Yukimatsuri (Yuuyake Koyake)

[Kuma Da]

Hikari and Zaraki

"Nah, I think they add a bit more body to the sculpture. It's a really good take on Zaraki. More apt than the one at the shrine. I feel like that's how he'd look, if he existed.

As for the castle, I doubt you've ever seen it like this before. It's the pre-war castle, not the reconstructed tourist attraction. Yukiko and I modeled it off of a picture from a textbook."

Keiichi looks like he has more to add, but before another set of words can tumble out of his mouth Hikari seizes hold of the conversation again. "I know all about this sorta stuff. She likes you, too!"

"There's no way she could..." Keiichi flushes again. "Really? I mean, I'm not saying I'm interested in her. We're just friends. But...how can you tell?"

"How can you tell what?" Yukiko jogs over to the three of you. She looks a little out of breath. "Also, if any of you see a red-haired kid headed this way, please tell me so I can hide in a snowbank."

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Sorry about messing a little with the continuity of your dialog. The timing felt like it would be all off if Keiichi reacted to Hikari's comment, then segued back into talking about the castle again, and then Yukiko showed up.

Ryuta, Yumii, and Shuichi

Yukiko's tracks seem to lead to the center of town. It's a little hard to tell with so many other sets of footprints meandering across the trail, but eventually your hard work pays off and you see her over by the snow sculptures. She's chatting with Hikari, Zaraki, and the boy from before.

Everyone

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A quick refresher on the rules for upgrading relationships: 5 DP for strength 1, 5 DP for strength 2, 5 DP for strength 3, 8 DP for strength 4, 12 DP for strength 5. Also, any time you increase a relationship, you can feel free to change its contents.

[mistformsquirrl]

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I'm spending my 5 DP to increase my relationship with Ryuta to 2 (Fond Target*)

(*Essentially, someone I like, but I also tease and annoy constantly >.>)

[Tichrondrius]

Shuichi

"Cool guys." Shuichi says, then follows the tracks for a while, "Looks like we got to the center anyway... hey, there she is!" The dogboy says, then starts to run over.

"Yukiko-kun, Kei-chan, Hikari-chan, Zounan-sensei!" Shuichi shouts as he jogs over, smiling widely.

[Yuki Akuma]

Hikari's eyes light up. "Yukiko-chan!" She waves to her from her seat on Zounan's shoulders. "Hi! We were looking after your boyfriend for you!" She hums happily a bit, then promptly pounces at her in an attempt to sit on her shoulders! "Yukiko-chan! Will you be my friend?"

[Dorizzit]

Zounan stifles a chuckle at Hikari's...exuberance. He puts her down quickly, anticipating her attempt to change riders.

"So...you are Watanabe Yukiko?"

[UglyPanda]

Ryuta

Ryuta taps Shuichi in the ribs and says "I guess everyone's hitting on that girl of yours. No biggie, plenty of food on the sidewalk." He walks over to the rest of the group and announces himself. "Hey! How is everyone doing? And why did you have to pick a spot surrounded by these nice sculptures? Now I can't ambush Zounan-san with snowballs."

[Dorizzit]

Zounan turns his head to Ryuta.

"Oh, you're here too, Ryuta-kohai?"

[Tichrondrius]

Shuichi

Shuichi sighs and looks cutely dejected at Ryuta's words. "I was here too first." He whines, in reference to Zounan.

[mistformsquirrl]

Yumii

Yumii pats Shuichi on the head.

Silly Shuichi-kun.

[Dorizzit]

Zounan shrugs at Shuichi's whine.

"Sorry, Shuichi. I guess I just didn't hear you."

[UglyPanda]

Ryuta

Ryuta looks around a bit and notices Zounan's piece of artwork. "Hey, this sculpture looks like you, Zounan-san. Except, you know, skinnier and with a bigger nose."

[Dorizzit]

Zounan's eye twitches a bit.

"Har. Har. Such a kidder."

