Play "Africa" (by Toto) [Henry/Sakuya]

Sakuya Müller | Heartseeker

With a sudden uptick in the number of Hollows, Sakuya had been deployed to Africa along with other members of the Spezialkräfte. It was a relatively small detachment, and they were there more in an "advisory" capacity—like how the U.S. special forces once operated in an "advisory role" during the War on Terror. Fun, cheeky times.

Sakuya was unwinding after the long flight by taking a jog around a refugee camp. Laps. Laps. Laps. The hot, Africa sun was only occasionally beaten back by clouds. It was midday when she finally stopped trying to fight her own dehydration. A water-distribution station had been established in a mechanic's garage. One of the big doors was set up to have a stand where the refugees could refill buckets or jugs. The setup was almost like a party table with rows of oversized drums with heavy-duty spigots.

A small line was forming around the midday rush, and Sakuya needed a break. Seeing someone she expected to speak one of the languages she did, she tapped his shoulder. He was a pretty built dude and she couldn't help but stare at his arms. "Hey muscles, think you can fill this up for me pretty please? I do not want to stand in line. ...or stand, really." Sakuya blinked her big, green eyes slowly to try to win him over with her patented Cute Points as she held out a clear sports bottle from the waist of her jogging shorts.

Coup de Foudre

Sakuya Müller | Heartseeker

Sakuya made a loud thinking noise. She didn't have to think hard, but she sure made it seem like she did. With a playful sigh, she shrugged and returned the handshake. She smiled back to him. "Sakuya. Nice to meet you too. And it is the best water. Truthfully, I just don't like standing after a long jog." Sakuya leaned down and rubbed the back of her calves. "I just want to keep going if I'm on my feet. Standing around just isn't, like, my style."

As they took the place in the growing line, Sakuya finished off the last swig of water. It was then time for her standard question—the ultimate icebreaker. "So Henry, what's your type?"

Coup de Foudre

Sakuya Müller | Heartseeker

Sakuya found his energy infectious. Standing around by yourself was boring. Standing around with a normal person was somewhat less boring. Standing around with a whacko like this guy? That passed time like no one's business. He had energy, something many around them seemed to lack. Most people here seemed to want to keep to themselves... But who could blame them? Their homes were gone and they lived in fear of Hollow attacks. Henry was a golden ray of light in a sea of understandable dejectedness.

But man. She wasn't expecting that.

Sakuya stopped in her tracks. It took her a moment for it to register. Tensing up, she started shaking. It might look like she was convulsing, but no. Snickering breaths escaped her tight lips, but they couldn't contain the roaring laughter that soon broke free. She almost doubled over onto the ground. She even had to hold up a hand to prevent him from worrying. It took quite a while for her to recover. When Sakuya was finally able to, she straightened back up and wiped a tear from her eye. "Fick die Fotze, man..." Sakuya reverted to her native German for a moment. "You, sir, are after my own heart with that kind of humor."

Sakuya ignored any of the passing glances and weird looks as she continued to stifle residual laughter. "What I meant was what your type of woman is, but any woman would be lucky to have someone who can make them laugh like that. Are you like this with everyone?"

Coup de Foudre

Sakuya Müller | Heartseeker

Sakuya was even more surprised that he could speak German even though he was clearly looking through what was likely a makeshift dictionary. She almost teased him by speaking in German exclusively... but even that might have been too cruel for her. She liked this guy already, and the laughing was making her forget her legs aching. Plus his little mispronunciations were cute. "I..." She inhaled to keep herself from laughing again. "I am not..." Again, she couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "You do realize you said 'my frog,' right? It's 'cause of my beautiful green eyes, isn't it? Or am I bewitching?"

Sakuya rolled her shoulders while waiting in line. The two of them looked like a moving warm-up video at this point, and that was also causing some people to look at them weird. If they were anywhere else, someone might have mistaken them for a pair of sketch comedians with how out-of-place they looked. "So what's a guy like you doing out here? You don't look like a local, don't speak like a local, and I don't recall you being at base, sooooo..."

Coup de Foudre

Sakuya Müller | Heartseeker

Sakuya barely kept herself from laughing again. He was quick on his quips. He had heart in everything he said. Every sentence was leading up to something else, and his vocabulary was just... Man, the guy was probably one of the nicest people she had met in a long time. Sakuya liked him. And she showed this by teasing him. "No offense, but I think you'd look like a manly version of the Japanese gyaru with that blond mop. I think you should stick to that high-SPF sunscreen."

Sakuya knelt to fill her water bottle up herself. "I was just doing laps around the camp while off-duty. The Vandenreich base is a little too busy and cramped for me to jog there... As for why I'm here, that's work. I—"

Tires screeched.
A horn honked.
Metal crumpled.
Someone yelled.

Sakuya sat up, pulling Reishi close to her. Blue specs could be seen around her right arm as she felt around with her senses. A growing crowd was gathering around a building nearby. "Gott in himmel..." She ran forward towards the crowd. Instead of pushing through, she formed platforms of Reishi under her feet. Soon, her vantage was above the crowd and buildings.

Sakuya let out another swear as she witnessed the scene. What looked like an antique VW bus had crashed. It was on its side and there were clearly people inside. Smoke rose from the back of the vehicle. Sakuya dropped down, pulling out a Seele Schneider from somewhere that might have been obscene. There wasn't time to try to right the vehicle. There wasn't time to try to pull the people out. She glanced inside to make sure they weren't against the ceiling. "Stand back, I'm cutting through." The crowd dispersed as the blade lit up. She began slicing into the ceiling to try to open it up...

Coup de Foudre