102/Jan Ken Pop! It's punchy!

Jan Ken Pop! It's punchy!
Date of Scene:	17 July 2023
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Zephyr is selling soda on a popular route for Radiant Heart students, and meets a couple of them.
Cast of Characters:	Zephyr Windstar, Minako Aino, Naru Osaka

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Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Mitakihara Ward, Main drag strip, a little side section just off the main run but easily visible and approachable so the streams of people can get by without blocking the little mobile stall.

    The cart has a stylized pair of hands, one in a Rock, the other in Paper gestures from Rock Paper Scissors. Between is a soda can with a stylized pair of scissors on it. Surrounding the logo is a circular frame and beneath the frame in English is JAN! KEN! POP! with the hiragana for the words above the frame.

    The stall runner is a T A L L foreigner, towering over even most of the men on the street, her light skintone and mismatched eyes making her stand out even more.

    She has a thick accent but clear pronounciation as she speaks. "Blueberry Sodas! Cherryade! Guaranteed refreshing or your money back!"

Minako Aino has posed:
What a week it had been, the life of a superhero was a demanding one and the last time she'd taken the time to relax she'd ended up nearly having to sacrifice herself to eternal imprisonment for the sake of others...hopefully this attempt would do better!

With her form wrapped in a bright orange hoodie jacket and a pair of workout shorts, Minako had her hair down and the usual ribbon tied back into the bow behind her head as she moves down the street, the call for the sodas seemingly having caught the ear of the blonde!

"Blueberry soda? That sounds pretty good."

Naru Osaka has posed:
It's a lovely day, if nothing else, and there's students of a wide variety of uniforms in the street, hurrying here and there. Some clearly, have been caught by the notion of tasty sodas.

One who has gotten caught by the idea is Naru, who comes up behind Minako, willing to wait patiently in line to pick up a soda, possibly even two! She wears the school uniform of Radiant Heart Academy, like so many who are on the street, headed to or from school. There's a smile for both Zephyr and Minako. "Good morning."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr's smile is bright as she hands off cold sodas from the icebox inside the cart, accepting payment and returning change where appropriate. "Thank you very much for your business! If you're ever in the area, we have a full shop at the Akibahara Mall! Second Floor, third along the west side~!" she shills, not doing it for each one, but spacing it out after the line's moved a little so she doesn't upset people with too much repetition.

    When Minako walks up and asks about the Blueberry Soda, the foreigner smiles brightly. "They're our most popular line since we introduced them last month!" she explains, pulling out a standard sized can with a large metallic-sheen blueberry on it, it's got the usual information and BLUEBERRY in katakana around the berry. "They're our best priced too! Only 300 yen!"

    The pricing list is on the sunshade support, it lists out the entire stock she has on hand, and the prices for a regular or large can, or bottle. There's also a small selection of ramune on offer, though a few items have a sad-face with crossed arms sticker over the price. 'Out of stock'.

    Naru also earns a welcoming smile, "I've seen lots of cute girls wearing that uniform lately." she adds as an aside.

Minako Aino has posed:
Naru may well be a face she knew, after all Minako wore the same uniform on school days...and that comment was enough to have her looking over her shoulder and breaking into a little smile of greeting. "Good morning!" she offers lightly before a flush to her cheeks brings her coming back towards the offered drink and bites her bottom lip in consideration.

"Hmmm...I guess I'll try it then!"

Not exactly a long consideration, but she still fishes out the appropriate funds to exchange, looking up to the foreign girl and tilting her head. "I don't think I've seen these before. Are they exclusive to your store or just new?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Could I also get a regular blueberry and a regular.. lychee?" Naru had to consider a moment, as she reads through the options. "Oooh, and a mangosteen if you still have any of those?" She digs into her satchel for her wallet, to be able to pay for them all.

"You're in a good spot to catch the students from Radiant Heart Academy." Naru gestures vaguely towards her uniform. "And we generally like sweets. Although I mostly just want a taste, but my roommate likes sweets enough that we can share."

Her smile turns towards Minako and she giggles just a little. "I think we're in the same class, because you look familiar. Grade nine? I'm Naru Osaka.. Usagi's roommate."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "They're new to our store!" explains Zephyr, "I'm still a bit new around here so I'm not sure if they're brand new everywhere, but I've not seen anywhere else stocking these." Her purple and yellow-green eyes blink a little at Naru, but she happily pulls out the requested items, "Did you want a bag for these?" she asks, gesturing to the little folded paper bags on the closed side of the cart top. "No additional charge."

