Welcome to Sparkles!

[oichi]

In the downtown area of Sendai, the streets were crowded with life and hard working people that had dreams to fulfill. It was getting around lunch time so everyone was out finding places to eat and chow down to. At one of the streets, there lied a large place that had a very cute exterior with pink bows laying on the bottom. It looked like a fairytale castle. When you walked inside, the bell that laid on top of the door rang out to announce your arrival. Inside was a cute comfy vibe with pastel colors splashed in a perfect canvas. The dining room was in full display as you walked in. Light Blueish green tablecloths were spread on the tables with dandelion yellow sofa-like chairs on each side of the table, 4-18 chairs a table depending on the size on the table, flower vases in the middle, and lavender floor and wall tiles. Naomi wanted customers to seat themselves but they could always ask the friendly staff on recommmendations of where to sit.

Towards the left, she had a children's corner with all kinds of little toys and a playplace they can play around in. It had an aquarium wall where all kinds of colorful fish swam around and were well cared for. In the far back corner, there was a spot called Baku's corner. It looked like a relaxing place for adults to watch the kids but it was also for Naomi's own baku, who was often with her.

Towards the right of the dining room, was a take home bakery for if the customers wanted to. It was a smaller size than what was portioned in house, but it had many cakes, cupcakes, brownies, candy, cookies, fudge, all the good stuff. In the back of the dining hall, there was the entrance to the chefs working stations. All the comfort food and desserts were made back there. Next to it was an upstairs to more seating where it had a huge window to look out of. To the side was her office in all it's royal cuteness.

Naomi looked at the clock in her office to see it was the start of lunch rush. She wanted to enxourage both her employees and customers. She went over the intercoms to make her announcement. "Attention everyone! The lunch hour has arrived. We have our daily specials today! On the comfort food side of the daily specials we have our lovely 5 cheese mac and cheese, soft and warm and so cheesy to put you in a food coma. We also have our fried chicken bowl with mashed potatoes of your choice, sweet corn and choice of gravy! On the desserts side we have our rainbow ice cream cake and also our large soft chocolate chunk cookies! May your day be filled with sparkles! Thank you!" she hung up the intercom. She began watching the cameras, eager to begin the smiles.

[Ashken]

OOC: Aito || Raitaro

---

Not far from Sparkles Aito had made a quick pit stop finding a restroom he splashed his face with water trying to cool himself off and sooth some of the wind rash, hanging from his neck was an old pair of aviator goggles, his blue eyes looked into the reflection fixing his messy brown hair and making sure no bugs or other unwanted things had managed to get caught. Thankfully he did not fly the whole way.

Satisfied that he looked mostly presentable, he fixed the long tan trench coat he was swimming in and gave his shoulders a nice roll to relax them and his back muscles after the flight, he had gotten better, a lot more comfortable and confident to make some of these trips. He just needed a more efficient way to carry his stuff. Arriving at sparkles he was absorbed by the colors and design, it had the kind of vibe of a fairytale, he smiled a big smile as he looked around seeing that most people where self-seating, he gravitated towards one of the big fluffy chairs, melting on the chair as it hug his thin body, he made no effort to remove his coat as he sat allowing it to bunch up on him.

"Attention everyone! The lunch hour has arrived. We have our daily specials today! On the comfort food side of the daily specials we have our lovely 5 cheese mac and cheese, soft and warm and so cheesy to put you in a food coma. We also have our fried chicken bowl with mashed potatoes of your choice, sweet corn and choice of gravy! On the desserts side we have our rainbow ice cream cake and also our large soft chocolate chunk cookies! May your day be filled with sparkles! Thank you!"

The menu sounded amazing, and he had the hunger to go for most of the special or all of it, he did not mind a food coma after the long flight. As he tried to relax and get ready to order some food his watch buzzed, he let out a sigh, knowing it was most likely his mother or sister checking up on him. You die once and people never let you live it down...

Roughly around the same time as the announcement was being made a young boy with amber eyes looked up at if trying to find the source of the voice mentioning it was lunch time, he was getting a little hungry, he looked at the toys and playplace he had been playing around, it had been fun, but he needed to get back to work, grumble After food.

