005 | Sakura In The Night

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Cherry blossom viewing
When: Nighttime March 26, 2016
Where: A park with sakura trees
Summary: Heaven is throwing a small party to view the sakura and let everyone relax.



After the absolute disaster that happened with handing out chocolates, the Heavens are tripping over themselves to make up for their inability to properly handle the situation. They are eager to make amends and assure everyone that they are hardworking individuals who want nothing more than to make everyone's stay here enjoyable or at least pleasant. To that end, they have invited all of the gods and shinki to a lovely flower viewing, since the sakura are in season.

And by 'invited', they mean 'mandatory', of course. You will accept their apology, whether you like it or not.

It's not all bad, though. The Heavens have provided various kimonos that can be worn, if you haven't brought your own, but you're not required to wear a kimono. They would, however, really like it if you did wear them. It's very traditionally Japanese, after all.

The party is taking place at night so that you can all hide your merrymaking from the Near Shore residents and also because the night sky is beautiful against the cherry blossoms. So try to at least enjoy yourselves while you're here.



Banquet

Every kind of food imaginable is available for your eating pleasure. On top of that, there are dozens of different kinds of desserts ready to be devoured as well. For the older crowd, booze has been provided and is being served by white-clad shinki bearing the golden chrysanthemum of Amaterasu. They are, however, refusing to serve alcohol to anyone who looks too young to drink, sorry guys.

Cherry Blossoms

The blossoms are absolutely gorgeous this year, and they are at the peak of their blooming right now. Nearly every single bud has bloomed and the pink petals are floating by everywhere you go. There is an ethereal light emanating from each of the trees, lighting up the area with a soft, pink light, yet it doesn't seem to be drowning out the brightness of the stars at all. It really is the most beautiful cherry blossom viewing anyone could ever hope for.

"Secret" Corner

Somehow, the Heavens have managed to make one small corner of the grotto into a completely secluded area. There is no marking or signs to indicate what this corner should be used for, but anyone entering it will suddenly realize that this is a place for lovers to meet privately. Only those that you enter the corner with will be able to notice your presence, and you will be unable to notice anyone else's presence as well. Enjoy yourselves, young ones!

Counselling

Off to the side, there is a tiny table set up with a small, nicely written sign that reads "Gentle Counselling". On the other side of the table is a sweetly smiling shinki who is willing to listen to your problems and answer any questions you might have. She is also here to help out any gods that are having a hard time dealing with knowing about how their shinki died and any shinki that is having trouble coming to terms with the fact that they are dead. Counselling will also gladly be offered to anyone who is still pissed off or upset in any way about what happened after White Day.



In Summary:

• Enjoy the cherry blossoms
• Eat lots of good food
• Promise it's not poisoned
• Spend time with people you like
• Meet the newbies
• Have fun~

Comments

Cherry Blossoms~*~*~*~

[onepunching]

Oi, don't fall asleep on me already. [ Saitama walks up to Genos holding two bottles of water and tosses one at him. ]

Y'know I still don't really trust those weirdo heaven guys. [ He takes a seat on the ground next to Genos. ] I went and got these at a convenience store.

[ The pair had been exploring the park together for a while before splitting up at some point and meeting again. Somehow one of the two always got distracted or lost and the other always just kept goin'. The problem is made worse by Saitama still forgetting to carry his phone around constantly. ]

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos seems a bit rattled, and he's in fact sitting further from the trees than before. There's some dirt on his kimono including sakura petals and flowers. They're even in his hair yep, he met a certain weird ninja already and got infused with bad luck to his chagrin ]

Radegast..! [ and he gets hit with the water bottle in the head. HE TRIED TO CATCH IT. IT'S NOT THAT HARD, SO WHY IS IT HITTING HIS HEAD ] It's better you keep away from me.

[ He opens the bottle and gets hit in the face with carbonated water ] Ugh...!!

[onepunching]

What? Why would I keep away from you, weir-- ah! [ He leans away from Genos as the water explodes in his face. ]

I could have sworn I bought non-carbonated.. [ he mutters to himself and carefully opens his own bottle. Perfectly fine. ]

Why'd you call me by that weird god name anyways? You ok?

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos looks around, checking if they're alone, and whispers in confidential tone. ]

There is a black and purple weirdo searching for you around. By your real name.

[ he undoes his yukata a bit, the collar is all wet now, and it feels weird. He's not sure if that's how being in wet clothing should feel like, but the water trickling down between the metal plates of his chest is just plain annoying ]

And I had an awful luck ever since I met him.

[onepunching]

Black and purple weirdo...? [ Saitama tries to think of someone who would fit that description, but is at a loss. He just can't seem to match Sonic's name to his face, and his face to his mall-goth color scheme. ]

...

No idea who you could be talkin' about. [ Saitama plucks flower petals from Genos' hair and yukata as he speaks. ] What do you mean by bad luck?

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos pouts and crosses his arms ]

Accidents like that moment before [ The water in his face ] Or maybe I'm just imagining things.

You should be careful around me, just to be safe.

