Description: Karin, Sakura and Sean eat lunch... ... Were you expecting more?
What do you do when a rich blonde asks you to lunch, her treat? Accept, most likely. Karin is counting on that, anyway, as well as the ridiculous appetite that seems to be somehow tied to the learning of Ansatsuken. The heiress has something of import she needs from Sean, and though she and Sakura haven't spoken in some time... well, it doesn't take a multi-billion dollar industry's intelligence-gathering service to know recent going-ons in Sakura's life. It doesn't HURT any, but you don't need one.
Thus, Karin Kanzuki called ahead to the Pao Pao and decided to arrive early, having a seat at a corner table right out of Star Wars, looking out over the restaurant quite nicely with a good view of the door for no surprises. Presently the blonde fighter twists a slice of lemon over her iced tea and decides to have a sip, wincing at the too-sweet flavor of pedestrian from-a-mix tea. But business is business, and you have to go where the business is, as it were.
Never mind the fact that inviting Sakura and Sean to a nice restaurant for lunch would be... somewhat akin to throwing a garden party and inviting the cast of Benny Hill.
Well of course Sean is going to accept, if anything he thinks that there's a possibility that he'll be getting.. A raise! Or maybe he may be even luckier and getting a promotion! So not only was he quick to accept, he was also quick to run to the dry cleaners where he was getting his suit cleaned, and changed in their restroom.
Now he's actually never been to the Pao Pao yet, but Google Maps saved the day there and before one knows it, the brazillian employee is making his way inside the Pao-Pao, adorn in his dark slacks and matching (torn sleeve) blazer with a set of Ray-Bans tucked into the breastpocket. The dressshirt undamaged, with a sweet set of cufflinks on them. But more importantly he wears a big grin, looking around a moment and soon spots the blonde, "Miss Kanzuki!" he calls, making his way right on over to the table and .. Well apparently he isn't expecting company to be joining them.
Well, Sakura coulda told Sean where the Pao Pao was. Y'know, if he =asked= her. As it is, she didn't really know what was going on -- just that she was told to be at such-and-such a place at such-and-such a time.
Naturally, she ends up getting there late. The reasoning should be obvious -- she's still in her track and field uniform, her hair's even more a mess than usual, and she's panting quite heavily from having run here straight from the school.
Wild-eyed, and =smiling= as she looks around the inside of the cafe, she's probably giving people the impression she's a =psycho=.
Which wouldn't be far from the truth, but anyway. It doesn't take long for her to spot the curly blonde hair of this evening's benefactor, and Sakura, in typical uncouth fashion, greets her and her sharp-dressed companion.
By shouting across all the other customers. "Hey, hey, sorry I'm late!" she announces, waving her hand overhead as she half-jogs through the maze of tables. "Track practice ran a little over, since they were doing some kinda--" She laughs nervously as she approaches, mostly because of the =other= people staring.
"... Uh, yeah, hi!" she smiles back, bowing her head to those at the other tables she walks past. "Sorry for the disturbance, yeah... sorry! Sorry..."
And by this point she's finally reached Karin's table. She bows her head to the Brazilian, "... Sean..." And to Miss Kanzuki. "... 'sup, Karin?"
It's probably no surprise her face is as red as her jacket.
There is "oh dear" written all over Karin's face. She does her level best to wipe it away before her dinner plans fall through in an overzealous way by taking a nice, long draught of iced tea.
"Well, how nice of you both to show," she says cheerily, putting down the glass and folding her hands in front of her. Without bothering to look up, Karin reaches one hand up and snaps her fingers. There is a small amount of hurried whispering over by the waitstaff station until one unlucky schmuck is all but pushed forward. Straightening his pieces of flair, he steps over and glances at his customers.
The blonde glances at Sakura and Sean for a moment, then at her menu. "I'm sure we can all talk amiably once everyone's ordered, hmm?" she muses, running a finger down the laminated sheet and then bringing it to a stop with laser precision. "I'll have the chicken caesar salad, please." There's a beat. "And, if you DON'T mind, some ice tea that does not taste quite so much like it was spun in a cotton candy machine." Order finished, the Kanzuki heiress turns her brown-eyed gaze to Sakura and Sean with an appraising gaze. Almost penetrating, really... as if she were mentally sizing them for costumes.
