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

[dollmaxing]

What are you, a child?

The comment goes unsaid, but the stink-eye is fierce. She turned away from him and moved further down the table, going to find and pick out the eel pieces instead.

[unit_8910_wolf]

Zenkichi savored the last chew of the yellowtail like it was fine wine, swallowing it down with a satisfied, exaggerated "ahhh."

Still watching her.

The stink-eye Ichinose threw over her shoulder was... new.
Not the stiff little poker face he'd gotten used to back in their wrecked world—no, this one had real bite.

Real heat.

Interesting.

He narrowed his eyes behind his visor, grinning like a wolf. So that's how it is now, huh?
For someone who’d once been little more than a walking mannequin full of tech jargon, this was... almost refreshing. Almost.

He followed her down the table, deliberately slow, finishing the last bits of yellowtail with lazy, theatrical licks of his fingers. Just to be extra. Just to make sure she noticed.

And when she reached for the next platter-
-some neat little display of glossy, glistening eel sushi-
-Zenkichi casually, with one hand, with absolute ease, snatched the entire plate off the table and balanced it on his palm.

Didn’t even break stride.

Held it up like a waiter in some fancy restaurant, smirking down at her from his damn six-foot frame.
The white of his yukata rippled as he shifted weight onto one foot, plate steady, like this was normal behavior for him.

"Whoops," Zenkichi said, deadpan. "Guess this one’s under new management."

He popped another piece into his mouth, chewing with deliberate, obnoxious slowness as he watched how she reacted.
Eyes half-lidded. Casual. Daring her.

[dollmaxing]

"Are you a child? That is so pathetically petty," she scorned. The audacity! Just because he can't cause a scene and shoot her, here, isn't it?

"Are you so obsessed that you'll punish me for ever expressing anything but supplication?"

[unit_8910_wolf]

Zenkichi didn’t answer at first.

He just watched her-
Cool and level, with that same lazy, unbearable patience a cat reserves for a bird too stupid to realize it's being hunted.

He plucked another piece of sushi off the plate, popped it into his mouth, and chewed on it. Teeth clacking.

Her accusations hung in the air.
"Obsessed."
Horrifying.

He finished chewing, wiped his fingers delicately on a pink napkin that Akane had told him to pin to the holster of his gun still strapped over his shoulder like he had all the time in the world, and muttered under his breath with a scoff:

"Didn’t know dolls could eat, honestly."

Sharp, sardonic.
But his next words—those dropped a little heavier.

Zenkichi shifted the plate to his other hand, rolling his shoulder slightly to stretch it out.

"Obsessed?" he repeated, finally looking down at her properly. “Hate to burst your delusion bubble, lady, but I'm not that generous.”

He gave a small, sharp tilt of his head, almost a shrug.

"I'm just watching. Figured I'd see what you do, now that you’re not hiding behind a god complex and a lab coat."

[dollmaxing]

Her expression leveled out as she watched that hand get uncomfortably close to the holster - but even as the expression dropped, she stepped back, as if she could've gotten away if he actually bothered to pull his gun.

Damn it.

"A god complex."

Was that referring to her? To Maruki? It could've meant either of them. But she wasn't really willing to pick a wager.

"Whatever. A sadist like you has to find a more socially appropriate way to be an asshole in a party like this."

[unit_8910_wolf]

For a second, Zenkichi actually blinked-caught off guard. His brows lifted in something between disbelief and exhausted amusement.

"I’m... what now?"
The words slipped out low and incredulous.

Sadist.
Right.
Still clinging to that one, huh?
As if a warning shot close enough to rattle her nerves counted as real cruelty.
God, she was dramatic. He’d seen people do worse to each other over snacks back in the camps.

He gave a short, humorless laugh under his breath, "Calm the hell down, would you? Seriously—" he said, voice loosening back into something almost casual. "If I wanted to shoot you, you wouldn't still be standing here arguing about it."

