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

[wipingallout]

"Oh, I know that feeling really well," Hamuko admitted, leaning against the table on her elbows. "Feeling helpless is really one of the worst things to try and push through - it is a lot harder when you feel alone for sure."

She didn't have a full picture of Wolf's current situation, where he's from, only his past...

"Do you have friends back where you're from that you've worked with before? Relied on?"

[rookandhound]

"... No. Just Rookmon."

There'd been Wakaba, of course.

But Hamuko knew, now, how that had ended.

[wipingallout]

"Rookmon is a fantastic start," Hamuko smiled fondly, glancing at the digimon, "and the reason a lot of us knew to come look for you. His bond with you is important, and it's helping make more connections to others too."

Digimon are symbiotic with humans, Rookmon said... that'd probably make them good as conduits for connecting to others, too, right?

"Just speaking practically, I don't think I could've survived anything that happened when I was fighting if I didn't have people working with me. Easier said than done, though, I can get that - it's hard to know who to trust sometimes."

[rookandhound]

"Not like I can talk to anybody I know here, either. Anyone who'd be relevant would either be a child or probably a cop or something, and even if they weren't- it's not like they'd have digimon. Ubukata's notes mentioned something Kirijo was doing but it's not like I can trust them, since they started the fucking biohybrid research to begin with."

He sighed. "I don't know. If I go against Shido, I lose everything. If I go with him, I lose... me. I don't see a third path anymore."

[wipingallout]

If it weren't a dire situation, Wolf wouldn't feel cornered. Hamuko hesitated, putting a hand over her mouth in thought.

Their worlds were undeniably different, but...

...

After a moment of quiet deliberation, Hamuko lowered her hand again. "This is a little bit of a long shot..." she started, drumming her fingers briefly before continuing.

"In my world, the Kirijo Group was responsible for heinous things before my time. Experimentation on shadows... and on human subjects. The fact that there is a parallel, though, maybe... you should look for Mitsuru Kirijo. In my world, Mitsuru and her father were working to undo the wrongs that her grandfather had done to doom the world. I don't know if she exists in your world, or if she's on that attempted redemptive path, but it might be a lead?"

[rookandhound]

"... Maybe. Worth investigating, at least. Not gonna keep my hopes up, though."

[wipingallout]

"Prepare for the worst but hope for the best, right?"

It can be so hard to give hope a chance after it's been torn from you, huh?

"Mitsuru... at least, my Mitsuru, is incredible. She seems cold, but she's sharp - sharp as a tack, very strategic and insightful. Mitsuru was there fighting by my side when we went to fight Nyx... she may have kept things close to the chest, but she always wanted to do what was right. To make amends for what her family's legacy was, to make the world safer... I trust Mitsuru a lot. So I'll hope enough for the both of you! I hope your world has a Mitsuru Kirijo like mine."

[rookandhound]

When you went to fight Nyx.

If they were Persona users in other timelines... in his, did they have Digimon, as well?

"I'm not going to pin my hopes on a maybe. I'll look into it. But in my experience, nothing good ever happens just because."

[wipingallout]

"Life can be painful. Whether it's fate, or happenstance, I don't know... but there's so much meaning to be found in your connection to other people. None of us is meant to go through these things alone."

It felt a little unfair, that she knew so much about his past and he didn't know anything about her. But would rambling about herself do any good? Hrm.

"What's the digital world like?"

[rookandhound]

"... Depends where you go. Some places are wild, and there's usually some kind of... otherness to it, that makes it different. Trees growing out of telephone poles, abandoned infrastructure that makes no sense. Supposedly there's other layers to it, but I haven't seen them."

He considered. "There's cities, too, I guess. Few and far between, though. I tried to stay away from them. But I guess the biggest difference is how everything's shaped by... willpower, mostly. Belief. You don't get hungry if you aren't moving around a lot, not unless you remember you're supposed to be. You could breathe water if you made yourself believe you wouldn't drown."