"Uh yes, I.. Just thought I'd stop by," Sean replies rather uncertainly to Karin, not really sure what to make of her greeting. Was he late? He probably was late, and having forgotten his watch he didn't know for sure. It made him a little nervous though, that is until Sakura shows up as well, whom he greets with a raise of his hand, ".. Yo. Are you practicing for choir class or something?" he asks with a grin.
The boy doesn't even bother to look at the menu, his attention then shifting to the waiter once the poor guy arrives, "I'd like two hot dogs, one with chili, and the other with corn. And uh, a glass of water." he points his hand like a gun to the other fellow, making a 'tch' sound before finally turning his attention back to Karin, ".. So.. Sakura's here too. Um. This isn't about last weeks Saturday Night Fight is it?" a pause, and then he points, "'Cuz it was her fault, I didn't have anything to do with it."
Well... =Sakura= frequents this place, and she was pretty sure her form of dress was acceptable last time she was here! ... But that doesn't stop her from feeling nervous now that she's within Karin's sphere of influence. Snapping fingers? Do those people =really= listen to her here? Apparently so...
Seating herself, Sakura flashes a forced smile back at the flaired-up waiter, waiting while Karin delivers her order. And, she takes this moment to stomp, rather hard, on Sean's foot. "=Track= practice." She's a little =angel= when her turn comes though! "Uh... two double bacon cheeseburgers, order of fries, large chocolate malt, and..." Glancing back to Karin, her eyes start to cross. "... a, um... glass of water!" Gulp.
Why's she so =nervous= anyway? Maybe because she hadn't the slightest idea why she was here.
Steepling her fingers just so that she can keep up with Karin, she glances over to Sean now. "... y...yeah, totally my fault, um." Blink. "He's not in trouble, is he?"
There's a brief second where Karin looks like she has no idea what Sakura and Sean are talking about. Why? Because she doesn't. However, one doesn't get ahead in business by looking shocked at every piece of news that comes along. In fact, it's a bloody good idea to not be shocked by anything ever, so Karin instantly becomes nonchalant, drinking more of what might charitably be called 'iced tea' in the sense that it has ice and, at some point deep in its sedimentary layers of syrup, was once tea. "You're not fired, Sean," Karin says magnanimously, adding almost as an afterthought, "for now."
Waiting until the waiter has taken the order and bustled off to whine to his co-workers about it, Karin clears her throat, giving Sakura a curious glance before settling her gaze back on Sean. "In fact, I might have some extra work for you, Sean," she begins, waiting to see the Brazilian's reaction before she gets too deep into the spiel. "Easy work, too, shouldn't cut into your training or..." There's a rather too-heavy pause here, before the blonde continues, "...extra-curricular time too much."
Why -is- Sakura so nervous, Sean wonders, she always thought that those two like.. Got along or something, he didn't really know the full story other than that.. Well, actually no he didn't know anything at all there. He just sums it up to 'girls are weird'. Following the light thump of foot stomping foot, Sean suddenly has a HUGE, forced, smile, his eyebrow twitching as a bead of sweat slips down the side of his face. "NNnnngh.."
It's not easy to tell when he's paling though, but he does at the very idea of getting 'let go'. His expression is paniced. Then he thinks about it a moment and looks confused.
And then he looks paniced once again, and then back to confused, "... uh.. Extra work? Well, hey that's no problem at all I think, I can take care of it no problem," he quickly throws back, another slight pause, and then, "Extra curricular? .. Actually the basketball season starts off pretty slow at the beginning of the school year. Rest assured that's nothing to worry about at all. So what do you want me to do?"
You mean Karin =doesn't= spend her time staring at SNF footage to exploit weaknesses in Sakura's style? Kasugano blinks for quite a few moments as she realizes Karin has no idea what she and Sean are talking about.
Then she =smiles=. Maybe Karin =doesn't= follow her as much as she'd feared.
