2928/A Campus Picnic

A Campus Picnic
Date of Scene:	01 February 2026
Location:	Campus Gardens
Synopsis:	Usagi's hosting an afternoon picnic, and a variety of friends drop into enjoy the sukiyaki. Takuto even puts on a show!
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Ami Mizuno, Chiyo Sakai, Amanda Faust, Roman Talleday, Takuto Tsunashi

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Earlier in the day had been... maybe a bit tense. Maybe a bit raw. Usagi could have retreated to lick her wounds... but honestly, she'd rather sit and enjoy the fact that Tokyo is having clear weather, even if it is a bit chilly out. The sky is clear and sunny, the wind is low, and the day is an average 50/10 degrees, and she'd put out the word that she'd be hosting a picnic in the campus gardens, with plenty of blankets for warmth.

That's exactly where she is now - sitting on a dark green blanket with a bright pink blanket on top of her, distinctive odango covered up by a knit beanie. For snacking, she's brought one of those portable outdoor burners and a sukiyaki kit, because, well, what else are you going to picnic with when you're a bad cook, a student, and it's cold out?

Along with the rich broth, she's got thin shaved beef, cut cabbage, a couple of different mushroom types, and some thinly cut vegetables, and bowls set out as well.

"This is going to hit the spot," she declares, carefully adding some cabbage to the pot.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami, who was notorious for the consumption of sandwiches and adjacent convenience foods, was staring at the bubbling broth in silence for a little while. Though the weather had been reasonably nice for the day, it was still cool and she could definitely understand the logic behind sukiyaki. It was warm and the smell in the air definitely made her stomach grumble a little. But, it was also significantly less convenient than a sandwich.

She couldn't let Usagi notice this particular complaint. Not now, not ever. Not after she'd gone to the effort of bringing her out and setting up something that was bound to be perfectly delicious.

"It smells really good, Usagi-chan." Ami confirmed, quick to add beef as her own effort.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
It wasn't every day that there was such nice weather, or a picnic outside. The fact that it was Sukiyaki---Well to be honest once Chiyo had heard that, she felt compelled to attend to ensure that her cousin didn't accidentally poison anyone with her cooking.

Plus sukiyaki DID sound good.

Chiyo was bundled up under a nice blanket herself, and as addition to the meal she'd brought a tupperware full of fresh rice noodles. Mochi noodles? It'd work. They weren't sweet and would soak up any remaining broth to be delicious and bouncy when chewed. "It does smell really good," she has to agree with Ami while glancing toward the blue haired genius to check for any signs of 'this may be inedible'... but really, so far, Usagi actually was doing a great job!

"I didn't know you knew how to make sukiyaki, Usagi-chan! This is a great idea."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    There was a tense and awkward moment earlier, on the moon, by the way, today is automatically cool because she got to go to the moon, and Amy could've just gone back to her room to read manga alone or play videogames or... ugh, study (but it's Sunday!) but... hey, maybe she can have a more uplifting social experience if she tries again!

    She's still in the same cool-weather outfit -- a cream-colored hoodie with fluffy fleece lining, open over a blue shirt with glow-in-the-dark magical circle designs over a sort of blue-and-black nebula/space/stars background with a mottled grey circle skirt and insulated leggings with an angular black-and-gray pattern on them. -- Casual wear that, at least, didn't immediately look off in the mirror, she's not trying to make the cover of a fashion mag or anything.

    Since coming back down to Earth she's also put on a pink-with-a-grey-stripe knit cap and a red-and-green christmas scarf.

    Maybe that's getting to be too many different colors but she thought she'd try wearing some new actual clothes instead of just magicing up whatever she wants at the moment.

    "I didn't know you knew how to cook!" Amy comments cheerfully as she approaches. "It smells good!"

Roman Talleday has posed:
This wasn't entire what sprang to mind at the word 'picnic', but this was almost certainly better. There were all the things necessarily for it to be called a picnic, it had a picnic permit-- settled on a blanket, surrounded by lovely scenery, and quick easy food able to be set out and packed up in fairly short order. But it was also challenging the common boundary of a picnic.

Really, Usagi was playing on another level when it came to eating food. Roman respected that.

He was chopping the mushrooms to be added, which was a very important part, and that made him feel like he had something important here to do. He wore a thick denim jacket with patches, several of them related to Britain, but a few newer ones distinctly Tokyo-gained.

"I love anything what goes in a pot all together and turns into delicious." He noted.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm a terrible cook," Usagi admits, which is not always something people want to hear right before they eat someone's cooking, "But luckily for us, it's pretty much impossible to mess up sukiyaki, especially if you buy one of these kits that tells you how much of everything to add!"

