The die had been cast, the longtime enemy was en route to the rendesvouz point as requested by an anonymous text message sent through the use of a new communications device Haruka had acquired. Not that the girl whose presence would soon be witnessed would recognize the number which had sent the message. It was really important that she not be aware of the origin of the message until she arrived at one of the most scenic locations on the hill. They had been mortal enemies within the Grand Prince's court from the court's foundation but somehow all of that had changed. Though really Haruka was the only one with a problem with the other girl if she were being honest with herself. Just because the girl had been getting too close to Lady Tachibana and seemed like trouble to the samurai. Despite thinking of what Zod would do regarding that girl she hadn't been able to remain strong and defiant of the other girl.

Hence why she had sent out a text telling the girl that she was cute and asking her to come up here. Typing out that kind of message had taken all of the samurai's strength; she wouldn't admit to such affections regarding anyone normally. Anyone who wasn't Lady Tachibana or the Grand Prince. Yet she found the blonde bizzarrely attractive in so many ways that it was impossible to deny that an attraction existed. The message had all but confessed the feelings which had been welling up inside of her for months. During the summer it had been especially rough since every night was filled with thoughts mainly of the blonde. At first those thoughts had kept her up at night like some horrible nightmare in which there was an affection between them. Then they had become so comfortable that she hadn't really had any trouble getting back to sleep in following nights. That was a signal that the time had come to confront those strange feelings before they destroyed everything that Haruka had thought herself to be.

As she waited for her counterpart she stood not in armor or even with her weapon on hand. This time the samurai would need plain clothes to do battle with an enemy that she was, for the first time, uncertain she could defeat. Her hair was hanging freely over her shoulders as it often did these days. A sparkly hair pin bearing a flower ornamented the left side of her bangs as she stood up next to a tree, taking deep breaths. It was important for her not to freak out under these circumstances. The samurai who panicked under pressure was the one whose honor collapsed in the face of all those who beheld her. Zod would certainly not show weakeness in a time of great durress. She clenched her fists, the tips of her fingers brushing against the frills coming out from under the pleated plaid skirt that went only slightly farther than a Spica uniform skirt. Blue stockings decorated her legs as they protruded from brown boots. That brunette hair rested atop a white cardigan jacket with a pale pink top underneath it. This was all hand picked to appeal to the blonde, to judge her reaction.

"The enemy draws near.. I can feel it in my bones.." she thought aloud, taking another deep breath.

The mysterious text had sent flutters through Takara.  Someone had thought she was cute!  And had somehow found her phone number, just to tell her this.  And to tell her where they should meet.  Up on Cherry Blossom Hill, Takara would meet this secret admirer of her's and she was quite nervous to do so.  It was a tricky situation, after all.  To begin with, she was loyal to Miator's Student Council President.  The Grand Prince Ubu Miyase!  And she adored the silver haired girl.  Why the very thought had her blushing, already.

There was also her roommate, Michiru Tachibana.  She had been the first friend she had ever met and Takara positively adored her.  Not to mention that cute Spican girl, Haruka Oh.  Her blush managed darken as she gave a happy sigh, "Oh, Haru-chan..." she said, dreamily as a skip was added to her step.  Truly she was one of the cutest girl she had ever met!  It was certainly quite strange, though.  She had such similar feelings towards Ubu and Michiru.  And yet, she had seen Ubu show a great deal of affection to many members of the Court.  And everyone seemed to be perfectly fine with this.  So, why wouldn't she develop feelings for other members of the court herself?  Didn't they feel strongly towards each other?

Well, she was going to follow her Grand Prince's example and share the love she felt with those around her.  Which lead to this little dilemma.  If this was a stranger, how did she know them?  Could it be one of the girl's from one of her club activities?  Or, was it a classmate?  The blush faded, as Takara tried to reason out who this person was.  It certainly wouldn't be Ubu.  She knew her phone number and there would be no need for such secrecy.  The same for Michiru (they lived together, after all).  And her Haru-chan?  Well, that was a little more complicated.  As much as she liked the girl, she didn't seem to be all that fond of Takara.

