Hamuko Arisato (
wipingallout) wrote in
personavelvetroomdr2025-04-11 07:47 pm
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Cherry Blossom Evening Party
Throughout the week, Hamuko has messaged the vast majority of people she's met so far - and eagerly invited them to come meet at Inokashira Park starting at 5pm.
⋆🌸₊˚⊹♡❀˖°🌸⋆
You're invited to an evening sushi-party-turned-hanami-picnic-party! I've organized a bunch of cognitive chefs and performers to come to that park on the listed date/time.
I've sent this to you because you were part of one of the three teams that helped with fighting Fatalis or rescuing Falcon and Wolf (or are Falcon and Wolf themselves!!) - we've all busted our butts a lot lately, so I think we deserve to have something nice together too!
Of course, the party is open if you have any +1s or more. But before spring turns into summer, let's celebrate what we've all accomplished together!

.🌸˚𑁍.ೃ࿔*:・
The Venue...
Inokashira Park has a lovely river and trail and a phenomenal collection of cherry blossom trees. They're in the tail end of their season, filling the air with petals like snowfall.
In a large open area, Hamuko's arranged a ton of picnic blankets for people to claim and sit down on, though each blanket is HUGE to accommodate people sitting with as many people as they can handle! There are cozy pillows for sitting on too, stacked neatly to be borrowed.
There's a truly humongous row of tables laid out with an impressive amount of sushi presented. With a few trucks nearby, it seems there's a few sushi chefs making fresh platters of it to lay out through the night.
Similarly, there are food carts along the trails if you're not in the mood for sushi and would rather have some more traditional fare like dango, taiyaki, matcha, takoyaki... it's got the place lively and smelling fantastic! There's sake for the adults, and some cherry-blossomed themed mocktails for minors.
🌸𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖🎐
Activities
There's a few set out activities besides just chowing down and socializing or walking along the lantern-lit trails under the cherry blossoms! Inoshikara Park has always had cute little swan pedal boats or regular rowboats for 'rental' (not that money matters here).
The area is SO pretty, perfect for taking pictures to have as keepsakes. There's even a booth to claim a yukata and privately change into it, if you want to go the extra mile!
Finally, in lieu of a traditional band or modern concert, Hamuko has picked out a large set of speakers connected to a small karaoke stage and screen - menace the party with your sing-along! Get a little boost to your Guts!!
Ichinose!
She's eager to put on a yukata, though she's already plucked out the kanzashi in her hair and stuck it in her obi instead (it was bothering her) and she's having a grand time wiggling the long sleeves.
At least, until she gets her hand on some sake - then she focuses on not spilling all over herself.
"Mmm!! Warm sake on a chilly night... perfect."
She's never further than arm's reach from Maruki, of course. Especially not when a certain someone shows up later...
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If he could he would've.
So all he's left with is that his attention is completely directed away from Ichinose. He stands there, grasping the little sake glass in his now bare hands and watches her.
"I am not doing anything."
He grits his teeth, his glare evident despite the opaqueness of his visor as he watches Akane and Hamuko sing their hearts out (Akane is struggling...he wishes he could help there) and he feels a little shitty that his first instinct is to watch a potential AI researcher here who ruined his world like a dog even on a day of celebration like this.
He silently sips on the sake, gaze burning at her.
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That at least seemed true enough... when Ichinose finally dared to peek at the looming masked figure a distance away, she gave him a sour expression and turned away, sitting down in front of the stage. Akane was fine, not welcoming or kind or anything but at least she didn't stare like a carnivore in the treeline.
Ugh. She just wants to drink in peace!
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He really isn't in the mood to fight- believe it or not. He's had enough on his table.
He looks away from her, drinking in the last of the sake from his choco before he sighs and fiddles with his hair as his gaze drifts between Ichinose and Akane.
...she's seriously getting drunk, huh? It's strange- she feels so much more human like this. It's hard to percieve that narrative- given everything else.
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Oh well. Shifting onto her knees, Ichinose waddled to the stage and waved to Hamuko and Akane.
"Hamuko-chan! I have a song request - you do requests, right?" Ichinose asked cheerily. Hamuko seemed a little surprised, but passed the remote to the eager older woman anyway. "Have you heard this one yet? Maybe you, Akane-chan, though it's probably old for you. Ah hah! Towards a Dream - this was stuck in my head for moooonths!"
using both akane and zenkichi rn
She froze mid-note.
The flicker was slight—barely perceptible to most—but her silhouette distorted just enough for the lag to betray her discomfort. Ichinose waddling up to the stage like she belonged there short-circuited something in Akane’s sense of comfort. Her brows drew together, lips flattening, as she shifted a few pixels toward Hamuko like a buffering apology.
"Uh… hi," Akane muttered, her voice synthesized soft but unsure. Her projection flickered again. "I guess? You can pick something..."
She didn’t protest as Ichinose took the remote—just tilted her head, expression locked in a conflicted glint behind those big, luminous eyes. The kind that weren’t sure if they were supposed to glare or just look away.
