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yumemigaoka2023-07-06 05:20 pm
beautifuldreamermods) wrote in yumemigaoka2023-07-06 05:20 pm
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Event #3: Shooting Star Wishes
YUMEMIGAOKA
As it is every year, Yumemigaoka's annual Tanabata festival is held at the street just outside of the Hikawa Shrine. The street and the shrine itself have been closed off during the day beforehand, save for the volunteers running back and forth in the miserable weather to set things up and decorate every inch of the festival space. And all their efforts do pay off - by the time the festival starts at seven in the evening, the street has been transformed into a lovely spectacle; hanging lanterns twinkle with raindrops and cast a warm glow over the street, paper stars are fluttering gently down from strings strung between lampposts and stalls line the full length of the street with food offerings, festival games and just about everything in between. Unfortunately, the month's poor weather hasn't let up yet so the festivities are a little dampened by persistent drizzle, though it seems like everyone's absolutely determined not to let that ruin the festival atmosphere!
For folks looking for games, they can enjoy:
- ⧖ The most popular stalls, the shooting games! Using a gun loaded with paper bullets (so, you know, mostly harmless) the aim of the game is to get a clean hit on one of the prizes along the back of the booth and knock it down! The prizes are mostly candy, snacks or kids' toys but they're deceptively hard to get a good shot at...
⧖ Goldfish scooping, a summertime classic! Using a scooper with a thin sheet of paper for the net, try your best to catch as many goldfish swimming around the water below. Do well enough and you'll win a prize and you might even be able to take your goldfish home - make sure to take good care of it!
⧖ Senbonbiki is basically pure luck - bundles of prizes, usually candies and small toys, are strung up along the top of the stall and you just have to give the corresponding other end of the string a tug. Whichever bundle of snacks comes down is yours! Of course, if you're particularly unlucky then you might get a dud or penalty prize... but surely nobody's luck is THAT bad, right?
⧖ Ring toss! Throw rings onto targets marked "1" through "10", each worth different amounts depending on where they land. Beat the high score and you'll win a prize! Though do you really want to walk around the whole festival with a giant plushie under your arm all night...?
There's also a ton of options for Japanese street food; some traditional, others more modern takes. There's fried stuff, grilled skewers, rice balls, all manner of delicious noodle dishes and mountains of sweets too; taiyaki, chocolate covered bananas, shaved ice, cotton candy, and just about everything and anything else you'd want to spend an evening stuffing your belly with. And naturally there are plenty of drinks available including freshly squeezed fruit juice and tea and some booze for those who feel like playing with fire.
Aside from the rest of the festivities, the main event is really the hanging of wishes - it is Tanabata, after all. A few tables at the top of bottom of the street have been set up to carefully shelter them from the rain and have a whole rainbow of tanzaku for people to write and hang their wishes on the bamboo trees both in the street and in the shrine down below. You can hang as many wishes as you like, if you're feeling particularly greedy, but...
The festival doesn't really reach its peak until darkness falls and, undeterred by the continued drizzle, the Hikawa Shrine lights up the sky with its famous annual fireworks show - it's always pretty spectacular but perhaps out of spite for the nasty weather, it looks even more fantastic than usual this year.
With the fireworks done, the festival begins wrapping up and it's time to head home. But as you settle into bed for the night and drift off, it becomes apparent that the night's festivities have only just begun...
THE DREAM SPHERE
It's happened almost every night for a week now - when you drift away to sleep, your regular dreams are slowly, gently interrupted by a strangely vivid image, an enormous bamboo tree with a wide canopy of leaves under a dazzling night sky. It's maybe not a surprise, given the upcoming festival, but as the nights go by it just gets more and more intense... until the night of the Tanabata festival itself and suddenly everything changes. As you settle down to sleep for the night, whether you went to the festival or not, the moment you close your eyes and drift off... you find yourself distinctly Somewhere Else.
The dream – and surely, it must be a dream – unfolds as an expansive open field, drenched in the silvery light of a magnificently star-spangled sky above and cut through with a river of flowing water that reflects the sky so clearly, it looks to be filled with stars of its own. A fine, steady rain falls and fills the field with a soft mist and the fragrance of the hundreds of tiny, bell-shaped flowers swaying lazily in the grass. And at the center of the field is a familiar sight – that bamboo tree from your dreams, somehow huger and with branches even more widely spread than before. This time they hang low enough for you to reach out and touch and you'll realize as you draw close that the tree is weighed down with tanzaku strips, all glowing softly as if illuminated from within by the wishes upon them.