Approaching the main dining room the small kid scanned the room for a table, his raven black hair was messy after playing around, the only thing keeping it from turning into a full poofy mess was the white hachimaki emblazoned with the kanji's for Hatsuyuki bookstore. The rest of his outfit was a traditional haori and hakama. His haori although now a little dirty from his playing around was a soft sky blue, his hakama a solid black. Most of the tables were getting full with the lunch rush, so he approached one that had a few spots open, "Hi!" he said with a little less confidence than he usually showed, "Can we share?" he did this a few times getting everything from the chair was reserved to where are your parents, finally landing at the table Aito had chosen.

"Sure, take a seat I was about to order"

[oichi]

Naomi was excited to start the new day. So many people were in there for the food and fun. It brought her joy to see so many happy faces not only on the customer side of things but also on her staff. She always hired the best staff that she feels is right for the job and there really hasn't been any complaints so far. Lunch time was a good time to try to ordering some food for herself, though she didn't want it for free. She wanted to pay like everybody else.

Her Baku appeared in the office. He yawned, just waking up from a nap. She smiled at him. "Good morning Baku-kun. Or should I say afternoon? Anyways I hope you had a good nap!" she said happily towards Baku, giving him good head pats. "I did! Thank you Naomi. Are you going to get lunch soon?" he asked. Naomi nodded, she didn't know what in her menu she felt like today but they were good. "Yep. It's lunch time so I'm going get food. Do you want anything?" Baku-kun shook his head. "Probably not now but maybe later. You go have fun." he said as he then disappeared from Naomi's sight.

With food on her mind, she went out of her pffice on the second floor trying to decide where to sit first hand and to also oversee some of the tables that were being filled up with customers, from families, to some important government offcials, to biker gangs, and some monks. Anyone was welcome as long as they treat others with kindness. The same scene was at the first floor, except some people were lining up at the bakery and some waiters were running toward the back of the kitchen to give the orders to the chef. Naomi wanted to help them a little bit, the thought of food at the back of her mind. She grabbed a few menus and started heading towards which tables were waiting. One of them was seated by a man who wore a trench coat and looked like a pilot to her and a well-dressed boy. She handed them the menus, embroidered with lace. It had one side with all the comfort food-food and the other side with all desserts and some beverages. Some had pictures of the food. "Hi, welcome to Sparkles. A magical time starts here! Can I start you two off with drinks today?" she asked as she got an empty little page opened on her book.

[Ashken]

Both boys took a moment to introduced themselves to each other, Aito was exploring and had heard of this location and his food driven brain had him make a beeline to Sparkles, Raitaro was doing a delivery for his grandfathers bookstore, Aito questioned the wisdom of someone so young delivering things, but he could not talk, he didn't know enough about the world to have a solid grasp of how things worked, his life had been limited to doctors and hospitals.

The menu arrived, delivered by a pretty young lady Aito smiled, "Thank you", he spent some time looking at it, running his fingers over the embroidery, it was unique and whimsical, he pulled his phone and took a quick picture so he could add it to his scrap book of memories later.

"Hi, welcome to Sparkles. A magical time starts here! Can I start you two off with drinks today?"

The younger boy spoke first, since Aito was still distracted admiring the menu, "Do you have green tea?" he would love a juice, but he knew that his father would instantly know he had some, he never understood how his father could know, his young mind not perceiving that he practically bounced off the walls when he had to much sugar.

Aito finally put his phone away and flipped through the menu, "I would like a glass of water, no ice please." he tapped the table somewhat anxiously, "Everything sounds great..." he took a deep breath trying to calm himself down "Its my first time here. What would you recommend?" he asked her, "The five cheese mac and cheese sounds amazing, but then they said that they had fried chicken and I can't remember the last time I had fried chicken

[oichi]

It took a lot of time for Naomi to get the details down and fitting to the theme. When it truly came all together, that was when the magic really happened. Coming up with something cozy and cute with elegant touch was not that easy to come up with, but it was amazing. She wanted people to relax and have no shame in eating good food and hanging out, which is why there's a lot to do.

Starting off with drinks, the little one wanted Green tea, which she does have. She quickly wrote it down on the top. "Yes! It will take a couple minutes to brew." she said as she quickly wrote down the older ones order of water with no ice. "Would you like lemon with your water instead?" she said simply asking for clarification.