Of course, Sakura's left to flounder as Karin turns her attention onto Sean. The Ansatsuken Angel winces a bit at that, but doesn't really show much emotional investment in the conversation until the phrase 'extracurricular activities' is given peculiar importance -- and at =that= moment, Sakura's face floods a rather dense red as she coughs lightly into her hand. "Hope they don't take forever gettin' our meals ready, looks pretty, uh, busy tonight!" Turning back to Sean, she raises an eyebrow... before realizing he didn't interpret the pause the same way she did.
... And at this point, she looks down at her steepled fingers, feeling about five inches tall in this conversation. For no... real reason other than that she's reading =way= too much into everything.
For her part, Karin actually isn't paying Sakura all that much attention. After all, this is mostly a lunch date with Sean... for all Sakura can tell the blonde invited her as a courtesy. Or perhaps men in black will soon erupt from the kitchen, throw her into a burlap sack, and run off with her. One really can never tell.
Steepling her fingers for a moment, the Kanzuki heiress takes a breath, then glances at Sean. "The truth of the matter is that lately I've been having to make more and more public appearances. Usually... alone." There's a moment where Karin frowns to herself, and for the first time in a long time her facade starts to crack. Only a tiny bit, but it's certainly noticable. "And I am not sure how much you've dealt with the students at Seijyun High School but the only charitable way to describe them, on the average, would be gossipy airheads with too much free time." A beat. "So I've considered taking on... an escort."
Poor Sakura. These days she can't go ten minutes without embarassing herself, can she? But then again, that does seem to be a ball that her and Sean pass off to one another waay to much. One day Sean will realize that and he'll do something about it.
Absolutly nothing.
"Yeah, seriously. Shouldn't take much longer though, I bet," he asides quickly to Sakura and then his focus is completely on Karin, looking.. Suddenly very very intruiged. He has no idea if Karin -knew- he had an interest in such things or not, but a poker face at this point is practically impossible for Sean; it's clear before he even answers that he's interested, "Uh not very much I admit, but that doesn't sound like anything I can't handle."
It all makes perfect sense to him, what better escort than a big black guy?? "In fact I dare say I meet -all- the requirments for that job, I would fit the bill perfectly. I'm telling you, Miss Kanzuki, you make me your escort and you will -not- regret it!"
Ever since the first time Karin introduced herself, the idea of being tossed into a burlap has =never= fully left Sakura's mind, really. It's not an omnipresent fear, so much as a very unlikely but still credible threat.
But when Karin starts talking about Sean accompanying her... and then mentions the word =escort=... well. Sakura feels defensive for an entirely different reason. Even though Karin's her friend, and even though Karin is the main reason Sean had even =entered= the country... she can't help but feel that Karin might be moving the Brazilian in a different direction than she wants him to go.
Even if it is, apparently, what he wants.
Kasugano looks over at Sean for a moment, and seems to consider something for a moment. But... well. She just turns a half-smile to Karin, not really =knowing= what to say, while casually slipping her foot over Sean's. And just as casually glancing over to him.
Not really clear on her signals, here, but frankly, Sakura's confusing herself.
The ready response is not entirely what Karin was expecting. In fact, her previously expressed rule about not showing surprise goes right out the window, the blonde's mouth hanging open for a fraction of a second before she shuts it, her teeth clacking together very lightly as she does so. The hazel gaze flickers over to Sakura for a moment with an expression that makes it clear why the blonde girl invited her rival to this in the first place.
"Yes, well," Karin says with considerable effort, tearing her eyes away from Sakura and fixing them on Sean. "It's not so simple as just saying 'Yes, I'll do it!'" There's a pause while Karin scans the proverbial horizon for food and finds Mr. Less-Than-30-Pieces-of-Flair arguing with the man over the chef's counter about the fact that Pao Pao doesn't do a chicken caesar salad, and what the hell is that girl doing insulting their iced tea? Believing it safe to continue, she looks back to Sean, folding her hands in front of her again. "I have a few people I'm considering for the job. And of course, anyone serving as the public escort of Karin Kanzuki must be a top-notch fighter as well." She doesn't seem to be implying that Sean is otherwise, but rather that the field of competition is wider than just a broom with a male face painted on.