It's then that you also realize that you're not alone here. And that you're here at all – in the Dream Sphere. Slipping over to the other side isn't uncommon for Dreamers, but... hold on a second! Aren't some of the people here just regular people too? Whatever this strange dream is doesn't seem to have discriminated between Dreamers and the regular folks – maybe it's thanks to the magic of those two starcrossed lovers but somehow, the lowercase-d dreamers of Yumemigaoka have also crossed into the Dream Sphere tonight! The effect will only last until morning, at which point the dream will unravel, so you might as well enjoy it while you're here. Many of the mundane dreamers will find they're able to move differently in the Dream Sphere, running faster and jumping impossibly high and long distances with nary a scratch to show for it; no magic of their own yet, but at least enough to have a little fun while they're here.
There's a little bit of natural magic at play here in the environment, too. If you approach the tree with a wish in mind, there's no need to write it down; it'll appear in pretty, sparkly ink on an appropriately colored tanzaku strip, already tied to the tree. Or if you go to peer at your reflection in the river, you might see it take on a shape that reflects the wish you're carrying in your heart.
... Except...
What sort of things are you really wishing for? The things you won't admit out loud to anyone, or even to yourself? The deepest wishes right in the darkest part of your heart that you want more than anything? Unfortunately for you, this tree seems to be of a mind to grant wishes and once it's gathered enough of everybody's tanzaku, there's a bright flash of light...
And suddenly everyone's secret wishes have been made manifest... though only in the Dream Sphere, of course. These can be anything from silly wishes to something more serious - the important part is that these secret dreams and wishes have been pulled out of your head and put on display for everyone here to see! How on earth are you going to deal with this gracefully?!
Regardless of what you choose to do, the apparitions only last for an hour or so before fading away and the sky lights up with a beautiful meteor shower that seems to go on forever. You're free to stay and watch the meteor shower and enjoy your last moments in the Dream Sphere for as long as you like but eventually, as you're watching the stars streak down from the sky, the dream around you begins to gradually fade away until you find yourself stirring in your own bed. Though it was an exceptionally busy dream, you find you're well rested and... okay, maybe a little embarrassed after all that.
Nobody will be able to return to that strange field or find the dream to stabilize it but... maybe that's fine. Aren't some things all the more special for only happening once a year?
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[While Amane didn't go to the Tanabata festival this year-- he had another event that took higher priority-- he still had a long day regardless, and he had been looking forward to some regular sleep after all the excitement and activity. But maybe it was being around so many Dreamers during his waking hours that made him land back in the Dream Sphere yet again once he had finally fallen asleep, though things... certainly looked busier here than they usually did this time around. It doesn't take him long to note the more mundane outfits of the extra figures mingling about, zipping around and having fun, and it finally hits him-- there's regular people here right now. He knew it was possible for non-Dreamers to make their way in here on rare occasions, but... this many? All at once?
He sidles up to one of the first obvious Dreamers he spots, cupping his hand around his mouth as he leans in for not-quite-a-stage whisper:]
... hey, this is giving real "bring your parents to school" vibes, don't you think? I feel like they're going to ask us to put on some sort of performance for them or something. It's making me a little nervous...
[Seriously, his own family could be mingling around here at the moment?? And while he had always wanted to show off his Dreamer self to them... there was a part of him that felt a little uneasy about it too. Was this really safe for them here?]
ii. let's sneak in from the cheap seats, honey
[With the lack of Torments making an appearance, however, Hanako does eventually ease up-- maybe a little bit too much, really. If you're hanging around the big tree, either to make a wish known or just admiring the gorgeous star studded night, you're going to hear his voice coming from up above, perched on one of the delicate branches like a cat.]
Nice, huh? Kinda makes you wish we had skies like this back in the Waking World, too.
