thenearshore | 34 - Love is in the Air

34 - Love is in the Air

Who: Everyone!
What: An enterprising pair of shinki is trying to spread love throughout the Far Shore with exciting blind dates.
When: February 14
Where: Hot romantic spots throughout Tokyo
Summary: Blind dates on Valentine's Day? Sounds like fun (or possibly a disaster, but everyone needs some good disaster stories.) That's not all that's going on, though. Ayakashi are looking to chow down on the negative emotions that a romantic holiday can generate, and those who aren't busy with their own dates might be sucked into helping out followers who need help to make the day go well.

The Dates

Blind Date Matchups

Date One: The Romantic Brunch.
Couples will find themselves with reservations (and pre-paid coupons for the prix fixe menu) at a swanky French restaurant with a wide balcony overlooking the lake in a central Tokyo park. They can dine on dainty pastries, sweet milk coffees, bowls of grapes and hothouse strawberries, and a selection of fancy chocolates and petit-fours-- plus, some of the trees in the park are blooming in holiday-appropriate red and white!

Date Two: The Aquarium.
Couples scheduled for this date have tickets to a rooftop aquarium in Ikebukuro: brightly colored fish, animals including penguins, seals and pelicans, a small petting zoo and plenty of shadowy, secluded nooks to cuddle in make for a fun lunchtime date. The tickets even include admission to the one o'clock penguin and seal show!

Date Three: The Amusement Park.
This date sends couples to spend the evening enjoying themselves at a seaside amusement park. Ride the roller coasters! Take selfies with the costumed attendants! Share an overpriced ice cream cone while you watch the fireworks after sunset, then wind up the night with a ride on the colorfully lit Ferris wheel with a romantic view of the Tokyo skyline.

Ayakashi Menace

dove

shadow

teddy bear

need

Praying for Love

Wild Card

In Summary:

Enjoy your dates
Fight some ayakashi
Make sure to answer prayers for a good Valentine's Day
Have fun~

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[ So it's a date, but it isn't a date? It's a date, but Hakkai doesn't want to be here? ...No, no, if he didn't want to be here he wouldn't have asked Gojyo here in the first place, he chides himself. Don't be stupid. Ask, don't assume. ]

I don't know what that means. I... [ From out of nowhere the waitress appears, and Gojyo's mouth snaps shut as she sets out their beers. No, thanks, they're not ready to order yet. A couple more minutes, yes, thanks.

And then she's gone, and they're alone again.

He can't help but notice that Hakkai didn't dress up for this date. Did he come straight from whatever carnival his last date was at? He sure smells like it. And here's Gojyo, in a suit he picked out days in advance.

He's making a total fool of himself being here, isn't he? With an uncertain glance at Hakkai, he picks up his beer, methodically downing half of it in a series of smooth gulps. It's a date, but it's not important enough for him to clean up first. It's a date, but he wants to go slow. It's a date...

...but it's not actually a date, is it? ]

[The flask goes back into Ginia's purse. It'll need a refill later, but there are plenty of shrines around to get water from.]

I'm free.

[There's a bit that feels like maybe she should go back to the temple and put in a few hours of work... but isn't clearing ayakashi a service for the greater good? Also the pile of chocolate on her desk Zhao hinted at is maybe a bit intimidating to face today.]

Rest sounds good. Hungry?

[She's human, but she's barely broken a sweat from the nanites running through her. That said, her shoes aren't the best for fighting ayakashi in. Sigh. Such is the sacrifice for fashion.]

[Surprise, huh? Ginia tucks the aquarium brochure into her purse, an idea forming. She gestures for him to follow and ledds him outside of the aquarium. Looming over the large mall-office building the aquarium is in the popular tourist destination and sightseeing spot, Tokyo Skytree. The open lattice of the tower creates an attractive sight as it works up toward the first observation deck.]

Always wanted to go up there and see the view. Want to skip the lines and climb it with me?

[A borderline pops up at the end of the alleyway to block off any fleeing ayakashi, though the shinki casting is unseen. There's the slight click of hard soles on a sign above. Under the cover of umbra, Ginia perches on a sign above, searching for a sign of the ayakashi.

Yeah, she agrees, Shun. She glances at the human, not questioning his methods. With the type of ayakashi they're dealing with, the humans are more of a threat.]

Ah, I...

[Gojyo's sinking behind his beer glass, fragile enthusiasm transmuting to sullen uncertainty, and Hakkai slumps in return, reaching for his own glass and taking a long swallow. Gojyo's dressed beautifully and expensively for this date; he'd gotten Goku's shinki to help him pick out that suit and the gorgeous coat over it, and it's clear he'd wanted this to be something important, a meaningful development, a--

-- a dinner date, on Valentine's Day, which Hakkai had not quite realized is exactly what he was proposing.