He let that hang a second, flashing a lopsided, sharp-edged smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

"And anyway," he added, tone a little lighter-mock-affable in the way only a man used to arguing in public could manage, "close quarters ain't exactly the best place for fireworks. Pretty sure the kids here don’t deserve to spend the night dodging stray bullets just ‘cause you’re a sore loser."

"That said—"
Zenkichi tipped the plate slightly toward her, balancing it one-handed with that same cocky grace. "If you really wanna escalate, hey, I’m sure everyone here would love to watch a man wrestle a crocodile in a yukata."

[dollmaxing]

"You are twice my size and have cybernetic implants. I'm not stupid. Regular self defense classes aren't going to get me anywhere," she replied, eyeing the plate skeptically.

As if he didn't know she was from a time that was peaceful, all things considered. And she fully intended to keep it that way.

No, she'll give up on the eel and start plucking some tuna pieces for herself before he can snag those, too. Ass.

[unit_8910_wolf]

Zenkichi’s grin twitched. Twitched—and then collapsed into a scowl so fast it could’ve given someone whiplash.

He glowered at her, dark and unblinking, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

"Yeah?"
His voice dropped low, ragged around the edges.

"And whose damn fault d'you think that is, huh?"

His free hand flexed absently at his side—the one that still bore faint traces of the metal threading under the skin.

[dollmaxing]

"Someone with my name, my face, some of my history - but who isn't me. That and this Kirijo Group making questionable at best tactical decisions," Ichinose answered flatly, a wry smile on her face. She spotted a familiar face nearby - so she gave him a fake as fuck smile.

[unit_8910_wolf]

Like a fork-tongued witch. That's what she reminded him off.

"Ha, you know I am not much of an advocate for the Kirijo Group either," he pulls his lips to grin again. "But after comparing your work of cursing the world with EMMA, maybe they earned some gold stars for their effort."

[dollmaxing]

"Well, well. After you deal with the EMMA of your world, you'll have your hands full taking out that group after, won't you? You aren't in an enviable position at all," she shrugged and smiled, fakely, biting into the sushi she'd managed to swipe.

[unit_8910_wolf]

"Take out that group?" His brows furrowed, his tone alas slipping off enough to give away his uncertainty. He...he doubts that. Honestly. He doubts he could do anything to take out that whole group, not when he doesn't know where he and Akane stand and even then...he's not going to make it. He can only save his family's skin at best...he's only using this Ichinose to terminate the Democles sword hanging above all their heads at this point.

Still staring her down the whole time—and promptly grabbed one of the eel pieces she hadn't touched yet.

Chomped right into it.

"Is that the kind of impression your Zenkichi gives you?"

[dollmaxing]

"He doesn't leave much of an impression over the phone. But he got himself arrested to protect the Phantom Thieves - that seems like the sort of reckless sense of justice that someone would act on."

She nibbles at the tuna, staying out of Zenkichi's reach.

1/2

[unit_8910_wolf]

Yeah he...he barely has any context about the phantom thieves aside from their working members and their basis of operation. Even then...he has never met them in his life. Oh, how much he would have scoffed at their justice- maybe even envious of their work. Like cheating.

In another life. Maybe.

"He's..." He starts before stopping right away. Can't learn his damn lesson, can he? Biting the hand that feeds him...he knows his day as an inspector. The sheer naviety of it all- thinking he would have everything under control one day.

He finishes the last of the sushi as well, now considerably full. He has half a mind to still follow this woman around, just to get a read on her when she does slip but his thoughts are held off when he picks up on someone else walking in on them. Heavy, an adult man's footsteps and he knows only two of them. Inevitably, his head turns to the new comer as he jumps a little at the way the man suddenly turned to him. Alert.

[takutomaruki]

When he had met eyes with Ichinose far earlier, his expression had grown serious. Careful. Contemplative as he always was, his plate filled to the brim with assortments as he was about to make off with the sushi as well- only to find most plates suspiciously empty.

He wandered up to the sushi table with a plate in hand, blinking at the tension so thick you could slice it into sashimi. Zenkichi’s entire body was tight with leashed fury, still chewing on eel like it had insulted his ancestors, and Ichinose looked ready to either bolt or brain someone with a serving platter.

