Today's Tomorrow [Private, Invite Eligible]

Several birds flew from their roosts at her shout, but Momo didn't pay them any mind. Letting her arm fall to the earth, she sat up into a kneeling position, "Seriously... I've had enough. Why do they always get so excited?"

Beneath her bangs, Momo's eyes gleamed a peculiar red.

Initially unaware of the chaos following a particular blonde around, the young Katherine Hale sighed softly as she led a beautiful chestnut horse by the reins back into it's stable. She carefully removed the saddle and tack, a clearly practiced process, lightly stroking the horses neck as she took in a deep breath of fresh air. Even in a stable, fresh air was... precious to her. "It was fun, Ada... but I can't stay out too much longer or they'll notice..." She snuggled up to the mare, hugging the animal tightly as it seemed to return the gesture in it's own way. Reluctantly, Katherine pulled away, put everything back in it's proper place, and left the stable.

As always, she had to pause a moment as her awareness of the world around her shifted. No longer enclosed in a building, she had to allow her 'vision' of the open grounds of the estate come back to her... and when she did, she was surprised. Someone was hopping the fence nearby. Somebody around her height, if she wasn't mistaken. That was strange... and impressive, actually. Even she knew that it couldn't be easy for someone that tall to climb a nine foot brick fence, and yet this... girl?... had done so quite quickly. Katherine would know, she'd tried to climb the fence before. Curious, even more so once the shout reached her, definitely a girl, Katherine started walking over... cautiously.

Katherine was quite good at sneaking around and being silent in the process, and she approached the girl slowly, until her senses started to pick out things about her. From what she could tell of the girl's body, she didn't seem dangerous, but it was her mind more than anything. Katherine's empathic powers were spotty at best, but right now, she could sense frustration and... sadness. Well, that settled it for Katherine, and she cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself... she wasn't quite ready to just walk right up to the girl, even if she seemed harmless.

"Um... h-hello? Can I... er... help you?" Katherine winced at her utterly failed attempt at preventing her voice from wavering. To be fair, her heart was pounding in her chest almost painfully. The thought of talking to someone who seemed to be her own age was exciting, yet also unbelievably terrifying. What if they didn't want to talk to her? What if they were scared of her because of her 'creepy eyes'? But... but what if they were nice? What if they wanted to be... to be friends? That single thought spurred Katherine on, and she took a hesitant step forward even as her body trembled, she swallowed hard, and she unconsciously brushed her hand against her hairclip, unknowingly drawing comfort from the brief contact. "M-m-may I... um... may I ask your name?"

Surprised, Momo's head darted up to face the newcomer. A girl around her age had stepped into the clearing. 'Waa - it's a bishoujo!' she mused internally, before noticing how nervous the girl was. On that note, there were various leafs and small debris on her person. Had she been climbing the trees? "Ah... you don't...?" Confused, but pleasantly surprised, Momo stood up. "I'm-" ...did she want them to recognize her? No. "-Momo. You can use san, chan, or even go without - I won't mind." She nearly performed a bow, as if she'd introduced herself at school, before catching herself and rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, smiling lightly. "And you are?"

Katherine swallowed a bit, biting her lip. This girl, now named Momo, seemed friendly enough. She didn't dare presume she actually deserved to be so familiar with her though, despite what she said. "Ah... it's n-nice to meet you, Momo-san... m-my name is Katherine... um, b-but you can call me whatever you like, it's fine!" Again she winced. Even she could tell how desperate she sounded. She fidgeted, fisting her hands into her dress a bit, an action that never failed to annoy her mother with how it wrinkled her dresses. "M-may I ask... um... the fence... it's pretty tall, so why....?"

"Oh, you saw that?" Momo questioned rhetorically, laughing nervously, "didn't you hear the crowd run by? There was some kind of limited-time sale, you see, so I left home today but... There were a lot more people than I expected, so I had to dodged out of the way." It wasn't really a lie, just a mild abbreviation of the truth. "So, what are you doing here? This close to the fence, I mean. There must be more interesting places to be."

Katherine opened her mouth to respond, then immediately shut it. She... wasn't sure how to respond to that. How could she explain knowing Momo had hopped the fence, when it should be quite impossible for her to have seen it. Though it didn't seem Momo was aware yet that she was blind... then again, she'd probably have to move closer before she'd notice. "Um... n-no, I came over when you shouted... and since you're n-next to the fence, I just... assumed... it goes all the way around the estate... and the gate is on the other side..." She was hoping she wasn't being too suspicious. More fidgeting. "S-so... you climbed over to... to get away from a crowd? I... can't imagine what that's like..." Katherine's eyes cut to the side. She had to think of something to say, to change the subject before Momo got suspicious! "Um... what's a sale?" 'Stupid! That's totally suspicious!'

