thenearshore | Closed

In the meantime, Shun finally approaches the kids, asking a few questions about the game to get them in the mindset to talk and then mentioning he heard the complaints about the other player. The kids sag a bit when the guy is mentioned again, but when Shun offers to give them some advice on countering the guy's deck, they're only too ready to listen.

The one issue is that if the guy walks in on them early, it might lead to him knowing what's coming, so Shun and the kids approach the owner to ask if there's any other space they can use to practice. The man has to consider for a while, but ultimately agrees to let them use the separate room that's normally set up for games that use miniatures instead, as long as they don't make a mess. He even agrees to keep it quiet from the older boy and his friends, but Shun does leave the message that if someone of Ginia's description comes in, then he can lead her over there.

Once they're set up in the other room, Shun sends Ginia another text.

We're in another room. Ask the owner when you get back here and he'll let you in.

It takes the teens few minutes to get everything recovered and back into the bag, a hasty stop at a nearby convenience store for some tape. Food distracts them and it give Ginia enough time to slip back to the shop ahead of them. She hastily buys a few starter decks to work with as well as a substantial stack of booster packs before heading to the room.

"They're getting food at the konbini, so we should be fine for a little longer." Ginia signs at Shun before taking out her phone for the sake of the kids.

"Sorry to hear you've been having trouble from those bullies. We'll make sure they learn their lesson. Who wants to see if I pull anything good in the packs?"

If there's a universal joy in card games, it's definitely seeing what someone pulls from booster packs.

Ginia is still learning about the different kinds of fish and what they look like, so she too is carefully reading signs. It helps good salmon has a very distinctive color. She joins Romeo and smiles as she looks at the salmon. The color is very nice and the cuts are a good side. Decent price too.

"Good job, Romeo. You want to look for salmon with a rich color like that. The brighter the color the better."

Ginia takes a picture to note the price and stand location.

"Remember, we want to compare a few places before making a purchase. That way we get the best deal."

"The brighter the better?" Well that was a good sign to look out for! If they were going to try and find the best deal then he would try and find the best salmon!

He darted off again, looking for the brightest salmon in the whole market! Every time he saw a salmon stall he copied what Ginia had done and took a photo of the sign and the price on his phone.

There are a few different factors to work with. The color and freshness is important, but so is price and quantity. For the family to use, she'd like to find the best side, something they can both salt and cook on its own. For her temple, they've assured her a lower quality with a greater quantity is fine.

By the time they've finished looking over all the stands, they have a good list to work with. Ginia looks through all the pictures and compares the stalls to a map of the space, circling a few stands.

"I think this stand is the one we'll go to for the family." She points at two other circled stands. "I need to stop here for some fish for my temple. Did you see anything you wanted?"

Romeo peered at the map in fascination, it was interesting that there was a map here! He can sort of follow it, thanks to all the map work he and Elfnein had done when they were tracking down the lost pets! He nods at the two circles on the map, he's sure they can find them again!

At the question he blinked. "Um... We could get some salmon too." That recipe had looked delicious. There were many many interesting things here but it was a bit overwhelming to make a choice!

It looks like Shun's gotten started with the kids a bit by the time Ginia comes in - he's looking through some of their decks and talking about things that work and things that don't. For once, he's also being cautious to phrase it in a manner that doesn't sound like he's belittling their ability, since they all seem like decent players for their age anyway, they're just being put up against people who have other advantages behind them.

Shun glances up and nods when Ginia comes in, the kids all waving at her. However, the caution of the greeting goes out the window when she mentions the packs, because the kids all let out a resounding "yes" and come a bit closer to see which ones she's bought.

Shun comes along with them, signing to her initially. "I've given them some tips on those guys already, but we can still do a bit of deckbuilding."

Then he switches back to speaking so the kids can understand. "Ginia is pretty new to the game as well, so if you see her get anything you know is good, make sure you tell her."

The kids all nod seriously, apparently taking it as some sort of small test of knowledge. Without the older players around, it seems like they're plenty ready to prove they do know about the game.

"The first stand would be good. If you need money, let me know."

She has a full wallet and plenty more to spare. There's the hunch Romeo will probably insist on paying on his own, but Ginia can always throw some money into the collection box at Elfnein's shrine at some point. Donations are donations after all.

"By the way, thanks for coming shopping with me again. It's been fun."

Ginia creates a generous stack of booster packs on the table. It's the kind of experience most kids dream about. As she opens the first pack, one of the kids is quick to stop her and show her how to move the cards around so the rare card is always the last card she sees. The other kids nod sagely at this arcane secret. Going through the first pack, the kids are more than happy to weigh in on the cards, whether because it's good, annoying to play against, or otherwise a favorite card for any numerous reasons. A slow collection of rare and even a few foiled cards form a new pile.

There's excited debate among the kids as they compare the cards she's pulled to the premade decks, each favoring their own tactics. Ginia takes the moment to sign over at Shun. "Mind checking if the other teens showed up? One mentioned he wanted to sign up for the tournament."

"It's really fun! Thank you for bringing me here! I got money so it's okay!"