    She serves some others as the pair talk to each other. She's here to serve drinks, not eavesdrop on schoolgirls conversations, after all!

    Not that she looks that much older than some of the upperclassmen at the Academy.

Minako Aino has posed:
Usagi's roommate? Curious. Minako might offer a bright and friendly smile, but beneath the surface of Minako Aino, Princess Venus was almost certainly sizing the girl up. She was cute, very much so, seemingly caring and considerate...and didn't seem to have any of the creepy vibes. Probably not a Youma in disguise, right?

Still, inner bodyguard instincts passing quickly, she nods her head in agreement with Naru's words to Zephyr. "Right! I like sweet things too!"

Smooth Mina, Goddess of love huh?

Back to Naru as an escape and she gestures with the can to herself. "Minako Aino, I came to the school from London at the start of the year."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Yes please! That would be lovely." Naru gratefully accepts a bag as she passes over the money for the cans of soda. She steps just a little to the side after she gets the bag, so as not to interfere with the cart's customers, but certainly well within earshot of Zephyr. Conversation range, even, should Zephyr choose.

No creepy vibes off Naru. Full of smiles, friendly, she seems like an open book. She tucks her wallet away, ensuring that her satchel is closed and she's got her bag of sodas. "We've had so many people transfer in. I mean, Usagi and I too. We were at a different school, but at least here in Tokyo. Are you in the dorms?" She asks of Minako, q tilt of her head, curious. She extends her questions to Zephyr too. "What school did you graduate from? Probably not Radiant Heart,if you're not familiar with the uniform."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "I'm from... up north." commends Zephyr toward Naru in that awkward way someone who's trying to both be truthful and lie their butt off at the same time do. The cart starts to slow down a bit, and Zephyr wipes her brow with a sleeve... showing the ornate bracelet around her right wrist with a teal crystal set into a clearly detachable medal of some kind. "You wouldn't have heard the name." she affirms after, grabbing a waterbottle out of a cubby in the cart as she leans on it. She's also not giving a name unless asked, it seems.

Minako Aino has posed:
A sip of the drink is finally taken, her own thoughts or noticing the cagey comments on school literally washed away under the taste of the drink. A gasp, she lets out a little noise of delight. "This is really good Ms...." she begins, realising she doesn't actually know the girl's name and giving her space to fill it in there before looking back towards Naru with a nod. "Mhmm, but only recently. I was staying with family, but they're travelling for work."

Now it was her turn to lie, but it would be less unnerving or odd than admitting she'd only decided to move in after she knew the girl's roomate was a reincarnated princess!

Naru Osaka has posed:
The school is filled with so much just ambient odd, that people moving in and people moving out is just already wholly and entirely normal. There's new students all the time, both day students and boarding students.

Naru nods easily enough to Zephyr. "Well.. welcome to Tokyo then. I hope you're not finding it too overwhelming? It can be a lot." She spots the pretty bracelet, giving it a considering look as only the child of a jeweler really can. "That's really pretty." She nods a little towards the bracelet.

Naru nods to Minako and then smiles. "Alright, now I'm really looking forward to trying it, I just don't want to open it until Usagi's around."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Huh?" Zephyr blinks owlishly at Minako, but then recovers and shrugs. "Just call me 'Soda Girl' if you need to... names aren't that important where I'm from." she adds... that's not entirely a lie. Entirely...

    Naru's comment on the bracelet makes her balk just a little... she let it slip... but the comment is benign. "Oh... uh th-thanks... my dad made it for me." Which is entirely true! "Hey, tell you what. I'm nearly done for the morning, gotta head back to restock soon... how about you have my last can, on the house." she says, reaching into the cart and fishing out a second can of blueberry for Naru. "It's always the worst thing if you're stuck waiting for someone when you want to try a new thing you're looking forward to."

Minako Aino has posed:
Was it timing, a sense, or just an innate shipping reflex? Who knows? Either way Minako looks from Naru to 'Soda Girl' and back again before grinning a little behind the rim of her can and taking a small sip. "That's really sweet of you, it's really good and...'ohlookatthatIgottagostudy'!" she begins only to look down at her wrist where she was desidedly -not- wearing a watch.

One bright bounce on the balls of her feet and she looks back at Naru. "Maybe you could keep Soda Girl here company when she walks back, drink the thing now and I could drop the drinks off with Usagi? Either way, I've gotta go."

