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~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Chikusa is a little bit late to their next destination, the Aquarium, because someone had to check over the restaurant, pack his shit up, and send Mukurou out with the next list of invitations. The owl has already come back with blood on his talons, a fact he had seemed absurdly proud of, and, well. Cleaning those had seemed to be the thing to do before both Minako and anyone else saw.]

[Listen. Blood gives away that you can kill something. It's better if people just continue to underestimate his shitty bird.]

[However, he's here now with a small box of delicious pastries he's absconded with from the restaurant... Just in time to see what weirdness Minako is up to today.]

[She's really not subtle, honestly. In fact, she's so unsubtle that it's kind of amazing, and he takes a moment to take in the scene. Honestly, unlike other people who have ""morals"" or ""social etiquette"", he doesn't see the big deal in her following them around. If they don't want her there, they should just get better at losing a tail. It's not like it would be hard, he's pretty sure, with the way Minako is acting. It's just... Well. It's almost embarrassing.]

[After a moment, he finally snaps out of it and shuffles over in her direction.]

You suck at stalking people.

[Yeah. That's. Those sure at the first words out of his mouth. Chikusa doesn't have the energy for tiptoeing around an issue.]

[ The fact that Chikusa is in fact much better at being sneaky is already proven by the fact that he startles Minako when he suddenly speaks up like that. Granted, it's mostly just since Minako is completely focused on the people she's watching right now rather than anything that's going around her personally, but she still lets out a squeal anyway, her eyes wide as she glances over to him.

Oh. It's just Chikusa. Phew. Minako lets out a sigh of relief. ]

Hey, please warn me next time if you're suddenly going to pop up like that!

[ As if she isn't the one carrying out borderline illegal activities here.. ]

....Sure.

[He will do no such things. If people can't pick up on him, whether he's making an effort or not, that's not his fault. Besides, he's pretty sure this really is on Minako this time. After all... He glance over to where she had been spying on.]

So you really do spy on people... I hadn't been sure if it was a joke or not.

[He's smart, but sometimes pretty people dumb. Sure, stalking people doesn't really seem to bother him that much, but also most normal people don't do that. Maybe there's hope for Minako yet.]

It's not spying!

[ She waves one hand dismissively, as if she'll get the notion of his brain somehow that way. Even though she is most definitely spying on people right now. ]

I'm just trying to see how their date is going..! It's not like we can just set people up on dates and then ignore them afterwards! We have to make sure their date is a good one so no one has a bad Valentine's Day! [ Even though that's more Minako's goal than it was ever Chikusa's. ]

[He's pretty sure she's spying but, whatever, so long as it helps her sleep at night. Minako has proven to be a reliable enough person who he somehow knows that Chikusa won't actively try to ruin whatever relationship they currently have. Instead, he just continues to blink in the direction of the couple she'd been watching.]

...Do you think being obvious might ruin it?

Yeah! That's why I'm not approaching them! [ Don't get her wrong, Minako does think her presence could liven up any social occassion, even a date. But she's also not enough of an idiot to not know that third wheeling can be super awkward for the two people on the actual date, hence why she's not doing that. ]

You wouldn't want me there if you and your boyfriend were on a date, right? No one wants that! So I have to watch from a distance and intervene from here if necessary instead.

...I mean, I wouldn't care.

[Ken is more debatable, since Ken gets flustered around girls and has no idea how to interact with them, but Chikusa is pretty sure he could handle that. Ken is as easily distracted by things as he is easily worked up. It's handy, in certain situations.]

[For now, however, he reaches over to gently nudge at her binoculars.]

Watching from a distance with binoculars... is best suited for when you're tailing in large spaces, away from other people. Like in the wilderness... or rural towns, where things aren't so crowded together. It can work in cities... but usually working in tandem with another person, who can move in closer for details and relay them to you.

[Trust him, he knows. He's had to tail mafia scumbags for years, often working with Ken.]

Busting them out in a building like here... That's too conspicuous. In cases like this, you actually want to approach the target if you want to keep an eye on them...

[Did she ask for a lesson on stalking people? No? Chikusa is here to give a lesson anyway.]

[ Maaaybe she should be asking where Chikusa got all of this knowledge from. It's not like she knows anything about him - or anywhere near enough to know just how much this sort of talk suits him. But she's probably just writing it off as him having read it in a book, considering that's exactly the kind of method he used to try and solve his god's romance problem to begin with.

Instead she seems much more focused on the advice itself. ]

I can't just approach them though! They know me! [ Or.. well, kind of. ] Everyone knows me. They'll recognize me..!

