personavelvetroomdr | Cherry Blossom Evening Party

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Cherry Blossom Evening Party

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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!!

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"I have...a slightly strange question regarding uhh-" he considers his words very carefully. "Supernatural aspects. That is beyond my field. Somehow and its been haunting me for a while."

"Supernatural aspects beyond your field... huh. Like what?" Hamuko asked, sincerely, sitting upright again to show she was paying attention.

"Lovers."

The word quickly slipped off his tongue. That's how much the question has been haunting me.

"I was told that I uncovered a bond with the Lovers. What does that mean?"

"Lovers...?"

Hamuko only pauses a second to think, before it clicks. Oh. Oh!

"Wait a moment! Like the Lovers card from tarot? I didn't know you got Social Links, too - those are bonds made manifest to give you strength. It's what helped me face Nyx," she explained, a little surprised. The Lovers card, though... "Is Ichinose-san your Lovers link?"

Those are bonds made manifest to give you strength.

Okay, maybe asking this question while drunk wasn't a good idea because while he gets the idea of how experience shapes a person in general, this little variable with the titles seemed so off. Especially in Ichinose's case. How would she feel if he told her about this?
It couldn't be positive. Maybe it would creep her out more if anything.

"I don't know," he admits with a wry chuckle. "...Maybe?"

It took Hamuko a beat, but she looked at Maruki's flustered, bewildered expression.

H e h .

Whether he actually felt anything about it or not, the funnier thing to Hamuko is how dead serious he was about it when he brought it up.

"You don't read the tarot much, do you, Maruki-san?"

Why is she looking at him like that-

Maruki pouted, looking close to a kicked puppy as his brows furrowed. "Is something the ma-"

He cuts himself off at Hamuko's question.

Tarot...huh...

"I did...attend one?" He asks but it ends off as more of a question, like he wasn't sure what to call it. "One tarot reading session organized by the occult club," he frowns. "...wayyy back in a high school festival. I always found it to be a silly little thing with fancy cards, you know?" The idea of having your fate intricately woven into pre-defined archetypes like astrology or otherwise seems more of a placebo effect.

"Not like that tarot reading was accurate," he added. "Why do you ask?"

"They're archetypes! Archetypes of a person's journey, their relationships, their own personhood... I think the world of the supernatural reflects the tarot because it speaks to a lot of our lived experience."

Come to think of it, even the Nyx Avatar recalled the Tarot... was that from Ryoji? Or did even Nyx herself acknowledge the Tarot?

"The Lovers card is sometimes about romance, sure. But it's actually a bit more broad than that - it refers to making choices, most of the time. About someone being at a crossroads, and having to choose which way to move forward. So that's probably what you and Ichinose are going to learn from each other - finding that crossroads for one or both of you and deciding what path to choose."

Edited 2025-05-01 00:41 (UTC)

Huh.

Maruki considered her words, his mind following slowly in comparison to how it would usually work- given that he sort of correlated their meaning regardless of his own belief in it.

About someone being at a crossroads, and having to choose which way to move forward.

Fascinating.

He...did find himself at the crossroads. And when Ichinose walked in at the cross, he found himself turning towards his dream again. She understood why he did what he did. Why this research meant everything to him and while he can try talking and comforting as many people as he can, he will always miss someone who was either too buried under unfair circumstances to make it out on the surface or didn't find themselves opening up.

Like Ichinose herself.

He took a long bit of a pause where he parsed what she meant.

"A choice can have a major domino effect and keeping things vague enough...maybe that's how the future works as well?" He tilts his head and the more he thinks about the fact that Ichinose is the lovers...he couldn't help but laugh.
"It's somehow both bizarre and somehow believable. Cognitive pscience truly is...eye opening."

"Though the romance aspect is a bit concerning..."

"Oh, woe is you! A woman that's pretty, educated and intelligent might get a crush on you," Hamuko teased, none the wiser.

"Say! You and I definitely have a bond. Which arcana am I? For me, you're The Hanged Man - makes perfect sense to me!"

Edited 2025-05-01 01:35 (UTC)

"I-" he squinted at her in confusion. "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that-! I am just saying I am not ready for a relationship like that and in all honesty, maybe I am just not giving her enough credit where credit is due. If this is an idea about crossroads..."

That said, he was grateful for the topic change. As much as he would love to discuss about Ichinose some other time, right now his brain is moving at the pace of a slug and if it wasn't for the sake of this conversation, he would be stuck curled up in the blanket like caterpillar hidden away in its cacoon.