If Naru accepts she'll deliver the drinks, otherwise? The Senshi would depart, possibly to face something far scarier than any foe Sailor V had come across: study.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Oh that's sweet of you! Thank you." Naru accepts the generous offer, reaching for a can of blueberry soda. "Although I can't usually finish a whole can on my own, but hey.. if it's that good, perhaps." She waves the hand holding the sada after Minako as she takes her hasty leave. "It's alright, I'm just going to put them in our room. I can take them. Thanks for offering though." It seems an odd offer, when Naru is literally going back to the room she shares with Usagi, but it's sweet nonetheless.

Her attention returns to Zephyr. "My mother is a jeweler, so I appreciate nice jewelry design. Your father did lovely work, I'm sure you treasure it very much."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr sells a few final items to a couple of others that wander up, then pulls down the cart to collapse it back into travel mode. She's surprisingly quick about it and is ready to go in only a couple of minutes. "He did... and I do, yeah." she smiles wistfully at the bracelet, which... did it just glimmer without light falling on it? Couldn't be. "I gotta head back to the shop, did you wanna tag along or do you need to head back already?" she asks, moving around to the handle and ducking under to lift it from inside the 'loop'.

Naru Osaka has posed:
The extra can of blueberry soda is opened, just as intended, to get a preview before she gets home. Breakfast of champions, blueberry soda. It goes well with the coffee that she's likely already had. No one needs vitamins before they're 20, right? Naru takes a sip and ooohs softly. "Alright this IS really nice. It's not half as sweet as I feared. No wonder its been popular."

"I probably should get back to school soon, but I can walk with you at least some of the way." Naru offers, clearly not in that much of a rush to head back to the dorms. She has a soda to sip on, afterall. "Goodness, that folds up really efficiently. It's really cleverly designed. Is it heavy?"

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Not for me, but I'd warn against trying to lift it yourself." Zephyr warns, hiking the cart up and sets off at a steady stroll, using the mass of the cart to part the flow of bodies... it helps it jangles and clinks in a regular fashion, like it's making its own theme music. "I helped refine the original design, the boss's old one was a rattletrap and about twice as heavy. Swap out some old parts, refit the frame with aluminium instead of steel. Much lighter than before and easier to fold up for travel~."

    She seems really proud of that fact, but did she just admit to 'Ship of Theseus-ing' this cart?

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I'd claim I'm stronger than I look, but I'm utterly not." Naru admits with a bit of a rueful grin as she walks alongside Zephyr and the cart. "Wow, it sounds like you're really involved with this company, that's really awesome. I'm glad you could make the cart less challenging to push around."

She takes another sip of soda as they walk. "Do you take the cart out every day? Even when the weather's awful?" She is full of questions, curious and interested.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Not /every/ day, I get monday and tuesday off, normally, unless I'm doing overtime." replies Zephyr with a smirk. "But sometimes I stick around the shop, because not many people want to buy soda in the street when it's raining and stuff."

    The older girl glances over as she comes to wait at a crossing, "So... what're you planning on doing after you graduate?" she asks.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I have, at this exact moment, absoutely no idea." Naru replies to the last question first. "The logical thing would be to go to work for my mother's store, possibly as a designer, more likely as a straight up business woman." She wrinkles her nose, indicating how much she is looking forward to THAT idea. "Was selling soda from a cart your plan after you graduated?" Naru asks, turning the question back on Zephyr.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Huh..." is Zephyr's response to Naru's reaction. She then chuckles as the crossing changes and proceeds to cross with the throng. "Soda sales is just a side hustle, helps pay the rent and keep food on the table."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"So.. what would you like to be doing?" Naru asks with a flash of a smile as they wait at a red light. Jay walking is a poor life choice at the best of times on Tokyo's busy streets, but while pushing a slow cart seems like an even worse plan.

"If you could be doing anything, what would be it? With or without your side hustle." Naru lifts her can in salute to the side hustle.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Law Enforcement." replies Zephyr after a little bit of a pause. Not a lie, it's basically what she's really doing, with the soda business as a cover... or civilian facing job. "Y'know, protcting people that kinda thing." she adds, shifting her grip on the cart handle. "Mom's in law enforcement, back home." again, not a lie... but 'law enforcement' is a bit of a misnomer for what the girl's mother does for a living.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Oh wow.. that's quite a bit different." Naru smiles brightly. "I mean.. I bet you could apply to the police school." She considers that a moment, as the light turns green and they can start walking again.

"Might be a challenge to get your grades transfered, but it's not impossible. I'm sure they have had transfer students before." Little does Naru know just how much transfer there might need to be. "It's a big awesome goal, though."

Naru reaches over to help the cart navigate a bump on the curb, just because it's easier with another hand. "I'd like to be a professional artist, but I also like eating regularly, so it's not the most functional of goals."