semi-open || another year older

[complementing]

WHO: Minato, Minako, and Minato's friends!
WHERE: Koyama Shrine, aka that shrine I made up before.
WHEN: March 5th
WHAT: A trip the the local shrine for Hinamatsuri festivities, to celebrate the Arisato twins' (but mostly Minato's) birthday.
WARNINGS: None foreseen!

DEDICATED TO THE LADIES

[Hinamatsuri is Girl's Day, so there's noticeably a lot of young elementary school girls dressed in tiny and cute kimonos hanging around with their parents. It's not too crowded or noisy, though, given that it's a smaller holiday compared to Boy's Day, so there's plenty of room to walk around without getting jostled.

Some attractions of note:

• the usual food stands, with yakisoba and takoyaki on sale, as well as grilled meat and seafood, karaage, chocolate bananas, crepes, and melon bread.
• a hot amazake (non-alcoholic sake) stand that's selling large bottles of it and handing out free samples. Or you can try the alcoholic version, just show your ID first.
• a shaved ice stand that's hosting a challenge: eat one giant shaved ice in three minutes, and you'll earn a free t-shirt and $10 voucher for its main dessert storefront. Because of how cold it is, only a handful of people have successfully completed the challenge today.
• the ever enticing fortune stand, where you can stick a dollar into the donation box to get a random fortune in a box.
• the main offertory box at the main shrine. Throw in a coin and pray for one of the women in your life.
• various doll sets with various numbers of tiers on display along the walkways. All of them say very clearly: DO NOT TOUCH. You're allowed to take pictures, though, and read some of the accompanying descriptions of which doll represents what.

The main draw of the event is a large station where visitors can make dolls out of provided paper or straw. Traditionally, these dolls would be placed on a boat and floated down a river in a nagashibina ceremony, symbolizing the carrying away of sins and impurities. But since there aren't any nearby rivers that don't require a hike into the woods, the shrine is instead symbolically floating them down one of the long channels of (perfectly clean!) well water in the back garden. Visitors can follow their boat along a designated walkway until it reaches its destination if they'd like.]

Comments

[compendiem]

(Note: MINATO'S COMING IN STYLE. He's wearing his Shirt of Chivalry, his rad shoes, with a cute Frost Cap jammed over his head, and his smiley face respirator mask to complete the look. Minako only let him out of the house due to birthday privileges.)

i. food
[ Hella... This is exactly how he had spent his festivals as a kid: collect an armful of food containers with a stick of something held in between each finger, ignore everything else that's going on besides what he's eating, eyes to the ground and keep Dad's back right in front of him to bulldoze through the crowd. If nobody wants to be his substitute parental figure today, that's okay too; he'll find somebody in the crowd to trail after. It's almost as if he's trying to get himself lost, but haha that wouldn't be on purpose, right. ]

ii. shaved ice
[ He has his wallet out, staring at the size of the shaved ice the challenger before him is tackling, a fairly serious expression on his face that is less determination and more mental gymnastics going on in his head rn— he can cheat his way through this, but how close to three minutes should he make it so that he doesn't look too suspicious...

Also where is Dave. He would hate this and Minato looks around specifically for him. ]

iii. dolls/nagashibina
[ Oh no. Minato had vetoed the museum idea on the account that everything would be too tempting to touch, but now there's an actual sign in ALL CAPS and this is even worse.

He doesn't linger in front of the display, but he does make his own doll, binding together little bundles of straw with string. Maybe you're close enough to catch him whispering under his breath ] ...Norse funeral... [ which is definitely not what this tradition is supposed to be but also he looks vaguely amused so don't ruin this for him. ]

Closed to Mimori.
[ Sometime mid- to late-day, Minato seeks Mimori out and more or less drapes himself over the back of her chair, his arms over either of her shoulders so that he can dump some little containers of food onto her lap. ]

I need quiet... Let's go hide somewhere.

[ He made it halfway through the day and for that, he's proud of himself. But there's too many people, and worse- there's people that know him and are specifically paying attention to him, so he's got to withdraw for a break, however short it is. ]

wc.
(I will tag out to other top-levels! Minato is mostly expecting people to do their own thing so he can wander from person to person as he pleases instead of following him around.)

i

[tarotcards]

[ souji is pretty aware of his surroundings so it doesn't really take him long to realize that minato is trailing behind him but he doesn't really say anything. in fact, he kind of just keeps on walking around to see how long minato will follow him around ]

[ actually, he'll even see if minato will pick up the speed as well. would he also walk a little more briskly if souji is speed walking? will he also slow down if souji does the same? this is a social experiment that souji needs the answers to ]