Sean still doesn't even get why Sakura's here, but given the situation, he's not exactly questioning that. At least not yet, as that grin refuses to vanish for a good long moment there. Who cares about hot dogs?? But that smile faulters, and then nearly vanishes completely to the 'catch'. He should have known that he wouldn't be the only contender here, but what did this mean? That she'd hold some sort of tournament? .. Hopefully it wouldn't involve a written essay, he's actually not too hot on those, "Oh.. I see." he then says, seeming a little disappointed, but then he gives a light shrug, "Well all right, so all I have to do is kick their butts, right? Ok, that sounds fair, I can roll along with that." Top Notch Fighter? Did Karin already forget that he was going to be the next U.S. Champion? Oh ho ho hoo..
But suddenly Sean jumps just a little, quickly looking to Sakura with a slightly baffled expression, ".. Hey.. Uh, are you all right? .. Want me to yell at the guys if the burgers are ready yet?" D:
Oddly enough, Sakura finds Sean's outbursts to be completely plausible and expected by this point. They have spent a =lot= of time together, after all -- which would explain the vague sense of jealousy that's springing up in the schoolgirl at the notion of Sean becoming Karin's 'escort'.
But when Karin looks to her, she's very =relieved= all of a sudden, because Karin doesn't have the look of someone trying to plot something out. She has the look of 'is he =always= this energetic?' ... It's enough to force a relieved snicker out of the girl, really. "Heh.... heh-heh..."
She turns to Sean as =he= explains, rather expecting him to take it as a blow to his ego, and somewhat empathizing with him there. But when he asks... again, she plays it off like it's no thing. Blame the tomboy's mayfly-short attention span. "H... n.. nah, I'm cool. You can yell at 'em if you want though!" She laughs lightly, turning back to Karin. "Actually, I was just wondering, I mean, like... does it gotta just be one? Couldn't you just pick, like, two or three guys to go along with you or something?" She pauses for a moment, tapping her cheek. "I mean 'guys' in the 'guys or girls' sense of course!"
Sakura's suggestion just earns her a fish-eyed stare from Karin. "I am looking for a companion, Sakura, not a harem," she says carefully, "or an entourage. I don't think my debut in the rap music scene would be met which much critical acclaim." And thus, Sakura's dreams of trailing K-lo's wake at the Grammys are forever dashed. Still, the thought does bring the blonde some amusement, and she smiles into her iced 'tea' glass for a moment just as the waiter arrives with the food.
If the tea was a problem, their attempt at an improvised chicken caesar salad is probably going to go over like a glass hammer. Karin eyes her lunch speculatively even as more conventional snacks find their way in front of Sakura and Sean. The waiter hangs about a minute before Karin gives him a pointed look and he scurries off. Sighing, she picks up her fork and spears a chunk of chicken, biting into it. "For example, Alma Towazu works for me now," she says, almost casually. "I had thought to extend the offer to him as well."
Sean looks slightly relieved; it would seem whatever the issue was had certainly passed; and that makes him grin a little again as he nods his head, "Hah, I'll let them off the hook for now," though he says this only because he sees the trays being carried over. Lets hear it for good timing! His hotdog his quickly grabbed and bitten into, looking back and forth between Sakura and Karin, then nearly chokes on his bit of food after the blondes comment, followed by an amused snort. Man, Karin as a rapper. Wow, that's so sooo wrong in his mind, but then again, maybe she's suprise him! He'll ask about that sometime.
"Alma Tawaz-who-?" he then asks, his brows furrowing a bit. He's swallowed his food of course, "Isn't he a model or something like that?" A model. Of -course-. Suddenly Sean looks quite concerned, feeling that his competition may not be simple to defeat after all; it isn't easy to surpass a man with status. The result? Instant animosity, "H- He's working for you now? But he... How am I-... ... mmmmgh.." his lips twist up and he frowns. He frowns big.
