her with every evasion; but rather than retaliate, she gives all of them a slightly-stern deadpan, "Are you all content with giving up your place in line? The people behind you certainly won't let you back in."

    While they're chewing on the prospect of missing out on the melon that's caught their heart, Kureha takes the chance to duck down a side alley, running full-speed to find somewhere she can transform. She's now convinced there's something weird and magical going on, and at this point she's not even going to wait until she sees the actual juice stand.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Well. Some people are smart and find alleys.

Other people yell.

"APPRIVOISER!"

Shimmering red light surrounds Takuto, and there's an overabundance of sparkles and starry shapes flickering in and out around his own silhouette. "Dashing Entrance!" he calls out, and with a cock of his hip, white military-esque trousers and thigh-high red boots appear. He flings his arms out to his sides and then dabs, yelling out "Ginga Bishounen!!" as a seriously fancy white and gold military-esque red-lined coat flashes itself into being around him. He ducks his head and then throws it back, and that's when the cravat becomes visible and he gets a bleached-golden star shape in his hair.

Now he's tall and sparkly and wearing what looks like some amazing cosplay. It doesn't actually make him any more able to get people to stop being zombies, but it at least causes a distraction. "What do you people think you're doing?"

Jadeite has posed:
    The people charging Kureha do not appear to be thinking very much about lines. Instead, their purple complexions and blacked-out eyes suggest they aren't thinking about anything other than destroying the target of their rage. When Kureha runs off, those who haven't fallen to the ground in their attempts to capture her run off in pursuit, though too slowly to prevent her from finding somewhere to Henshin.

    However, those left behind turn their attention on the others, charging at the bystanders, grabbing them, and... Not biting them. Instead, they seem to just... Drain the strength from them. People just start passing out after being held or restrained for a very seconds, while the now purple-skinned melon addicts run rampant around the parking lot!

    Others in line who have tasted the Dark Melon but not become fully addicted also start developing black and purple splotches on their skins, and yelling as their minds and bodies stop being their own. Normal people are running away in fear, and either being chased down, or snapped up by vines that grow from the melon zombies' limbs, and subsequently drained.

    Of course, a few of them go after the Ginga Bishounen as well, sensing his strong life force.

    Ironically, the shop owner comes out of her icecream parlour-esque juice bar, looks upon everthing going on with a scowl, and hears Naru's words right before everything goes to Bedlam.

    She grins a nasty grin. "She's right, everyone! There's plenty for everyone! Come inside where it's safe!" she calls out while gesturing for people to come into the store. A few of those nearby follow her advice out of fear and desperation. None of the zombies appear to be chasing those who do so.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Well all of sudden everything has gone from 'hunh, that's odd' to 'dear gods, what the actual heck'. Kureha has scampered off, and Takuto.. well.. THAT was a thing. She is utterly distracted from the zombies for a moment by that starling array of red sparkles and glitter.

Naru is brought back to her senses by a melon zombie vine narrowly missing her as she darts away from it. "Alright, this is super not cool" She notes as she gets to do her own dance of trying to stay away from zombie vines attempting to steal her energy. "I cannot imagine that going inside is a /better/ plan." She comments to Tall Red and Sparkly "But it sucks out here!"

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    There is a wave of heat from the alleyway.

    Seconds later, an oni comes hurtling up and over the buildings, touching briefly on the edge of a roof before hopping down to the sidewalk. Clad in elegant kimono, hair billowing slightly with the movement, she lands with a heavy thud, but rises up to a graceful, refined standing position, only to turn and look at Naru and... especially Takuto.

    "...how do you people keep ending up in the same place as something strange going on?" Grump.

    Setting his presence aside, she whirls around to face the shop owner, hands folded in front of herself. "Good afternoon. I take it by your complete lack of shock at these peoples' behavior, that you are in some way responsible for it. I must rather forcefully insist that you stop."

    Even in the torrid late-afternoon air, a noticeable heat radiates from the horned girl.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"No don't-- yeah! What she said, don't go in the store! Star Sword Emeraude," the Ginga Bishounen yells, casually pulling a sword made of light out of his chest. "Hey can you use a sword?" he asks Naru as he slashes some vines away from them both, then holds out the one toward Naru -- it's green -- and pulls a second one out, this one blue. "Star Sword Saphir! Just cut at the vines, the sword doesn't care if you treat it like a machete--"

And there's a demon sassing him.