[ Yes, someone might be overstating their own importance here a little. ]

That's because you're loud.

[...Wait. He tilts his head back a little as if just remembering something, like, you know, common social skills.]

...All parts of you. [Nailed it.] Everyone notices you because you're always trying to get noticed... You need to do the opposite. Not trying for attention... but.. not trying too hard to go unnoticed either.

[He's not sure if he's explaining this right... It's the first time he's ever really tried to explain how he stalks people, after all.]

You have to look like you're part of the scenery, I guess.

[ Honestly, Chikusa could have explained it in the most simple and best way possible, and Minako's mind would still immediately jump to the most ridiculous interpretation of his words.

Maybe if this were a serious matter she would be able to listen to it a little better, but when she's caught up in her own ridiculous rosy la-la-land, it's impossible. ]

So.. are you saying I should disguise myself as a plant? Or a lamp?

Still.... pretty obvious...

[This isn't an art museum, where that sort of ridiculous plan might almost work. Most places don't have lamps that are human sized or shaped. Plants could be an idea, but, they're in an aquarium, not the middle of the woods where full on camo is needed...]

[Well, there's no helping it. Sighing, he lets his bag drop to the floor with a light thump and reaches up to shrug his way out of the jacket he's been wearing all day- one that matches Minako's. He's not really sure how it happened, but he hadn't bothered to fight it. Somehow, much like the time he had to dress up as a cop, the idea of dressing up just seems... like a basic fact of life he can't fight against.]

[He's not sure if this says something weird about him. Chikusa hasn't bothered to think about it too much.]

Listen... I'll show you how it's done. [Carelessly, he drops his jacket down besides his bag, the latter which he starts digging through for something in particular.] You don't need a disguise... You just have to belong with other crowds.

[ At least an actual demonstration seems like something Minako's brain capacity is more capable of focusing on right now. If not just since she didn't expect him to go that far in trying to explain to her how to do this whole stalking thing - she looks a little surprised when he starts taking off his jacket.

At least she can put two and two together once he starts digging through the bag, but even the conclusion she reaches there feels a little surprising to her-- ]

Is there something in there that can help you blend in? Why did you take something like that along? [ Minako here thought she was the only one with the desire to stalk dates! ]

Huh?

[He blinks up at her... and pulls out a simple gray and cream beanie with a little mottled pompom on top.]

I always bring an extra beanie with me.

[Sometimes- oftentimes- he has more than just one extra. Sometimes, he has as many as three. Listen... It's a necessity, alright? A necessity he'll be more than fine with explaining to her. When Minako blinks, the bright pink-red beanie on his head will already have been switched out for the more relaxed one. No one can see his bare head. No one.]

I mean... If I get into a fight, then the beanie I'm wearing might get bloodied up... or torn. Anything could happen. I've even had some people steal the one I'm wearing... [Nanako just meant it as a joke and gave it back, but Zero? Fuck Zero. Chikusa still takes zero responsibility for that whole situation.] So, I've found it's better to have another one on hand... Just in case.

[Putting his Valentine's beanie into his bag, he nods up at her.]

...That's the first lesson. Clothing matters. Unless everyone else is decked out brightly in that sort of thing, like during a parade... You'll want to not stand out too much. Wear what other people wear...

[ Why were you assuming you might get into a fight on a holy day of love, Chikusa!! And would that even be an ayakashi fight? Do ayakashi bleed? There are so many questions that ought to be asked about that, especially since Minako does not know about the slightly more murderous side of Chikusa, but that's not the main issue here. ]

But I like wearing these kinds of clothes though..

[ At least she doesn't sound like she's outright rejecting his advice. She mostly just seems kind of pouty about it. ]

Can you even imagine me wearing something that isn't bright?

[Listen. He never said anything about just fighting ayakashi. Chikusa is ready to throw down with monsters, his dad's ex (????) boyfriend, yakuza, random thugs, at least a couple other people he can think of in the Far Shore, literally anyone who bugs him...]

[Feral shitteen life says be prepared for a throw down at any time.]

[Checking himself over, he makes the faintest sort of nod.]

Pretty easily... Something, like, I guess... Black turtleneck and leggings, a skirt... And red boots? [Because she has a red hair bow.] And I guess a jacket for the weather.

Anyone can look like anything... It's not big a deal. If you like wearing those clothes more than following someone, then don't follow them.

