Autumn Festival (OPEN)

[stringmods]

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.

Comments

[fools_journey]

Wait... what?

Minato pauses to look at Minako, eyes widening in surprise. "Akihiko-senpai has a sister?"

[greatseal]

That grinds her to a complete halt.

"....You didn't know?"

[fools_journey]

He mutely shakes his head. Akihiko has never mentioned a sister to him. As far as he knows, Akihiko and Shinjiro grew up together in an orphanage and that's... it.

[greatseal]

...Now she just feels bad. Akihiko had confided in her because he trusted her, and wanted her to understand. Shinjiro, too, had talked about Miki a little because he wanted to share his feelings with her.

But if Akihiko hadn't told Minato as well... now it's like she knows a private secret. Peering in on someone else's personal business. The Akihiko here wouldn't expect her or Minato to know.

It's not really surprising. She's sure it doesn't mean that Akihiko and Shinjiro trusted and respected Minato any less. Friendships between boys are just different than the friendship between a boy and a girl. Maybe, they just hadn't felt the need to speak about something so emotional. But it still makes her worry that she's inadvertently shared something she shouldn't.

"I don't know many details. Just that she died in a fire at their orphanage when they were younger. But that girl said she grew up with Shinjiro-senpai, and I don't know about anybody else who'd make him react like that."

Plus she just looked like Akihiko. Unless the differences between timelines are now getting so wild that people's genders are switched.... but she thinks that Shinjiro's reaction to a female Akihiko would be more abject horror than tears.

[fools_journey]

"... I see."

Minato is quiet for a time, just thinking about that - about the fact that neither Akihiko nor Shinjiro had ever mentioned a fire when they were kids or a dead little sister. He thinks he understands, though. Talking about that would have been like him bringing up Minako. There had never been any need, and it wasn't something happy to talk about. It was something painful and that left one open and vulnerable. Like showing someone an old wound - someplace still a bit tender - and saying, 'I trust you not to hit me here. To re-open this. I trust you to protect it like I do.' And that's never been something Minato had ever felt comfortable doing. With anyone... And, he thinks, if he had ever voluntarily told someone about Minako, it wouldn't have been Akihiko, anyway.

Minato also thinks about Akihiko himself and about the strange girl they'd left with Shinjiro. They do bear a resemblance... and the way Shinjiro had reacted... it all made sense. He sees no reason not to believe his sister's conclusion.

"... Do you know her name?"

[greatseal]

Even having him share hadn't made her tell her own story. At the time, it felt like it would have cheapened his own pain. Just having a dead sibling or dead parents didn't mean you could 'understand' someone in the same situation any better. It did help, but every person is different, and every circumstance different. She found it easier to listen and encourage, rather than try to force other people's grief into a box of her own experiences. Privately, she might compare, and use her own feelings to draw conclusions, but not publicly.

Eventually she might have told him, like how today she'd shared more with Shinjiro-senpai. But with Akihiko, that time never came up.

"Miki. She's younger than him." She's not really sure how much younger, but the girl hadn't looked much younger than they were, if at all. ...Though the height difference made that harder to judge. And made Akihiko's descriptions of her as 'small' all the stranger.

[fools_journey]

"Miki..." Minato repeats the name, thinking about this revelation. And then he sighs and shakes his head, smiling faintly.

"I guess height runs in the family."

[greatseal]

Hmm...

"I think she was taller than you."

He can't say he didn't walk into it.

[fools_journey]

"And you, too."

And she can't say she didn't follow simply by commenting on it at all.

[greatseal]

"Well, of course." Nope, not going to be a problem.

She starts to turn them towards the edge of the festival, back to where she knows a train station is located. "Do you know any places that have pet shops?"

[fools_journey]

"Nope. ... I'm sure we can ask around, though. Or just look around the shopping district?"

[greatseal]

"Wherever we go, we'll have to carry everything back to the apartment." She gives him a sideways look. Are you up to this challenge?

[fools_journey]

He is ready for anything. Maybe he might not enjoy it, but for her he will do it.

"If it's too much or too far, we can ask if they'd let us leave things there to come back for."

[greatseal]

"But we can't just leave the fish in bags for all that time..." She thinks. "I think I saw something in the neighborhood, though."

[fools_journey]

"No, but the second trip could be for extras like fish food and extra filters. ... something in the neighborhood would be best."

[greatseal]

"Then let's start by heading there. We can check the COMP on the subway trip back."

[fools_journey]

"Okay."

And with that, he'll accompany her to the subway.

[greatseal]

Fortunately, it doesn't take long to find the pet shop Minako remembered. It's not too far from the apartment complex either. Minako drags Minato and Akihiko the goldfish inside.

She finally releases him when they're indoors. "I'm going to go look at the tanks!"

[fools_journey]

"Mm."

He watches her head off before meandering through to look at the other fish in tanks on the one wall. Just watches them for a while before wandering over to the birds. And then the small furry things like hamsters and gerbils; he watches them a lot longer.

[greatseal]

She sneaks up behind him a little later.

"Thinking of getting a hamster?"

[fools_journey]

Like a truly decisive person, he shrugs.

"They're cute. ... it might be nice to have a pet."

[greatseal]

"I could see you as a hamster person..." She's not going to explain what that means, though.

[fools_journey]

Too bad. He's going to ask.

"What does that mean?"

[greatseal]

She ignores him.

"Look, they have kittens too!" And pulling him a few steps sideways to look at the new fuzzy animals.

[fools_journey]

He takes offense at being ignored! But he makes no objection to kitties.

"I'm not sure the apartment's big enough for a cat..."

Not much for them to climb. But they are cute. And he brings a finger up to one of the cages, pointing it like a cat nose for the kitten to come sniff.