So, really, while she is cooking, she's not cooking...

And because she's an excellent girlfriend, she remembers - "Oh, right, I brought something else, too!" Digging in her bag, she pulls out the other thing she'd purchased - a package of twelve onigiri, individually wrapped, handholdable, and stuffed with various savory fillings.

If Usagi happens to place them down right next to Ami, it's a coincidence! Totally!

"Thanks for helping with the mushrooms, Roman-kun - my knife skills are, uh, bad."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Oh, Usagi-chan can't cook--" Ami blinked and trailed off.

There's a hesitance that skips over a moment as her gaze follows after the onigiri. Then it all caught up with her and redness settled into her face briefly. The silent shame for having thought anything at all critical of Usagi's picnic because of course Usagi would bring something aimed to fit Ami's preference.

Usagi was, indeed, an excellent girlfriend.

"I'd be much more worried if you were doing the knife work, yes." This was, of course, the direction Ami decided to go for speaking.

Her gratitude, however, was woven into a warm smile directed at Usagi until she turned to Roman. "Have you been practising your chopsticks, Rome-kun?"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
A CLAMP noodle of a red-eyed boy slopes on over with his hands in his navy peacoat pockets, but that he is Takuto is probably not immediately obvious because he's wearing one of those head-covering hats with ear flaps and strings and a bobble on top. "Hi I heard you had soup!" he calls cheerfully, and face and voice match! Yay it's a Star Driver.

He sees all the other things and lifts a mittened hand to his mouth. "Oh I didn't bring anything, is it pot-luck? Should I go get something?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh right, Amy thinks, future housewife, of course she's--

> A terrible cook. But you can't mess up Sukiyaki.
    Amy blinks. "Okay. So, a little secret..." She points and nods to Roman, "'anything what goes in a pot all together and turns out delicious' is a lot, actually!"

    "You got some meat, you got some veggies, throw it all in a pot and cook down; include chopped potatoes or cook some grains or noodles in another pot, mix it together after... unless it's a cooking contest, no one cares if you followed the recipe or got the meat-veggie-noodle portions exactly right."

    "I never thought of myself as 'knowing how to cook' either. As a-- uhh-- well first I learned how to cook spaghetti -- optionally mixed with cheese and hamburger -- and cook burgers. Then I learned how to cook fish in a pan. Then I learned how to just chuck veggies and meat in a pan or pot and honestly year after year that kept being plenty for regular eating?"

    Amy smiles. "So, don't sell yourself short because you 'just' know how to make soup or stew or sukiyaki. People will still go 'oh wow this tastes great!'"

    "...Also you can buy mushrooms pre-chopped if you don't have someone to cut them handy. Heck, just sauteed mushrooms -- err, pan-fried in some butter -- is a treat on its own really. And that's just meat-and-veggies-and-mushrooms without the meat and veggies and with a little butter added. See, it covers a lot!"

    The redhead grins, seeming to think this was a good speech at any rate.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai looks rather relieved when Usagi speaks up about not being able to cook. "You're good at many other things, Usagi-chan. Plus if this is easy enough for you, maybe you should just make sukiyaki and other soups your speciality! Honestly, you can't really go wrong with them. I'm sure Mamo-kun would appreciate it too."

The appearance of onigiri earns a little raise of eyebrows though.

As Rome cuts up the mushrooms she fidgets with the blanket over her lap letting out a sigh. "I should have brought something else, too. Should I go grab some more vegetables for us?"

Roman Talleday has posed:
Roman nodded. "Dad nicks himself all the time, cuttin' things. He's rotten at cooking, always was. I can eat just about anything. Me bein' here, he's either gone full take out or he'd be missing a finger, by now."

He had the urge to say, 'he probably would have thrown it in the hot pot', but refrained from saying it in front of the girls. He did amuse himself with the image, however.

He blinked at Ami's inquiry. "Still at it, with certain things... Mina-chan gave me one of those clip on snap-snap things for 'em." That was probably a very vague and unhelpful way to describe it. "Just so I'm not dropping everything all over myself. She's a real gem..."

Now, if only he could master them, so that he could show off how he didn't need them. Of course, that would still require actually taking her to dinner. He cleared his throat.

"Hey, Takuto-san."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Snap-snap things?" Ami sounded confused, but eventually squinted a little and tilted her head. "You mean the training haishi."

The senshi nodded. That had to be what he meant. "That's very thoughtful of her to help you like that."