Momo listened politely as the stammering girl explained herself, carefully maintaining a smile even as she internally blanched when Katherine mentioned they were in an 'estate' with 'a gate.' 'Crap! This is bad. I'm trespassing on some rich person's property...!' Getting a hold of herself, Momo zoned back in just in time for Katherine to ask about the sale. Here, she was nearly unable to contain her blanch. 'Is this what they call 'the ignorance of the wealthy?' She wondered.

"It's when a store reduces the price of an item to attract customers. They're gambling that enough people will buy it at a lower price to make up for the lower individual reward." Momo explained simply, before glancing around exaggeratedly, "You live here? I've never seen an estate this big - and I've been all over this city, trust me! It's like something out of an anime..."

Katherine nodded slowly at Momo's explanation, somewhat understanding. At Momo's questioning about the estate though, she blushed deeply. "Ah, yes... my parents both come from very old families... and my father is a businessman of... some sort..." She paused. "And... I wouldn't really know, so... I guess it's good that ours is big? It's all I know, so I didn't... know if it was normal or not." She was definitely uncomfortable. Yet more things to set her apart from others her age, great.

'All she knows...? The 'sheltered rich girl' type is real? People seriously, actually do that?!'  Catching on to Katherine's growing discomfort, Momo was quick to reassure her of her intent, "Ah, no - it's not bad! It's pretty cool, honestly. I didn't think I'd get the chance to see a place like this, so you cold say that this is lucky? So you haven't gone out at all? Do you listen to music, watch tv, play games?"

Katherine hesitated a bit. She didn't want to outright lie, but she was hesitant to volunteer certain things. "Um... I used to go to the park when I was really young, but that was a long time ago... I do like music, but I..." She paused again. "I don't watch television, though I sometimes listen... and... game..." She seemed to be thinking. "Um... oh! One of the maids used to play hide and seek with me!" She seemed to brighten at that, before her small smile froze, and suddenly her expression plummeted back into a withdrawn, nervous frown. "Mother sent her away after I locked myself in a cupboard once though..."

Momo frowned internally. That was somewhat suspicious, but... she didn't know this girl very well so she couldn't judge yet, "What sort of music do you listen to?"

'Anything Mother and Father let me listen to...' The stray thought was bitter, and Katherine mentally apologized to her parents. She didn't want to be ungrateful. "Um... classical... I've heard some more recent things because some of the younger servants let me listen to their music players and things like that... I'm not... really familiar with different music..."

'Well, that explains it,' Momo thought, somewhat ruefully, "Well, I don't listen to that wide a variety either so I can't talk. Between the two of us - I tried to get into classical by picking up a violin once... I probably did something wrong, because it got my lazy nii-san to leave his room to make me stop."

Katherine perked up a little at that. "Oh, y-you... play the violin? I do too... or... I try. I learned to p-play violin and the piano... I must not be very good either, my parents didn't seem impressed..." Still it was nice they had something in common. That was part of the foundation of a friendship, right? Shared interests?

"Oh no, you're probably much better at it than I am," Momo assured, "but maybe we could do something together sometime. You can play the violin - or piano - and I could sing. It'd be fun, I think..." She trailed off, "Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. You don't even know me, and I just trespassed onto your property... Honestly, I'm surprised no one's called the police."

Katherine's heart was hammering in her chest again, for a completely different reason this time. Momo wanted to do something fun. Together. With her. The mere thought of that was making Katherine lightheaded. Sure, Momo hadn't said anything at all about being friends, but already this was more than Katherine had ever expected. "You... you didn't do it on purpose... and I'd l-love to hear you sing, Momo-san... you have a nice, kind voice... so your singing would probably be really pretty..."

"Ah, you think so?" Momo stated modestly, a nervous laugh in her voice. "You know, you're the first person to say that about me." 'Not that many people have much to say about what how my voice really sounds...' She sighed. "Thanks for not freaking out and kicking me out, by the way. It's nice to be out of the crowd. That settles it, then. I'll definitely sing a song for you sometime!"

Katherine clearly blushed, a side-effect of her pale skin that it showed so prominantly, and fidgeted even more. "I'd... really like that... s-so does... does that mean you... want to spend time with m-me?" Despite her best efforts, she couldn't keep the almost desperate hope out of her voice, and flinched visibly when she heard how pathetic she sounded. At least from her perspective. "Y-you don't have to if you don't want to though!" She tried to backtrack, to make herself seem less desperate than she really was. Except... "B-but, if you want to, I'd really like that..." She couldn't help it; she was desperate, and she didn't want to drive Momo away by trying to hide that fact. And then everything collapsed.