When the song title came up on-screen, her brow lifted, curious despite herself.
"...‘Towards a Dream’?" She said it aloud like she was decoding a foreign phrase. "Seems familiar almost... kind of an old one, you said?"
She pulled up the title in her database and blinked—more flickers. Her projection briefly stuttered to static, stabilizing again as she ran the metadata. She didn’t comment, but something about the lyrics made her… thoughtful.
Meanwhile, Zenkichi, standing at a distance with his now-empty sake choko cradled in his hand, caught the title and actually laughed. Just once. A dry, almost bark-like sound that betrayed genuine surprise.
"No way," he muttered, shaking his head. "Of all songs, you know that one?"
The sarcasm threaded in his tone like barbed wire. He watched Ichinose with that same weary glare, visor dull but focused. His jaw tensed. No matter how bubbly she tried to be—no matter how charming the yukata or nostalgic the song—he couldn’t forget what she'd done. What she'd unleashed.
A look of apology floated on his face at the fact that Hamuko was there too. He bets she's already getting wrung dry to make the party fun and accessible for all. Still, the LED next to his visor blinks green- aimed at Akane.
The conversation takes place in a matter of few milliseconds. He raises a hand, offering concede as Akane confidently turns back to Ichinose. She isn't scared of her. She won't be.
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"Do you wanna come up and sing?" Hamuko asked, glancing between Akane and Zenkichi - she saw that the two were communicating, at least. She gave Zenkichi a small nod to communicate that she has control of the situation, at least.
"Naww, naw, I'm too drunk, and Akane doesn't like me," Ichinose laughed, "you'll do great, Hamuko-chan! It's a catchy song, it'll get stuck in your head."
As she sat back on the picnic blanket, Ichinose poured herself more sake, already swaying to the starting notes once Hamuko turned on the song. And as Hamuko started singing, Ichinose sang from the picnic blanket too - hard to hear over the actual speakers, singing mostly to herself, but singing nonetheless.
♪♫"My earliest memory
Doesn't know who I used to be
I take a glance at the trail left behind
I trekked on and on
Living a world of influence~!"♫♪
a wild maruki appears!
Zenkichi’s gaze sharpens as his head follows her like a hawk stalking its prey. He turns his attention to Hamuko and Akane- standing tall in his all white yukata like a big bear (rather than a wolf), mouth twitched in a scowl still while Akane followed up behind Hamuko- clearing her synthesised audio and prepare to follow behind.
Faraway, Maruki was finally satisfied with the state of the green yukata's sleeve. He hasn't even drunk that much and yet he somehow spilled drink on himself- funny how that works.
He was especially fond of the gold details that Azathoth had added to its cloth. Warm colours suited him quite the bit.
In the meantime as he's retracing his steps- he needs to go check on Morning as well, hopefully he was getting along with others here otherwise he will have to drag him to a song with Hamuko. That said, if Hasegawa-san was around-
He meets eyes with the opaque visor just as he sees Ichinose settle away from the stage. The song changes. His eyes widen, deer in headlights as Zenkichi’s expression looks awfully twisted.
Right.
He bows lightly in acknowledgement with an easy smile as Hamuko sings along to a song he's never quite heard of before. With his phone in hand, he's just about to contact Morning and doesn't announce his presence to Ichinose yet.
His fingers pause as he hears her voice, at this proximity, harmonizing away with Hamuko’s.
His lips part, hearing her voice as a slow smile surfaces. He shifts apps, pulling up his camera.
The flush in her cheeks, the ease in her expression; with his hands free from any drinks- he aims his phone forward.
Click!
Cute..
He quietly settles next to her, not announcing his presence just yet as he lets her sing until she notices him. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist taking one...I can delete it if you want." The picture he's taken is quite unlike how she usually acts, formal and to the point.
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Ichinose didn't mind either way, not singing too loud for anyone but herself - and now that he was close enough, Maruki - to hear her. She swayed to the steady rhythm of the song, almost engulfed in her own little world.
"For what feels like eternityyyy... I let the answers riddle me-- oh!" Ichinose glanced up at the artificial shutter sound coming from Maruki's phone. She laughed in surprise.
"A picture? Let me see! Lemme see, lemme see..." Ichinose insisted, urgently waving for him to sit with her and show the picture he took. "Haha! You can see how drunk I am already!"
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"I sure can- you're practically glowing," he answers honestly. "Don't pass out on me till I get drunk atleast, alright? I don't think it would be favourable for either of us if my spine cracked while I attempted to carry you." Those glory days of his were far behind after all and despite being somewhat of a fighter, he still wasn't as much in shape.
"As for your awfully low alcohol tolerance..."He had slipped a small water bottle in his sash along the way which he now held in his hand. "How long since you've hydrated, Ichinose-san?"
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"Mm! This song," she said after a moment, gesturing to the stage where Hamuko was almost through to the end, "SUCH an earworm, it grabbed me when I first heard it. Do you know how many times I listened to this?"