While he was about to tell her what...archetype she was assigned by the mysterious voice in his head, what she says actually makes him stop and blinked. Once then twice.

Edited 2025-05-01 15:43 (UTC)

"I am....what?" He asks slowly, distinctly horrified. Makes perfect sense??

It takes Hamuko a second to realize - she'd seen the card so many times, after all, so it never registered - but oh. He was thinking of a man that was hanged like that.

Despite herself and despite how completely reasonable his reaction was, Hamuko did her best to stifle a giggle-snort.

"Not like that! It's-- on the card, it's a man hanging by his ankle, with his other leg like this," she adjusted how she sat to demonstrate, "hanging upside down. That's from the Odin myth! I thiiiink that story was about Odin hanging himself upside down and staring into some mythical water beneath to get a new insight? Learn something important, and that's why he's Odin the wise? I only read a little when I had Odin as a Persona for a while."

The poor guy looked so close to a kicked puppy and the worst part? He was drunk too. That somehow made Hamuko's proclamation hit spots in far deeper places that would otherwise be wrapped in cotton- now open for full disclosure on how incredibly lost he was.

A man hanging from his ankle with his other leg...out- hanging upside down. What. His eyes widened as she kept explaining beyond about gaining new insight. "Huh," he pursed his lips in thought at her explanation. "I am not as well-versed with Norse...but that's a relief. I will be honest, you terrified me a little bit when you said it suited me," he chuckled nervously- the voice drawing out before cutting itself off with a series of coughs. He brought the back of his hand to his mouth as he attempted to clear his throat.

Edited (Big gap at da bottom) 2025-05-01 16:32 (UTC)

Aww, poor guy. Hamuko scooted closer to give his shoulder a reassuring pat.

"It really does suit you, in a couple ways. It's got a couple of meanings - insight or trying to gain insight, being suspended between one moment and another, stuff like that. In the face of disaster lies the opportunity for renewal."

Whatever the specifics of his story were, whatever he was going through now, how he was stuck between his dream and those hurt by other iterations of it... Maruki was a hanged man, suspended.

And if Ichinose represented a crossroads to him... hmm.

"The Tarot seem kind of scary and obvious on their face sometimes - but they almost always have a few layers of meaning. They're archetypes, after all, so they're broad and encompass a lot of ideas trying to capture the entirety of a human journey, you know?"

He closed his eyes as he felt the pat on his shoulder. The picture of hanging upside down, he could almost imagine himself in that position. Looking beyond into the expansive ocean, his dream was very much there. He will save all those who suffer from the unfair justice of this world, no matter how long it takes for him to perfect it.

He looks up at the sky, taking in its raw darkness with hints of small stars peeking in between. Hamuko's voice was so close yet...so far away at the same time.

"But what if you are at the very end of that journey?" He asks the moment he sort of grasps Hamuko's explanation about the tarot. "What if the name of the tarot associated to someone is Death."

He closes his eyes and slumps on his knees. "That's...your archetype. For me."

"...Death, huh. I make a good Death Arcana," Hamuko laughed, though it was just a breath of one. Like Pharos... like Nyx.

The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate... Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... Beyond the beaten path lies the absolute end. It matters not who you are... Death awaits you.

But they proved that it didn't have to come that day, and they didn't have to go willingly. That fighting for life even knowing the inevitability was worthwhile. That life is worthwhile.

"The Death Arcana is number thirteen. The major arcana starts with The Fool, our adventurer ready to learn and grow, and follows him through his journey - and there are twenty two cards. Death is only a little past halfway through the journey - there comes so much more after it."

Maruki didn't find himself even smiling at her laugh, turning in a sunken look at the ghost next to him. The girl he will never get to meet in his own world because of her sacrifice, laughing along at the idea of being his Death arcana and suiting that role.

Even if what she said held a lot of truth. Physical death aside, reality forces you to let your childhood die, then the naive optimism you hold in your adulthood needs to be buried to make space for the reality you have been thrusted into. Death to friendships, to life long promises that held as much weight as life itself did...

"Don't I know it," he murmurs.

His life with Rumi had extinguished to pave the path of his true purpose. His dream.

He probably does, most people do, in one form or another. Rarely is it as drastic as Hamuko's case, but everyone has experienced it at least once.

"Maruki-san," Hamuko gently beckoned his attention, "This place might be the only way you could meet me, but that's okay. What's important is to appreciate the life you have while you have it. And right now, I get to have it, and I get to meet people like you. People I made that sacrifice for. And I get to see that I made the right decision."

