34 - Love is in the Air

[godsoffortune]

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

Those who have signed up -- or whose friends and colleagues have signed them up -- for dates will get cards with specified times and meeting places inside for the big event. The cards don't list their dates' names, but instead have a matching symbol to allow everyone to find their proper partner. If anyone tries to stand up their date, they can expect a small and angry owl to harass them until they give in.


• 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

There's more than just romantic couples out to enjoy themselves today. Romantic holidays can be tough for those whose love lives aren't so rosy, and as always, those negative feelings draw in ayakashi who are ready to ruin everybody's day.

All across the city, besides the usual ayakashi, characters might encounter the following:

Flocks of dove ayakashi whose mournful call induces self-doubt, suspicion and paranoia in everyone who hears it. Are your friends really your friends? Is your lover betraying you? Shouldn't you hurry up and stab them in the back before they can do it to you? These ayakashi are small and agile, difficult to catch but easy to destroy once they're caught... if you can overcome the urge to turn on your allies first.

Long-fingered shadow ayakashi, large and powerful, and capable of sneaking around by blending into genuine shadows. These ayakashi draw those who are alone into their clutches, filling them with resentment and despair. Anyone battling them needs to watch out for the humans they might already have influenced, who may become unpredictable and violent as the ayakashi influencing them grows more desperate.

Cute teddy bear ayakashi, that influence anyone they cling to into greedy obsession: they need attention, affection and gifts, and they can never have enough. When attacked, the teddy bears turn out to fight a little more like a grizzly bear than a stuffed toy, so gods and shinki beware!

Praying for Love

Those who aren't busy with their own dates might find themselves busy taking care of other people's instead. On a day like this one, everyone's praying that things turn out perfectly! Prayers gods might hear include:

"He's just got to ask me out! I made him the biggest box of chocolates... please, let senpai notice me!"

"Does she really like me? Please, give me a sign."

"I got concert tickets for our date, but it's supposed to rain. Please let me find a way to make this work out anyway!"

"The restaurant I wanted to take him to isn't taking any more reservations for tonight. What can I do? I can't cook!"

Wild Card -- players are free to make up their own romance-adjacent prayers for their characters to fulfill.

In Summary:

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

Comments

[wildguardian]

Simple! We're getting away from all these living people so we can fight this thing!

[She's got a pretty decent sprint, Zhao notes, dodging between a couple of strolling teenagers and picking up speed. Being chased by an angry bear is a great motivator.]

[reloves]

[ That magical girl nimbleness!

It's true though that Minako does manage to keep up pretty well. Even if she may just be a teenage girl strength-wise, she's pretty quick, and staying ahead of the bear is - thankfully - not a big problem for her. She even has enough focus left to think about what he's saying, and after a moment she points in a direction ahead of them. ]

When I went here before, there usually weren't people near that part of the park over there where the trees are closer together! [ The upside of having gone scouting for locations for the whole blind dates thing.. ]

[wildguardian]

Nice. [He turns to match her pointing finger; he can see the closely planted trees, and if it's really abandoned over there, it'll be perfect. There's even cover. He picks up the pace as the galloping bear snarls behind them.]

I'll get it with a borderline once we're there! Make sure you dodge!

[reloves]

Got it!

[ She nods. Dodging shouldn't be much of a problem since Minako is nimble enough for that. Even while running away from that bear now she easily dodges a couple having a picnic on the grass with a wide curve so the bear won't consider those mortals as a quick snack.

They're quickly starting to approach the trees though-- ]

Get it now..!

[wildguardian]

[He spins on one foot, slashing his hand down at the bear behind them.]

Line!

[The borderline slashes down through its body, sending bits of bear falling in two directions in an explosion of...

... fluffy white stuffing? Ayakashi are the weirdest fucking things. He leaves his borderline up as both halves of the bear scrabble and try to rejoin their missing bits; his free hand is balled into a white-knuckled fist with the effort of holding the borderline against that attack from both sides.]

You're a shinki, right? Can you do anything against these things but a borderline?

[reloves]

[ She shakes her head, keeping her eyes on the now halved bear. ]

Not without my goddess.

[ And not without remembering the fact she has the power she had during life still slumbering deep within her, but she's nowhere near close to doing that either. ]

Maybe the best we can do for now is drive it away from the city. Or to find a god and shinki pair who are both around-- [ It's only then that she looks at Zhao. ] Did your god go on a date?