[ Minako does imagine herself in those kinds of clothes for a moment, but she's such a 90s Kid™ that it's really hard to do so. Let her live with her bright obnoxious color combinations, that's what she loves.. ]

That's so cruel.. [ Yes, just because he's suggesting she wears something that doesn't make her stand out like a neon lamp in the dark. Clearly that's cruel. But Minako is acting so pouty about it that it's pretty obvious she's just moping and not being 100% serious about it. ]

There has to be a way for me to watch them while still looking cute..

...What?

[Other people truly are mysterious. Chikusa isn't entirely sure what is so cruel about wearing clothes different than what you're used to, after all. Sure, he would murder anyone who touched one of his hats, but that's something entirely different. He can wear any sort of hat, as long as it's a hat, and stays on his head. (Just one of many reasons of why beanies are superior.)]

[But to get upset just over dark clothing...]

...Wouldn't... you still look cute in other clothes? I don't understand at all...

[ She was about to give him the most teary-eyed melodramatic answer, a whole spiel about how she needs these colorful clothes to look beautiful and bright and energetic, but there's something about what he's saying that totally distracts her.

It's the faint smell of a compliment. Even though it's mostly just him repeating her, but whatever, she'll take what she can get! ]

Chikusa.. Are you saying I look cute?

[ She looks more starry-eyed than wibbly now. ]

...Yes?

[Sure? He doesn't understand what's happening here. Minako sure seems to match the kind of 'cute' which he sees being complimented in the streets, or on fashion magazines, that kind of thing. So it matches, doesn't it? And it feels like it would match even if she just wore darker colors.]

[Chikusa shifts back a little, wondering if he'll need to escape.]

[ He might just have to. ]

Chikusa..!

[ Since Minako's face just lights up with sheer joy at the answer. And then there's the telltale sign - her suddenly getting even closer, opening up her arms as she just keeps moving closer and closer.. Yes, there's an incoming hug. Are you going to dodge it and let her fall, Chikusa? This is a trust ~~fall~~ hug!! ]

[He surrenders.]

[He just got here from the restaurant. Running would be too much of a bother, especially since the two of them still have at least a little while to work with each other. And she's the person who has been trying to work on helping Hakkai get better taste, too...]

[But, mostly, Chikusa just doesn't want to run.]

[Although Minako probably deserves some kind of apology. Chikusa isn't very good at hugs, even for people he's inclined to. Limply, he lets her hug him, and wonders what the hell he should even do here.]

[ Thanks for giving in to your fate, Chikusa. It seems to have made Minako very content at the very least. Even though he's a total limp noodle in her arms, it's like she either doesn't notice that or just doesn't care, since she giggles happily while hugging him.

Even when she lets go of him and pulls away again, she's still smiling. ]

Thank you so much! I knew I could count on you to give me a compliment on this beautiful day!

[ Valentine's Day is supposed to be a day of love, sure, not friendship, but Minako will take compliments from any source. Friends matter more when she's literally incapable of having a relationship anyway. ]

...Yeah.

[Sorry, Minako. No matter how many times his tiny good god has hugged him or what he's been thanked for, manners and hugs are things that are currently beyond him. Reaching up, he adjusts his glasses. Maybe he should just... move past this... for lack of any better idea of what to do.]

So are you still interested in how it's done...?

[Maybe he should just avoid mentioning anything about clothes...]

Yes!

[ Still completely unbothered. Minako must just be used to encountering emotional brick walls even when she's practically overflowing with emotion and affection herself, since she doesn't seem to think anything is weird about Chikusa's reaction at all. ]

I'll even try to buy some more subtle clothes someday. But only since you said it! [ Apparently a one-sided hug was all she needed to change her mind that quickly, huh.. ]

[That's all it really needed, huh... Chikusa only grows more and more befused. Is it really because he said she's cute? Does this work on all girls, or just Minako? ...Would this work on Nanako? He has a lot of questions, and he's not entirely sure he's ever going to get the answers.]

Let me know if you go, since I need more things too... [Maybe he'd find more beanies... Oh, right, stalking lessons.] Anyway...

[Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his phone and flicks through it.]

One of the things to keep in mind about trailing people... is that you don't want them to think you're doing it, no matter when they look over at you. If you're staring at them with binoculars in a crowded room... It's kind of obvious.

[Finding what he's looking for, Chikusa looks up at her.]

So, watch what I do, alright...? I'll pick- [Leeeeeet's see... Chikusa glances through the crowd and picks out another obvious couple, one that has nothing to do with their whole event. They won't be able to see him anyway, since he's from the Far Shore, but he's just demonstrating the techniques more than anything right now anyway. It's fine.]

Them. So that you know where to look...

34 - Love is in the Air

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