Although, as the year had gone on, Takara seemed to be making some progress.  She had gotten a smile or two out of Haruka!

"Ooooh, I just hope I don't get too surprise and do anything bad." she said.  But, things should be fine, so long as no one sneaked up on her.  She had gone out in one of her usual ensembles.  A black skirt, white Hanshin Tigers shirt and a denim jacket, paired with sneakers and black and yellow striped tights.  She got closer to the hill and looked back over the message, one more time.  There was still no clue and now Takara had to wonder just what she was going to do when she finally did meet the admirer.

One good thing about this foe was that she had no use for chicanery of any sort. She wasn't about to hide or attempt to blend in even with other girls who attended her school, much less the scenery. For months Haruka had seen the blonde's choice of attire to be rather garish and annoying. Now she could appreciate the courageousness which showed by how little use for such shadowy tactics the girl had. When you were searching for her in a crowd you only needed to search for the obvious bumble bee coloration of her clothing. So when those colors emerged close to the foot of the hill Haruka knew that her quarry had arrived on the scene. Only a matter of time before she was spotted by Takara and then the real battle would inevitably begin. Except it didn't happen that way at all because the girl just checked her phone again.

Excellent! The plan had been a success because the blonde had been taken by surprise at the hands of such a cunning tactic. Her strategy had been impeccable, and now she had the chance to get things going on her own terms. Down the slope stepped the daughter of Oh, knowing that it would not take long for the blonde to spot her. When after a few steps and a toss of some hair over her shoulder didn't attract that attention Haruka frowned. What was with this girl? First she was obsessively attempting to please Haruka and now she wasn't even paying attention! Cunning strategy had been turned on its head as the attempted confrontation didn't transpire as she'd hoped it would. That said she decided it was time to take things into her own hands again. A breeze picked up at the right time to blow her hair in the wind and she stood with hands on her hips.

"You there! What do you think you're doing just trapsing around this sacred hill like that? I demand that you get over here and kneel before Oh!" she shouted, trying not to notice how she was blushing.

The voice that drew her attention away from her phone was that familiar and delightful tone that belonged to one Haruka Oh.  Takara always delighted in hearing the Spican girl's voice.  And seeing the blushing Haruka standing at the top of the hill with her hands on her hips and a blush on her face.  It was a very striking pose, that brought a blush to the blonde's own face.  She forgot about the phone, entirely and hurried over to thrown her arms around the other girl in a tight hug.

"Haru-chan!"  she said, "How wonderful to see you, here!"

There was, perhaps, an obvious connection to be made here.  After all, Haruka had just so happened to have shown up right at the time she was supposed to meet someone looking to confess their feelings at this very spot.  But, Takara's excitement had overwhelmed her.

"What brings you here?" she asked, "I thought you would be at St. Spica.  Or helping out Miyase-sama.  Ah, Miyase-sama...she's so wonderful, isn't she?"

What in the world was the blonde thinking? Just rushing up the hill like that to grip the daughter of Oh in her arms like that without any kind of signal that she intended to do so? Haruka suddenly found herself thrust into a situation where she wasn't in control of what was happening to her. The girl hugging her so tightly felt as if it knocked all the air out of her lungs, winding her yet not knocking her off her feet. Her inner strength and resolve made that impossible. It bolted her to the ground in a way that made Haruka unshakable. Physically speaking she was in fact unshakable as she stood receiving the embrace. Emotionally it was actually quite trying for her to be out of control.. she started panicking in her thoughts, but battled that panic with determination not to show her conflicting feelings. All the while she remained unmoved as Takara expressed her affections in a way that Haruka wasn't used to at all. She couldn't move!