Takuto stares. "There's plenty of fight to go around--?" he starts uncertainly, but then the demon is going to challenge the probable-villain, and good they can worry about this stuff.

Jadeite has posed:
    The store owner is mock aghast at the accusation that she's responsible, for all of three seconds, before grinning broadly. "This would have gone so much easier if you had just let me serve you delicious Dark Melon in peace, but since you riled up the seeds, there's no one can stop them now." As the vines are hacked away at by the Ginga Bishounen, and the proprietess gloats over her plan going awry in her favor, she starts to morph and deform, turning a nasty shade of black, dark-purple, and green, like the very Dark Melon she has been serving. Her apron and hair net stay on as her hair and her limbs become more vines, and her eyes change to glowing red slits.

    "No one but me, the great Eden-sama, that is! Kekeke! Run-away now and maybe I'll let some of my customers go back to being human!" Without waiting for an answer, her vine arms sweep across the parking lot, trying to clear it of any Mahou. They cut a car in half in the process, horizontally. Okay, so, don't get hit by those then, got it.

    She seems to be more focused on the Oni girl than the Ginga Bishounen who keeps disarming (distentacling? DEFOLIATING, THAT'S IT) the possessed melon patrons, or the Naru being armed with Magic Sword. Who says you need to get all of your magic swords from some lady in a pond, lobbing scimitars?

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Just lucky?" Naru replies to Kureha's comment about why they're always where the weird stuff is.

"I.. er.. sure!" Naru tries to sound confident as she accepts the sword from Takuto. "Pointy end in the other guy, right?" She quips, even if her plan is to aim for vines. She swings it experimentally, slashing away some vines as she does. She's got both hands on the sword, and no matter that it looked a generous size in Takuto's hands, now it seems just about Naru sized, and just the rightamount of oversized in her much smaller hands.

"Oh yeah.. that is /so/ not on the table." Naru replies to the Vine Woman who is trying to suck all of the energy out of people in the area. She dodges some of the larger vines, running around lobbing off smaller vines. If she takes out smaller sources of energy, it weakens the larger one, right? So her working theory goes.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    "It's not a matter of hoarding the fight," the horned girl says, looking over her shoulder at Takuto briefly. "I just want to know how it is that every time I get caught up in something strange, other strange people are also there. It's too reliable for coincidence," she adds, with an arched eyebrow at Naru.

    But the youma before them has the majority of her attention. She arches an eyebrow slightly at the response - her hands remain folded in front of her, the girl a perfect picture of silent calm, right up until the tendrils start lashing out. "So you're telling me that I simply have to beat you until you revert them to human. Very well."

    And then she reaches up to catch one of the vines.

    Blood splatters the ground, and her kimono besides. But where the vine sliced cleanly through a car, it fails to penetrate Kureha's hand, somehow far tougher than steel or aluminum. Her power doesn't give her the kind of agility most magical girls show - but in exchange, it makes her incredibly, inhumanly tough.

    Her fingers curl around the vine, flames flickering across her left arm for a second; and, heedless to her own injury, she hauls back on that vine with enough force to throw a car. Her intent is to yank this 'Eden-sama' in range for a hefty right roundhouse with concrete-shattering force.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"I think there's just a lot of us," Takuto tells demon girl cheerfully. "But let me know if you figure something else out!"

He seems perfectly content to continue taking out smaller vines with Naru while Kureha faces down the now-unsurprising youma, and then he's legit blown away by the display Kureha puts on.

Slowly, he draws a third sword, but this one's a metal saber from the sheath at his waist, and he dual-wields at vines and continues to stare and continues to stare, and he finally calls out, absolutely impressed, "I was gonna offer you a hand but it looks like you've got that lady sorted! YEET THAT MELON!"

Jadeite has posed:
    Eden grins a sharp-toothed smile as her vines impact Onihime and blood splatters. However, her mouth goes slack in bewilderment as she sees the impossible sight of some fire-girl blocking her vines that can whip through things with more force than a snapped high-tension wire. Flames make the plant-flesh sizzle and boil, but before the youma can do more than voice anger briefly, she is yanked into melee range. Being a huge pile of rather dense vegetation, Eden is not light at all. Hundreds of pounds at least. But she flies towards her attacker, only getting a chance to watch horrified as a roundhouse punch swings towards her.

    There is the sound of an impact, and then the follow up louder sound of hundreds of pounds of sapient vegetation slamming into the exterior wall of Very Melon, and smashing through into the interior of the shop. Gritting her teeth, one eye twitching, Eden forces herself up into a sitting position as her vines toss chunks of masonry and rubble and reinforced steel beams out randomly as a deterrent while she tries to get her bearings.

