Cherry Blossom Evening Party

[wipingallout]

You have received a private message:

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!!

Comments

[rookandhound]

A SERIAL WALLFLOWER

---

At a table in a distant corner, Wolf and Rook sat together, eating quietly.

Wolf had slept, for most of the past three days, and eaten, and that had done wonders for his overall outlook- and after no small amount of encouragement, he had, in fact, elected to make an appearance.

Sushi had been acquired, along with a few other choice selections. And he could just about manage to tune out the crowd, and pretend everything was fine.

It wasn't, of course. His phoneDigivice lay on the table, face-down, and try as he might- his gaze kept drifting back to it. To the emblem burned in red into the back of it.

It would've been so convenient to be able to pretend that none of it had ever happened, but that little emblem, so innocent- a little stylized heart, outlined in red- was proof. A constant reminder of what had happened. What had been said, and done- and learned.

You couldn't hide from it, because It, it turned out, had been You all along. Forgotten, abused, left in a hole to wither and die- but still, at the end of it all, You- and It, rather than a rose that would wither and die in the absence of exactly the right conditions, was more like a dandelion, and would find purchase to grow in asphalt if you so much as spat on it and left it in the sun.

His gaze returned to his plate, and he took a bite of nigiri.

For one night, at least, he wasn't going to think about it.

[wipingallout]

"You guys made it!"

Hamuko caught sight of them, and it was a relief to see they did come by. She eagerly came over, waving at the two of them.

"How are you feeling, Wolf? Have you been resting well?"

[rookandhound]

He glanced up to meet the eyes of the girl who'd... come after him.

Why? She didn't know him.

"Kind of," he managed, after a moment. "Not really." There'd been a lot on his mind that had kept him from finding rest.

[wipingallout]

"Still mulling over everything that happened?"

Hamuko sat down at the table with him, settling in to chat.

[rookandhound]

He poked a slice of fish absently with his chopsticks. "Something like that."

After a moment, he added- "Sorry. For... trying to kill you." It sounded so hollow. But... what could he even say?

"That sounds... so stupid when I say it out loud."

[wipingallout]

Even so, Hamuko just has a good-natured giggle at that. "I'm used to it! And I'm a tough lady."

She had to be. Pretty much everyone here understood that feeling, she's sure of it.

"It was pretty intimidating, but I got to see how digimon are, a little more. I learned a lot."

[fogboundcrow]

"Would you like some company?" Raven cautiously approaches. He knows Wolf has been through a lot, so he doesn't want to overstep, but...

Sometimes it helps. Sometimes, it's nice to have someone willing to be there for you.

[rookandhound]

He looked up, and into the eyes of...

What could have been. There was a small, spiteful, vicious thought there, how dare you, how dare you after everything you saw, everything you never had to deal with, and then he felt the pang of guilt for having it.

"Still... working that out. But go ahead."

[fogboundcrow]

"All right."

After a moment, he takes a seat, not too close, but close enough to show he's there. "I'm... glad you're all right. At least, assuming you are all right."

[rookandhound]

Wolf dug his fingers into his hair, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I'm- I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry you saw all that, I'm sorry I- I tried to kill you. I didn't..."

He hadn't wanted any of it to be out in the open like this. But now people knew. They knew, and... the world had kept spinning. People were still coming to him. Offering support. "I don't know what to do, anymore. I don't even know what I'm feeling, I'm not alright, I don't- I don't even know if I know what 'alright' is."

[fogboundcrow]

"It's all right." It was... a lot, obviously. Painful, frightening, but he knew what he was getting into. They all did.

He folds his hands on the table, sighing. "You don't have to know. Sometimes, it takes time. Accepting a Shadow was difficult even for me, and Shiro was nothing but kind."

[very_elaborate]

"Hey. Got something for you."

Kanji sets a little gift bag on the table in front of Wolf. Inside is a little crocheted version of his bird friend.

[rookandhound]

Wolf's brow furrowed, when the bag was set down. He reached into it, touched something soft-

And his eyes fell on a little knitted bird with a white scarf.

"Oh, I say, that's rather good. It looks handmade; did you make this yourself, Mister... Tatsumi, wasn't it-"

But Wolf wasn't listening. A dozen emotions crossed his face all at once, primary among them being confusion and... hurt? "I don't- I don't understand," he said, after several seconds, and Rookmon trailed off, falling silent.