There were many recommendations that she can give to help decide. While the specials were very good, there were plenty of other options that were very good. The fried chicken bowl was one of her personal favorites. She decided to talk about some of the items in more detail. "We have some variations of how we can do the fried chicken. We have our 3 piece fried chicken mix which is a choice between breast or thighs as the main meat and then 2 smaller pieces like wings or legs. Its the same with 6 piece mix except theres 3 of either breast or thighs of your choice and 3 of the wings or legs. That has bones in it so be careful. There's also our chicken bowl which is fried chicken but it's boneless and kinda shaped in a ball for easier eating. That comes with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and shredded cheddar cheese on top." she said pointing at the options she was talking about on the menu. "Other personal favorites are the pot pies! You can get them as chicken, beef, turkey or lamb. Pot Stickers are also a favorite with Ground pork and cabbage as a base. These are just a few of what we offer." she said slightly out of breath. She could talk for hours on what items are amazing.

[Ashken]

"Yes! It will take a couple minutes to brew." 

"Thank you" young Raitaro said, trying to be as polite as possible. He looked at the menu hoping to find something he might like, though his ears perked up as Aito and Naomi spoke about food and the many options. He had some money on him, but Wataru had made certain he did not leave anywhere without the bank card he had gotten the boy. 


"Would you like lemon with your water instead?"

Aito though about it for a moment before shaking his head, "No thank you, just water" at some other situation the lemon might sound like a fun splash of flavor, but he wanted the water mostly as a palate cleanser since he intended to try more than one item on the menu as long as his body allowed him. 

"We have some variations of how we can do the fried chicken. We have our 3 piece fried chicken mix which is a choice between breast or thighs as the main meat and then 2 smaller pieces like wings or legs. Its the same with 6 piece mix except theres 3 of either breast or thighs of your choice and 3 of the wings or legs. That has bones in it so be careful. There's also our chicken bowl which is fried chicken but it's boneless and kinda shaped in a ball for easier eating. That comes with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and shredded cheddar cheese on top."

Aito made mental notes and fallowed her through the menu as she pointed at the different items. The chicken bowl catching his attention, having multiple items he loved in one place seem like a godsend. Though Naomi clearly knew her menu and was passionate providing more options, and as much as he wanted to try them all, he would start small and go from there, he hated the idea of wasting food. "Thank you very much" he smiled, "I think I want to try the Chicken bowl, sounds amazing, chicken mashed potatoes, all my favorites in one place."


He looked at Raitaro and asked, "Are you ordering now?" the kid nodded and spoke up, "Could I get some of the Mac and cheese please" 

[oichi]

Naomi noted that it would be just plain cold water. It was time to get the food down and as she explained it it wouldn't be long before she finally got the idea for food. She wrote down on her notepad that it would be 1 chicken bowl/ all the fixings. It would be a little bit longer before the little one finally made his decision with the mac and cheese. She was going to assume it was the five cheese mac and cheese that was on special, but she had to at least make sure of that. "Is that the five cheese mac that we have for our special today?" she asked. Once she got clarification, she would write it down and finish the ticket. "Alright it will take a few. Drinks will be coming and soon after the food will. Have fun and let me know if you need anything." she said shuffling away towards the kitchen window.

Looking at the kitchen, many chefs were making and preparing different dishes that the other patrons had orders. She had set the ticket next to one of the many other tickets hanging out on the desk. "Hi guys! Here's another order from table 24!" she said waving. The head chef bowed in respect and a bit of shock. "Miss Date! What are you doing out on the floor?" the chef asked. Naomi giggled. "Oh just helping out the waiting staff and mingling with the people. It would be great if someone saw the owner so open!" she said without much thought. It was just so simple that why would she stay behind an office. "Do you want me to help in the kitchen too. The orders are piling up a bit." The head chef instinctively shook her head no. He seemed a tad embarassed but in good spirits. "Oh no! No need! You're doing more than enough! Thank you! Pick up the pace guys! We're falling behind!" the chef gave orders.

[Ashken]

"Is that the five cheese mac that we have for our special today?"

The young kid made eye contact once more and nodded softly, "Yes please" he responded, he still needed to finish his delivery, but he needed a short brake and was starting to get quite hungry, not counting his internal battery was starting to get close to empty he didn't usually spend this much time away from his father figure. 

"Alright it will take a few. Drinks will be coming and soon after the food will. Have fun and let me know if you need anything."

Both boys thanked Naomi in unison, Aito in particularly adding, "Looking forward to try the food" he smiled, only to feel his watch buzz again, he waited for Naomi to step away before pulling his phone out and seeing a message from his mother. He sent her a picture of the menu and told her he was doing well, hopefully that would buy him some time before he needed to make a call or something. 

