destinystrings | Autumn Festival (OPEN)

Entry tags:

Autumn Festival (OPEN)

Who: EVERYONE
Where: Virgo Ward
Summary: Autumn Festival Log! You're all invited!
Warnings: MELONS
Ahh Autumn. The time for harvest, and the normal national holiday that falls on the 24th and 25th. Demons? Angels? Magic? Well nothing's been put on pause, but even the Anoli need to relax once in a while...

With that free time, what's a newcomer like you to do?

Well Hinoto-Ri has much to offer! As they seem to be the only standing city in...well, anywhere, they've tried to merge and adapt as many festivals around the world as they can.

Ergo this Fall festival is a mixture of everything the world could offer. Corn on the cob, Pumpkins, Yaki Imo (Oven-Roasted Sweet Potatoes), Ramen stands, Falafel, caramelized apples...

A giant dragon is tied down in the middle of the waters. At night, you can see a few pixies hover close to it, keeping other monsters at bay. The streets have been decorated as well.

But most importantly, the upper Virgo Ward has been turned in a giant festival area...even more so than usual! Now the millions of stalls don't just try to sell things to you, they sell things to you thematically with this fall! Giant pumpkins and fresh produce made in Libra and Capricorn..did you know that Capicorn has an amazing giant apple orchid, protected by the office of Wands and Swords? Try out some free samples! One taste is enough to convince you that having Persona to irrigate the fields ass a crispness to the fruit..right? Winter outfits...hats are in this year! Listen to some of the new music groups, and get pumped for the upcoming movies!

There is giant mooncake in the middle of all the tents and stalls. Don't worry about the money! Everything's free today! It is a time for sharing and family and...

...being thankful for what you have. No matter how small it might be.

For a city of survivors, Hinoto-Ri is certainly trying to have a good time.

You should join them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"No," Yamato frowned, "I also did advanced sciences, languages and physical education. Besides," he added, "I had no time for recreational activities."

"S...seriously?"

He really shouldn't be surprised, given everything he learned at JP's but... seriously? "You didn't even get to play on a playground or anything? Didn't you ever get stressed out?"

"Playground...?" Yamato looked a bit puzzled. "Of course not. My duty was to be JP's Director, that is all. I was to do nothing else but that."

"But-- kids are supposed to have fun! Go to the part, watch cartoons, play games-- that's the whole point of being a kid!"

Really, he's kind of getting distressed here! "Come on, haven't you ever heard of 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'?"

Yamato's expression flattens a little.

"I was never a child. From my birth I was treated and regarded as an adult, and therefore assumed the responsibilities of one. There was no - no need for me to participate in such useless activities."

We're on full-on frown mode here.

"Of course there's a need! Everyone needs to have fun every now and then, even adults. Otherwise you just get stressed out and you could actually get really sick...! Plus you wouldn't really be very happy, would you...?"

"Happy?"

What did happiness have to do with this? Yamato could feel his thoughts tread a dark path. With the Hotsuin family there was never any happiness, only duty, and the drive to complete that duty even at the cost of one's life. Ahaha, that was right, his life and happiness was sacrificed for an unworthy Japan, and the only thing that did give him happiness...

Tch.

"Happiness is unnecessary."

"No way!"

Hey look, this just happened to be something he has a very strong opinion on. He wasn't good at the philosophical stuff like the others, but he knew for a fact that for once, Yamato was completely wrong.

"If it wasn't important, then you wouldn't have people fighting over it so much! You wanted your merit system because you thought it would be better for people that deserved it, right? Then the people that deserved it would be happy! Ronaldo thought the same thing too; poor conditions are so bad because no one can be happy like that. If happiness weren't important, neither of you would've been trying to fix it so that more people would be better off...!"

Yamato blinked in surprise at Daichi's shout, genuinely caught off guard. He stared intently at him as he spoke. What was he saying...? Yamato only wished for a merit system because it was the only way for humanity to progress itself, and reward those that were worthy. He hadn't really thought about their happiness, just the advancement...

At the mention of Ronaldo though, he barely suppressed a snarl. He may have acknowledged him and his defeat to him, but that man...urgh, the mere mention of him made him want to kick something.

"I assure you, happiness was the farthest thing from my mind," Yamato said a bit coldly. "Whether it gave happiness or not...that wasn't the point."

If they were back in Tokyo, Daichi probably would've been scared of making Yamato angry right now... but, whether it was the change in environment, or the fact that he had actually grown a pair, he didn't even back down Yamato's obvious discontent. Bringing up Ronaldo was a touchy subject, sure, but in the end, were they really all that different?

"You say that, but I don't think that's true. JP's was made to protect, people, right? To keep Japan safe-- that's happiness too. Maybe you weren't thinking about happiness as the most important thing, but I don't think you didn't bother with it at all. I mean, if people that deserved to be at the top liked being in the middle or at the bottom, then your merit system would be pointless, wouldn't it?"

"..."

There was a tense pause where Yamato simply stared at Daichi. His face was completely void of emotion, and for all anyone knew, he could have been plotting Daichi's murder there and then without anyone being the wiser.

"...I underestimated you," Yamato said suddenly, his lips curving into a wry smile. He always underestimated him, it seemed. Although he recognised that Daichi had glimmers of potential, he was a lot sharper than Yamato initially thought. No wonder Kaito had him as a close friend.

"Perhaps happiness is not as unnecessary as I said, but it is not the priority. Duty supersedes happiness."

For the entire pause, Daichi just stared back as he...gradually, began to lose the structure of his spine more and more, though he tried not to show it. And then, when Yamato finally spoke--

"--Huh?" Apparently he was just as surprised as Yamato was! Hey cool, he didn't piss him off!

