[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]

[Ginia feels pretty certain she's seen Chris take food from Tsubasa, but maybe that's an understood arrangement. The subject turns a little more serious than she expected, but she knows a bit about Chris's past too. It's understandable with that context.]

Sorry, didn't realize it was a touchy subject. I'll keep in mind your non food-thieving ways.

[Unknowingly, it's something she understands. Food was kept to minimal and efficient requirements. Anything else they managed to obtain was always shared among the nine of them. Live together, suffer together, survive together. For a very long time, that was a big part of Ginia's life.]

[trustheart]

[Senpai is different... and generally doesn't eat a lot anyway. It's a sign of trust/how committed Chris is to getting on her case.]

Thanks. Uhm. Sorry I got snippy.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia waves her hand dismissively.]

Nothing to apologize for, I get it. Promise.

[Ginia wonders if there's anything else she should know in advance, but they can talk about that later. It's a day for good feelings and taking it easy. Best to bring it back to the previous topic.]

Lovey-dovey, huh? Cute couples all among the friend group?

[trustheart]

[Ah yeah, that puts Chris back on course.]

Yeah, exactly! There's Hibiki and Miku, and Kirika and Shirabe! And the worst part is neither of them seem to realize it!

[unlucky7]

[There sure are a lot of pairs and it doesn't escape Ginia's notice that 'Chris and Tsubasa' are also a pretty notable pair that maybe also haven't realized it too.]

I take it they spend most of their free time with each other and are pretty inseparable otherwise? Working together like they can read each others minds?

[trustheart]

You know it. They're also clinging to each other and saying and doing things that they should save for home...

[Chris has begun twirling her hair around her finger. Ginia may or may not have noticed her doing it before, in situations where Chris is holding back on things.]

[unlucky7]

[It's a tic she's noticed before. Hard not to. Ginia types a message, considers the words a few seconds longer. It's not like she hasn't noticed things between Chris and Tsubasa and wondered. They're both gods, so it's not really a problem. What she isn't sure is what Chris or Tsubasa want.]

Do you wish you had someone to cling to and say things to?

[trustheart]

[Chris's eyes widen, before she immediately shrinks back a bit, embarrassed.]

... It's not just that. I'm not completely comfortable with PDA, after... everything that's happened to me.

[unlucky7]

[Hm. Right. It's something Ginia can empathize with, both in a forgotten underlying way, and also because she's dealing with the lingering effects of more remembered mistakes]

I get it. Promise.

[There's a small pause as Ginia realizes something, fingers tapping on her phone.]

The kinds of prayers you get, do they that bother you? The love and/or sex ones I mean.

[trustheart]

[Chris winces slightly, as she hears those words, even though they're exact ones Chris wanted her to pick up on.]

A bit. I don't know how to answer them. At least, not the ones that aren't protecting people from... you know. Unwanted attention. I know exactly what to do there.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia knows what to do there too. There's a thin smile as she nods in agreement.]

Would it help trading prayers with someone else until you feel ready to handle them?

[trustheart]

[Chris looks surprised.]

Is that something you can actually do?

[unlucky7]

Of course. Ebisu's temple gets prayers we outsource to other gods all the time. Other temples occasionally bring prayers to us too.

[Not as common among the old gods given they're a temple of nora... but sometimes prayers deemed too good for shinki but perfect for lowly nora get passed their way. With the new gods, there are some arrangements set up.]

[trustheart]

Oh, that's right. Sorry, once you get exposed to something like that, you start noticing it happening. At least when it's just part of a job.

[A beat.]

Man, that's kind of disturbing when you think about it. Handling prayers so dispassionately, and everything, when everyone else thinks you're getting a god's unconditional love and attention.

[unlucky7]

I think it's far more business-like on our end than most people realize, but I wouldn't say it's dispassionate either. I think even if prayers receive different levels of attention, it doesn't mean one matters more or less than another.

For example, plenty of people come by a shrine and offer a general prayer for protection, or wealth, or happiness, or something. A god can offer a blessing with sincerity, but there's not much else to do.

But if someone comes by with a prayer to do well on an upcoming test, we might check the area to make sure there isn't an ayakashi problem, or make sure they're motivated to study and getting enough sleep.

Sometimes hearing the prayer is enough.