19TH ♫ | the air's a bit chilly but i like it

[maku]

The Ryokan Meme/Mingle/Whatever

A ryokan (旅館) is a type of traditional Japanese inn that originated in the Edo period (1603–1868), when such inns served travelers along Japan's highways. They typically feature tatami-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear yukata and talk with the owner.

Welcome to the inn!You've won an all-expenses-paid trip for two (or more!) to a gorgeous traditional Japanese inn. What's what? You're not from a place where inns like this would exist? Hush up, kids. This is a meme and we do whatever we damn well please.Just pack your bags, get your plus one and prepare to have what'll probably be the most relaxing week of your life. You know, if you're into all this.

1. Post a top level with your deets
2. Tag around
3. ???
4. TAG THE RYOKAN VACATION OF YOUR DREAMS

Comments

[wasshi]

The same way you make botamochi without one, but with extra helpings of patience, persistence, and love.

[ It's admittedly easier if there's someone around who can get stuff down from high places. ]

You can ask a more personal one, if you want. Today, I'm an open book.

[maku]

... what was going through your mind when you did it?

[ The words fall out of Karin's mouth before she can stop them and though she'd like to cram them back in, it's a bit too late. She doesn't look at Togo as she speaks and instead fixes her gaze firmly on her own reflection in the water. ]

When you blew open the barrier.

[wasshi]

[ Ah. There's a real question, all right. ]

...Nogi had just explained the nature of the world, and of the Vertex. In order to see if it was true, I crossed the barrier myself. I was the first of us to see the true nature of the world.

Looking out at that hell, I really understood what we were up against for the first time, and what our future was going to look at. The battle against the Vertex was never going to end. We would just keep fighting until our bodies were ruined shells, and then the curse of being a Hero would be passed on to the next generation of candidates.

Please, just... try to imagine that moment. Understand what it would feel like, to learn all at once that everything you had fought for was a lie, and that nothing was waiting for you or your friends but a lifetime of despair.

[maku]

[ For a moment, Karin tries to think of just what had gone through her mind when she'd first followed Togo through the barrier. It's hard - that entire battle still seems like a blur when she tries to pick out any specific details. She just remembers red and heat and nausea and the realization that she'd been lied to her entire life.

What would she have thought if she'd discovered that herself? What would she have done? It's an uncomfortable question and Karin can't decide if she's glad that she doesn't know the answer or not. ]

... yeah. I think I get it. After... everything...

[ Sonoko. Manaki. Sange. ]

I think I... understand.

[wasshi]

[ Togo looks down at her legs, which she still sometimes isn't used to being able to use. Sonoko's broken body, and her own missing memories, still jumbled from her recovery. Gin Minowa. ]

When I came back from that place, all I could think of was how to keep the rest of you from suffering through years of battle, years of Mankai. I could only think of one way. Rather than force us to keep living in a broken world, I decided to destroy it.

[maku]

[ A mercy killing.

The words hang in Karin's mind but she manages to keep herself from saying them out loud. It would be one thing for Togo to just... decide her own life wasn't worth living anymore. But to decide that the world itself was less important than not seeing her friends suffer....

There's something in that Karin might've called beautiful in any other circumstances.

She shifts a little uncomfortably, unsure of what to say. Eventually; ]

... it's your turn now. Anything you wanna ask and I'll answer it.

[wasshi]

Anything at all? If you give me an opening like that, you may regret it.

[ What is this... sudden pressure??? ]

[maku]

[ ............ uh oh. ]

... uh... yeah? That was the whole idea, right?

[ she is suddenly incredibly concerned ]

[wasshi]

Tell me the exact nature of your feelings towards Fu Inubozaki.

/2

[maku]

The exact nature of my...

[maku]

--EXCUSE ME?!

[ was that a shriek? it was absolutely a shriek. it even echoes. good grief. ]

[wasshi]

"Anything you wanna ask, and I'll answer it" were your exact words.

[maku]

I-- well yeah, they were! But why ask that?!

[ you're a menace, mimori togo. a menace against karin's delicate maiden heart.

... for a generous definition of "delicate" anyway. ]

[wasshi]

[ She takes a certain amount of pride in that. ]

You don't get to ask me a question until you've answered mine.

[maku]

There's nothing to answer! She's just-- she's just Fu! That's it! I don't have any kind of weird feelings for her or whatever it is you're trying to say!

[ she would like to tell herself she has better taste than girl power and evil eyes and udon, okay. ]

[wasshi]

So when you were sleeping on the same futon while clinging to one another, that didn't have any special meaning at all?

[ She's only slightly exaggerating, it's still legit ]

[maku]

The only thing it meant is that Fu's a dumb clingy sleeper who can't stick to her own futon and she's too heavy to move when she gets like that!

[ she's pointedly not addressing the part where she was clinging back ]

[wasshi]

Very well, I'll accept that answer for now.

[ For now. ]

[maku]

[ an incredibly suspicious squint. ]

So, what, does that mean I get to ask you a question now?

[wasshi]

Of course. Ask away.

[maku]

Alright then. What's the exact nature of your relationship with Yuna Yuki?

[ YEAH, SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT ]

[wasshi]

Yuna is my best friend, and a a uniquely important person in my life. The same is true in reverse.

[WITHOUT MISSING A BEAT. Also, a very clear and concise answer that still says effectively nothing.]

[maku]

[ ... oh come on that's not fair at ALL. ]

Uniquely important, huh? What kind of unique?

[ she's gonna get some deets out of you if it kills her, Togo. ]

[wasshi]

What specific kinds of ways are there that two friends could be important to each other?

[ SHE'S GONNA MAKE YOU SAY IT FIRST, AT THE VERY LEAST. ]

[maku]

[ Karin facepalms for a moment with both hands... which was a bad idea because they're both wet and she ends up splashing her face but. anyway. Eventually she just looks back up at Togo and says, deadpan; ]

Are you two married, or what.