"Yes, my father will surely will be pleased." He offered the Utaku a warm smile. "And I'll manage, I have it on good account that I can be quite charming when I put my mind to it."

He brought the can of soda to his lips and took a drink. "Yes, tanabata is a story we can all strive to emulate. One i hoped to achieve myself if I'm honest." His lips curled into a wry smile. "Or at least one my sisters pushed me towards."

And so they most definitely did, cause what was a proper duo-team without high-fives.

"They really were!" she said, excitedly as Chiyoko pulled out the one. Shuffling her purse around from one hand to the other, added to with a happy little bounce. Watching Mumei for a second, she leaves the comment unsaid. Instead digging into her own purse and pulling up another one of them, "I really like that one," she referenced the one Chiyoko was showing off, "but I think this one was my second-favorite," she showed Chiyoko first to get that little note of permission before showing it off.

It was the one with them dancing against a city background.

Mumei grins happily. "That's so cute!" to the Inu-tai pose, and softened eyes and an 'awww' to the one before the cityscape. "They have a really nice selection of backgrounds."

But nope, stickers were definitely better. They could go on her communicator and radio and slate and the little case with her writing gear and on the top of whatever sleeping cubby she had finishing up training...

"I hadn't really noticed it, but then I wasn't in the mall all that much. I see them here and there on stations, but I guess they seem kind of old because I don't think the style's changed since I first remember seeing them when I was tiny."

"You..." Akihiko blinks a few times, smiling and half laughing. He takes a steadying breath, then looks at her with clear eyes. "It sounded to me, like... when you talked about the Tanabata plushie, you sounded resigned to something." He pauses, then says, a little quieter, "Something that I will not let happen."

"I was..." She wiped her eyes aggressively. "I was trying to prepare myself emotionally. I know that a lot of things changed, and I'm not the ideal choice politically, so... I didn't know what you were going to do..."

"When you pulled me back here, I thought it was because the plushie Otori gift embarrassed you..." She lets out a soft chuckle, resisting the urge to tear up again. "I'm so happy... I'm sorry, let me take a breath before we go back."

Akihiko's smile at Shizuku could not be brighter. He says quietly, "We can stay here as long as you like. I'm in no rush to go back."

"Okay..." She looked up at him again, her smile warm and sincere as anything he'd ever seen. She played with the Otori in her hands, chuckling a little. "You know... I think it was the second time we met, I thought, 'Can I just marry him now and go home?'"

"By the way..." Her eyes turn to concern. "How are you today? After everything."

Her Lion smiled at the story, thinking of the times they'd shared.

He chuckles, a little sadly, when she asks how he is. "I am...p not prepared for tomorrow. Not," he says quickly, lest she get concerned. "Not because I have doubts. My heart has not wavered, through all the thoughts and turmoil of the last few days. But this will be a shock to some people. I must find the right words for them."

She nodded solemnly. "I understand... It's good of you not to just rush into the discussion. Though I'm not sure any words will be perfect, so try not to be too hard on yourself either, ne?"

Akihiko runs a hand through his hair. "No, the words will not be perfect. Some people would not be satisfied even by perfect words. Still, I wish I had the gift of poetry that tomorrow calls for. At least I must have the words that those who scold my path of the heart do not sully your honor."

She raised her fists close to her chest and raised one a little... still holding the otori plush. "I believe in you, Akihiko." She finally left off the honorific, giving her full trust in his promise. "Besides, I doubt they can come up with worse than I've already heard."

She nodded toward the more populated area. "Shall we head back in a moment?"

Chiyoko would most definitely give Ichika permission to show off the pictures, especially as she took the initiative. They were a bit goofy but at least more fun than embarrassing. There was a bit of strange red eye that appeared on Chiyoko's left eye which might have been the quality of camera or the flash, maybe. "I would most definitely go back there again. Actually, I think Doji-san was the one who convinced me not to throw one of these away. Kind of poetry condensed into a moment of photography, eh?"

With that, she stashed away her card for safekeeping. "Are we just doing cookies? Hmm...there's a lot of festival food we could really bring with us too," she said as she eyed around the place, turning her attention away from the Kami-Pet who got away.

Yul's smile gradually became a grin as they showed the pictures. "Wow. These are great. Really great. From a photobooth at the mall, huh?" The sidelong glance he gave to Mumei showed that he was thinking along the same lines as her.

He nodded to Chiyoko. "Actually, that's a really good idea. Festivals are usually the time for once a year local specialties. Back home, there's this festival where we'd make these little cakes. Little, but really dense. Even I could only eat one, usually." He sighed, smiling. "Even when I'd moved off-planet, my family would still send me a little box of them when it was autumn on Shinjo's Grace. They'd usually last me about a month."

The Lion's eyes narrow quickly. He almost growls when he says, "What? Who..." He clenches his teeth. "I would like to know more about this," he says with clear agitation.

"hmm, poetry in photography? A visual poem sounds right up Doji-san's alley," Mumei smiles at the idea, before looking around for the local delicacies. "I bet they have some of those fried mushrooms, yeah?"

"And probably not those little cakes. Though I'll hope to try them some day; they sound delicious."

"I don't know if they have those here, Shinjo-san, but sounds like something that you have to skip a meal to eat by the sounds of it.

The nodded at Mumi and looked to Ichika, "Actually, I think it was Doji-san who made me think in such a fashion. She's definitely more inspiring that she looks but I'm sure you must know that about her already!"

"Yeah, they do have fried mushrooms...those are found everywhere but I think I smelt oil and sweet bread baking somewhere. I swear I took a shot of it earlier...oh, there!" she called out as she gestured to one of the booths in general, one of the vendors had a wood hut facade built around their street kitchen. They were making taiyaki, a fish-shaped pastry that had red bean filling. There were other sweet filling being offered too, even if less popular, including a chocolate-soy cream concoction.

"Those are so bad for you but they are soooo good, let's get one!" She grinned broadly at her companions.

Mumei nods enthusiastically. "Anything with red bean paste is a win. And they won't even make us shoot anything to get it." Fried dough plus red bean paste? Hard to go wrong.

Her smile for Ichika is appreciative. "Yeah, she's good at making you think, isn't she?"

She blinked in confusion at the reaction, shaking her head. "Ah... I'm sorry for upsetting you. It's not really anything important. I just..." She paused, searching for a way to explain it that didn't insult anyone. "Things occasionally get heated in families where not everyone gets along, that's all. I won't have to deal with it much longer anyway, right?"

With all the comments, Ichika couldn't help but have to bring up a hand to try and hide her blush. Waving the other as if to downplay the moment a little more, "You're both sweet," she laughed, glancing away as if it might help her contain herself. Bringing her hands down in front of herself, by her waist, she hooked one of her fingers in the loop she formed with the first two of the other hand.

Looking back, she shifted how she stood a little, "That one you were talking about is actually my favorite," she chuckled again, finding her metaphorical feet in moving forward. "Little bit of of life captured without any filter, " she said with a little softness to the thought. Smiling brightly she glanced between everyone.

"Hah, yeah!" Chiyoko snickered smugly at Mumei's mention of no shooting involved. After her attempt with the nerf gun, she was done with shooting for the rest of the week. If she had any aspirations to be part of the Crab military, they certainly were far from her mind at the present.

"Come'on! I think they're making a new batch," she said with a wave of her hand as she led everyone toward the taiyaki booth and getting her holorecorder reading to capture a moment of the heimen doing their craft.

"Hah..." Chiyoko tilted her head with an abashed smile, "that's right, you were talking about that one. Why can't they all be poetry? That's one you can keep to yourself since you were there for a moment."