Maruki gave a bright, painfully earnest laugh.
"Ahaha, wow...!" he said, a little too loudly. "You two are getting really... into the food, huh?"

He edged closer, very much like someone trying to approach a feral animal.
His smile strained at the edges but held.

[dollmaxing]

"Spite must go really well with sushi!" Ichinose cheerfully chirped, relaxing now that Maruki was back. "Zenkichi here has been eating well. Best take advantage of a good opportunity, right?"

Not that she really cares. She sneaked a few maki rolls and retreated to Maruki's side, putting him in between her and Zenkichi and enjoying some of her takoyaki.

"I shouldn't talk too much, since anything I say seems to just anger him."

[unit_8910_wolf]

The mention of his first name makes his eyes widen in anger- visibly feeling uncomfortable at the fact that the woman tainted his name like she's tainted everything else in the world.

"I would theorize that the birds just stop singing whenever you speak, Ichinose. Speaking of which, its Wolf to you-? Keep my first name out of your mouth. The audacity you hold, I swear to god you are insufferable as is even when you aren't hovering in EMMA's belly."

Maruki allowed himself to stand between the two of them, wincing as Zenkichi only had a slightly more offensive frame but even then- he wasn't intimidated. Not that the man wanted to intimidate him, given how annoyed he looks.

"I didn't know you were such an avid fan of sushi, Zenkichi-san," he pointed at the plate. "Though its a shame...not much of it is left for the others."

"You'll live without it," he rolls his eyes as he finishes the last piece and sets the empty plate on the table next to them. Like hell he feels much sympathy for Ichinose or for the man who's harbouring her. Birds of a feather flock together, don't they?

[dollmaxing]

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, with every bit the tone of someone who was completely not sorry, "the Thieves would always call you either 'Zenkichi' or 'Gramps' when we talked. You would know, you saw all of the emails."

It didn't change that he didn't want her to say shit to him in the first place, let alone using his given name, but she didn't really care either way. It hadn't crossed her mind before, she just spoke of him the way Futaba would address him all the time in emails, and if that made him mad? Then good. Fuck him.

"Go easy on him, Maruki. He lives in a post apocalypse - once he's back home it will be a long time before things are rebuilt well enough that he can enjoy food like this."

[takutomaruki]

Zenkichi didn’t rise to the bait this time.
Didn’t even twitch.

He just stared at her with the unimpressed deadpan of a man who’d fought wars bigger than her ego—and didn’t have the time or patience to indulge petty needling anymore. Or so he thinks.

"Yeah, well," he rasped, voice low and even, "the Thieves probably got to call me that ‘cause they earned it. You?"
He gave a lazy, sardonic tilt of his head. "You’re just background noise."

Maruki blinked once, took stock of the tension crackling between them, and offered an easy, practiced smile—the kind you wore when you were two steps ahead of a workplace meltdown about to happen over the copy machine. Or even before your colleague and your boss.

"Background noise, huh?" he chuckled warmly as he turned his head to blink at her deliberately, like they were all in on the joke. Are you insane? "Well, background music’s what keeps a party lively, isn't it?"

He expertly held onto his plate with one hand as he picked up a few skewers of takoyaki with the other, pretending like Zenkichi's LED wasn't blaring red.

No panic, no stammering. Just smooth deflection.

"Speaking of lively..." he continued, gesturing with his chopsticks, "Now that I think about it you two are seriously putting the rest of us to shame. I’ve never seen sushi disappear this fast. You should be proud! True warriors of the buffet."

"Seriously?" Zenkichi huffed- like he was being harassed by an actual parent. "Are you seriously doing this?"

[dollmaxing]

Warriors of the buffet? Aww. He really was trying his best, wasn't he? Ichinose relaxed a little, eating a takoyaki so she had a bare pick in her hand, too.

"En garde!" she joked, brandishing her pick at Maruki like the world's wimpiest knife and laughing lightly, jovially. Like 'Wolf' wasn't even there.