If anybody cared to check, one of the onigiri had already disappeared. Ami's attention shifted to Takuto and she offered him a polite dip of her head.

"Hello."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"No one has to get anything! I'm hosting, I just invited everyone because I thought we should celebrate the nice day!"

She speaks up hurriedly, before anyone rushes off in the spirit of buying things to throw into the pot.

"And - I actually never thought of it that way, Amy-chan? But... maybe you guys are right, and I could be good at making soups! Everyone likes soups... though, I'll be honest, I only got all of those mushrooms 'cause Mamochan them, so I don't eat them a ton when he's around."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Romu-kun," Takuto says, wobbling from one foot to the other, unsure about whether to get something or not yet-- but he immediately gets distracted anyway. "Oh how sharp is that blade?" he asks, red eyes gleaming; he takes off his mittens. "Want me to try chopping them in midair over the pot?" he offers Usagi, not innocently at all.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
The familiar voice of a redhead earns a wave before Chiyo even looks toward Takuto. She does of course look, but only after she ensures that Rome isn't about to cut his finger off after mention of his father doing so. That was worrisome!

"Snap-snap things...? Oh! Oh, yes, haishi, that makes sense. Hi, Takuto-kun! Grab a blanket and join us," she finally offers even though it really isn't HER party. Of course by now he's offering to chop things mid-air which just earns a rolling of her eyes.

"He'd do it, too."

Roman Talleday has posed:
"It's decently sharp, yeah." A glance over was given to the knife, before Roman turned a look to Usagi.

"I could toss things at him and see if he can chop them. I got a mean pitch." Roman suggested, his brows rising to add on to Takuto's suggestion. "Could do the carrots like that."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami closed her eyes and shook her head gently. This was exactly a very Roman thing to have suggested over a bubbling pot of broth. it wasn't generally a safe plan to be swinging knives about willy-nilly.

She wasn't going to say no though. After all, it would be very educational to see if Takuto could bisect a ballistic carrot.

"That would be quite an impressive skill." Ami stated after a short while, letting sapphire blues open again to settle on Takuto almost expectantly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Carrots?"

Ami had been an absolute angel, not letting her desire for handheld foods show. Usagi is not an angel, and her horrified face is obvious. "I mean... if you want to eat carrots... go ahead... but um, if you want to chop something cool, what about the raddish? Or, or, there's some lotus root!"

Please, anything but carrots. She'll even ask Jesus-san for help.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods to Chiyo as she expresses much the same to Usagi. "Yeah! Exactly!"

    Roman recounts his parental cooking experiences. "Huh. Dad could bake from a recipe, cookies or thin pizza or a simple cake following instructions, and cook spaghetti and grill hamburgers and a tasty recipe he got for broiling fish, but he never really got past all that, and Mom always overcooked anything that wasn't preprocessed and frozen. I thought I hated chicken until I was at a barbecue one time and--" she blinks.

    "Ah, anyway, my point is... I'm not sure what my point is. Huh. Now that I think about it... aside from very specific specialty dishes, did I end up the best cook in my family?"

    She's not sure if she should have feelings about that.

    "Snap-snap things?" Training hashi? she's not sure what that is, either.

    Cutting in the air? "Okay, that's cool and fancy. Fine with me." She smiles.

    Usagi does not like carrots. The irony. Amy looks at her, surprised. "How have you... had carrots, before? Like, I think with some vegetables people don't like, it helps to steam them... and carrots softened in a stew are a very different experience than just eating them raw after peeling them..."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto rubs his hands together, his breath fogging the air with a big exhalation, and with his mittens stuffed in his peacoat pockets he grins. "Radish, sure. And lotus root next. No carrots, got it." He takes the one knife from Roman, and then he picks up the other knife, so he's got the two of them to work with, and he stands there over the steaming cauldron with twin knives, eyes gleaming. "Usagi-chan gave the go-ahead. One at a time please!"

Roman Talleday has posed:
Roman turned his gaze to Usagi with curiosity. "What have you got against carrots?" He asked first, not at all putting it together-- carrots went into things like this. His Slavic heritage almost felt a pang of loss for their absence, here. "I do like raddish, though. Proper carrots are more like that, like morkovcha."

He looked considerate as Takuto arms himself, and he surrendered the small pile of mushroom to the pot.

Amy had lost her point, but Roman could at least show her something. From his pocket, he took out a small case with Tamagotchi characters on it. From this, he pulled out a pair of themed chopsticks, with a small connector between them-- making tweezers of them, aiding clumsy fingers that were unaccustomed to holding and eating with these utensils. He snapped the together twice.

