[closed]

[chibisu]

Who: Ebisu, Aomi, and various out-temple workers
What: Time for a relaxing trip to Kanagawa, before the next thing blows up.
Where: Kanagawa
When: Sometime after that compound mess

Kanagawa Prefecture has a lot of good points. There's an opening to the ocean, a lake for touring, beautiful views of Mt. Fuji wherever you look, and all sorts of interesting museums or temples. Aomi, the organizer of this little trip, agrees for everyone to meet at Iiyama Kannon an hour or two before noon. An easy famous place that people hopefully won't get lost going to, and all. Until then, well, people are free to go wherever they like. They don't even have to stay in Atsugi, where the meeting area is supposed to be. There are beaches not that far off, zoos to enjoy various animals, parks where carefully cultivated flowers are in gleeful bloom, a bustling Chinatown, and even the little island of Enoshima.

When the time comes to meet up, however, Aomi can be found alongside Ebisu with a bulging backpack and he does a quick headcount to make sure everyone is there before continuing on. The ultimate destination isn't any of the many tourist attractions in Kanagawa, but rather he leads away from the cities and towards the forests of the prefecture. Aomi would have made sure to remind everyone that morning over text to wear hiking boots.... so hopefully they all remember to do that, because the path chosen is one that has no actual path at all. Hopefully no one gets hurt, although it shouldn't be too hard.

What's the destination? That much becomes obvious once they hit some more even land, where a small stone monument has been placed at the base of a fully blossoming Japanese wisteria. Here, Aomi will let everyone know it's fine to take a break, and settle down. It's here that he'll help spread out some various picnic blankets and begin unpacking from his enormous backpack. He's been courteous enough to pack lunch for just about everyone, and a good variety in case any one dish doesn't suit someone. There's delectably spicy yokosuka curry, juicy shirokoro horumon, rare to get shonan pork sausages, and a variety of sushi that takes full advantage of being from a seaside prefecture. Everyone is free to relax beneath the wisteria blossoms and enjoy the view peeking out from the trees.

Comments

[unlucky7]

"Thank Aomi for his timing." It may be a regular tradition of his, but his understanding of the timing is perfect. There's a nice calm happening anyway. It's worrying what might come next, but they should all enjoy the moment too. It's the best way to stay sane.

"Glad your temple could make it too."

[swordofzero]

"Yes the timing is quite good." A lot has happened. He still has no idea what caused the strange effects a few weeks ago, why Ginia had been a child or why Suzaku had somehow gained Edge's powers. But he is willing to put aside all his worries and focus on walking and the outdoors today.

"I'm glad too. It was very kind of Aomi to invite us all." He's still a little worried about Edge, but it's good to see Saber... doing something other than watching endless cartoons on netflix honestly.

"So are you in on the great secret of where we are heading?"

[unlucky7]

The world works in mysterious ways. It doesn't seem like a common occurrence at all, especially if it was powerful enough to mess with an old God of Fortune, but Ginia has no clue to where to even begin asking around. Everyone was fine, she had work to get back to, with so many mysteries already on her mind, maybe it's okay letting one fall aside.

"No clue at all." Ginia grins a little. "I asked some of the other shinki and they refused to spoil the surprise. I'm excited. He mentioned it was a yearly ritual."

[swordofzero]

"I look forward to reaching our destination then."

A yearly ritual. A strange concept when his whole knowledge of time is only half a year. But Aomi is the shinki to an old god, he will have been here many many years.

"Wherever we are headed this view is worth it anyways."

[unlucky7]

Time is a luxury to their generation when the oldest has only been around for a little over a year. To the old generation, it's a matter of being. Ginia wonders how long Aomi's kept this up, having a sense he's at least a few centuries old based on her coworker's comments.

"I agree. Forests, mountains, beaches, fields, Japan sure has some beautiful scenery."

[swordofzero]

"It does. It's all so beautiful and different..." He trailed off shaking his head. The Japan of his fleeting memories was a different world, one of war. So different from the Japan they walked in now.

"You went to Hawaii, have you been to other countries as well?"

Perhaps not, Ebisu was a Japanese deity but prayers might have taken them further afield.

[unlucky7]

"Only in pictures and videos."

Travel documentaries and shows serve well for creating a list of places she'd like to go with more time. Money is less an issue, though having someone she can use a shrine to teleport through certainly makes things easier.

