thenearshore

Who: Chinatsu and you!
When: Early September
What: Chinatsu wants to thank you. Or try. And contemplating crap.
Where: Temples of people who are letting her crash there. Far Shore.

A. Open to anyone who’d let Chinatsu crash at their place while she’s homeless!

Chinatsu had lost her god not too long ago along with her home, but some people had been kind enough to lend her a place to stay while she had nowhere else to go. She wasn’t all too good with words, but she did want to thank them somehow.

After inconspicuously asking for her host’s favorite food or dessert, Chinatsu used some of what she had saved up to buy the needed ingredients. Now there she was, sleeves rolled up, an apron as armor and a wooden spoon as her weapon, attempting to fulfill her mission that was to prepare the dish while her host was out, or she thought was out anyway. It was going to be a surprise.

She sighed for the nth time in frustration as she read the instructions yet again, standing in the midst of what looked like the aftermath of a mini typhoon inside the kitchen. She would clean up, of course. Eventually. Right now, Chinatsu had other problems.

“Dammit..I was sure I did this part right! Why does it look like this?!”

B.

Sitting by the riverbank, Chinatsu rested her cheek against her hand, skipping rocks across the water with the other. At least, she was trying to. As of now, she could get one skip, sometimes two. She knew she had to find a god soon, but she was apprehensive about it. It’s not like she could mooch off others forever. It wasn't like she could also keep avoiding ayakashi. Without the ability to create lines, she's was a sitting duck. If she stayed in the Far Shore she'd be fine, but she'd also lose her mind out of boredom. She couldn't be much help to her friends either if they needed it. She throws another rock, this time just chucking it into the water.

Yukine was right. “This sucks...!”

C. Wildcard!

Wanna do something else? Hmu at

mightycheese

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There's a little girl hovering overhead, perhaps going unnoticed while Chinatsu scowls at the water and the rock that refused to skip. At the exclamation, however, tiny wings flap as Nanako lowers enough to come into her range of vision.

"What's wrong?"

"Wah!," she falls back against her hands in surprise when the little girl suddenly appears in front of her.

"N-Nanako-chan..?"

Chinatsu gasps, quickly thinking back to whether she said anything bad---alright, she's fine. She didn't want to be saying anything she shouldn't in front of her after all.

"Sorry.. I didn't mean to show you that...and we haven't seen each other in a while too...," she tucks her hair behind an ear, feeling pretty embarrassed.

The little girl gives her a sheepish smile in apology. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Lowering herself further, she lands beside the shinki and comes to crouch beside her, reaching out to pat her knee consolingly.

"It's okay. But you look upset about something. Is everything okay? What's wrong?"

"No, it's okay... It's not.."

Chinatsu couldn't lie to her though.

"I'm just kind of stuck with the whole finding a god thing.."

"Did you lose your god?" Nanako looks dismayed by this. "I'm sorry. That can be pretty scary, huh?"

"Yeah..but that was a while back already."

Chinatsu tries to give her a reassuring smile.

"It's alright, I'm doing fine. It's just.. I don't seem to have a choice but to get another god..and I don't really want to.."

Nanako pauses before shifting onto her knees and peering up at Chinatsu curiously. "Why not? You don't want a god?"

Oh, she forgot that Nanako was a god. Chinatsu averted her gaze awkwardly, not able to look her in the eye.

"Not really..not that I have anything against gods! I just..think I'm better off without one."

"But isn't that dangerous?" Nanako looks worried by this way of thinking. "What happens if you get hurt or if you're in trouble?" Going anywhere alone without a partner was sometimes very dangerous - she knows this firsthand.

".....Don't you get lonely?"

Nanako was asking all the questions Chinatsu didn't want to answer because it just proved her wrong even more. The last question was what stunned her though.

"I..I've been fine so far! And I have friends so...it's not lonely or anything.." It wasn't a word she even considered. Surely she wasn't though...yet it stuck to her.

"Well. You do get to choose, if you want a god or not. But I know there are lots of gods out there who would be lonely, too, without a good shinki. Maybe you just need to find the right one before you make that decision?" She reaches out and pats Chinatsu's leg. "I'm glad you have good friends, though. That's important here. But I don't think you should give up, you might find something really good that changes your mind!"

Her body was still tense from Nanako's question, but once she touches her leg, Chinatsu's muscles instantly relax.

"..Maybe," she smiles in defeat. "I don't think it'd sit right with me knowing that I just gave up."

"Don't worry, Chinatsu. You don't have to choose right away. And you can try it out to see who you work well with, too, right? If you make friends with gods, I bet you can find one you'll like. It doesn't even have to just be one."

She tilts her head curiously at Nanako. "What do you mean it doesn't have to just be one?"

"Sometimes you can have more than one," Nanako supplies with a warm smile. "My shinki, Homura... she actually belongs to my big brother. But none of the shinki that came to stay with me ever stayed very long so I never really had one. One time I went on a prayer and there was a really bad ayakashi there and it almost got really bad. Someone got hurt and I got really scared. When Homura and my big brother found out about it, Homura told me she wanted to be my shinki too, so she could help keep me safe. Onii-chan said that was a good idea, so I gave her a name too and now she belongs to both of us. We're a family."

More than just learning about being able to have multiple gods, Chinatsu frowned at hearing that Nanako had to go through such a rough time. Still, she was glad it had a happy ending.

"Sounds like you've got a good family."

"Yeah. they're really important. But there's lots of good gods and shinki here to be friends with." She should know - she's been social enough to meet a lot of them. "I'm sure you'll find someone important to you, too. I think you're really nice!"

Chinatsu turned her head away slightly, trying to hide her face. "Thanks....I..I know I can piss off people a lot so...I'm glad you think so."

Nanako just gives a quiet giggle and spontaneously throws her arms around Chinatsu in a warm hug. "I do think so. I think you're great! But if you need a place to stay, or help with anything, let me know. I have room at my temple, Nanshe was the goddess of people who needed somewhere to go, so the temple is made for it! I don't want you to feel sad or lonely. You don't have to give up yet, you can just take your time and look for someone really good for you!"

The hug took Chinatsu by surprised, but now that she thought about it...when was the last time she got a hug? She wrapped her arms Nanako, giving her a squeeze. "Thanks, Nanako-chan...I'll keep that in mind."

At least she couldn't see her face right now. Chinatsu was sure there was an embarrassing expression on her face.

Open!

B!

And angel has descended

<3

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