Snap-snap.

Then, of all things, he tucked them behind his ear and took up a raddish like a baseball. "Where you are!"

Then a raddish went flying.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai sighs quietly as they begin to set up The Choppening demonstration, although she is grinning over it too. Just a bit. "Hang on," she requests as she reaches over to fish for her phone in her bag. "If I don't record this his girlfriend and boyfriend will never forgive me." Mostly Wako though. Mostly.

It's in hand being flicked active when she sits up straighter again with phone held aloft in one hand at least.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I hate carrots of all kinds," Usagi says, wrinkling her nose, "I don't like the taste of them, but - but, sukiyaki is for everyone so you can... still put them in, and I'll just eat around them."

Yes. Yes!

"You can eat all the carrots, if you like them so much, but this rabbit is not here for carrots."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami could do little more than lean back and away from the pot. Her mind, recognising the standing boy and the radish, immediately calculated out the size of the splash that was to come.

"Oh dear--"

She also shifted the onigiri out of the danger-zone, suspiciously missing another.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy ohhhs as Roman shows her the snap-snap things, and nods.

    To Usagi, she blinks, and then nods. "Well, if you don't like 'em any way, you don't like 'em. I've always been the same way about coleslaw. Tried different ones. Tried again after years." She shakes her head. "Never liked it."

    And she pulls out her phone after Chiyo does, watching Takuto and grinning.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto's good for it. This is not a boy who plays with knives. He does, however, show off with them-- is that worse? That might be worse. The radish gets winged at him like a baseball, and it's like the boy almost blurs as he violently cancels the radish's momentum and does... something. Whatever he does, it ends up with discs of radish dropping sedately into the pot, and Takuto carefully sweeping the rest of the slices off the one knife with the other as the leafy radish top plops into Chiyo's lap.

"Okay, now do it slow-mo video," the older boy laughs. "Roman-kun, another!"

This time the slow-motion playback will show, still very fast but followable, some WILD tricks with gravity, force, viscosity, surface tension, ping-pong, and intense concentration. Again, the slices plop in the pot, and this radish top lands in Usagi's lap.

He looks back at the girls, grinning. "This is fun but probably not as fast as just doing it, huh."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, wow!! Takuto-kun, you're AWESOME!" Usagi cheers as Takuto cuts through all the vegetables, and even when a radish top lands in her lap, she doesn't seem to mind, picking it up and just nibbling at the flesh round.

Roman Talleday has posed:
"Alright, time to put the sting on it!"

Roman kicks up another vegetable now with the tip of his sneaker, catching it and winging it at the other boy after the last slo-mo demonstration.

It's a solid pitch, with a wind up. Curved, fast and charged with a good spin-- if only to make it a mild challenge, but mostly to make it look even cooler.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai focuses not only on watching but also on recording. While she completely expected Takuto to get the radish cut up properly and dramatically, she wasn't expecting the radish top to come her way.

Usually it wouldn't be a big deal. Just a quick grab at it, or she'd swat it aside, or something similar. With her attention focused on the redhead through the screen of her phone though? It was just 'cutty slicey motions' followed by sudden and abrupt THING FLYING RIGHT AT HER which earns a rather unlady-like yelp of, "SHIMATTA TAKU--" As her free hand claps over her chest to still her heart with a gulp of breath.

"Warn a person!"

Her head hangs down quickly with bangs over her face as she sucks in a few quick breaths to calm that heart-in-throat feeling. Somehow her hand remains raised with the phone still recording at least?

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Ahh," Takuto says, and his face is red, a bit more than from the chilly air, "sorry, I'm so used to showing off for my girlfriend and boyfriend, I forget it can be tiresome to other people." He's laughing, but he's starting to put down one knife and turn away--

Time to put the sting on it!

--he completes the turn but doesn't put the knife down. Instead, it's flipped in his hand so he can use his momentum to stab the incoming vegetable, and he didn't see Roman spin it, so its momentum has a different drag direction than the one he was expecting.

(The slow-motion will catch his comical wide-eyed look of alarm in profile as he stabs the radish hurtling at his back by twisting around.) He jerks his arm, with knife and radish, back toward himself and away from the steaming cauldron which was starting to make his hand feel burny; because of the angle, he has to fall forward a little bit to keep from touching the side of the pot, which means he drops the other knife immediately so no one gets stabbed, and he does a really unlikely ballet twirl that has terrible form but keeps him from falling into the cauldron--

--he EXHALES, managing by the skin of his teeth to stop with the radish stuck on the knife, nobody stabbed, and not on the ground. "Um, yeah nah don't put carrots in the pot. If you avoid mushrooms because of your husband, we can be considerate and avoid carrots for you at your own picnic."