Worse still when she did let go it was apparent that she hadn't noticed any of the efforts Haruka had made to change her image. All of the new elements of her look had been geared toward meeting Takara's taste in girls. Every bit had been chosen with the goal of changing from a warrior to a cute girl who needed that hug in mind. So why was she so upset at the hug? Surely it was insolence but that kind of insolence was acceptable and tolerable from Takara. No, it was worse that Takara hadn't made any mention of her looks! No indication that this kind of look was anything other than ordinary. Frowning, she was about to inform Takara that she'd made a grave mistake.. and then the blonde mentioned Ubu. Somehow the very mention of the Grand Prince's name sent butterflies off in her stomach. Haruka smiled again and forgot her annoyance at the attention she was getting.

"Her Royal Highness Grand Prince Ubu is currently undergoing preparations for a new artifact recovery. She is indeed a wonderful paragon of womanhood!" Haruka responded, stars in her eyes as she spoke of Ubu. Then she blushed and realized she'd also been asked a question.

As a response she offered, "I believe the better question is what are you doing here? Why are you out here dressed so casually? Is it not appropriate to be dressed more.. formally?"

Haruka replied to the hug with her usual attempts to not acknowledge the blonde's affection.  Sooner or later, though, the brave Spican warrior would wrap her arms around Takara and...well, the Miator girl just wound up blushing again.  Although, come to think of it.  There was something just a little bit different about Haruka.  Something that she couldn't quite place her finger on.  Of course, this contemplation was interrupted by news of Ubu's next grand adventure!  Whatever she was planning, it was bound to be thrilling and fun!  Takara still had the bracelet that the silver haired SCP had given to her, over the summer.  A relic of a pirate queen!  She still treasured the gift and was rarely seen without it on.  Today had been no different.

"I can't wait to see what she finds, this time." she said, a similar starry eyed expression on her own face, "...Eh?"

The last question puzzled the blonde haired girl, who tilted her head to the side as she wondered just what it had meant.  Shouldn't she be more dressed formally for what?  Sure, her parents (well, mostly her mother) had made sure that she had plenty of formal attire for any occasion that might occur on Astraea Hill.  From traditional kimonos to gowns, Takara was ready for anything!  There were even some Hanshin Tigers themed outfits and accessories (this was her father's doing...much to her mother's chagrin).

But, surely she didn't need to go THAT far, today.  She was supposed to meet a secret admirer!  Who thought she was cute!  So...shouldn't she dress up in something cute?  Takara looked down and re-examined her outfit.  She was sure that it would be fine.  At least she hoped it would be fine.  This still raised the question of what to do when she met this admirer.  And did Haruka know about this meeting?  Was that why she was asking?

...Did this mean that Haruka....KNEW who the myster girl was!?

It was very easy to become distracted by the magnificence of Grand Prince Ubu. Simple thoughts of her conjured images of a dashing prince who would swing in to whisk away maidens on her adventure! Haruka was a little put off by not being included in the planning of the next adventure. Wasn't she the general? There was an enemy prince in charge of Spica, dark clouds gathering over the very kingdom which Haruka's school was located in. If anything she should have been in on it just to ensure the security of those involved in the adventure. That dark prince couldn't be allowed to harm anyone else under the Grand Prince's protection, Haruka had sworn to that.

That became beside the point when Takara offered nothing verbal in response to her demand that the girl should have dressed more formally. When you were coming to a place where there was someone waiting for you, who had sent that kind of message, wouldn't you dress more... fancy? Haruka felt like she really ought to be angry at Takara because of this. So she stood there glaring into the eyes of the girl she had summoned to Cherry Blossom Hill, trying to muster the anger which she knew was justified. Her eyes flickered with rage for a few seconds before it burned out and was replaced by something else. An appreciation, if anything. This was how Takara was. Dressing casually and not realizing something until it was right over her head. Should Haruka hate her for simply behaving in a way that Haruka had taken to? This thought immediately preceded Haruka blushing and doing something out of the ordinary herself. She gave the blonde a tug on the sleeve to refocus her attention before posing with her hands behind her, looking rather girly in the process.

"If you're meeting someone, you should dress nicely.. especially if she.. she... likes you..." Haruka explained, realizing she probably had tipped her hand.