    Thankfully, the plantified people aren't as fast as they would be if they remained fully humanoid, so Naru is easily able to dodge their stumbling melee attacks, and by grace or by guile she continues to cut down the vines that come near her. Somewhat understandably, the majority are focused on the Magical Boy who is dual wielding against them!

    Seeing how the situation is stacking up against her, Eden makes the wise decision to use her trump card early. She surges upright and calls out, "Children of the Dark Melon! Surrender your power to me, your maker!" Moments later, the people affected by Dark Melon addiction start to groan and collapse to the ground, and even appear to be shrivelling up somewhat! Most normal people are gone by now, and after seeing the monster that has replaced the store owner smashing through the wall, the people who took her up on her dubious offer of protection have also skedaddled.

    Meaning all that's left is, the boss monster, her subdued victims, and the three who have not yet succumbed to the glorious flavor that bursts in your mouth, Very Dark Melon!

    Eden seems to be growing taller -- much taller -- she has humanoid arms again in addition to a multitude of vines thick as ancient tree's roots, and supernaturally strong. She holds her hands a distance apart from each other in front of her face as she gathers the life force she has amped up through chemical augmentation and now drained for her own use. Also, her, uh, 'melons' have gotten much... Riper. Hopefully they don't do something weird like shooting acid melon juice or somethi--THEY'RE SHOOTING ACID MELON JUICE! Who even designed this monster, this is a kid's show, Jesus christ.

    Anyway, so this is happening now.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Daaaamn." Naru breathes lowly, impressed, as she catches sight of the utter strength and stamina of Kureha who is tossing Eden around like the absolute mess that she is.

The smaller vine creatures are gone, and now Naru pauses to consider the giant Vines and roots and ... oh dear gods, there's awful melon juice.

Naru dodges as best she can, holding her borrowed sword up like an umbrella against the juice splatters as she runs towards the boss monster.

Because that's what the civvie with the sword that isn't hers should choose in this situation. CHARGE!

She does get some hacking and slashing in with the sword two handed, trying to dodge vines and juice as she uses the sword in a decidedly not elegant, but vaguely functional way. She doesn't quite dodge one vine, and catches it on the shoulder, yelping a little.

Still, Naru shifts to using the sword single handed, a little more clumsily, but clearly she's not about to let a sore shoulder stop her.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    As Eden goes sailing into Very Melon through a newly-created doorway, Takuto's voice pulls Kureha's attention again. "I do not 'yeet' things. I throw them, like a proper lady." She turns her attention back to the juice bar, just in time to immediately take a chunk of debris to the forehead. It shatters against her skull, but it's just enough to bring her to a halt and leave a nice little bruise.. The second slams into her chest, and stops her long enough for a reinforced steel beam to slam right between her horns. "MUGYA-!" She goes right over onto her back.

    A second later, she's back up on her feet. Perhaps terrifyingly, the bruise left by the first chunk of masonry is already fading. She also looks just a tad cranky. Just a smidge. A little bit.

    Okay, so her left arm appears to be catching fire.

    At the same time as the transformed Eden is coming out of the shop, Kureha's bandaged arm is starting to self-immolate. Her only words are simple. Straightforward. A declaration. "Douji Claw." Fiery claws almost seem to tear themselves out of the (athletic tape? bandage? it's hard to tell) wrapping around her arm, and her left hand comes ablaze with blazing-hot flames.

    And at the exact moment Eden unleashes the power of her acid melons, the ground under the oni girl's feet shatters, as she tosses herself straight at the youma, leading the way with her infernal left hand - letting it boil away most of the acid on her way to a simple, searing melee strike.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Yeesh, careful! You should join Kendo Club, get yourself some reflexive proximity sensors," Takuto calls to Naru when she yelps. And then he's dodging too, and oh my god the FACE he's making. So much for getting out of this without needing a shower. Some of it's starting to eat through his coat and that's gonna burn when it gets through to skin.

No more time to lose, then! "Galactic Cr--"

And Kureha is aiming herself like a missile at the monster, and Naru's running *at it*, and the Galactic Prettyboy's blue sword vanishes from his hand -- he leaves the green one with Naru, and sheaths the metal one as he's bolting forward himself because who the hell knows what kind of explosion Fire Demon Proper Lady is going to cause?? And he yells, "TAU MISSILE!" and flies straight through the air at where Naru is aiming herself so he can a) help, and b) potentially shield Naru from any vine shrapnel hitting her in the head or anything when the inevitable explosion occurs.