"Sorry Chiyo-chan!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami clapped demurely.

"Very well done, Tsunashi-san." The blue-haired senshi complimented with a smile. "Though, I don't think you should take up ballet anytime soon."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Or maybe you should, to get more balance," this is an unbelievable statement for the clumsiest person here to make. A real rent lowering shot fired, and she didn't even mean it that way. "I bet Wako-chan would love seeing you do ballet!"

Roman Talleday has posed:
Roman grinned, of course, and straighted up to jut a thumb at himself. "Maybe I should start my own Ballet club. I could teach you guys a thing or two, for once."

He laughed, because it was true-- that was undoubtedly his best and most undeniable talent. "Are you ready for ice baths? There's a lot of ice baths."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto looks positively injured, hand over his heart as he brings the radish over to chop it properly, scooping up the ground-knife as he goes. He looks betraaaaaayed at Usagi! "And I stood up for your anti-carrot stance and everything," he says mournfully, shaking his head. "You said lotus root too?"

A glance at Ami and Takuto sticks out his tongue, then looks rueful at Roman. "I don't have time. Too much kendo."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai lowers the phone back to her lap only to pluck at the radish top to move it aside first. "I mean I personally wouldn't be against seeing some guys in leotards, but ..." She trails off tilting her head to the side.

"Oh yeah Wako would probably like it too. Don't you have to start ballet really early in life though? I think we're a bit past that age."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Her smile implacable, Ami did manage to look a little apologetic as she waved a hand in his direction.

"You look very impressive swinging knives around!" She did her absolute best to reassure him. "You didn't even splash us with broth!"

It was perhaps unfortunate that honesty was one of Ami's more enduring virtues. Oh, certainly, she'd hide the truth if it was necessary, but in the normal course of things she often spoke her mind very precisely.

"I'm just glad you didn't wind up in the broth as well when you tried to catch that last one."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm being serious! I really think you would look good, plus, you're really fast and like, agile and stuff, right? Imagine what you could do if you were lifting someone up, instead of just two swords. I bet you'd like if it you lifted Sugata-san up, huh?"

She's grinning, but she's not necessarily teasing.

"Um... huh, you know, I've got an official no-clubs stance, but ballet always looks fun on TV..."

Roman Talleday has posed:
Roman wouldn't pop Chiyo's bubble by admitting he mostly work tights and a dance belt for practice.

"Only professionally speaking. I started young and trained seriously, sure... But I believe anyone should be able to learn to dance, if they have the spirit for it," Roman nodded, before turned a sympathetic look to Takuto, "Well, I won't mention the ice baths to Sugata-san. He might look into it."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy just assumes Takuto knows what he's doing. Someone who can do ridiculous anime shit with knifes... would not be out of place in her life these days!R
    When he cuts the radish multiple times faster than she can see, she cheers and then claps. "Wow!"

    And then an accident almost happens and... Amy's never had any dance instruction, and only brief martial arts instruction. She knows just enough to tell that reacting that quickly and precisely to avoid the accident getting worse is impressive, and probably more impressive than she can really understand. "Wow uh, are you okay? Is your hand burned?"

    She blinks at Roman. "You know ballet?" She nods as he recounts his past with it.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"I bet Sugata'd like it if I lifted him up even out of henshin," laughs Takuto, blushing a little more, to his ears, and going back to chopping that vegetable. "My hand's fine, I jerked back fast enough. Thanks!" ^_^ Then he gives the knife back to Roman. And he's still laughing, at least. "I don't want an ice bath. The outdoor pool is cold enough."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai listens to the chatter around her while playing on her phone. She had to ensure that video gets to the appropriate people after all!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami's attention shifted to Roman now as her hand lowered and onigiri vanished where she watched him for a short time. Her head tilted a little.

"Ice baths are supposed to be really good for inflammation, but I think I'd much prefer visiting an onsen for that kind of relaxation and relief."

Roman Talleday has posed:
He shrugged at Amy. "You know, even though I'm not in a career of it anymore, it really just means I'm free to dance how I like."

Roman laughed a little again as he settled back down with a knife. "Onsens... Ami-chan. I think I agree with you, there."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Sugata-san has an onsen at his house," like that's normal, but Usagi is confident of Takuto chiming in, to agree, "Maybe he'd host a party sometime! That would be cool... but in the mean time, we should eat! Everything - except the raddish - is probably ready for a bite..."