The speculation continued, as Takara tried to imagine some St. Spica girl who might like her.  It seemed to be a rather odd thing for a Spican girl to be infatuated with Takara.  She was a Miator girl, after all and that was something that seemed to be more apt to cause a heated argument, these days, than a love confession.  But, she knew that Haruka was nothing like that.  The adorable Haruka Oh was a loyal member of Ubu's court!  And quite passionate about it, too.

In fact, it was one of the many charming qualities that Takara saw in the other girl.  That and her penchant for dressing up in samurai armor and looking rather heroic.  Yes, there were many ways that Haruka could appear attractive to Takara.  And as she was musing on these things, there came a tug on her sleeve.  Her attention came back to the things that were happening around her.  Back to Haruka, who stood before her with her arms behind her back and looking...well, just irresistibly cute.  There was an inclination to jump over and hug her, again, but Takara had to process what she was saying.

"Oh?" she said, a moment passing as the information worked it's way around her brain.  "Oh!"

Realization was sparking in her eyes as she looked at the daughter of the very noise she was uttering.  Did this mean what she had thought it meant?  A blush flared up, once more upon her features.  "Um....well, I...um, I didn't know who I'd be meeting.  Or how I should dress for this sort of thing.  So, I um....just decided on this." she gestured down to herself and her outfit, "Would...yo-...um, this person...still find me cute?"

Briefly the samurai wondered if her approach to this moment had been ill-conceived. Everything about the setup had bad hers to decide, which easily meant that there might have been some shortsightedness on her part. In popular culture of these days this was pretty much how a battle with feelings was supposed to go. Haruka felt as if she were losing that battle in quick succession despite all the careful planning she had put into it. Standing against her feelings was as poor a choice as siding with Akechi Mitsuhide would have been. Already she'd lost the cavalry which represented her indifference toward Takara's feelings. Now exposed Haruka wondered if perhaps dressing in more traditional clothing would have been more practical. Something like the Heian period's 12-layered ladies' robes would have been more striking and gotten the blonde's attention quicker than contemporary attire.

Finally it did seem to dawn on the blonde who had sent the message in the first place. No amount of heavy clothing would have prevented her from being horribly exposed once more; the battle had resumed with the Oh at a monstrous disadvantage. Haruka stood trying to muster the remaining forces at her disposal to mount a counterattack. Her heart raced as she heard the other girl attempt to ask if she were still cute in light of her decidedly casual appearance. The girl she had hated so much was blushing too.. she was... as much as Haruka despised admitting it, she was cute. There went the spearmen in Haruka's head.. that left her to make the final stand alone. In the face of overwhelming odds her heart roared like a lion before she stepped toward Takara and began to speak without thinking about what came out of her mouth.

"She would probably say that you are a peasant, so it only makes sense for you to assume dressing as one was acceptable. However, I'm sure she finds the reinments you wear to be suiting fo your image," Haruka explained, tossing a lock of her stray hair over her shoulder, "The question becomes, then, would you find her to be... cute as well. That may be the ultimate deciding factor when all the dust settles."

Perhaps she should have tried something a little more on the showy side.  But, she did like the clothes she had worn.  And at the time it made perfect sense to wear them.  Now, however, she was having second thoughts, because clearly Haruka was not impressed with them.  Which was a shame, especially if she was the one that had sent out the text.  More and more evidence seemed to support that theory.  Takara bit her lip and looked down at her shoes.  There had to be some way she could salvage this!  After all, Haruka thought she was cute!

At least, that was the case if she was figuring all of this right.  Finally, gold eyes glanced back up at the Royal Court's General.  Standing in the late afternoon light, amongst the trees and wearing that adorable outfit.  Well, the answer was very obvious, wasn't it?

"O-of course I do!" she answered, with a firm nod of her head, "I mean, she always looks so cool in that armor...but, she does look really cute when she...um...isn't dressed up like that."

Takara looked over the outfit Haruka had chosen for this encounter.  Yes, she could confirm that Haruka looked very cute.  Finally, she flung herself forward into another hug, "Oh, Haru-chan!  You look so adorable!"