Meanwhile far from sparkles Wataru's phone buzzed, lazily he looked at the phone as he ate lunch, he looked at the message and started to dig through the system, a transaction for a train ride... All the way in Sendai... He could feel his blood boil for a moment, "I need help" sending out two messages one to Haru and one to Tatsu hoping one of them was available to give him a hand. 

[oichi]

The food smelled delicious as the first wave of orders came out, bells were ringing and many waiters and waitresses picked up the food that needed to go to their tables. Some of the drinks already came out but the one Naomi took care off were just getting started. She watched as some of the wait staff went up to the second floor stairs with no issues. She remembered that there was training to make sure that it was effecient on travel. Her wish was that eventually there to be elevators so it is easier but she made sure that her workers are good or at least better on balance.

She got the water pretty quickly and by the time that was done, the tea had finished brewing and she poured that in a little tea cup. She got a straw for the water and some napkins to go along with their drinks. Before she brought it over, she had to know how much longer the food will take. "Hi chefs just wondering how long it will take for the order?" she asked politely. Head chef yelled back with no malice. "8 more minutes Miss Date!" Saying a quick thank you, Naomi brought back their drinks. Ok, I got the water and tea and a few extra napkins. Food will be a bit longer!" she said putting them down, then going off somewhere on the floor.

[mermalaide]

Tatsu was sweeping the temple's steps when the phone in her pocket went off. She stopped what she was doing and looked at the message. "I need help" from Wataru. Her brow furrowed and she tapped back quickly. What happened>? She read what he had typed across the screen and was just floored. Well, Raitaro was adventurous. And Wataru could not be everywhere. Children where pretty independent in Japan, even if they were still children. She had to admit, she would have probably been worried to death if she were Wataru. 

Okay. I am on my way. I think it will just be a little by car, unless you want to meet somewhere.>

There wasn't really time to change. Tatsu ran inside and grabbed her purse and a haori to cover her shoulders. It wasn't to cold, but it might get that way. "Gramps! I have to help a friend it's an emergency! The little boy I told you about wandered off!" She yelled through the house to the back room, where he was no doubt doing bone setting on someone. "Send me a text, and be careful!" He bellowed back. The sound of her geta was clacking on the cobblestones as she made haste. She had a little extra money and such in her purse, and for a moment there, she thought of calling Ryo. 

As she ran to catch a ride, she text messaged Ryo. Hey, I don't mean to bother you, but a friend's little boy wandered off a bit, and I am going to go look. You wouldn't mind coming with me would you? Color rose to her face as she ran to catch a taxi at least. The bus might be too slow to catch Raitaro.

[Ashken]

The two boys stayed relatively quiet, Aito was trying to keep his family happy and answering questions and sending pictures of the restaurant, and Raitaro was quietly humming to himself, he was tired and starting to feel a little sluggish, so hopefully some rest and food would make him feel right as rain.

Ok, I got the water and tea and a few extra napkins. Food will be a bit longer!"

"Thank you, looking forward to the chicken" Aito spoke as he took his and helped moved Raitaro's tea closer to him. The kid took his teacup and just held it, allowing the warm to spread from his fingers and warm him up, "Are you okay?" Aito asked noticing that the kid seem a little sluggish, plus he was wondering why he was alone.

---

Honesty not sure, he had some classes at the academy today and the kid was to stay at the bookstore with his grandfather, maybe help on a small errand if he got a little too wound up from being cooped up. Wataru was not asking permission, he ran outside the school and just did his best to get to Raitaro, one of the few times he wishes he had his own transportation at this time, when he had a chanced, he responded to Tatsu other question, by forwarding a location tag "Planned ahead for this day, kid been chipped" he didn't mean literally, but he didn't feel like he had the time to elaborate as he ran into a Taxi.

Tatsu would see in her phone a notification stating 'little shit's' location has been share with you.

[oichi]

Naomi had a few minutes til that order would be ready. She would in the meantime bring extra napkins, refill peoples drinks and make sure some of the waiters and waitresses would clean messes if there was any. She could hear the little bits and pieces of the conversations that have been going but she never really paid all that much attention. She never thought it was her place to pry in anything that was just casual.