He hopes it's enough, he doesn't really understand the money... They use it so rarely that he hasn't practised that much. But he hopes he brought enough! It would be embarrassing if he hadn't!

"Let's get what we need from this stall first and then go to the other one!"

If he doesn't have enough, Ginia certainly has enough to cover things and then some. In some ways she has the opposite problem; with so much money to spend, she doesn't really think about the cost of things. As long as it goes back into the economy, it's fine. With their path laid out, Ginia gives Romeo's shoulder a gentle pat. Time to finish shopping, get everything delivered so they can finish up this prayer and go home.

Shun mostly observes, watching how the kids respond - there's definitely something familiar about the vibe of excitement that settles on them, and for a moment, he thinks back to the times before the war started, the kids who used to always hang around the Duel Schools.

He shakes his head a moment before he notices Ginia move to sign at him, and he nods, backing off a few steps so he fades out of the kids' attention before disappearing. He'd rather teleport than give away where they've gone off to by opening the door if the older teens are outside, and he reappears at the far end of the store.

He can't see the other teens yet, but as he heads towards the front of the store, he starts to hear chatter from outside that sounds familiar from that video. He sends Ginia a quick text.

They'll be here in a minute.

The fish gets bought, Romeo needs help with the money, he really isn't confident with what all the coins mean but the man behind the counter is kind enough and helps him count it out.

Soon all the fish was bought and ready to be delivered. "I hope the family get to have a really tasty meal, miss!"

Romeo liked it when he got to help people and this prayer had been fun to fulfil!

Ginia's portions of fish require a bit more boxing up and shipment over to Ebisu's shrine. If the couriers find it a little strange such a large portion of seafood is going over there, they don't say anything. But a good part of the work is done, the rest she can handle on her own.

"I hope so too. Thank you for your help, Romeo, I couldn't have done this without you."

He's a helpful one and good company too. Ginia makes a note to invite him along on more scenic prayers. The experiences will be good for him.

Ginia glances at the text and raises her phone to show the message to the kids. They look a bit crestfallen, glancing at the door as if the bullies will come in here too.

"Don't worry, Shun and I won't let them bother you," Gina assures through her phone. "Shun's real good at card games. We'll make sure they leave you alone after the tournament." Maybe even the store for some time too. A ban might be good for the troublesome teens, even a temporary one. It might help them to cool their heels. Or maybe there's talking to them and getting through to them their behavior isn't acceptable.

...God, she really is sounding more and more like an anti-bullying PSA in a kid's anime. Dammit, Chris.

In the store, the teens are jostling each other around as they enter, swaggering in like they own the place. The owner smiles nervously as they enter the store.

"Hey, ojisan! We're signing up for the tournament! There are spots open, right?"

Another slash and Tsubasa lands with a twirl. Her eyes flicker a bit at the jellyfish too, and she sighs.

"Fine, yes. Although I am beginning to wonder if we will ever be in the vicinity of a normal parade here..."

All signs point toward 'not likely' when it comes to enjoying a normal parade. Ginia smiles wryly as she moves ahead to join the other shinki in blocking out the jellyfish ayakashi. Whether they're like the giant one unleashed on the last parade or something entirely, Ginia isn't interested in finding out. At least they're all relatively easy so far. Some of the casual stories from her templemates about larger ayakashi show up to snack on a god or shinki are certainly worrying. If it's nothing but a steady stream of minor problems, she can live with that. It'd be better to have no ayakashi, but fat chance there.

Besides, definitely better knowing ayakashi are the root of the problem than the cultists.

Ginia lands on a rooftop and slams a borderline down as tentacles flail weakly at the shining wall. The ayakashi drifts through the air, the twitching eyes on the ends of the tentacles stare at her. Ew.

The manager, despite his reservations, gives a slow nod at the request. He almost glances towards the other room, but appears to think better of it, and pulls out a book from under the counter instead, checking the names.

"Yes, yes, we've got quite a few left...all of you, then?"

The teens get in a rowdy line to sign up as Shun disappears back into the other room, signing to Ginia when he materialises again.

"They're all here and signing up for the tournament. So it'll be easy to deal with all of them when it happens."

That aside, he glances towards the kids. "For now, let's ignore those idiots. If you want to try some of the ideas for your decks we were talking about earlier, I can take you on."

That in combination with what Ginia had said about him seems to get the kids excited, and they immediately start pulling out their own collections of cards in binders, taking things out and switching them into decks with all the grave seriousness a gamer gives to these kinds of matters.

Ginia nods at Shun. She considers seeing if anyone else at her temple wants to join in to help with their odds, but no. Between her and Shun and the kids gathered, they're a pretty good fighting force against three bullies. Watching the kids gear up with all the seriousness she puts into heading out for a prayer... yeah, they'll be fine.

As one kid battles Shun, Ginia works with the other two on putting together the final touches on a deck. She begins to battle herself, the third kid working as a referee and adviser of sorts, reminding her of the rules and how mechanics work. It's not hard to pick up, but a bit of guidance as she plays through her first match is appreciated. It helps the confidence of the kids too as they're able to show off how much they know.