At long last the blonde noticed that she had in fact gone to extra measures in order to appear more desirable in the modern sense. A Heian outfit would not be necessary after all, at least not this day. There was always the option of taking some pictures for use in further winning Takara's favor - Grand Prince Ubu's as well! Getting the affirmation that her armor was suitable only helped Haruka feel more accepting of whatever feelings Takara had. That inner struggle against the odd feelings had turned nearly into a rout by the point where Takara mentioned she was cute. For a moment she would have been happy to hug Takara herself and admit that she had in fact sent that text. She had to admit she kind of liked dressing more like a girly girl every now and then. Certainly on warmer days it was less aggravating than full armor.

Then things took a change for the worse. Rather than await the embrace of the daughter of Oh, Takara had taken the initiative herself and was lunging at Haruka. Alarms blared in Haruka's mind as time slowed to a crawl. No longer was she in control of the stiaution and that had her quite at odds with whatever Takara felt for her. Mustering all her remaining defiance she stiffened her earms and shifted her stance subtly. Rather than being hugged she accepted the impact, then spun to the side and twirled Takara out of her way. No hugs would commence when Haruka was not the one in control of initiating them! Rather than posing cutely she had her hands on her hips defiantly.

"Of course I do, you fool. Any daughter of samurai lineage is bound to be attractive by any standard thanks to her good upbringing," Haruka responded curtly, "And what makes you think that whoever you were meeting wears armor? Are you just making assumptions based on what you want to hear? How many girls could potentially admire you? Well?"

In that one blissful moment that almost seemed to last forever, Takara had every opportunity to fantasize about the many adventures she could share with Haruka.  Imagine all the fun things they could do, alongside their magnificent Grand Prince!  Or all the dates they could go on, around town!  What a truly wonderful moment this was bound to be.  That in no way could go wrong, at all.  Of course, crashing into Haruka was probably the first thing to indicate that Takara's imagination was not exactly in tune with reality.

The dark haired girl stiffened and would not accept the hug.  In fact, she moved in such a way, as to send the blonde off towards the ground.  Only through her training, had she managed to avoid falling face first in the dirt.  Her palms hit the ground and propelled herself neatly into a lip that brought her into an upright position, with her sneakered feet safely on the ground.  She stood there and blinked in bewilderment, as she held her landing pose and looked around.

The confused expression of "Nani?" was the only thing that escaped Takara's lips as she turned and saw Haruka, with her hands on her hips and espousing her proud Samurai lineage.

"Eh?  Well...there is Miyase-sama." she said, "And Mi-chan.  Maybe Ruri-chan, too.  Or Cece-chan.  Ha-chan might, too...Then, there's Tsukino-sempai..."

Of course, none of those names made any sense.  Especially since none of them wore samurai armor.  Not to mention that fact that she would have recognized the number as being one of their's.  Come to think of it, there was one other thing about this whole matter.  One hand came down to her hip, as the other took a contemplative position on her chin.

"Also...how did you know I was meeting someone here?  I didn't mention that." she said, "And I haven't told anyone about it either."

The more she thought about it, it seemed like there was only one person who could have sent that mysterious text message to her phone.

The blonde's reaction to Haruka's misdirection was absolutely priceless. All of her goals had been met as Takara fished about for possible alternative identities of the person who had contacted her. It was all the more satisfying to see her stuck in that pose for a few moments, making the blonde look fairly out of sorts. Confused and confounded by the complications to her summons from someone on Cherry Blossom Hill. Haruka partly believed that this was now a test not of her own feelings but whether Takara was worthy of her affections in the first place. The premise was rather simple. Presented with the possibility that someone besides the daughter of Oh had sent the message, would she discern the truth? Should she fail it would reveal that she had someone else in her heart, and therefore was not worthy. If she managed to identify Haruka as truly being the person who had sent the message she would prove herself to be worthy of affections from the samurai.