Soon enough, she could hear the bell ringing and the second wave of orders, meaning the order she cared about, would be ready and given out to the waiters and waitresses. Naomi grabbed the mac and cheese and chicken bowl on one silver platter. They were in pretty good sized bowls, designed to make sure people had enough and also had leftovers. She went over to the table, and she noticed something was a little bit off, more so the little one than the general situation. "Alright guys, I got the mac and cheese for you and then the chicken bowl for you. Is everything going ok?" she asked with concern.

[Umbraflamma]

Ryo was working through the pattern and measuring the fabric he had snatched from tatsu when his phone pinged. he still had pins in his teeth as he flipped the phone open and his brain immediately translated it to "lost kid."

He spat the pins out and nearly fell out of his chair. quickly pressing the dial button as he fought with his jacket to get it back on. "Where am i going!?" he asked her as he hastily hit the door to his dorm room and closed it shut. his voice was concerned and deep enough that it frightened the gaggle of other students gathered in the dorm common room. "I need some details, and you know i'm shit at texting."

He pushed through the gaggle of frightened fellow students and pushed out onto the campus grounds walking as fast as his legs would take him. "I'll hail a taxi, Where are you? Am i meeting you there or what?"

[mermalaide]

"Hey Ryo-kun!" She picked up immediately. "I was going to hail a cab in front of the temple I am at." She could tell he was panicking, so she kept calm. "A friend of mine has a little boy, and the boy wandered out of the area he was allowed to go, but the good news is that he has a tracker on him." She was making her way down the big stairs with her bag. "So you come to me and we can head over to Sparkles. It's the new family style type diner that opened up in downtown Sendai.He must have gotten hungry and wandered in there, which is pretty lucky."

Tatsu silently gave a little nod and bow as she passed some of the older ladies heading up to see her grandfather for healing. "It's okay if you called, I had thought about it, but didn't know if you were in class today. Gramps and I tend to text back and forth when I go somewhere, or when we are with clients for the temple. Sorry about that." She was already sharing directions to both where she was and where Sparkles was on her phone. "I messaged you both where I am and where we are going, I can wait here for you, by the big stairs."

She gave a sigh. "Wataru is pretty frantic, but I told him we are on the way. Raitaro should be safe there for now, but we are going to meet him there." That poor little boy seemed too curious and innocent for his own good. She just hoped Wataru wasn't too angry with him. He was likely more scared than anything, but she gathered that this would be something to be pretty angry about. If she had been a parent, she would have been terrified. "Honestly, the one time I spoke to a spranger, Gramps looked like he would send the guy to Enma-dono on the spot! I could only imaging what he would have done if I had wandered off somewhere!" The sound of her good natured cheerfulness was a bit much.

"In any case today, because I am dragging you away and all, lunch is on me."

[Ashken]

The young boy looked at Aito and gave him a small smile, the kid looked drained, as if he had been going non stop for the last couple of hours, he had been playing a fair bit earlier and his hunger was adding to his energy levels staring to diminishing. He sipped on the tea "Just helping family" he pulled a small slip of paper and brought it out. There was a list of addresses, "Book delivery" he beamed, most of the list had addresses around the academy with the one random address in Sendai which had been scribbled in a different handwriting as the rest.

"Alright guys, I got the mac and cheese for you and then the chicken bowl for you. Is everything going ok?"

Aito took his food, taking a moment to enjoy the scent of the fresh meal, "Thank you" he said as he moved the plate in front of himself. He was very exited to try the fried chicken. He helped the little kid with his own plate of mac and cheese. "Hey kid want to explain?" he asked Raitaro since he himself was still learning the situation.

"Book delivery" the kid said as he showed her the list, the addresses where all around the Academy with one in Sendai near Sparkles. "Tired, his smile shrunk a little, "Running low on sparks" he said. He looked at the big plate of cheesy mac and cheese, "Thank you for the food"

"Uhm, hey kid... where is your adult?" Aito was not very comfortable asking, but he could not do anything without his parents constantly keeping an eye on him, calling him, the family text chain seem to always be active, even at the distance they seem to maintain a constant and ever present vigilance of him, yet it seem like this kid a fraction of his age had much more freedom than he.

Raitaro shrugged, "I think he's in class"

---

He was not.

He hated wasting one of the special passes that his grandfather had given him, but this was an emergency and he needed to get to places quickly, pulling a talisman from his wallet, he shook it in the air causing it catch flame and burn into ash shortly a cab arrived he had heard about this particular taxi, but had keep his pass on hand for a situation like this, he would have preferred to save it for a special occasion, but Raitaro came first, "Please, I need to get to this address"