[wipingallout]

"Shaped by willpower... is it similar to how the description of the metaverse works? The Dark Hour wasn't exactly the same - that's what I'm most familiar with," Hamuko explained.

"Plus, the Dark Hour definitely is mostly creepy, no real upsides, hah."

[rookandhound]

He made a face. "It doesn't stink like blood. I don't like going down there, it feels... I don't know. Alive."

[wipingallout]

"Ugh, yeah, the blood is so gross! By 'down there', do you mean the digital world or the metaverse?"

[rookandhound]

He snorted. "Metaverse, definitely. Digital World isn't so bad if you can pick up wilderness survival skills and fend off the occasional giant monster. Most of them are as smart as humans and you can talk them down. The dumb ones are usually violent, but at least they're predictable. They're more... honest. Than humans are."

[wipingallout]

A little like shadows, in a way. There really were a lot of parallels. "All things considered, it seems kind of nice. Well, as nice as nature itself can be."

But... she nodded, in regards to the comment about humans and honesty.

"People can be really complicated. For better and for worse. But most people have decent hearts, I think... most people want to live their lives."

[rookandhound]

He didn't meet her eyes. "I can't bring myself to agree. I think most people, when the chips are down, would eat each other given half a chance. Digimon are the same way, but they don't pretend to be nice to each other first."

They certainly hadn't hesitated to pounce on his mother, when they'd sensed weakness. Ripped her to shreds and watched her bleed to death the instant they'd felt they could get away with it, all while patting themselves on the back for being 'good people'.

[wipingallout]

"I can see why you'd see it that way, for sure," Hamuko nodded at him, not dismissive in the slightest even at his pessimism. "They don't make good choices when forced into a corner. Still... there's a warmth that comes from having bonds with others. Something that can give you the will to try and be better and do what's right, I think."

She gave him a light laugh.

"I don't mean to sound like I'm lecturing or anything. Or preaching. I just want to share more of me, and my thoughts, since you didn't have a choice in me seeing yours."

[rookandhound]

Once again, his eyes fell on the little emblem now engraved into the back of his Digivice.

That seemed to be what people, including himself, now, kept trying to tell him. But...

"Kind of feel like 'doing what's right' is a moot point, now."

[wipingallout]

"Well... I don't think it's moot. You can still try. There are a lot of people here who're trying to do that even now - and I knew someone who never wants to hurt others again."

She won't name Shinjiro, that was up to him, but... it was hard not to see comparisons in that way too.

[rookandhound]

His face fell, slightly. "... And what if there were still people I wanted to hurt? Very badly?"

He thought of Shido. Of the small army of politicians, police, judges, businessmen, and crime lords under his thumb.

He wondered how many of them would fall if Tokyo burned, and silenced that thought. But maybe...

"It didn't go away just because you beat it up. I still- I think of him. And I want to make him bleed. Beg for his life like- like Isshiki did. That's not the kind of thing a 'good person' wants."

[wipingallout]

"Thoughts like that... they're not a 'good person' thing or a 'bad person' thing. They're a hurt person thinks. And there's nothing inherently good or bad about a hurt person. There's something very understandable in having deep, even violent anger about someone that has hurt you or hurts others."

She didn't think too much about whether she was a 'good' or 'bad' person, but she also had thoughts like that at times...

"I think it's actions that are good or bad, more than feelings."

[rookandhound]

"You're saying this to the person who recently got overwhelmed by bad feelings and turned into a fire-breathing undead kaiju who tried to murder everyone he knows."

[wipingallout]

"Yep! You sure did. I was there!"

Hamuko laughed a little, just a breath.

"I saw what I saw. And I think you're a hurt person, but... a good person, at heart. I want to help however I can, because I believe you can be the person you want to be, whenever you settle on who that is."

[rookandhound]

He fell silent, for several seconds, seemingly taking a moment to digest this latest bit of information.

In the end, what he said was, "Has anybody ever told you you're fucking weird?"

[wipingallout]

Well, she laughs, if nothing else!

"Yeah, they have! It hasn't stopped me yet, at least!"