Chapter 1: Petals Born on Spring

A beautiful day of march, the shore mostly quiet, save for a steamship docking on the Kyobashi district's port, with it's deep and loud horning. The girls at the porch of the Hotel Central, on the shoreline, could see it clearly, from where they stood after breakfasting, as the old man calls them to go with him fetch the foreigners.

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As the ship docks, multiple travelers leave with their luggage. Among them, stood two European girls, one having her royalty-rank concealed from the crowd and crew.

Descending the footbridge, they can spot the ones awaiting for them, next to a car, a middle-aged man dressed in a fine grey frock suit with vibrant green waistcoat and blue tie, he waved at them; next to him, stood an older, more corpulent and shorter man, wearing a servant's atire; on his other side stood two charming young ladies, just as those who descended from the ship. The gentleman seemed like the kind grandpa type, always smiling, but with intelligent and mysterious eyes, catching every detail around him.

Greetings, mademoiselles... He says, playing with a bit of French, "I hope your voyage was a pleasant one? Mister Kido here will take care of your luggage..." He adds, as he then greets the man coming behind the French lady.

"Oh, let me introduce yourselves! These are misses Homura Kusakabe and Abenanka Kim'Unko; they are ladies Claude d'Armagnac and, uh... (duh, I'm not sure what he should call 'Chimera Roosevelt)" He says, indicating the two girls who were with him. "As for me, I'm Colonel Akira Hoshikawa... Though you shouldn't call me colonel in public, heheh~"

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As the girls introduce themselves and recall old acquaintances, the servant loads the luggage on the car, with Claude's being handled by her loyal retainer.

When everything is ready to go, they drive towards their destination, the Imperial Café-Theatre, this establishment currently fashionable in France, imported directly from the young empress, being very found of that culture herself.

As the party leaves the docks and goes into the streets, they see them bustling with smiling and kind people, the destruction of the Great War seemingly a distant memory.

The people of Tokyo is like that: as the war ended, everyone united together to reconstruct, it was quick and easy. The empress invested highly in the reconstruction also, improving the infrastructure of the city to fit modern standards, and investing heavily on the Arts, culture and entertainment to uplift the people, the café we're heading to being a proof of that. That's one of the reasons of the secrecy of our mission, to maintain the peace of mind and tranquility of these people, while our work on the café shall uplift their spirits all the same!

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The streets where also filled with all kinds of different vehicles, steam-powered cars ran alongside carriages, either horse or men-powered. The wide sidewalks too, are filled with many kinds of steam-powered paraphernalia, from public phones, electric lights and vending-machines. The worldwide rumors that Tokyo was becoming the most technologically advanced city in the world were to be held true.

On the northern corner of the Ginza 'island', the district where entertainment businesses where most concentrated, stood the Café, the final touches of the construction still underway, with wooden scaffolding covering most of the western neoclassical façades (it faces both the north and west); the building had a T-shaped layout, with the main wing giving to a flowery yard to it's right and an elevated terrace to it's left, with nice fountains centered on both of them.

In the middle of the wide northwestern street, from where a glimpse of the Imperial Palace could be seen, the tram crossed regularly, carrying people around; narrowboats could be seen just ahead, below the balustrade, crossing the canals.

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Here we are, that's the Imperial Café! We're still working on the façade and some rooms, but it is practically functional... And shall suit your stay cozily enough~ Mister Hoshikawa said, to which the servant old man replied: "Most important for you, the bar is fully stocked!" Making Hoshikawa laugh embarrassingly.

At the Café's door, stood a huge man in a yellow and green suit. "That's Tsutsumi, the security guard and doorman for the café." Explained Hoshikawa.

"A pleasure to meet you, ladies." He said in a deep and warm voice, bowing cordially.

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Through the holes on the yard's walls, the girls could also see a young maiden in white and pink robes tending to the garden. She offers a modest smile to anyone looking.

As you finally enter by the main door, looking at a wide room, currently being furnished to operate as a café and bar: the centre of the room is lowered some steps, filled with round tables, while the corners form a wide elevated lobby, with more tables, counters and bars, where the staff should be, attending to clients.

In there, a beautiful girl, around 18, wearing a stunning flowery yukata of deep-blue, purple, lilac and similar tones stood idle, until noticing the arrivers. "Oh, there you are, father and... New girls! I'm Rika Hoshikawa, nice to meet you all." She said excitedly.

"Heh, this is my daughter everyone, she's the theatre's dressmaker and a fine tailor." Mr. Hoshikawa says, with a proud smile.

The two ladies almost overwhelm the man with their eagerness (the second one, specially), he steps back with a chuckle. "Heh... Now, don't be impatient! If commander Moriyama witnessed that, he would put you through an excruciating lecture about how a true warrior should be temperate and patient~" He plays off, "The petalframes are in the basement, undergoing some final calibrations, I beg you to wait just a moment~" Hoshikawa finishes, explaining it to Chimera like she were way younger than she actually is, though if he was serious or teasing, it's hard to know.

After that, his daughter whispers something in his ear, to which he relays to the girls: "Now, if you are so eager for action, I do have an initial assignment for you!" Snickering, he adds: "I need you to follow my daughter's guidance, she was about to leave for an important task, you see? Your presence and help may be necessary. On the meanwhile, the servants will accommodate your luggage on your respective rooms... If you excuse, I have work to do; we talk more at dinner."

He bows and leaves nonchalantly.

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"Alright, let's go! You can enjoy the opportunity to get familiar with the city. You know, get acquainted with the battlefield... That stuff is important, right?" She says, bringing the willing ones, through the streets, to a local spring fair raised on a traditional pavilion. There are tents selling trinkets, toys, sweets and snacks; there's also street entertainers of all kinds. Rika eyes everything with delight, specially to the tent selling fine cloths from abroad.