[??? Hanako, are you supposed to be up there--]
iii. for futures that never came
[But maybe perching in a tree that automatically pulls out one's subconscious wishes wasn't exactly the best idea on Hanako's end. As he leaps nimbly out of the tree, looking to see if he could maybe spot a familiar face in the crowd or find some unfortunate soul to pester, the environment suddenly warps and stutters around him, like a bad signal on an old TV. Quickly, he summons his Sandglass knife, wondering if a Torment really was rearing it's head after all--
The visions flicker in and out, like somebody changing a channel, lingering on each one for but a moment or two before rapidly changing to the next: Amane in a Promised Morning Academy uniform, sitting in a classroom with a number of his peers and laughing over a joke; Amane, playing a game of high energy soccer with some other boys his age, cheeks flushed but looking no worse for wear from all the exertion; Amane walking down Moon Bunny Market with a bunch of friends, holding the hand of one in particular and just enjoying the various shops and stalls as his Dreamer Pendant hangs free and loose off the pen in his pocket--]
... stop it.
[The voice that comes out of Hanako is a fragile thing, quavering at the edges and primed to break at any moment, his expression nothing short of wide-eyed horror. As if the tree somehow understood, the visions slow to a stop, but not before settling upon the worst gut-punch of them all:
There's a boy running down the watery tracks of the Dream Sphere, the telltale manifestation of a new location shimmering in the distance, and he turns to wave excitedly at Hanako, a bright smile on the face that's a mirror image of his own, sans the sharper canines and constricted pupils. The costume he wears is nearly identical in design as well, but the colors seem to a negative somehow-- lighter purples and black accents compared to Hanako's darker twilight colors with white trim.]
"Hanakooooo!! C'mon, c'mon, there's another place showing up over there! Hurry!"
"Hold on-- you sure this is the right one?"
[Dreamer!Tsukasa merely grabs onto the vision!Hanako's hand, the excitable grin never leaving his face.]
"Yeah! I've done this a buncha times with Senpai already! I can't wait to see what we find here!"
[Vision!Hanako can't help but beam back, laughing a little as he follows after his twin into the brand new lands starting to materialize around them.]
"Me too! Let's go!"
[The small thump of a knife hitting the grass below interrupts this cheerful sibling reverie, the real Hanako staring at this scene with no small amount of anguish. His lower lip quivers, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as the breathing starts to hitch in his chest. Who knew unearthing one's deepest wishes could be this brutal?]
i: I'm stuck in a lonely loop, my baby
We don't have to put on a show! Not if we don't want to. [Maybe it's a little strange for Sam of all people to not want to perform, but the fact that so many non-Dreamers are here has her...well.
It's got her a bit on edge. She's never experienced Tanabata before, either, in the real or dreaming world, so she's a bit discombobulated.]
Maybe if we hang out to the side and just...keep an eye out? There are enough normal folks making themselves a spectacle, we can just...try to blend in.
[Sam, your outfit kind of resembles armor. Are you sure about that?]
we could have had it all COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL
Hanako can't help but match her slight frown with one of his own at her suggestion, though, giving her outfit a bit of a once over.]
I mean... I think that's gonna be pretty hard on both our ends...
[What with Sam's rainbow-y shimmery armor and Hanako's very inconspicuous butt bow and sparkly jacket... they'd stand out like two sore thumbs. Not that Hanako necessarily disliked standing out in the Dream Sphere, most of the time, but there was a reason why he remained a fringe Dreamer instead of one with an active real-world fanbase!!]
I guess the real question is what we're gonna do if some Torments decide to crash the party. From their perspective, this is kinda like an all-you-can-eat buffet, don't you think?
[Hanako, don't just say that so casually.......... ]
ache it 'til you make it, ache it 'til you make it
I'd hope you'd join me in handing those Torments their collective asses, as if we'd come here to kick ass and chew bubble gum and ran out of the latter?
[She's not entirely cocky, but her attitude is intent on at least attempting to put Hanako at ease.]
I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones out here, but I haven't been trying to make a spectacle of myself. Or single out any other Dreamers who might be here. It's nice to see you, though.
[Always nice to see a friendly face, at least in her book.]
my pain isn't cool enough, pain isn't cool enough
[He makes a show of considering her question, a finger tapping his cheek as he rocks back a little on his heels. The answer was obviously "yes", but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease if he could help it. Though perhaps that was a good sign-- if he could act like a pain in the butt, then he probably was feeling a bit less unsettled about things, right? (Or maybe he was just doing what he does best and is trying to deflect)]
You seem to be pretty strong, so you don't need help from lil' ol' me, do you? I'm sure you'll be fine! ☆
[YOU SURE YOU WANT TO STILL CLASSIFY HIM AS A FRIENDLY FACE, SAM--]
Though I suppose I can pitch in, if you're really in a pinch. It's not like I have any gum on me, after all!
like a sledgehammer to a disco ball
but she's probably thinking it, really.]
