The Legend of... Mizuki (Mizuki and Sumiko)

The day is cloudy, overcast, slightly drizzly. A chill runs through the air, and the people in the streets make an effort to get wherever they're going rather quickly.

Sumiko is no exception, even if where she's going is a bit... unorthodox. She trails, at the safest and least conspicuous distance possible, the young princess of Ukishima, not for the first time, and likely not for the last. She's looking for an opening. Not to attack, not physically anyway, but to pry at. She's looking for a way to motivate the to-be hero into the epic destiny she's certainly destined for!

However... must she restrict herself just to lurking today? It's the perfect, dreary kind of day to flash back on. Years later, after disaster has swept through the young princess' life, she may think back on today, when she first met the devious, evil, very clever villain who made it all go so wrong in the first place. She may remember the friendly smile and the questions about her life that seemed so innocent in the moment. She may curse herself for being so naive, and she may vow to never allow such harm to come to her loved ones again in a tear-jerking moment of spectacular character growth that guides her for the rest of her journey!

Though, for all those things to happen, Sumiko first has to actually approach.

She makes her approach with a practiced subtlety, using the knowledge she's come by from keeping an eye on the princess thus far. When the future heroine steps into the flower shop, so too does Sumiko. She keeps her distance for the time being, waiting for a moment to strike up a conversation.

There is one thing that goes unaccounted for in Sumiko's plan. Something that, even if she knew about it, would be rather hard to account for. If Mizuki is to notice the strange girl who entered the flower shop, she may see visions. Those visions may be very, very dark, ones of the strange girl killing Eiji or Jouji or even the queen, carrying out fiery acts of murder despite not seeming to enjoy it.

A bundle of flowers are held in the arms of the princess, a smile spread across her face as she speaks once more to the owner of the flower shop. "Another batch, just for you," the redhead speaks cheerily, handing the flowers over. "I hope you enjoy them! They were very fun to grow." The flowers in question were zinnias. While zinnias have many different meanings, they are usually associated with friendship, endurance, daily remembrance, goodness, and lasting affection. Basically, a very good flower for a friend you haven't seen in a long time or just think about a lot. It was cute, Mizuki thought to herself.

She knew someone walked in right after her, but she didn't pay much mind to it. At first. It was like she had been struck across the face, the images flashing suddenly and quickly. Her eyes turning a blinding white color. Unfortunately the meaning behind these visions weren't very clear. The only thing Mizuki could tell was that this was more of a warning of what could happen rather than what would happen. The faces aren't clear. And the voices are muffled. But she definitely heard a scream. It's jarring, to say the least.

Her eyes, returned to their original green color, trail over to the stranger. It didn't make sense. Why did she have a vision like that after acknowledging the presence of the other person in the shop? It wasn't like she could just ask. Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe she was just more stressed out than she thought. The smile that was on her face had faltered through the entire vision but it quickly lifts back up when she turns to face the stranger fully.

"Hello! Are you looking for any particular flowers? While this isn't my shop, I'm always happy to help out. But, ah. You don't have to accept, of course! The owner is equally as helpful I can promise that."

Sumiko is slightly caught off-guard by the princess actually addressing her. She looks a bit like a startled deer for a moment, the excitement of being so close to the to-be legendary hero finally kicking in. She's waited for this for sooo long, she's made so many plans and charted out so many paths for the princess, and she's so close to that goal that she can feel her heart properly speed up for the first time in a very long while.

However, she is a professional, so she collects herself rather quickly and smiles softly. "Ah... it's a bit silly... I'm looking for a flower I might give to someone I want to be friends with..." She looks away, both as part of this shy, lonely character she's playing, and because if she looks at the hero for too long she may get too giddy. "I have no friends, you see... and I'd really like some, but I'm not sure how to do it..."

Ok. Ok. This is the important part. She just has to get Princess-Hero Mizuki to tell her about her friends. It's simple. "Do you have friends...?" she asks, pretending to not recognize that the person standing in front of her is the princess. "You look like someone who has friends... how did you make your friends...? If... you don't mind my asking..."

Her actions, at the moment, are technically outside what she's supposed to be doing. What her boss wanted her to do was to bring the princess back to him so that he can handle her quest. But... Sumiko knows better! Just this once! She's disobeying orders, yes, but she'll make her boss proud, she knows it.