[Kuma Da]

Mizuki

Nakamura-sensei blinks first. He looks a little rattled by this. Perhaps he's not used to being out-stared.

"Who were those kids you were talking to? The ones who just ran off?

Hikari, Zaraki, Ryuta, Shuichi, Yumii

"Yukiko-chan! Hi! We were looking after your boyfriend for you!"

Keiichi's blush is pandemic. Yukiko catches it within seconds. "Eeeh?! Keiichi's not my...uh, I mean, I'm not sure who you mean but I don't have a boyfriend."

"We're just friends! Really!"

"Yeah! I mean he's cute and all but..."

"Wait, really?"

"You're not bad. Much too serious, though."

"I was cute just a second ago. How did I slip to being 'not bad'?"

"By asking too many questions."

"Oh, well, I suppose I'll have to work on that, then."

"If you want to be cute."

"Anyways, we're agreed that we're definitely not boyfriend and girlfriend, right?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

Yukiko stays fairly still during this exchange, allowing Hikari to clamber aboard. As soon as she does so...

"Hey, there she is!"

Yukiko catches one glimpse of the tuft of red hair and bolts for cover behind Keiichi, nearly unseating Hikari in the process. She points wildly away from the center of town. "Tell them I went that way!"

Everyone

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If you want more information from me about something before you post, feel free to shoot me a PM or spoilerize something or whatever. I'm doing my best to give you all stuff to react to, but if I slip up don't hesitate to let me know.

[Dorizzit]

Zounan, surprised at the level of Yukiko's reaction, folds his arms and musters up a look somewhere between a glare and an imperious stare.

"Shuichi! What did you do?"

[Yuki Akuma]

Hikari waves towards her doggy friend. "Hi Shuichi-kun! Did you forget you were a human and try to sniff someone's butt again?"

[Tichrondrius]

Shuichi

"What, no, I..." Shuichi looks around and whines a bit, then drops his head in shame, "I did the shining snowball on Yumii."

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1 DP to Hikari. XD

[Kuma Da]

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1 DP to Hikari. Actual post much later today.

[mistformsquirrl]

Yumii

Laughs so hard she snorts after hearing Hikari's comment about Shuichi.

That's gross, haha! <T_T> How're you Hikari-chan~?

Yumii is compelled to pinch Hikari's cheek!

>_< Kawaii~~ You are too adorable Hikari-chan!~

Upon noticing Zounan, Yumii flushes briefly before regaining her composure.

Konbanwa Zounan-sama! How are you this evening?

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1DP for Hikari, that made me crack up <,< Nicely done!

[UglyPanda]

Ryuta

"I was kidding? Anyway, now that we're all here, what are we all here doing? What are all we doing here? What are here we doing all? I mean, what are we all doing here?"

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1 point to Zounan, just cause.

[Kuma Da]

Mizuki

After a while of you not saying anything, the teacher eventually harumphs loudly, arches his owly eyebrows, and marches away through the snow. He has places to go. Things to do. People to be gruff at. He'll get to the bottom of the anonymous snowball affair some other time.

You're alone in the street again, without a clue where everyone else has run off to. This might be a good opportunity for some high-spirited mischief. Zaraki certainly isn't around to disapprove.

Of course, you could also dutifully start looking for your friends. Before you all arrived in town, some of you had mentioned wanting to go see the snow sculpting contest. That might be a good place to check.

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Thought I'd get you out of that situation since it wasn't doing anything productive for the plot, character development, or general hilarity. Sorry for putting you into it.

Also, feel free to 'stumble upon' the rest of the group as they head out of town.

Everyone Else

Yukiko glances out from around Keiichi's side. She looks a little like a rabbit peering over the lip of a snowdrift, half-expecting to come face to face with a hunter's rifle. When no one tries to abduct her, pelt her with snow, or brain her with a shinai, she appears relieved.