He sets his beer down, fingers fluttering to clasp together again, and chooses blunt honesty.]

... I care for you very much, but I think -- last time -- we were moving too fast.

[Falling into bed together without talking about what it meant, or what they thought of each other, or what next; it's no surprise it ended terribly. That had mostly been Hakkai's fault, too; he'd been far too shattered from the disaster that was Ayumu's ablution to make good decisions, and too shattered not to rely too much on Gojyo.]

I need to be a better friend to you, or I won't be good at being anything more, and I don't want us to hurt each other again.

So what I mean is, I'm not sure I know when I'm going to be able to be more.

[And here the boyfriend is, at last. But you can't blame him for any delays, Chikusa. You had him walk through an aquarium! It's full of cool distractions! He's been having a hard time not marveling at the various fish and tanks that catch his eye.

But, finally, he does arrive, trotting up to Chikusa to peer into the water with eager interest.] Are you catching fish, Kakipi?

[Ken, you don't catch fish in an aquarium. But then again, the concept of petting sea creatures has never really occurred to him, so he can't immediately conceive of any other reason there'd be an open tank where Chikusa's stuck his hand in the water.]

[With that line of logic, it's painfully apparent. Guilty as charged. Ginia drops the spell and raises her hands, eyes honing in on Chikusa's hidden hand. She's never seen him with a weapon and she'd rather not find out by being a target.]

Hi.

[She moves closer, looking at the dismembered ayakashi, limbs twitching and trying to knit back together. Signing practice is good, but Ginia opts for her phone for clarity in the moment.]

Are you leaving it or do you have other plans?

[ He hissed as a line of pain blooming on his one hand were it rested just under the slashes in Yunlan's back, and glanced around them. Too many humans, too many targets in this area, and he knew that just him and Yunlan were not going to be able to save them all once that thing started really moving.

They were at a disadvantage here in the boat, too far for any of his more lethal strikes to matter much. He couldn't use his energy blasts either, not the way it was reaching for the humans. He could cause them just as much damage as the ayakashi, maybe even more. The dark energy was not forgiven to the Haixingren and he was sure that these humans would be even worse off if he started flinging energy. ]

We can't stay here!

[ No time to think, let alone acknowledge the pain. Shen Wei kept his grip around Yunlan tight and teleported them from the boat to the dock between the ayakashi and the humans. Pulling Yunlan to his feet with him, Shen Wei curled his fingers at his side even as the ayakashi screamed as Yunlan's borderline cut into its good arm. Still not enough and he curled his fingers as he pulled in dark energy. ]

I'll get the humans to leave, make that thing stay put!

[ Another wave of dark energy, this time curving as it skipped between two artificial stalagmites, hit a wire then scorched into the fuse box. There was a pop, a flash of light and then yellows sparks. A child yelled and more lights started popping as the attendants tried herding the people out of the area. ]

[Shun at least has some experience in having to move around in small spaces even with his mount as fast as it is, and it shows - he manages to pull himself around the edge of the dome with remarkable accuracy. He drags the vessel across the pack of ayakashi again, causing another chunk of them to burst into light and free up more of the space. A few of them are trying to use the minimal space to their advantage and take on Shun, but they can't quite catch up to him by the time they recover.

There's only around ten left now - one more pass on Shun's end should do it, so he flips himself and his mount over to take the rest of them out.]

[Shun gets teased constantly by people whose opinions he actually cares about, so having it happen from people he doesn't even know just gets a somewhat dismissive glance (if one that remains long enough to identify key information like build and bearing) and a sharp breath out as if bored of the idea already.

The voice sounds somewhat familiar to Shun, though - it takes the few moments while he answers for him to place it to one of the recent network voice posts.]

If you want something for a dead person, maybe. [He shrugs, continuing to walk down the cable. Pausing in his work, no matter his dislike for it, is rare for him.] If you've got something that actually matters to say, then get on with it. I'm busy.

[Shun has...never had much patience for this sort of thing, honestly.]

[Well, that's questionable to Shun's eye. He looks over the area to try and catch a trace of the casting shinki and the ayakashi both, but he can't yet see any sign of movement. The ayakashi might have sunk into the rest of the shadows in the alleyway.

He raises his voice slightly, to make sure it's audible to anyone within reasonable borderline-casting range.] If you're planning to keep yourself hidden, it means I'm going to be looking for two things at once instead of one. Not that useful to either of us if we both want this ayakashi dead.

[ Minako shakes her head, keeping her eyes on the ayakashi rather than looking at him. ]

Not as far as I know. Only a god and shinki pair can fully get rid of an ayakashi. I could wound it, or keep it in one spot, but I can't fully get rid of it.