"I would like to see more countries, but I barely have time these days. There's so much to see around Japan I don't think I'd tire of it any time soon. Kimi says he'll show me around if we ever have time."

[swordofzero]

"Hopefully one day you will." Ebisu's temple was very busy, Suzaku only worked there part time and his days were jam packed, Ginia must be exhausted being Ebisu's shinki. Never mind also serving a second god.

But it was probably a good thing. Suzaku remembered when he had first came to the heavens, with his first two gods who had mostly left him to his own devices. Too much time to think was not a good thing for a shinki.

"I hope Kimi is able to take you around Japan soon." Ginia deserved to have fun, she worked very hard.

[unlucky7]

Serving Ebisu is absolutely exhausting and half of the reason she can even help Chris from time to time is her other god works part-time at the temple too. It's certainly a hard swing going from the more open schedules of her previous temples to doing almost nothing but work.

But Ginia understands why no one has left despite the constant state of overwork.

One day it'll get better; they'll make it happen one way or another.

"It won't be any time soon, but it'd be nice." For all the work she has, Kimi has more. "But we're shinki. With any luck I'll be around for a few decades."

[swordofzero]

"Let's hope so." A few decades was a long time. Even though they were shinki... Disappearance were regular. So regular it was almost hard to keep track of them. Especially with shinki. With gods it became apparent when they left as their temple disappeared. With Shinki it was harder to tell at first. There has been a few times Suzaku has realised he hasn't spoken to someone in a while, to learn that they were gone.

"I hope you get all the time to see everything you want to, Ginia."

He smiles at her and looks back out at the mountain. He hopes so, he hopes she doesn't disappear, that she has finally found happiness.

[unlucky7]

Ginia makes it a habit of checking the contact list once a week for any changes. Some people disappear in the night and Ginia wonders if there's anyone who remembers them when they're gone. There have been a lot of disappearances since her arrival, more than the people coming in. It's hard to ignore the fact it's a shorter list these days, more worrisome with the dolls out there too.

But... on a day like today, Ginia is trying not to get too caught up in her mind. Let the day be a good one.

"Thanks. What about you? Say you're here for a decade, what do you want to do?"

[swordofzero]

"A decade." A decade was a long time. A very long time and it was almost... It was hard to imagine.

"I'm unsure. I think I would like to see more of the world as well but I guess I haven't put much thought to the future."

He had hardly dared to. He knew very well that everything could change very quickly. He had just gotten to the point where he felt comfortable making plans for next week, maybe next month.

"It's an interesting question though." And one he probably needed to think more on.

[unlucky7]

The new don't have the stability of the old. For some of the new, the idea of being here after decades or even a century is probably terrifying. For the old, as long as nothing kills them, they can count on having a long life.

"Our generation lives day to day, the old count on having endless time." She smiles and reaches over to pat his shoulder. "We're similar having gone through so many gods, though in different ways. Now we're both in a stable place."

[swordofzero]

"Day to dad is about right." He nodded. He looked around to where Saber was walking, chatting enthusiastically at someone, or perhaps himself, it was hard to tell sometimes. He smothered a small laugh.

"Yes, I got very lucky in where I ended up." So did Ginia he thought, she seemed a lot happier now even if she now had very little time. But time could be a double edged sword for a shinki, time to think could be very dangerous.

He fell silent and looked out at the view one more time, they should probably get back to walking before they fell behind.

[unlucky7]

They should probably catch up, but before they go, Ginia takes out her phone and opens up the front view camera.

"Hey, take a picture with me." One for the memory books. She's printed out many of the pictures on her phone or loaded them onto digital picture frames. Even if they don't stay around forever, at least the pictures will stay behind.

[swordofzero]

"A picture?" He blinked but then nodded, he's unsure how she's going to take a picture of them both whilst being the one with the camera but she seems to know what she's doing.

He stands a little awkwardly, stiffly though he does smile in the direction of the phone.

[unlucky7]

Welcome to the world of selfies, Suzaku. Ginia stands next to him and raises her phone, taking a picture of him. Suzaku may look a little stiff, but hey, it's a nice photo. She'll have to send him a copy once she has reception again. Indulgent moment done, she gives his shoulder a pat. Time to catch up with the rest of the group.

[swordofzero]

Interesting. He hadn't even thought of taking photos that way, even though it was similar to how video messaging worked on the BBS.

He just nodded at her with another smile and hurried onward, they didn't want to get too far behind.