Keiichi doesn't share the slightest bit of her worry. "Heya. Zounan and I were just talking about snow sculptures. It's a little unusual for a tourist to do such an impressive piece, especially one based on local myth. I think he's got a pretty good shot at winning the contest." Before Zaraki can preen, a jaunty little tune begins playing from the depths of Keiichi's pants. "Whoops. That's my cellphone." He digs it out and presses a couple of buttons, causing the tinny pop-song to fall silent. "There's supposed to be a fireworks display tonight, and I set my alarm fifteen minutes ahead of it so Yukiko and I could get somewhere good to watch it from. You're all welcome to come along if you'd like, but we should hurry."

Those of you that choose to follow Keiichi will find that he leads you at a brisk pace out of Samuyama and part-way up a little mountain trail into an empty clearing. The air there is extraordinarily clear and, although it's not very high up, the place still manages to majestically overlook the town.



In the center of the clearing is a large snowy lump. It looks like it would be pretty nice to sit on if some of the powder was cleared off of it.

Those of you who decline Keiichi's offer, feel free to clamber up onto a rooftop somewhere and watch the fireworks. Or do whatever, really.

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I have no intention of railroading anybody even though I've finally got a coherent plot together. Always feel free to do whatever you think would be adorable/hilarious/in character. I'll do my best to roll with it.

[Tichrondrius]

Shuichi

"Sure, i'll come with you and Yukiko-kun, Kei-Chan!" Shuichi says, clapping his rival in love on the shoulder and smiling. Shuichi follows the duo and whoever else comes with along the path and smiles up at the sky.

"Wow..." He mutters, "The sky is wonderful..." The dogboy says, staring up at it and walking, going as far as he can before he stumbles and giggles to himself, running back up to the rest of the group and diving into the undisturbed snow here in the clearing, rolling around much as he did earlier in the day as a dog.

After a bit he hops back up and runs over to the lump and looks at it. "Ooh, whats this?" He asks to no one really and dusts it off, "Yukiko-kun, I got you a place to sit!" He continues, gallantly, while blushing.

[Kuma Da]

Shuichi (et. all)

Flurries of snow fly off of the object as a result of your enthusiastic dusting. Within a few moments you have uncovered most of its bulk. It seems to be a large rectangular slab of stone, cut and shaped by human hands then worn to smoothness by the weather. There are kanji on the front of it. They could probably be read as 'Minokichi'.

This is what you have discovered:



Yukiko starts towards it, then comes to an abrupt stop as soon as she gets a good look at it. "Um...that's a grave. I've heard that ghosts don't like it when you sit on them."

"Nonsense." Keiichi hops up onto the top of the stone, brushing off the last vestiges of snow from the spot next to him. "This stone is ancient. If there ever was a ghost here, then he's probably died of old age by now."

"Still, I think I'll stand."

Keiichi shrugs. "Suit yourself. It's the best seat in the house."

[Sicarius]

Mizuki

"Hmm...that was boring." Mizuki goes over and gets a fresh cup of warm amazaki, wanting to keep the warm feeling in her cheeks. "La la la..." She begins singing a popular shoujo anime while looking for someone else who might possibly be cute.

Once she finds her target, she makes it so that he runs into her, causing her to tumble in the snow and spilling her drink all over her face. She summons up her best fake tears and looks at her new target, eyes glistening with her pity tears.

[Yuki Akuma]

Hikari follows the group along up to the mountain path. She watches Shuichi dust off the grave stone in curiosity, tilting her head to one side. "Huh? What's th-" Then Yukiko is answering her question without her really having to ask it.

"...Don't be silly. Most people don't even become ghosts when they die."

[UglyPanda]

Ryuta

The birdboy follows the others to the graveyard and starts looking around for people he might have known. Seeing Keiichi sitting on a gravestone, he tells him "You know, ghosts live a pretty long time. There might be some sort of angry samurai spirit within, you know."

[Tichrondrius]

Shuichi

"Ooo, I wouldn't sit on it, Kei-chan. Ghosts will pop out and say..." He moved a little closer to Kei-chan and stared at him, "Boo!" Shuichi said, and then busted out laughing. "Besides, its better to lay on the ground!" The dogboy said and just let himself drop over in the clearing before beginning to make a snow angel.