By the time the manager drops by to let them know the other teens are gone and a reminder of the time, the kids are excited and looking toward the tournament. They're talking among themselves about seeing if their classmates want to sign up, easily forgetting about the two of them as they leave the shop.

"As the resident card expert," Ginia signs with a teasing smile, "how do you think this will go down? The kids definitely have the drive to defend their shop and seem pretty sharp. Seems like all they needed was a boost in confidence."

Shun doesn't hold back on the match, but even though he's good, this isn't his favoured game, which means the defeats he lays out are rousing rather than crushing. There's a few close calls when the kids draw better than he does, and though it's subtle, there's a certain softness that comes over him as the fights go on. It's familiar, almost nostalgic, and though memories of what happened to the kids he used to duel against after that still eat at him, he manages to keep it aside this once.

Shun watches the kids leave, but turns to Ginia after that to watch her sign. He doesn't seem particularly bothered by the tease, considering it's accurate enough, and he glances back to the kids once more before he signs back.

"I think it'll be fine. Hopefully all of them get a chance at one of those idiots, since they can't all fight a single one of them in a tournament like this. Ideally the kids will be the ones who get to ruin their day, not us."

They're there for backup, but if the kids can handle it, then it'll play out much better. A tournament that pairs based on wins means that it's unlikely more than one of the kids would get a shot at a particular one of the bullies unless they were playing down, but hopefully one sound defeat each will be enough to make them steer clear.

"Guess all we can do is wait until the tournament. I'll get a bit more practice in." They're all dying of work at Ebisu's temple, but that doesn't mean they don't get breaks. Ginia is pretty sure she can beg some of the card players to spend a break playing a match against her, especially for the sake of a prayer and some kids. "I'm going to grab a few things and head out."

Ginia thanks the shop owner for letting them use the space, buying a few more booster packs, card sleeves, a deck box, and signing up for the tournament. The large purchases can't hurt, but getting kids back and shopping is the more sustainable goal.

The day of the tournament, Ginia shows up early to scope out the mood. There are a few pre-teens, including the ones they helped out, having a friendly pre-tournament match. Ginia smiles as she watches them, hanging out of sight as she waits for Shun to show up.

Shun has most of the usual supplies already, but he buys a few of the most recent booster pack when he signs up for the tournament as well, even though he doesn't really need anything else for his own deck. It might still be useful in future, or he can take anything sought-after back to the shop so it can get sold on.

On the day, he doesn't show up much later than Ginia. He's in more civilian-leaning clothes than he usually wears, including a black shirt with a white design of a branch of flowers and a falcon on it, and has a bag hanging over his back that has what looks like it might be a card binder poking out of the top.

Also the weight of his usual supplies and weapons stash hidden underneath something at the bottom, because he can never be quite that casual.

"No sign of the others so far?" He inclines his head to Ginia as he comes in, looking over the current group.

Ginia raises a hand in greeting. She's also dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt with a cat print on it. There's a backpack slung over her shoulder with her cards inside. The only weapons on her are the knife Kimi gave her (and more as good luck charm), and a large bottle of blessed water tucked into her bag. If there's a threat to deal with, it'll be ayakashi more than anything else. Go ahead, cultists, try to crash a local card tournament aimed at kids.

"Not yet. Judging by their personalities, I'm thinking they're the kind to saunter in at the last minute. Turn out is better than I thought, looks like our group convinced their friends to come."

Ginia tilts her head lightly toward the entrance.

"I'm thinking I might put a borderline across the doorway to keep any possible ayakashi at bay. I think everyone is old enough they won't readily notice it and it'll rule out any behavior problems because of them."

Because sometimes assholes are of their own making.

"People will be able to pass through freely, but I might have to let it fall if I need to focus a bit. I'm assuming you have water on you too?"

With Ginia trapping them like that, Chris trains her guns on the ayakashi and tears it apart with repeated gunfire. No more creepy tentacles watching them.

She turns to Tsubasa, and smirks. "I think these things are pretty much cursed, senpai," she said. "Or we are. But hey, it's not like we aren't used to that kind of thing. Look at what happens every time you hold a big concert."

"Wouldn't surprise me. Inconveniencing people just because they can seems like their brand of stupidity," Shun says rather dryly, glancing back at the door. If they're people who are going to target kids just because it's easy, he feels like they'd go for the other easy routes in being obnoxious and insufferable as well.

It's not a bad idea to put up a borderline, though, and Shun nods a little in agreement. "I do. I'd at least figure their behaviour in general isn't ayakashi since they were acting like that in multiple places, and we probably would have noticed if they had any hanging onto them. But there's no sense courting the risk of any getting drawn in by their attitudes either."

They're probably going to lower the mood just by being in here until they lose, and even that has a risk of drawing ayakashi if the people in question get sour enough about it. Which seems like a very real possibility to Shun, so he's definitely not going to turn down the precaution.

"Usually people don't bring really young kids to tournaments, so I'd be very surprised if anyone was young enough to notice it."

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