As she listed the possibilities, Haruka experienced another new feeling about Takara. Jealousy. Hearing all the girls who might have expressed similar interest in the blonde (other than the Grand Prince) made her immediately suspicious of some of them. The ones she didn't know anyway. In any case she tried to envision Takara doing her overzealous hug maneuver to any of those other girls, and it.. hurt. Her heart ached a bit when she thought of anyone but the Grand Prince or herself being on the recieving end of such a hug. Before the blonde's eyes Haruka began to openly blush at the thought of actually letting the girl hug her. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if she were the one to initiate it. As Takara eliminated the possibility of anyone else texting her Haruka took a deep breath. This girl was worthy of her affections after all. With a step forward she placed her hands on the blonde's shoulders, stared right into her eyes with conviction and attempted to smile.

"You fool! It's obvious from your body language and excited nature that you were expecting to meet someone. Therefore it's natural toa ssume that you were invited here.. if you were not then either you expect to intercept someone or are stalking someone.. and I doubt it's the latter," she remarked, unable to get any true feelings out.

She had reasonably excluded all of the potential candidates who might have sent that text message.  The only answer that came up was Haruka.  And she was the only person here, at the place that Takara was told to arrive at.  Yet, the dark haired girl still didn't seem to be very open with her own motivations.  Did she want to confess her feelings towards her?  Takara bit her lip as she tried to figure out just what was going on with the Spica girl.

As she did, a roller coaster of emotions played across Haruka's features.  She liked the other girls in the Harem just fine, but Takara always found something about Haruka that just...well, it was hard to explain.  Ever since she first saw her carrying those strange paintings that were intended to resemble Ubu and Michiru, she had always enjoyed her company.  And the time they had spent at the festival was just such a wonderful experience!

"Oh, I see..." she answered, "But, if you are here, at the same time I'm supposed  to meet someone.  At the very spot described in that text...then that must mean that you..."

A happy sigh left Takara's mouth, "Oh, Haru-chan..." she reached an arm up rest against her cheek, but the motion was blocked by something.  A hand on her shoulder, that she had failed to notice before.  Her own hand carried through, catching the wrist and neatly setting up for a hip toss.  A perplexed "Eh?" followed from Takara as she half way into the turn that would take Haruka to the ground.  Things really could be going better for the Kaneshiro girl.

Yes, yes, you have all the evidence right in front of you, just come to the conclusion already! Such were the thoughts flowing through Haruka's mind at the time that Takara went through her reasoning yet again. How much more clear would she have to make it what was going on here? Haruka had thought that the blonde had passed her test, determining herself to be worthy of those odd feelings of affection. Though maybe it was something else which prevented the blonde from expressing what she must surely have already known thanks to the mounting evidence. Lack of belief that something could possibly be happening. It was so strange that she could possibly have feelings for the blonde that even the girl in question couldn't quite believe what was going on. That made enough sense that she was willing to accept it as an explanation for what was now transpiring. Slowly a little smile on her lips grew a little wider, realizing that Takara had just as hard of a time accepting this as real as she did. Together they could learn just how real all of this was.

Then she found herself having a decided lack of upright posture. In fact her whole view dramatically changed as she was suddenly off of her feet and flying toward the ground. What was this treachery? Haruka had undergone years of martial arts training of her own and knew this kind of maneuver used one's momentum against themselves. As the blonde treacherously threw her aside after they had been close to opening their hearts, Haruka decided it was time to use a counter. Her free hand swung up and grabbed Takara's shoulder with a karate death grip. If she went down she'd take Takara with her! Using her weight she pulled Takara off of her own feet and both girls went crashing to the ground. As she felt the impact of the ground Haruka could see amny things; cherry blossoms floated on the breeze playfully, tree branches swaying to and fro, and a cute blonde girl suddenly got really close and personal. So much so that she was practically on top of Haruka. Wait, what?! It was then that she relaized their lips were actually touching, which explained why Takara looked to be so close. Those lips were soft and sweet.. wait, what?! The samurai's brain went into full fledged panic as she squirmed underneath Takara.

'Farewell, Lady Tachibana! I've failed you as a warrior, just as I've failed Grand Prince Ubu by this selfish and unintended act. I am relegated to life with this peasant fool!' she thought as she vainly fought to get Takara off of her.