Jadeite has posed:
    Thanks to Ginga Bishounen's actions, Naru is shielded from any acid melon splatter, and manages to drive her borrowed blade into Eden's side (even if it's like three feet above her head, a long piece of metal is a great equalizer). As her huge vine tendrils dig into the parking lot pavement, shattering it, and thrusting the ground up underneath Onihime in an attempt to throw her off balance, Eden flinches at the feeling of swords stabbing into and tearing through her vegetative matter.

    It is a small thing, but it is enough. The unexpected attack from an unexpected angle, after more or less writing off Naru as nothing but a human with a metal stick and thus less of a threat than anyone else, makes Eden turn her head reflexively towards the source of her discomfort. "YOU--!"

    Onihime smashes her fist into Eden's face for the second time this night, and the youma doesn't finish whatever she was about to yell. Flames spiral out and around the Magical Girl's fist and arm, making grinding noises that would surely indicate bones grating against each other in a human. It's unclear if the youma has bones, but it's probably unpleasant for her either way. The upper body is not as heavy (specific parts aside) as the lower half since she is half-humanoid, half-an-entire-damn-rainforest, so the upper half bends backwards under the blow as flames spread across her, eliciting a shriek of rage, pain, and resentment as whatever is at the core of her is destroyed. The rest of the several tons of mass wither up and die quickly after that all on their own.

    And the people who were manipulated regain their human appearances, even if a little bit... Juicy. They're still mostly unconscious but a few are starting to groan as their life force returns to them. Mostly. She did kind of use a chunk of it to boost herself.

    Well, time for Naru to forget this ever happened, and all the other civilians too, right?

    ...Right?

    Somewhere in a personal pocket-dimension, a humanoid figure holding a sphere of swirling, bright energy that had been accumulating and being sent to him from Earth makes a noise of dismay as the sphere abruptly collapses and fades away -- returning to the true owners.

    "That Eden..." the man hisses. "What was she thinking? I won't use a Dark Kingdom youma next time... Only my own minions can be trusted after all."

    Well, that's probably not going to lead to anything bad in the future.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Ha! Take THAT.. Naru might not be highly effective, but she's absolutely a great distraction for the much more effective attacks.

Naru lets the borrowed sword fall, and watches the mess that remains as people start waking up, not quite sure what happened, but clearly it wasn't anything weird. No no not at all. She looks between Takuto and Kureha. Sure she's a little worse for wear and that shoulder does not look happy, but her first question.. "You guys alright?"

That does not seem like she's forgetting this ever happened.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    With the youma melting away, Kureha drops back down to the ground with a *clack* of geta, straightening up and adopting that refined poise once again. Though her kimono is battered, melted away in places by stray splashes of acid, the burns and bruises on her skin, and even the cut along her left palm, already look noticeably less pronounced. They're not gone, but it's as if they've had a couple of days to heal naturally. She brushes at some of the dirt, as if out of habit, then turns herself to Takuto and Naru, and... pointedly does not ask if they're all right. Indeed, her response is somewhat cool. "Quite fine. If there is nothing else, I'm sure the two of you can handle the aftermath. Doubtless it will be another 'riot' of some sort. If you'll excuse me..."

    And, having still not given her name, the horned girl hops up to the juice bar's roof, then from there to the next building over; from there, further back, and out of sight.

    However, that's about the time that the driver of her car, a tall and well-dressed woman somewhere in her late 30s, comes scampering up from the nearest parking lot. "Lady Kureha? Young miss, where did you- what happened here?! Some kind of brawl? Kureha, where's- did anyone see a girl in a yukata?! She ran up off the street, towards the line, I told her not to get out of the car but-"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
The sword doesn't hit the ground -- it zaps out of its green existence as it starts to fall, and then as Takuto drops his henshin and starts running his fingers through his now-totally-red-again hair to see if there's any acid melon juice left in it. Seems like no, and Takuto looks incredibly pleased for a second.

And then Kureha's being a short queen, and Takuto pauses, nods firmly at Naru, and then looks to Kureha again and says brightly, "You're excused. Good job."

Then that lady's getting out of a car and asking after the girl in the yukata, and Takuto pretends he doesn't see her and says to Naru, "We should probably get out of here before emergency services show up. You look like you're fine too, so-- see you at fight practice!"