[ Because Zelda sure didn't. ]

[wildguardian]

Not that I heard, but he wouldn't tell me. Was Bakugou Katsuki anywhere on your list?

[He can't do much without his god, either. He bites back a really vile curse (innocent teenage ears are listening, right) as his borderline fails and the ayakashi practically springs back together with a loud growl.]

Not so fast, you! Line.

[It slams into another borderline; this time, it's easier to hold, with an attack just from the one side. Zhao still doesn't want to do this all day.]

Okay, so, let's go with luring this thing away. If we run into a god out for the day with their shinki, so much the better, but I'm not betting on it.

[reloves]

[ Moderately innocent teenage ears, I suppose...

Minako frowns a bit though as she mentally searches what she remembers from the list in her head. Chikusa had done most of that part of the organising, but she at least looked at the names.. ]

I don't think that name was there, no..

[ So both of them are out of luck in regards to their gods being anywhere near here. There's really nothing better to do than to just make sure this bear isn't anywhere near vulnerable people then. ]

I know the best way out of town though, it's not too far away from here-- do you think it'd be safer to leave it in the woods?

[wildguardian]

Safer than it is to leave it here for sure.

[Well, damn. He hadn't really expected Bakugou to be out on a romantic date, but it'd been worth a shot. He nods firmly, watching the bear as it claws at the barrier, and raises a hand to slash it down again, maiming the creature.

He's pretty sure, to the extent that a teddy-bear face can look pissed, it's looking angrier every time they get a hit in.]

If you know the way out of town, I'll follow you. We can trade off hitting the thing with borderlines if it gets too close.

Ready?

[reloves]

Yeah. [ She nods. ] Better to avoid hitting it too much though.

[ Who knows with these ayakashi - maybe it'll go into some hyperdrive mode and start running faster if it gets pissed off enough. Minako is pretty fast, but not that fast! ]

Come on, let's go! Follow me!

[ She starts running, trusting him to drop the borderline so the bear can come after them. Right now Minako herself is too focused on remembering the way out of town without crossing super busy streets where people could get maimed. ]

[wildguardian]

[He's running, too, leaving the borderline up for two heartbeats after they start to ensure their lead. It's not long enough to discourage the ayakashi from following them. Those claws are gouging the grass as it roars into movement, the ground shuddering under its weight -- already big, and, maybe, bigger as it gets angrier. It's hard to say if that's just its coarse plush fur standing on end.

It's just a little faster than they are, and they only get a few blocks before Zhao has to toss the first borderline back at it, slashing its forepaws on an abandoned street corner.]

How much further?

[reloves]

Um..

[ It's a little less instant of a reaction than Minako would usually have, but the gears in her head are turning so much that it's hard to even find words between running, glancing at the ayakashi behind them and still trying to keep her mental map in mind. So for a few moments she runs without answering just yet. ]

I think we're about halfway now..?

[ She glances over her shoulder at the bear as it gets closer to them again, letting out a small groan. ]

Why did it have to be such a fast one?!

[wildguardian]

Don't worry, I have this under control! [Probably. Sort of. Enough. He slashes at the bear again as it makes up its lost distance, putting on a burst of speed. Turns out he's not much of a distance runner; he's feeling his breath burning in his lungs even if his heart, as a shinki, isn't pumping at all.]Line--

[The breath is a problem for the spells, though. Halfway. He can make another halfway. He's just got to keep up with the kid til they get there.]

[reloves]

[ At first Minako doesn't entirely notice that he's an old man not as good of a runner as she is since she's so focused on the road ahead of them and the bear behind them.. but eventually it gets pretty hard to miss the way Zhao is breathing unevenly. ]

Hey, just focus on running! It's alright!

[ Even if it means that she'll have to pay attention to a lot of things at once.. But if there's anything Minako is good at, it's taking on way too much responsibility just to ensure others don't have to. ]

I'll hit it when it gets too close! [ And even though it's kind of tiring to run this far even for her, she winks at him and forces a smile like it's nothing. ] Don't underestimate youthful energy!

[wildguardian]

I said I've got it. Age and cunning!

[Over youth and energy. He's struggling for breath, and he's got to remember to put in more exercise, but that doesn't mean he can't keep the ayakashi off their heels.

Just to prove it, he snaps another borderline back at the thing, and waves Minako on.]