"KATHERINE!" The voice of her mother caused Katherine's eyes to widen, body to tense up, and a look of utter terror to cross her face. She didn't fear her mother; she knew she'd never hurt her. No, she feared that she would drive Momo away. The white-haired woman in question, dressed in what appeared to be a rather expensive pantsuit, was hurrying over, looking equally terrified and furious. She grabbed the frozen Katherine by the arm, and pulled her behind her, putting herself between her daughter and Momo, glaring at Momo heatedly. "Who are you? Answer me right this second, or you can answer the police!"

"M-Mother, she's not-"

"Quiet! We will discuss you sneaking out again later!"

"B-but I-"

"Silence! I will not hear your excuses right now!"

Momo herself fidgeted somewhat as Katherine became a nervous wreck trying to ask her to hang out with her some more. She was about to reassure Katherine that she wouldn't mind at all when Katherine's mother ran into the scene and threw Katherine behind her. It was touching that Katherine tried to defend her, but her mother had a point... her blatant dismissal of her daughter, however, ground against Momo's sensibilities and - coupled with Katherine's earlier behavior - made her suspicion that something wasn't right in this household grow into near-certainty. Her eyes, which had been a dull red this entire time, flared very slightly, reflecting her anger as her pupil's contracted, "I'm Kisaragi Momo, ma'am," She intoned respectfully, bowing apologetically, "I was running away from a crowd and climbed the fence. I thought this was a park. That was when Katherine came along and kept my company while I waited for the crowd to disperse."

The woman frowned, taking note of Momo's words. Even she realized that her temper could get the better of her and lead her to hasty decisions, but she found herself listening to the explanation instead of dismissing it as soon as she heard something that contradicted what she had believed to be the case. "Kisaragi Momo? That idol that became so popular overnight? A likely story, I'm sure. I'm sure you found it terribly funny to fool a blind girl into believing your fanciful stories!"

"She never said her last name though..." The woman glared sharply at Katherine, who of course didn't notice, but she certainly noticed when her mother's grip on her arm tightened. It wasn't painful, but it was a signal that she needed to be quiet. Except... "She wasn't trying to trick me, Mother, she was really nice, and she said she'd sing for me and... and she said we could do stuff together, like... like friends..." The woman opened her mouth to tell Katherine, once again, to be quiet, but Katherine forged ahead. "P-Please, Mother... please... I can... I can have one friend, can't I?" Katherine's eyes were tearing up as she bit her lip, desperate for her mother to allow this.

"..." The woman hesitated, clearly wanting to say no, but was caught by the look on her daughter's face. After a long moment, she let out an irritated sigh, and turned to glare halfheartedly at Momo. "If she is who she says she is, then I will allow it... do you have a way to prove you are indeed who you say, and not just an imposter? And I am aware you look like her, but that in itself isnt' proof these days."

'Geeze, really...' Momo thought to herself with a sigh. Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved a pale-orange wallet and flipped it open to reveal a card with her picture, "Will my ID do?" She queried. 'I really don't want to have to call my manager over something like this. She's probably angry enough that I caused a scene again. Like I can help it.'

The woman's frown deepened as she looked over the idea. "...It will suffice for now. Though if you wish to continue spending time with my daughter, I expect further proof before long. Something a bit harder to fake." She took a deep breath, seeming to calm herself. "You should know that my name is Elizabeth Hale, and if you must be here, I expect you to mind your manners around my daughter. She is impressionable, and I'd rather she didn't turn into some kind of delinquent." With obvious hesitation, she turned and left, clearly displeased but seeing no reason at the moment to forbid this... especially not after seeing that look on Katherine's face. Not for the first time, Elizabeth wondered if, perhaps, she and her husband had made a mistake somewhere in how they were raising Katherine. But she couldn't imagine what that might have been.

"Well," Momo said, sighing once Katherine's mother was out of earshot, "it looks like I'll have to call my manager after all. But! We seem to be clear for now, ne, Katherine? So - ! As I was going to say before... that... I'd really like that." 'It's not like I really have many friends myself, either.'

Katherine blushed deeply, both out of embarrassment for her mother causing Momo trouble, and due to Momo's assertion that she did indeed want to spend time with her. Katherine just had one more thing to check. Carefully, she moved closer to Momo, closing the distance that had been between them the entire time; instead of being several feet apart, they were at a more comfortable distance, Katherine within arms reach. "So... I... just to make sure... you... you want to be... my friend?"

Momo blinked, before smiling somewhat awkwardly, "Well... sure I would. Of course I would." She paused, "So... you're not upset that I didn't tell you I was an idol?" She scratched her cheek, "Most people usually make a big deal of things like that."