"I don't understand. I tried to kill you, I- why? Why would you..." It was handmade. It had to be. You couldn't just get things like this in shops. "Why?! I don't even know you, you were just-" Maybe it was some lingering lack of filter from the dungeon, maybe he was just... out of any ability to mask, right now- but that only sparked more confusion. Why was it hard to breathe all of a sudden, why did this- hurt? It had to be a joke. People didn't do this. But he couldn't spot the trick, couldn't work out what the angle of attack was. "You just showed up for the TV thing, I don't..."

Sensing, perhaps, some of this, Rookmon took the moment to place a wing on his arm. "I don't understand," he finished, hollowly.

[very_elaborate]

"Yeah, I did," he manages to say before Wolf's emotional outburst takes over. Kanji's not upset by it, though. (Please don't call him 'mister,' though, he's not even that old--)

"If my friends'd let the fact that they didn't really know me and I was an asshole when they got concerned stop 'em, I'd be dead. It's what you do, when there's TV world shit." And indeed, if Wolf ends up backreading the network from around the time the dungeons kicked off, Kanji was right there telling everyone how TV world shit usually works.

But that's not why he made the plushie.

"Besides. I was fourteen and alone and angry once, and it wasn't that long ago. I was lucky enough to still have Mom, and Inaba doesn't have a whole lot in the way of trouble, but I definitely still went lookin' for it. I know what it feels like, maybe not to end up in that deep of shit but to feel like you might as well because nobody cares."

[rookandhound]

His eyes were burning, his breath heavy with some emotion he had no word for.

But... he pulled the little knitted bird in close to himself, not knowing what else to do with it- but certainly that it was Precious, that he didn't dare let it go, as though it would vanish if he released his grip.

He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a heavy, slightly choked sound.

"... Thank you kindly, Mister Tatsumi. It's wonderful."

Wolf... didn't say anything. But he nodded.

[very_elaborate]

"No problem." Kanji gets it, at least. When's the last time someone gave this kid a gift just because he needed one?

From the looks of the dungeon? Never. Not necessarily his mom's fault, but just about everyone else's since.

"Long as we're stuck here, if you need somethin' you can come bug me. I'm usually in the textile shop."

[fledglingcrow]

It was about time that Jay went to meet others besides Ken. Who better to start with then this broody version of him. He could cheer him up a little couldn't he?

"Well, hello there!" He said a bit too cheerfully. His smile was large on his face as he greeted them. His eyes looking at the creature by the other's side.

[rookandhound]

This was... new. He knew of Jay, of course, but they'd never actually... met.

"You're the one that lives with Ken, right?"

I can smell him on you, he did not add. Because that would have sounded creepy.

[fledglingcrow]

He nodded, “That would indeed be me. Next to Crow and Raven.” He was curious if that’s how people knew him. He needed to get out more. He should make some new friends.

“We decided on Jay for the code name so you can just call me that.” He smiled widely as the other did whatever.

Come on be his friend, won’t you?

[rookandhound]

"Wolf," he replied, noncommittally. "Since there's so goddamn many of us."

He took a bite of sushi. "How... is Ken? I heard... some things."

[fledglingcrow]

Oh? See Ken other people worry about you. He'd be so giddy to spill those beans later. "Sad, but he's strong he'll get through it." Words that sounded a little too familiar to him. "He just needs time to heal from everything."

[counterfeitphantom]

The first sign was a gentle clink—a soft, metallic nudge to the back of Wolf’s head, just forceful enough to pull him out of his spiraling thoughts.

Clink. Clink.

A second tap followed, a little sharper this time. Not painful. Just annoying. The kind of tap meant specifically to be annoying.

Then came the sound of tiny rotors buzzing, and the faint whirr of a stabilizer adjusting its altitude. Akane and her placement drone had come to bother both Wolf and Rookmon once again.

[rookandhound]

"What-" he turned to face the interloper, and got bonked in the face for his troubles. "Augh- what, Akane-"

[counterfeitphantom]

Dangling from the hook underneath was a familiar street food box, wrapped in string and tied off with a messy little bow. It swayed back and forth as if mocking him for being caught off guard.

There was a pause—long enough to be deliberate—before a warm LED blinked to life, and the projector beneath the drone flickered on.

Akane’s digital avatar shimmered into view just beside them: a maroon yukata draped over her usual simplified form, arms folded as she leaned into one hip with a mock-patient expression. The box of food passed straight through her translucent shoulder.

And she smirked.

"I see you’re brooding your biggest brood at the Broodway," she announced dryly, brow arched like it physically hurt her to watch him sit like that. "Starring: you and- Hiiii Rook!" Her voice immediately switched as she waved at the digimon next to Wolf.

[rookandhound]

"Good evening, Miss Akane! I see youre enjoying the festivities."

"Yeah, hi. And I'm not brooding," he groused, in defiance of all evidence.