Why you little...
[Instead of actually menacing Hanako, she reaches out to ruffle his hair---picking up his hat carefully while she does so, and setting it with equal care back on his noggin once she's done. Like her axe, the hat's probably iconic. D-Tune knows better than to mess with that.]
Listen, I only look like a Striker, I'm supposed to be a Saver. Let's overlook for now, the fact that I don't have any support or healing powers. Brains are weird. Dreams are weird. And so, here we are.
It's nice to hear that you think I could handle trouble myself, though. Vote of confidence, right?
crushin' all my low, low, low, low
I think I've been going through it
and I've been putting your name to it
in another life you were my babe
iii
That's all wiped from her head once she actually makes her way to Hanako's side, though. She hadn't realized just how clearly and vividly all of this was being made manifest and immediately once it really clicks what she's seeing, her stomach clenches with guilt. She shouldn't be seeing this – none of them should be seeing any of this.
She hangs back for a second, uncertain of if she should approach and risk seeing anything else. But it feels wrong to just stand here and watch without him knowing he's here. So instead she goes for the compromise of softly speaking up from behind him. ]
... Hanako-kun.
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Despite Ai's gentle tone, he still startles, whirling around to face her with an expression akin to a frightened animal's, eyes wide and tears already pooling over the sides. There were things that hit harder than the Torments it seemed, and while he could always fight back against those... there was nothing he could when it came to bitter, crushing reality. Maybe he should be relieved that it was Ai who showed up, and not some random Dreamer he didn't even know--or worse, ones he did know, who'd probably have a myriad of questions-- but... he can't bring himself to feel that way right now. Instead, all he feels is shame, hot shame, flooding his cheeks and dripping down his face, unable to even look her in the eye after that display in front of them.
He was selfish. Despite it all-- his healthier Dreamer body, his mentorship with Ai, exploring new and exciting places he could have only dreamed about in the past... apparently that wasn't enough to satisfy him. He only wanted what he truly couldn't have, and this tree kindly and cruelly laid that all out in front of him.
So Amane does the first thing that comes to mind-- he bolts. Away from the tree, away from the visions, and away from Ai-- though he's probably not going to get very far, what with the river cutting through the field and the wet grass and all. But he's certainly going to try!]
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She gives him a few seconds head start – just to give him a little extra time to compose himself, if it'll help at all – before she takes off too. There's not a whole lot of places for him to run and hide here and maybe that's cruel in its own way. As pretty as this dream is, there's something horrid about it too. ]
Hanako-kun. [ Her voice is louder now, but lacking utterly in admonishment. ] This sort of thing isn't something you can run from.
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But alas, this place was as cruel as it was beautiful, and the moment he approaches the river, he stumbles, the sight rippling upon the water getting him caught up on his feet. The reflection doesn't look all that different at a glance, not with his cap missing now... but with the dark hair, less vibrant eyes and normal clothes, it's definitely Amane staring back, not Hanako, looking just about as robust as his Dreamer self and grinning without a care. It's the final blow to his already fragile emotional state, and he collapses to his knees, tears flowing like the river coursing up ahead. With the fight drained out of him, he barely budges as Ai finally catches up, his head bowed and expression hidden, though his voice is still watery and thick with pain.]
What am I supposed to do, then?
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Neither of them have ever really asked for much, she thinks. Not anything unreasonable. But somehow, that just makes it worse, doesn't it? ]
Sorry. But you have to look it right in the eye.
[ She sinks to her knees in the damp, dewy grass and just as she had once before, she carefully sets an arm around his shoulder for a gentle hug. ]
If you pretend it's not there at all then it's just going to eat you up until you can't stand it anymore.
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ii
[ Kozakura would assume she was just going insane if she saw it happen. ]
I guess you like feeling tall huh?
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[Sorry, Kozakura, you set yourself up for that one--
But he swings his legs a little idly up in his bamboo tree perch
which will totally not have future consequences for him whatsoever, his eyes traveling back up to the night sky above.]I don't see how it'd be that freaky, though. It used to be like this before all the light pollution and stuff, right? It'd be kinda nice to return to that.
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[ She is SO not over it but she keeps it to when she can say that she's doing it for practical reasons. ]
I guess I am a bit too much of a city girl. This barely even looks real to me.
