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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?
no subject
It might be why she looks a little concerned as she glances between Makoto and the game itself. ]
Would you.. want to try again? Maybe you'd get a better result next time..
[ O-Or a penalty! The horror!
That possibility is definitely why the girl is looking a little concerned over here. ]
no subject
I think I will try again. It can't be something bad twice, right?
[ The confidence of a cool older brother! ]
You'll be my good luck charm right? What's your name?
no subject
[ Though the girl still looks a little bit shy - it comes naturally, really - she at least seems to relax a little bit at his attitude. He seems pretty nice right now, after all. (And Illya may also have a natural weakness to big brothers, which sure doesn't help.)
It at least keeps her from nervously looking away, instead staring up at Makoto with big eyes. ]
And.. um, I can try to be..? [ N-Not that she's sure she'll do a good job, which is kind of nerve-inducing, but.. ] I've never done that before. Being a good luck charm, I mean.
no subject
[ He seems relaxed now. a little more in his element now that he's chatting with the girl. She's probably his little brother's age, he'd estimate. So not quite a little kid, old enough to start to want to be treated more like a grown up--but still pretty childish. ]
Help me pull on the string this time. We'll see if you have luck in your fingers.
[ He pauses and then picks a string, wrapping his fingers around it and then offering the end towards Ilya. ]
no subject
There's not a lot Illya wouldn't do after getting such a nice compliment.
So despite her mumble (okay, maybe it was more like a whine, sue her), Illya does reach out towards the string, her fingers below his own, wrapping themselves around it as well. ]
Do we tug at the same time..? Are you going to count down?
no subject
Yep! I'll do a little count down.
[ There's something in the air of reassurance that he's trying to project. ]
3... 2... 1... pull!
[ Yoink! ]
no subject
[ Yes, that's a small noise she just can't help but let out as she moves to tug - perhaps with slightly more force than absolutely necessary, especially given the fact that they're both already tugging on the string at the same time..
But maybe something about the way Makoto was encouraging her just made Illya put a little more effort into it. Hence the enthousiastic sound, temporarily forgetting about the fact that this could have a very, very bad outcome.
.. in fact, that realisation only seems to hit her when she realises they pulled something up, and though she doesn't release her hold on the string, the girl quickly and tightly shuts her eyes. ]
W-Wait, I don't dare to look!
[ As if the prize is going to eat her alive or something.. Just listen to her squeak. ]
no subject
Hey, look.
[ Turns out Ilya was good luck. Instead of a dud or (gasp) a penalty there's a prize! It's just a bag of snacks, but it's better than either of the other possibilities, right? ]
We did it!
no subject
In fact, the words leave her mouth before she's even opening her eyes. Said opening of her eyes only happens a moment later, after he's already done patting her head, and she lets out a gasp when she sees what they pulled up. ]
W.. We did!
[ Look at her. So surprised that she can't help but repeat those words yet again, looking from the prize over to Makoto with big, wide eyes. ]
That's great, right?! Aren't you really happy to have those snacks now?
no subject
[ Makoto is all smiles now. He reaches out to accept the bag of snacks as his prize and opens it so he can pull one out and pop it into his mouth. Om nom nom. ]
Really, really happy.
[ He agrees. ]
It's all thanks to you, Ilya-chan.
no subject
It's thanks to you! Because you're the one who wanted to try again..!
[ Really, it doesn't feel like she contributed much. Certainly not enough to be taking this much credit here, leaving her looking a little flustered. ]
I, um.. I just helped you pull, you know..? I'm just glad you're happy now. [ That's the important thing here, isn't it? ]
no subject
[ Makoto winks, offers out the bag of snacks to see if Ilya wants a bite. ]
Besides, it's a festival. We should be happy anyway, right? Have a good time!
no subject
Not even because she's suspecting Makoto of anything here, really. It's more that Illya wants to make absolutely sure that this is an offer to share before she takes anything. The last thing she'd want to do is cause an awkward social moment here by grabbing a snack without being offered!
But since this does seem like a snack offer, she does grab a snack out of the bag. She puts it into her mouth, thoughtfully chewing it, and then making sure to swallow before she speaks up again. ]
Um, did you come to the festival by yourself..?
[ She doesn't see any company nearby that looks like it's with him, after all. ]
no subject
[ Makoto sighs. ]
I thought about asking some of my friends from my old school but they were all already busy, so...
[ Makoto smiles. ]
I figured I'd just come and have a good time on my own.
no subject
[ That 'oh' definitely sounded a little sympathetic, since going to a festival by yourself isn't always fun, especially when it's because your friends are too busy to come with you..
But Illya also realises that if she sounds like she's pitying him a little bit too much, he might feel bad, right? Don't older guys have that kind of personal pride, Illya thinks..?
So after thinking for a moment, she slowly offers: ]
Do you.. maybe want to hang around with me for a little while..?
[ Sure, they might technically be in slightly different age categories, but Makoto has seemed so nice so far. Illya sure wouldn't mind his company. ]
no subject
[ If the kid is pitying him, either Makoto doesn't pick up on it or doesn't seem super bothered by it just yet. He's happily munching on his snacks, thanks! ]
Sure! Are you here by yourself, too?
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Everyone else didn't really feel like going. [ 'Everyone else' being.. her caretakers at home, mostly.. It's not like Illya isn't friendly with people, but she has had a hard time making close friends or anything of the sort - or just anyone she'd want to ask along to a festival like this.
She does seem a touch embarrassed as she admits it, even if Makoto seems so generally unfazed still. ]
But I wanted to go anyway, since it's fun..!
[ Hence why she's here on her own. Despite being relatively young. ]
no subject
[ Makoto agrees emphatically. ]
So anything on your list for the festival? Catching goldfish?
no subject
[ There still seems something vaguely nervous about the girl, but on the other hand.. there's also some genuine excitement and spirit in what she's saying here. Illya means it, after all - she really does enjoy the games. ]
Do you think we could play them all before the festival is over..? [ You might have to hang out with this girl for a while, Makoto.. ]
no subject
[ Makoto looks thoughtful. ]
I bet we could! Wanna try?
no subject
I want to!
[ And the fact that Makoto actually seems to believe they could - and reliable older people's words are basically law, right, total facts? - and seems up for it is enough to seem to give the girl some good cheer and spirit too.
In fact, she may be bouncing on her feet already. ]
Come on, come on! Let's try that one over there first..!