[onepunching]

[ Saitama hums in acknowledgement as he people watches. ] Or maybe you're just getting clumsy. I didn't think you'd be the superstitious type, Genos. [ He elbows him teasingly. ]

[scrap_metal]

I'm not--- [ wait, that's exactly what he is right now. He hangs his head down in shame. ]

You're right, I need to focus more. [ yeah, slowly he realizes he might be lucky to get a god like this as his own. ] I suppose there isn't a hairdryer nowhere nearby-

Nevermind. [ wait, he doesn't need that, he can just emit heat more, cyborg body and all. It's not even hard to figure out how to do it, and soon thin trails of steam surround him, and his body lights up ]

[onepunching]

[ Saitama starts to feel warm and slightly sweaty on one side and realizes it's because of his space heater of a shinki. He tugs on the neckline of his yukata and waves his hand as a fan. ] Ya wanna turn the heat down a bit? Your hair looks fine.

[ He even takes a small scoot away from Genos before speaking up again. ] So, what do you think of this thing they threw for all us gods and shinki? [ Saitama has his own opinions on it, but he is interested in hearing Genos'. He really hasn't spoken to him much about these issues before after the first day. ]

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos checks the yukata, and yes, it's almost dry already. He turns the emission down to normal levels. The glowing stops. ]

It's a damage control if anything. They want us to believe they slipped and made a mistake, and now are apologizing for it. But it's more about looks and pretenses. "Look how elegantly sorry we are".

If they wanted to fix what they have done, they'd focus more on helping people, from both of the Shores.

[ Count on Genos to not voice his thoughts succinctly ]

[onepunching]

[ Saitama nods his head. ]

Yeah I don't really buy it. It's like they're trying so hard to be sorry they're overcompensating for not really being sorry at all. [ He sighs and hits his back against the tree, frustrated. ]

At least the food here's good.

[scrap_metal]

Please refrain from eating chocolate, just to be safe. [ he doesn't want his god to haunt a toilet again ]

But yes, so far no one has collapsed and everyone are enjoying their time. I'd say, the new arrivals are quite lucky to have a welcoming like this.

[onepunching]

[ Saitama instinctively reaches for his side to feel for the rash that is no longer present. ] Yea they're pretty lucky. I haven't seen any ayakashi around either. Or at all since the first time.

[scrap_metal]

I wander the Near Shore, but I haven't yet figured out how to spot them. [ he hangs his head, some residue petals and flowers falling of it. To which he reacts with brushing his hair angrily. They're still there?? Stupid branch ] My scanners don't really pick them up. [ What a useless shinki he is. He needs to work harder. ] But I did saw that Makoto brat the other day...

[onepunching]

We could always go lookin' for them together. It's getting kinda boring at home. [ Saitama shrugs and sips his water. He raises an eyebrow when Genos mentions Makoto. ]

...

Who's Makoto?

[scrap_metal]

Your worshiper. That new age kid trying to get into art school.

[ Being a god is tough. You have so many of people, it's obvious you can't keep track of them all. But your shinki has good memory for faces, so there! Being useful! ]

There was an accident relating to said school. They had to cancel the entrance exams month ago, because several students had been hospitalized during it. Makoto was one of them. That's why they needed to hold last-minute exam sessions.

Few students ended in hospital again.

[onepunching]

Oh! Yea that kid! [ Saitama remembers the hours he spent together with Makoto while Genos was gone. They hadn't bonded at all, but he's surprised at himself for forgetting his first case.

Accidents? Hospital? ]

Are they alright? [ His voice lowers. ] Is it really only accidents?

[scrap_metal]

That's what I wanted to check. During last ayakashi outbreak people ended in hospitals too. [ and dead, but fortunately that wasn't the case now ]

If you accompany me we could take immediate action. If something is wrong, that is. [ gods and shinki work best in pairs after all ]

[onepunching]

Yeah it definitely doesn't sound like some innocent accidents.

[ A thought occurs to Saitama. ] Oi, Genos. Were you gonna go off by yourself to investigate?

[scrap_metal]

That was the plan. I tend to patrol in spare time. [ Which is a lot of it ]

[onepunching]

And what were you gonna do if you ran into an ayakashi by yourself? [ Genos always went on patrols back home, but he could handle the things he ran into. He can't actually destroy an ayakashi himself. ]

[scrap_metal]

I'd contact you immediately so we could take care of it. [ which isn't the smartest decision probably, because who knows what would happen in that time window ]

[onepunching]

And what if I never get your message? Or what if I can't come in time? Or what if you don't even have a chance to-- [ Saitama intended to just scold Genos for being a bit careless, but he ends up making himself sad. He masks it by shrugging and looking the other direction, a blank stare on his face. ]

Never mind, you never listen anyways.

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos wants to protest, to say how he wants to be useful, but the shift from scolding to... that something, makes him stop. It's not indifference it's resignation.

He hangs his head lower. Because all those arguments, they're true. Neither of them can do much alone. ]

...I'm sorry [ he says slowly ] I didn't think it through.

[onepunching]

Yeah. That's why you got me around I guess. [ He flicks Genos on the forehead. ] I don't mind you getting out of the house, just don't go looking for trouble. [ He never gave Genos rules like this before, but he also never considered the fact that he'd be gone due to his own recklessness either. ]