[ this might keep up for ten minutes or so ]

[compendiem]

[ Oh my god why is he walking faster--

It takes Minato a bit to realize it at first, frowning around whatever he's stuffing into his mouth every time Souji gets far away enough to let the sunlight past his head, but Minato has no intention of wasting the time and energy to reevaluate his speed and match Souji's. The two second delay in turnaround time becomes a zero second delay as he goes ahead and presses the top of his head against Souji's back; the direct contact is like holding hands with his mom when he was little, except both of his right now are both too busy being used to hold food. ]

[tarotcards]

[ a head bump is not what souji expected when he started changing his speeds but he kind of wants to laugh when he feels minato's head resting on his back. he stops walking and he cranes his head to try and look back at minato without actually turning ]

Yes?

iii.

[lalliho]

[He's been trying not to hover too much, but it's safe to say that Lalli's done his best to keep his eye on Minato to monitor him even when they've gone separate ways to do their own thing. He's more lenient about it, knowing how difficult it was for his friend to even give in to this little occasion, and...they sure did spend an entire month together. Yeesh. Eventually, though, he makes his way back around, offering a barely visible smile in a greeting Minato may not even see, then leaning over to see what it is that he's working on. Also, note: he's made no mention of the mask in an effort to avoid all that awkward receiving of gift shit that they agreed sucked. Kind of...destroying its purpose with the rest of that ensemble, though...]

Do you have a boat?

[To send these little Nordic strawdolls down the river while they burn...]

[compendiem]

Not yet.

[ He doesn't have a lighter, either, so he's got to think a little harder how he can make this happen, not under the watchful eyes of the festival workers. Or Minako. ]

Are you making one? [ A doll to join Minato's, or a boat for theirs to share, either one. He remembers Lalli learning to fold an origami rabbit for him, so maybe origami people is possible? He's not sure, but he tilts his head towards the crafts anyways. It'd probably be more interesting for Lalli to keep his hands busy and work on something too, instead of just sitting and talking to him. ]

ii;

[complementing]

[She wanders over after picking up a stick of grilled squid, and seeing what he's in line for, she reaches over with a tiny, knowing grin to adjust the Frost Cap on his head.]

Did you know, the fastest time today was apparently two minutes, seventeen seconds.

[compendiem]

[ The the cap snug and warm on his head, he probably doesn't even need seventeen seconds to finish the ice. He bet Minako can finish it in less than sixteen, without a Frost Cap. ]

I guess I'll aim for two minutes, eighteen? So I don't stand out. [ What if he breaks a record and they need his picture or something, that would be terrifying. ] I'll need you to time me.

ii

[ascatic]

[ it's easy enough for him to quietly slide up to Minato, standing next to him with a generally amused expression on his face as he reads the rules and the reward for completing said challenge. tapping a finger on his own chin, Leon huffs out a short laugh. wearing a black hoodie with the hood up, he definitely looks a lot more menacing than a chatty cafe owner. ]

Thinking about tackling the mountain of ice, Minato?

[compendiem]

[ Minato tears his eyes away from the shaved ice to look over at Leon for a moment before tilting his head in the direction of the little stack of neatly folded t-shirts to be given out as prizes. ]

Yeah. I want to win a shirt.

[ It's probably one of those cheap shirts with the back covered in advertisements from sponsors, but!!! he gets free shaved ice, a t-shirt, and more desserts on top of that if he wins? Amazing. ]

How 'bout you? Want to try?

ii

[deathboss]

[Michel just stood there, mouth agape as to what everyone is ordering. True he had one in his hand, but with the camera in his hand, it's obvious he's mostly doing it to put pictures on his instagram.]

Bro! Are you insane? [That's way too much shaved ice for anyone to eat?] I'm the one who should be paying for that!

[...oh okay. Right.]

Just be careful okay? I had like three bites and I'm sure my brain is permanently frozen.

[compendiem]

[ Minato's going to cheat his way through this, so no worries there. But Michel's offer is comforting all the same, because-- ]

You can pay for me if I lose. I'm going to keep trying as many times as it'll take to win.

wildcard

[maskreant]

Hey.

[ Akira isn't dressed to be festive, but he's looking warm... Though rather pale and tired. He's still here for the Arisato's birthdays even if it's for a short amount of time before he heads back. In his hand are two little paper carton boxes that people use for pastries. ]

Happy birthday.