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That's a little sad, though, isn't it...? This is how it's supposed to be, and yet it seems unnatural because we're not used to it anymore. I'm sure our ancestors and stuff used to look at this all the time without batting an eye.
[And, as if he's realizing he's getting too sentimental--]
Ah, or maybe I should say "one of your peers" instead!
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That's where stories came from. Real constellations. ...gods, eve-what did you say?
[ She squints and glares up at him. ]
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ii
[Never lose your sense of wonder, that's Zeke's key to being a Dreamer. He holds to it on both sides, with an absolute determination that has yet to waver. Maybe someday it will. Nothing's permanent, or perfect. But wavering doesn't mean breaking, and a weak moment doesn't mean a permanent loss.]
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That said, he can't help but shoot a look of mild disbelief in Zeke's direction. That "grass is greener" moral may have worked for other things, but...]
You really think someone used to this would find our skies special? City lights aside, you can't really see anything up there except the moon. If I had to downgrade to that, I'd be pretty disappointed.
[Or maybe that's Amane's inner astronomy nerd being particularly salty]
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[Keeping a sense of wonder is super important for Dreamers, Zeke's always said so. But he doesn't mean just about the Dream Sphere. The waking world is important too -- after all, they spend at least half their time there! Dreamers wouldn't exist without it! And he'd go crazy at his job if he didn't keep some of that wonder there himself, too.]
Especially sunsets. People talk up sunrises, but they're nothing compared!
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[He swings his legs a little upon his perch on the delicate bamboo branches, the feat only really possible thanks to his abilities. It was harder to muster up a sense of wonder for the waking world, when everything seemed intent on keeping him grounded-- in more ways than one. Still, a difference in perspective wasn't an unwelcome thing!]
You really think people like sunrises better, though...? I thought sunsets were, y'know... the more romantic of the bunch or something. No one really wants to be up early enough to see the sun coming up, after all.
[Or he doesn't, at least-- but then, maybe Amane was a little more biased towards sunsets in general. Seeing the stars start to peek out of the night sky was infinitely more appealing to him than watching them fade away with the coming morning.]
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[Zeke is judging you, morning people of the world. You're just lying to yourselves.]
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i
He's watching after his latest patrol, giving a sigh, one that is both grateful for nothing to have happened, and yet also wishing that they would go back to safety already.
And his traditional yelp as Hanako sidles up to him and gives a not-whisper for what might be coming next.]
Goodness, you gave me a scare. [He laughs it off, as he looks back at the civilians.] Honestly, I'd be grateful if that was all it was.
[A performance would be much better than a trap. Though, it makes his head tilt to the side in thought.]
Do you think the Union can summon people like this here? For a performance?
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Hanako tilts his head at the other Dreamer's questions, before casually waving a hand in dismissal.]
Hm...? Oh, no way. If it was that easy to get normal people over here, we wouldn't really need Dreamers, would we?
[Or so he assumes, anyway. Maybe not so much for the whole "fighting Torments" thing, but for the general exploration and studying stuff, at least!]
To be honest, I don't think the Union had anything to do with it. Usually they give us a head's up for stuff like this, don't they?
[AGAIN.... running on assumptions, since it's not like Amane actually steps into the DU offices in the real world, so if there was a bulletin or anything related to this, he definitely would have missed it.]
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[He hasn't seen his mother up here yet, either. And he's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad one. But he's leaning more likely toward better. If only not to worry about this being a trap and catching her in it.]
How do you think they got here, anyway? If only by speculation.
[Give him anything to drop the theory that this is a trap and that they'll have to jump into action at any second now.]
You don't think... that tree might be a Torment, do you?
[He knows it sounds silly. But it's one of the thoughts on his mind.]
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He hums a little under his breath as Guardian asks him to speculate, looking as if he's giving it some thought, until finally:]
Beats me! ☆ [WAY TO BE HELPFUL, HANAKO] I don't pay much attention to the mechanics of this place, to be honest. We're in a dream, so applying logic to it is already kind of pointless, isn't it?
[His eyes glance back over towards the tree, however, as if looking for any tell-tale signs of monsterhood lurking within it. All it really looks to him right now is large and glowy, so...]
I don't think it's a Torment, or even a Nightmare for that matter, though. And if it was... it's probably a reaaaaally patient one if it hasn't started gobbling up folks already.
Maybe it's got something to do with the holiday? It is Tanabata, after all.
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