She laughed, remembering the moment where she'd asked EMMA for the number. The exact number eluded her, but...
"It was over three thousand, five hundred times. Do you know how much that has to be on loop? It's about five minutes and forty seconds, so if you math it out... that's almost two weeks solid worth of listening time. It drove the other people in the lab crazy! Hah!"
She can still remember them begging for literally any other songs to be played. She never really got why people minded whether a song was being looped or not.
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But now I'm gonna embrace words of my own
This is where I will begin my life
It's time to recollect now
The dreams that shed a light on my path...♪♪
Maruki turned his attention to her completely, nodding to let her continue with her proposed question (something told him she would have told him anyway) as he leans in and hears her laugh again, over the music. The mention of her hearing that- "How many times?!" His lips parted in shock at the number. Three thousand five hundred? "How did you even keep count of that???"
Well shit two weeks of that straight..."-and here I thought I was going insane from the elevator music in my lab."
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He grins as he looks at the lyrics on the board. "Then I may learn to love myself ~♪ A little more than before ~♪" His eyes practically shine like new hope blooming through.
Unbeknownst to what had occured earlier, he innocently follows up with. "Why aren't you singing the song then? Say- I can ask Hamuko-san to line that song for us in half an hour then-! Make use of the stage-"
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She snorted at the suggestion that she get up and sing instead.
"No, no, I think if I get any closer to Akane then Zenkichi will make a lunge for me. Besides, I'm tipsy enough I might trip over my sandals - I'm not used to walking in them or in a yukata."
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Then again, it helps with decision-making, does it not? Without proper contexts like a person's behaviours, their tendency to gravitate towards topics that are especially relevant to them can make all the difference in making sure they prioritize their well-being and don't undergo the suffering they end up seeking by mistake.
"..! Huh- uh." A sound leaves his lips, awkward as he realizes that right the Hasegawas are very much present there. They purse in annoyance but...
He looks over his shoulder to inspect if Hasegawa-san is still watching them-
2/3 (Stareeeee)
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His shoulders hike up in instinct as he turns to look back at Ichinose. "He sure is fuming. And here I thought the party I invited him to would do him some favours."
He isn't dissuaded to pull back however. If it was just himself, he might have even conceded but he was the one who extended the invitation to Ichinose and he's also unbearably curious on how she would interact with others...he wants to help so sorry, Ichinose- he's already cooking up a plan.
With a neutral expression that doesn't betray away any important thought while he considers his line of action, he goes for the Kinchaku bag hooked over his shoulder and resting on his waist. "Well you're in luck-! I can alas, get a little too clumsy so I always carry around a spare for these occasions or for my friends. Not to mention the foot pain sometimes and the night is still young so I always tend to carry a hefty pair if me or anyone else needs it for comfort."
"That said."
He looks serious as he stretches open the bag and pulls out the sandals. "They might be too big for you but atleast they are flat."
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"You want to hear my drunken crooning that bad?"
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He rests his chin on the knuckles of his hand, brows raised like he was surprised by her question. "I mean why not? I liked hearing you sing."
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The girls on stage had moved on to a different song. Ah well! Fine by her. She wiggled the sake bottle.
"Want some? Or am I getting tipsy all by my lonesome?"
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For him, huh? He pretended that those words didn't cut as deep as they should have or how Morning had said that he was touch-starved which felt less of a claim given how awkward he feels in moments such as these.
He's pulled out by his thoughts when he watches the sake bottle wiggle. His eyes widen, relaxing his legs on the picnic blanket as he nods- "Would be disappointing if it's the latter, wouldn't it?" With that, he goes for the rest of the choco piled next to the bottle and holds it out for her. "I need to find Morning too...see how he's doing but I can afford to be a little tipsy."
Hm. Looking aside for a moment, his left eye glows a faint gold. He feels Zenkichi Hasegawa's presence near them.
Maybe he could...
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"Kanpai~♪"
And Ichinose herself took a sizeable swig of it. She wasn't going to drink by herself in the Palace, so she might as well get her entertainment's worth here at a proper party!
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Also simply remembering those grey eyes looking up at him from their hug was still prevalent.
"Kanpai~!!!" He answers to Ichinose's calling with enthusiasm and clinks their sake together.
With that, he takes an easy swig, unsure if he will just end up going overboard again. He supposes he can spoil himself a little bit here and while Ichinose recovers, he has his cup out for a second round for the other to pour into.
A hint of goal still followed through in his expression.
"...Are you having fun?"
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"Good food, good drink - and maybe I'll try the funny little paddle boats later!"
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The paddle boats..."I remember when I first came around these areas back in my world- my legs were completely sore for the rest of the night that followed. And that time I used to regularly cycle- so I could only imagine that I will have to propel Azathoth to carry me around by the end of it now."
He holds out his hand- gently asking for the sake bottle.
"Who are you planning to go with? If at all?"
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next up will be the alpha wolf's cameo...
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2/3 (think maruki will approach him seperately. don't think zenkichi would stick around for long)
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