[ Here is your box. If you dare take a peek, it's a small cat cake. ]

[compendiem]

[ Wasn't the deal for Minato to visit Akira's house and take advantage of his hospitality while Minato lacks a bed to sleep in

He goes ahead and takes one of the boxes, peering inside right away because his food senses are tingling. ]

Thanks... Can I eat this now?

ii i see his name

[parodeity]

[ dave is standing nearby in a pair of black skinny jeans and a blue sweater? he's opted to skip the kimono deal, but he also has on. light up sneakers? so they're both idiots.

what are you going to do to him minato ]

[compendiem]

[ Minato appreciates the light up sneakers; can't lose someone in the crowd if they have light up sneakers and stomp with the proper amount of force. ]

Dave. I double dare you to eat ice.

:3c

[kabloom]

[ mimori very heavily considered not coming. she almost told him she couldn't make it, but minato is one of her favorite people, and even when she is feeling extremely unsociable she couldn't say no to seeing him on his birthday. ]

Let's!

[compendiem]

[ Good. This is now a kidnapping with consent, instead of a kidnapping without consent as Minato takes hold of the handle bars on the back of Mimori's chair and kicks off the ground like he's riding a scooter. Where should they go... Somewhere quiet where they can eat, but also keep an eye out for people before they send a search party to figure out where they've ran off to. ]

Oh, I know. There's this hill right around the corner that overlooks the shrines. Gives you a good view of the sunset too. But you have to help me get us up the hill.

[ He still has weak noodle arms and they have the added weight of half the festival stalls' worth of food. ]

[complementing]

[Minako will be in a pretty spring kimono today!]

I. SWEETS FOR THE SWEETHEART

[No cake today, because her birthday party is on the 10th and there will be cake then, but since today is the actual day of her birth, she's going eat as many desserts as she wants. Just in the first hour and a half she'll have consumed two overstuffed crepes, one squished melon bread, and two sticks of chocolate bananas as she walks. You might hear the sloshing of a couple of bottles of amazake in her purse, as well.

That $10 gift card is looking pretty nice, too! She's notably the only woman in a nice kimono trying the challenge, and for good reason: those long kimono sleeves are a pain. She keeps having to pause in between huge mouthfuls of ice to push back her sleeves.]

II. DOLLED UP

[She takes the longest at the doll making station, her deft fingers taking care to make a very cute Minako paper craft. And of course, being that kind of girl, she has to take a few minutes to create a good background for paper Minako before taking a picture for Twitter and Instagram and all those social media sites.

And then she makes more paper dolls! A Minato, a Ryoji and Mrs. Mochizuki, two that might be her parents, a Sora and Shiori and Mrs. Pu'uwai, a Koromaru, a Lucian...continuously adding them next to her paper Minako and taking pictures.]

III. WILDCARD

[Come at me with anything else!]

i

[tarotcards]

[ minako isn't the only one who has her eyes on that $10 gift card so before the competition starts, souji takes a seat next to her ]

Don't think I'll take it easy on you, senpai.

[ birthday smirthday, gotta win fair and square ]

[complementing]

[Is it really fair and square though. She knows some of the Personas Souji has by virtue of knowing what Yu has, but not all of them, so he could be pulling some Persona resistance tricks on her...

(Not saying that she wouldn't have worn her Frost Cap given the chance, but it has to stay on Minato's head to stop him from freezing to death today, so at least on her side, fair and square it is.)

Minako shoots him a quick grin which quickly dissolves into a huff as she tries to fold back her sleeves.]

And don't let this dainty look fool you, Souji-kun, I'm a snow plow ready to shovel all of this shaved ice into my mouth.

I

[deathboss]

You too?!

[First Minato, and now her. Michel stares at her in surprise as to how 1) she can keep the kimono clean 2) she's getting closer and closer to finish it.]

Is this a family genetic thing?

[He's starting to believe so.]

[complementing]

[She can't answer, what with her mouth full, but Minako pauses with spoon in grinning mouth to give him two victory signs.

It probably is, they're both gluttons for good food.]

Mrn gonhrgh gif thaa t-shirt!

I

[maskreant]

[ He's lucky enough to be outside, so he's enjoying it as much as he can. When he spots her, he brightens up... Even if she's stuffing her face the whole time he has noticed her. No surprise. She's the birthday girl—he swings on over when she starts her icy death challenge. ]

Are you sure about this?

[ Raising his eyebrows, he isn't at all cringing, but a tad bit concerned. ]

[complementing]

[She laughs with an easy shrug of her shoulders.]

I'd be more sure if I had my Frost Cap on me, but. Why not! If I fail, then it gives me an excuse to get some hot chocolate.

[You know, just. Stuff herself silly to make her forget about her horrific memory regain earlier that day.]

You just gonna watch?