"Uh.. yeah..." Whatever just go with it. He wasn't as firm as he was before, but at least he wasn't a rambling pile of anxiety! "I guess it some places it might, like if you have a job or you have to protect someone, but I think if your duty hurts more people than it helps, happiness and well-being would be more important."

"Hurts more people than helps...?" Yamato muttered. Well, that was the definition of his meritocracy, wasn't it? All the pitiful dregs would be crushed - as they should be - and they certainly outnumbered the chosen few who would soar to the top.

"So duty can be so easily abandoned for the well-being of others? Is that what you're saying?" It seemed a bit...wrong, to think that. Duty was to be upheld no matter what. To abandon it for something as silly as happiness of all things...

"Yeah, I think so. Like, if someone tells you to kill someone because they stole food from a store... there's no way I'd do it. I'd rather get in trouble myself than do something like that when it's not necessary."

Then again, he'd never really had any kind of duty in the sense like Yamato has. So it was pretty easy for him to make a claim like that.

Yamato tilted his head slightly. "...so, if a few rioters broke into Nagoya's headquarters and robbed all of the supplies from that place, supplies that are already stretched thin between JP's members, you would have allowed them to go?"

Uh oh. Yamato's not looking at all amused.

--Suddenly he is a lot more, uh. On edge. They'd managed to hide it from Yamato when they gave some of the supplies away to the citizens but... well, Yamato couldn't just throw them to the demons now since he wasn't the leader of JP's, but... That, didn't mean he wanted the guy to find out even after the fact.

"W-Well, I don't think they should do it so violently, but--" Let's just avoid eye contact for the rest of the conversation, yeeaah, "--they have as much right to try and survive as JP's did. So, yeah. I would have let them go."

The silence after that was so thick with tension, it was a miracle it didn't suffocate them both.

"Your compassion is a weakness," Yamato said. He didn't sound angry, but he didn't sound all that amused either. In fact, he was quietly impressed that Daichi had more of a backbone than he was led to believe - and really, the supplies issue was no longer, well, an issue.

At least he knew where the 'disappearing' stock of supplies had gone now, though. No doubt Daichi and possibly Io - maybe even Kaito - had been distributing it to the masses out of misguided compassion.

"In a situation like that, sacrifices had to be made," Yamato said flatly, not a shred of regret or sympathy in his tone, "It is unpleasant, but the supplies were to ensure that the JP's forces were kept strong and healthy while the Septentrione were fought off. Do you believe we could have gotten as far as we did without enough food or water?"

Yamato could. Yamato was trained to do such things while half-starved. However most employees, and Kaito's group, probably never tried such a thing. It was awful, and hard.

If it was possible for silence to suffocate, Daichi was sure he was almost veeeery close to it.

"N-No... I... I know I probably wouldn't have made it through the week if it wasn't for JP's..." Boy that giant dragon thing looks really interesting all of a sudden.

"But I still don't think it's fair if the people we're protecting go hungry and die just so we can protect them, right? I mean then there's nothing left to protect."

Well, he didn't necessarily agree with the idea that compassion was weakness, but that didn't mean he didn't feel kind of like his self-esteem took a blow at the mention anyway.

"Shijima," Yamato said coldly, "Life is not fair. If to defend the world, a large portion of the civilians had to die, so be it. Those that remain have proven themselves durable and ingenious enough to survive."

He tilted his head, smirking wryly. "Do I need to remind of Sapporo? Their sacrifice ensured the destruction of the Septentrione, a vast amount of death for those we are protecting. It was necessary."

"Just because it helped doesn't men I have to be happy about it...!"

He grimaced; Sapporo still left a bit of a bad taste in his mouth. But it's not like anything could be done now anyway, right?

"And just because it's not fair doesn't mean I have to accept it. Everyone's deaths may have been the price to beat the Septentrione, but..."

Daichi didn't exactly know how to end that sentence, but it was too much for him to accept a point of view like that.

"You're speaking like a child," Yamato pointed out flatly. "I never said one had to be happy with the decisions they make. You merely have to recognise how it was necessary, and not dwell on the unfairness of it all. A sacrifice was made, our goal was met, and that is it."

That was why Yamato spared no compassion for the rioters who were starving and dying. They were a necessary sacrifice, and at least it culled the weak from the strong.

"So what?! I am just a normal teenager you know! I'm not a soldier like you or Makoto...!" Daichi was actually getting a bit stand-offish there; not so much angry, as he was simply defensive.

Honestly, he was starting to feel a bit homesick.

"If I had a chance, I'd still go back and try to do something about it. I don't care how necessary you think it was."

"Heh..."

Yamato's cold mask broke, his lips curving into a little smile. How strange it was that Daichi only had claws when prodded hard enough - still, it pleased Yamato to know that he wasn't meek and soft through and through.

"Good," he said. "Your ideals are not something that should be easily swayed by another's will."

Even if Yamato thought Daichi's ideals were childish and naive, he cannot fault someone who believed in them so fervently. It was the only reason he gave his grudging respect to Ronaldo - the man may've had a stupid ideal, but he was staunch in his convictions.

"Huh--?"

Oh and then...Yamato wasn't angry? Geez, he's never going to get used to this guy's weird mood-swings.

"'Ideals'? I guess so... I just think it's messed up to write off so many people like that. I think most people would do the same."

"Such compassion will be your downfall, but if you adhere to that creed until the end, well, I cannot fault you for it," Yamato said dismissively, turning his gaze away from Daichi as if he was growing bored with the conversation.

"Even if it is as nauseatingly naive as Kuriki's."

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