"...H-Hamuko-san," Maruki’s voice breaks the silence—small, like it stumbled out on accident. He’s been quiet for a while now, save the occasional mumble or half-sentence that faded off before it meant anything.

His head lolls to the side, cheek smooshed lightly against his knees, peeking at her with one eye squinted open. "Can I—... can I ask something?" He pauses like he’s forgotten what it was. "Oh. No, I remember. Still there. Not a dream."

He blinks, long and slow, like he’s buffering. "When you... sacrificed yourself to Nyx..."

Another pause. Longer this time.

"...Did they know?"

His voice is barely a whisper now, dragged down with the weight of drunken sorrow. He doesn’t even clarify who “they” is—because he knows she knows. That’s the kind of question that only needs saying once.

"Not the ones like you," he continues, words mushy around the edges. "Not... SEES. Not the supernatural crowd. I mean the others. The ones you’d sit and eat lunch with. The ones who didn’t see shadows and keys and death... the ones you made promises to. Like, ‘let’s go to the beach this summer!’ Or... ‘I’ll help you with your college prep’ or... something... simple like that."

He lifts his hand, like he’s trying to gesture—but then it just flops lazily back onto the blanket.

“Did they get it?” he asks, voice breaking halfway through. “Or did they just wake up one day and you were gone? Was it like a ripple in water, or did it just... stop? Just... stop.”

He looks straight ahead now, and it’s clear he’s gone—not unconscious, but drifting deep inside a well of memories and thoughts that keep looping on themselves.

"...No, they didn't know," Hamuko admitted quietly. "There was... a little time I had, before I fell asleep for good. No one else in SEES remembered exactly, but I did... I spent time with my friends, saw them off for the year, wished them well. I was lucky to be able to stay awake long enough to say goodbye, in a way."

It's a fascinating little deal, isn't it?

They both made sacrifices. Where she died physically with all memories intact, some were denied the opportunity to learn the truth; the person closest to his heart doesn't even know who he is or how he existed as a whole.

"An year...against a lifetime," he murmured- eyebrows drawn together as he finds himself spiralling for a moment. He doesn’t really dwell on her answer right away. Maybe he can’t. Maybe he's already forgetting he even asked. All he does is let out the faintest sound—half-breath, half-laugh—and burrow further into the blanket cocoon, like he’s trying to hide from the whole night.

"...It must’ve hurt."

He sighs. "Sorry. I’m so... so very drunk. I think my brain just fell out. Like I said- it's not really appropriate for you to see me like this...ah man."

"In a way, you're more honest," Hamuko said softly, gently patting his fluffy hair. "I don't mind if you're sad. I think it's kind of you to mourn for me and for my friends."

He's struggling with the sadness, though... did he usually run away from it? Or was the depressant of the alcohol that strong on him?

"I'm sure that it probably did hurt them, to lose me... but they are all incredible people. I know they'll do well, go on to live rich lives. Hey, maybe if you go home, I can ask you to look a few people up - Igor bringing me here means I might actually get to see if they've ever been in the newspapers or what they've posted about online."

More...honest?

Maruki finally raised his head a little when he felt her hand on his hair. He pulled back a little, unsure about the physical touch despite the fact that he knew Hamuko meant it as a comforting gesture.

It's been a while since he's felt comforted in general- with his heart wrapped in thorns that leave nothing but the wake of scars and memories threatening to surface with the alcohol. He went overboard again.

"That...that is feasible but like- mine is only one of such universes where things could have ended both good or bad, you know?" He would be fishing out his pocket journal and write that little detail down but really he can barely hold a pen in his hand. Or argue about the inevitably of how rich lives don't hold ground in their current reality but he doesn't want to be a buzzkill.

"I suppose it will put your mind at ease too. Don't think many get the chance to even make that request."

How would he communicate all that though?

That question is left hanging in his head still because the sentence uttered to him prior from everything else still rings in his head.

In a way, you're more honest.

Maruki suddenly raised an index, a little unstable as his eyelids threatened to close. "...why did you say that?" He asks and proceeds to give zero context about what he's talking about.

Benefits of drinking if you will.

"...Which part? That my friends would probably live good lives? Or not minding if you're sad?"

She'd rambled a little bit, oops.

"I think it's normal to be sad, at times - if you don't let yourself feel down, then the happiness feels less meaningful."

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