[ And even though keeping it in one spot until the day was over would be kind of a solution, it's not really possible since Minako would have to stay near it and keep up her concentration the whole time.. ]

And my goddess is nowhere near here right now.

Well, isn't it obvious?

[ Minako is pretty much the opposite of a grouch, so she can't even imagine what it'd be like to not get super excited about the things she gets excited about.. which is a lot of stuff, really. ]

It's Valentine's Day! Who isn't cheerful on Valentine's Day? It's the best day of the year!

Oh, Chikusa, of course!

[ Don't ask what he's doing though, Minako has no idea.. Which is probably for the better, since Minako's pure Valentine's Day ideas probably don't involve sending murderous owls after people. ]

The two of us are a perfect team..! Making sure people are happy and dating everywhere!

[ He doesn't know her enough to know that he could assume that she might have forgotten.

Obi rubs at his shoulder, and lets out a deep sigh. He doesn't like lying, honestly, even though he's a decent pretender (except today, apparently). ]

......It was a bit of a disaster so it ended early.

[ The instincts of a wild beast. But her hair was a dead give-away anyway. His suspicions are definitely confirmed when he hears that unmistakable voice of his mistress.

Obi bats at the owl harassing him, and his smile is a little tight around his eyes. ]

....Hello, Mistress.....I didn't expect to see you here.

[ Wonderful! Obi is all for fighting, it's the best option right now. ]

Alright, nice to be working with you, Mister~

[ He's just going to follow Hak in the direction he was going, then. While, of course, stay sharp and look for any ayakashi that might slither around. ]

[ It pretty much is like another planet. Another dimension. Whatever.

His head snaps in the direction of the voice addressing him, and after a few moments, his eyes narrow into a calmer expression and a smile of amusement. ]

I wouldn't know! But I can't say it feels familiar to see them in huge glass boxes. How do they not break and drown us all?

[ There's something that feels slightly off. It's not off in the sense when they were both off at the volcano, but there's something.. Obi rubs at a shoulder, a look of surprise on his face. ]

Is it? I hadn't noticed.

[ He sounds both surprised and cheery at the same time. ]

Oh? Is there going to be something else then? Or are you just taking a stroll?

[ As expected of a shinki. Well, learning something new ought to prove interesting. Hibiki holds out a hand to Ovelia, more welcoming than demanding now. The supplicant has included an address in case "box office god-sama" doesn't know where to bestow Their blessings, so teleportation is possible... ]

Take my hand.

I think it'd depend on how they feel.

[ And while Minako does know Caster and Archer to some degree, she wouldn't assume in the slightest that she knows them well enough to be able to figure out exactly what they're thinking about this. Besides, she just shouldn't speak for someone else when it comes to something this important. ]

But.. if you'd go for the former, I think it's important to know for sure that it's what you want before you do anything. I mean, anyone can break someone else's heart sometime, but doing it twice is just cruel, you know?

[ Well, it's not every day that you're being helped out by someone who speaks like that. Even though Minako has come to expect pretty much anything at this point thanks to all her experiences at the Far Shore, she still blinks for a moment in surprise when there's sudden light traveling towards her - too quickly for her to even move out of its way.

It's really hard to tell what's happening at first. Minako is just standing there for a moment without moving, stunned by her brain trying to process what just happened, but then she does notice the things the people are throwing suddenly feeling like light touches against her skin.

No time to question just what exactly this power is. She jumps - her own natural nimbleness combined with the light making her easily jump over and through the crowd - until she's on the other side of the humans with much more open space.

She glances over at the girl who called out to her, pointing at a wall with shadows on it. ]

It's hiding there within the shadows!

Edited 2018-11-08 19:43 (UTC)

[ Wonderful! He already misses being able to be able to use normal guns with altered bullets, but he has to get equipment to get more of those. Mass production is still difficult. He'll make do with what he can get hold of, even if it's one of Hibiki's water pistols.

No holy water will go to waste at least- his aim is perfect. Some of the ayakashi even get a spray straight into their mouths when they snap at them with sharp teeth. ]

Even dull weapons can be of some use. Sometimes.

[ D2's grin widens even further, as if he's not the least surprised by this revelation. Or just doesn't mind this "coincidence". ]

That depends on how you look at it.

[ It's probably a coincidence that they were matched for this, at least. ]

Sorry I'm not a stranger, if you were hoping for one.

[Always failing to look past appearances, grumbles the book who was just thrilled he got a cute girl.]

Look, ignore that part. It's a setback. In reality, I'm an Overlord! The most badass freaking Overlord in the entire cosmos!

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34 - Love is in the Air

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