Sakura's nose wrinkles at Karin's suggestion. "...W...well yeah, I was just sayin', like, you could pick me =and= him..."
But it's clear that she has other ideas. Like Alma. And rap music. "... Hey, you'd be an awesome rapper, Karin. You could rhyme all kindsa financial figures in there and it'd sound really intelligent an' everything. They'd call you K.Diddy or somethin', right?"
Then Sakura has a flashback to when Sean told her no more urbanisms, and rubs the back of her head, tip of her tongue darting out as she looks back at Sean apologetically. "Yeah, okay, that's enough from me, I know!"
Luckily, there's =food= now, and Sakura immediately capitalizes on the opportunity. Chomp, chomp, chomp!
A sizable amount of her first burger is missing before she speaks again, this time on the topic of Alma. "He's working for you now, huh? Man." Her eyes go wide at that, as she's quite =obviously= surprised by the news of his employment. " ... He's pretty tough, actually."
Sakura conveniently sidesteps the fact that the model kicked her ass, instead smiling over at Sean. "You could take him, though!"
'K.Diddy' just gives Sakura a raised eyebrow for a moment, before clearing her throat and fishing through a sea of greens for something that isn't lettuce straight out of Jurassic Park. "The zaibatsu bought Studio Giorgio," she explains, discovering a stray cherry tomato and spearing it expertly, chewing it thoughtfully for a moment. "So technically he works for me. He models for that studio, you see."
Appraisingly, Karin holds her chin in her hand for a moment, fork held in her other hand idly, wobbling back and forth. "You have to admit," she says, mostly to Sakura, "he is rather handsome. And well-spoken, and an excellent fighter if his public performances are any indicator. Very graceful." A beat. "And a minimum of slapstick." Maybe she was watching SNF after all? Or it could just be she knows Sean fairly well at this point, all things considered.
Glancing at her watch, the blonde suddenly slips out of her chair and gets on her feet, smoothing the pleats of her fuku skirt and beckoning over the waiter to have the corporation billed for the food. "Well, I'm sure you two have, ah..." A weighty pause. "...tactics to discuss. I believe in competition, Sean, so if you want the job, I'd start brushing up on your technique." And then she smiles, all sweetness and light. "Lunch is on me. I've got to dash."
Sean stares at Sakura in utter horror. And she knows exactly why. It's just so wrong on so many levels that Sean doesn't even know where to start there. But Saku seems to have learned her lesson 'again', "Well, yeah, that's true, I could.."
And as such he lets it go to hear Karin out once more. And wouldn't you know it, it actually brings a tiny bit of relief to his otherwise nearly-paranoia state when combined with the fact that Karin makes it perfectly clear that he does stand a chance. And how?
Karin lights up the 'OH SHI-' stick of dynamite planted right there in his brain. Still no matter how you slice it, Sean has quite a mountain to climb to even compare to the model, quite a handicap indeed that throws him into a completely camatose state, his jaw slack as he stares at Karin. Again. D:
..... And even when Karin excuses and dismisses herself, he doesn't budge an inch, it's like he was suddenly frozen solid, ladies and gentlemen, and he'll probably stay that way for another ten minutes or so. For Sakura, that would mean free hot dogs.
... Sakura is =so= not pleased by this turn of events, and her rival ought to be able to =see= the fire starting up in her eyes. She knows =exactly= how Sean's going to take criticism that way -- at least from a mental perspective.
The only way it =differs= from what she'd thought is that she =expected= him to blow his top.
And since he =doesn't=, Sakura does, planting both palms on the table and leaning across to her. "Why did you =invite= him here," she hisses, trying not to make =too= much of a scene, "... to make fun of him? Geez, Karin, I... that's low, =really= low." Scowling, she leans back in her chair, crossing her arms as she glowers over at the Kanzuki heiress. "You just go on to whatever you were doing, alright? Don't let us little peons get in your way!"
Just the sort of maturity one can expect from the little Kasugano girl.
Log created on 18:59:18 09/13/2006 by Karin, and last modified on 15:42:17 01/05/2011.