[Kuma Da]

Mizuki

He's texting on his cell phone when you spring into action, darting around a corner into his path. He manages to get out half of a startled "huh?" before mowing you over. You tumble into the side of a snowbank just as his legs remember that they should have stumbled over something. With a spasm, they dump him neatly onto the packed snow of the street and his phone goes skidding out of his hand.

"Ow." The boy picks himself back up unsteadily. "Did I just...oh no! Are you alright?" He dashes over to you, notices the spilled amazke, and pulls something from one of his pockets. "I'm so sorry. Here, use these." He passes you a packet of tissues stamped with an advertisement for an electronics store. It's of the sort that most chain stores hire people to give out. "I didn't see you at all. Please be okay."

This close up, you get a good look at him. He has wide, dark eyes and styled black hair. Although he's dressed in a thick winter coat, he doesn't seem to be used to the cold at all. Probably a tourist.

Everyone Else

"Sheesh. All this advice about ghosts. You guys watch too much TV." Keiichi grins good naturedly and leans back a little to watch the sky. "I come up here all the time and I've never been haunted by anything. The fireworks should be starting pretty soon, so unless the spirit world really feels like interrupting..."

You all hear the sound of snow crunching underfoot. At the edge of the clearing, standing just beyond the treeline, is a young woman. Her skin is an eerie, lustrous white in the moonlight. At least, in the places where it's not dappled with shadows from the nearby pines. Down her back falls a torrent of glossy black hair, reaching all the way to the surface of the snow. By all rights, she should be unsettlingly beautiful. Unfortunately, she seems to have been dressed by a whirlwind.

The woman is wearing a shirt and pants. She's got that much right. The pants are sequin-studded jeans and are worn where pants should be worn, although for some inexplicable reason a short skirt has been sewn onto the right knee. It hangs over her calf like a lampshade. Meanwhile, her shirt is tied like a bandanna around the left arm of her jacket, which has a fur-rimmed hood and sleeves. They both look authentic and expensive. Possibly polar bear.

It's the little touches that complete any ensemble, and for the stranger in the clearing these are a single hoop earring, glinting silver in the half-light, a pair of purple knit mittens with little stylized eggplants sewn onto them, and a poofy white hat that looks like someone hollowed out a sheep in the name of fashion.

"G-g-ghost!" exclaims Keiichi, toppling over backwards and out of sight.

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Ryuta, the clearing doesn't actually look like a graveyard. After all, there was only one grave-shaped lump in the snow.

Mizuki, 1 DP to you for continuing to ambush people

[UglyPanda]

Ryuta

"Hello person! Are you a ghost or spirit of some kind?" Ryuta happily waves at the pale individual.

[mistformsquirrl]

Yumii

Yumii's voice is a low whisper, obviously meant only for the group.

Don't be silly Ryuta-chan... ghosts have better fashion sense than that. She's one of three things I think: Crazy, on something illegal, or an artist. Given that costume? I'm voting artist.

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I am so sorry I've been away for a bit all >.< I have bipolar in the real world, and though I do my best to manage it, sometimes the depressive cycles get the better of me and I just can't talk for a bit; I should have given some warning though. I'm still here! Though I might be a bit subdued for awhile. I shall try to be more active/lively as things go forward!

[Tichrondrius]

Shuichi

"G-g-ghost!" Shuichi says in a similar manner to Kei-Chan, then runs over to strike a defensive pose in front of Kei-Chan and Yukiko-kun. "Kei-Chan, you-you.... if we die, I'll be so mad!" The dogboy sputters out and stares at the pale figure. "Stay back you.... ghost-artist-crazy girl person you with an illegal fashion sense! Grrr!" He growls, then looks at Yumii for confirmation that he strung together that insult in the correct way.

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Don't worry, my moods range from excited posting to apathetic avoidance so... :P