1/3

[takutomaruki]

Maruki blinked, briefly caught off guard by Ichinose's sudden playful energy.
For a beat, it was clear he hadn't expected her to actually joke back.

He chuckled and gamely lifted his own pick in defense.

"Ah! A duel!" he declared in mock alarm, crossing his takoyaki skewer against hers with a half-hearted, clumsy parry. "Mercy, mercy!"

The skewers tapped together with the most pathetic little clack.

2/3 (think maruki will approach him seperately. don't think zenkichi would stick around for long)

[unit_8910_wolf]

Zenkichi watched the whole thing, feeling his brain short-circuit for half a second.
It was...strange.

The way she laughed, easy and genuine, felt wrong on her.
Like it didn't belong to the same woman who’d twisted entire worlds into cages.

Huh.

Maybe Maruki was doing something to her. Or maybe this was just what happened when you let a monster steep in an echo chamber long enough.

Either way, he wanted nothing to do with it.

Akane’s voice crackled softly into his ears or his system, almost immediate.
"Dad? You okay?"

He adjusted the collar of his Yukata, muttering back, "Yeah, kiddo. All good. Just..." He exhaled through his nose, watching Maruki and Ichinose poke at each other like overgrown children. "...getting some air."

"She seems a little too drunk. Wonder what's up with her."

He shifted his weight, the faintest scrape of sandals against wood, about to make his quiet exit—

Only for Maruki to pivot, nodding at a sake bottle in one of the adjacent tables.

"You sure you don't want to stay a little longer, Zenkichi-san?" Maruki offered with a friendly smile. "Once you're done eating, there's plenty more to drink. Wouldn't want you missing out."

There was a beat of hesitation.

The invitation was gentle. Open. Like Maruki was used to pulling stubborn, hurting people back into the fold without making them feel trapped.

Zenkichi’s fingers twitched once, faintly remembering easier days—the clink of glasses, Maruki's grievances with the process of his surgery or discussing the developments of his Rumi's hospitalization. Both of which had met its tragic end.

He shut that door before it could even open.

"Nah," he said gruffly, giving a small, dismissive wave. "Forget about it. Just keep her in line."

It wasn't personal.

(Or maybe it was. Just a little.)

He turned on his heel, hands shoved into his sleeves, the edge of his yukata catching the breeze as he slipped away from the table.

3/3

[takutomaruki]

Maruki just watched him go, unbothered, before calmly turning back to Ichinose with a soft sigh.

"Well," he glanced back at her. "That was...something."

[dollmaxing]

"He always reacts poorly to me any time I seem even slightly outside of this image he has of the other Ichinose," Ichinose explained, rolling her eyes and pausing to eat another bite of sushi.

She looked at Zenkichi's retreating form, seeing the fire leaving him. Chewing, a bit, in thought.

"If he's disheartened for the night, you don't have to rescue me again. You can catch up with Hamuko-chan, and I'll go check on Morning."

[takutomaruki]

Ichinose’s explanation only seemed to sadden him more. He felt awful for both- Ichinose didn't deserve to have someone fight tooth and nail to be forced into the mould of a doll, a title that she clung onto like it was her lifeline. The anger will only make things worse instead of better.

It was so important for people to be kind. And just.

That said...he sympathised with Zenkichi. Who wouldn't be? If he came across that burglar in this world, regardless of how much good will he held, regardless of his motivations and passions; he couldn’t erase that imagery of how he lost everything that mattered to him.

And Zenkichi lost. More than anyone deserved to.

When Ichinose offered him the deal to seperate he answered a beat later, brows relaxing from their relentless furrowing like he was just pulled out from his deep thoughts.

"No, no, I didn't even do anything. You handled yourself really well." Quick not to take any credit, he waved his hand in dismissal. "That said I will...go ahead and do that." It was so obvious from his expression and the way he followed Zenkichi’s retreating form that he wanted to speak with him again. They did fight and drank alongside each other before all of this- maybe he could salvage a bridge?

So what was he waiting for? With the way his eyes turned to Ichinose like a puppy, he was still waiting for that slight confirmation.