[AQ] Festival (Shun/Yukiya/Ai)

[Deleted]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Fest!
Description: Tanabata festival; surrounded by people, games, food stalls, wishes… what are you up to?
> Go around the festival with friends!: +2 Guardians, +1 Faberge
> Decide to go with family instead: +2 Faberge, -2 Roost
> Go alone; it’s easier to move navigate, anyway: +1 Guardians, -1 Faberge, +2 Roost
> Attend, but end up overwhelmed by the crowd, and seek a quieter area: -1 Guardians, +1 Faberge
> Ignore the festival: you want to stargaze: +4 Guardians
Requirements: None

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Man, seeing all of these people in yukatas makes him rather jealous that he can't really afford one. Sure, there are some stores that carry second hand yukatas for a cheap price, but Shun being Shun, didn't want to wear the hand-me-downs, afraid that they won't meet his fashion standards or really cursed or something. He instead chose to wait up for the day he could get one and wear it because he afforded a new custom full set or something. But whatever. Just because he isn't in one, doesn't mean he can't dress nicely. When was the last time he bought clothes, though? There was that one mall trip, but he didn't really end up buying anything even though he wanted a full outfit.

He should make a wish for money. He did. But how selfish is that. He feels conflicted throughout this entire thing. He didn't want to buy a yukata from a secondhand shop, but nagged his parents enough to give him some money enough to buy a new yukata, but chose to spend it on festival games instead. Leo criticized the boy's logic. Harshly. But knowing him, he really had none at all, so it is what it is. Maybe someday he would be able to afford both rigged stall games and a new yukata. But until then, he's fine just being dressed 'normally'. Nevermind how much he stands out or not, in a sea of yukata wearing people.

It shouldn't be tough to find him, seeing as he's probably one of the very few people who doesn't have a yukata on, and taking note of how short he is, it's not tough at all. Maybe he can meet some friends here? Or is he just going to walk around alone for the time being? Tugging at his handbag, he pulled out his phone , sent a message to random numbers and checked if anyone wanted to go walk around with him or something.

Yukiya Ai

[Yukiya]

"We may have been married for almost 20 years, but your appetite never fails to amaze me," commented Yukiya's mom as his dad took his tenth stop at a different food booth, enjoying someone's version of okonomiyaki. Yuki, his parents, and his twin sister Suna were walking together, mostly trying out different kinds of food. To their mother's relief the two did not take after their father in appetite, although Yuki had to stop himself from grabbing a plate full of hot dogs breads from a local bakery. Suna would've given him that judging look again. But when he looked at Suna, she had been spacing out more than usual.

"...something's wrong?" Yuki asked her, but she just shook her head and ignored him. So there was something all right. He'd ask her about it later.

It was then his phone vibrated, and apparently Shun was asking him to hang out. He wasn't sure about that as he was with his family, so he was about to text him no.

"Oh, is that that boy from the mall?" his mom asked, looking over his shoulder. Yuki almost dropped his phone.

"M-Mom! Privacy, please!"

"Yweah Atawu," his dad said, still chewing, "Whaf if hew gwot a gwarlfriend--"

"Then his playboy image would be ruined forever," Suna said. She still looked a little out of it, "Also dad, please swallow your food before you choke again..."

"Nah, mom's right. It's Shun. He's just asking to hang out."

"Eh? But he's not hanging out with his parents...oh, he might be living in the dorms, then. Why don't you go, Yukiya! We'll group up later."

Yuki was going to protest but his mom and the rest of his family already headed to the shooting games. Hilariously, both his mom and his sister were really good at them. Suna seemed to perk up a bit when she found a rifle game, and of course immediately challenged her mom to a game. In the meanwhile, he texted Shun that he was available and placed himself close to a booth with different masks. He was thinking of getting the sentai hero mask...

[Ai]

Tanabata used to be fun, at least in Ai’s distant memories, when he used to go with his parents, laugh, eat all the delicious food, play games and watch fireworks. But now that his family was unable to be together like before, everything felt so lonely. Even the festival wasn’t the same… so why was he there? Well, mostly because his dad wanted him to let go of the past and make new memories with his friends. He even lent him his old yukata to wear at the event.

Ai wasn’t ecstatic about the idea, but he thought that being with his friends would make it more bearable… that was if only he could reach them. His band mates all seemed busy, the friends he made at Seiyo didn’t exchange numbers with him… or at least not yet, so he didn’t really have whom to call. Giving up on Tanabata and going home would be pointless now, though, since his father would only get more worried. Maybe he could just ditch the whole thing and go practice? It was a bit too late for that now. Maybe just hang around, hope to meet someone familiar and stick to them.

The crowd was getting bigger and so were Ai’s feelings of discomfort. He really REALLY hated being alone in crowds. He wasn’t, well, technically alone, since he had Nagamasa, but the guardian was always so quiet that it was easy to just ignore his presence. Probably that was what he wanted anyway.

In the sea of people, Ai spotted a somewhat familiar head of curly hair. The short boy also seemed to be one of the only people not wearing Yukatas… probably they weren’t his thing. “Hey Shun!” he called out to the boy. “What’s up? Are you on your own?” Cool, now there was someone he could potentially hang around the festival with.

[Deleted]

The mask booth, that's where Yuki is. Come to think of it, when's the last time they actually met after training and fighting egg hunters? Well, there's the mall and the concert thing, but that's about it. Every chance he gets, he always wants to be surrounded by friends. And here comes one right now. "Oh, Ai, heya!" He waved at the other who was calling out to him. "Oh yeah. Alone for now. But I'm about to go see a friend of mine. Why don't you tag along?" Without thinking, he just asks Ai to tag along. The more the merrier.

"Man, you're in yukata too. I'm super jealous." He pouted. It's not like Yuki is going to show up in street wear too. He's probably the only one. Probably should have saved money for one, but he just had to blow it off on other clothes and stuff he didn't really need. And second hand yukatas are a crime to him. He'd never wear one himself. "So you know the guy who helped with the park concert? He's here. Don't think you actually met him, but I think you guys will get along." Shun hesitated to add 'he's a really cool guy' because it sounds repetitive to him. Ai would probably know what's up when they meet. So he'll just leave it up to that.

[Yukiya]

Yuki was just checking Twitter as usual when he heard some footsteps going his way. As Shun came up to him, a familiar silver haired man came with him. "Hey Shun! Ah, don't worry. There's other guys in street wear. And you look perfectly fine. These are just a hand me down from my dad or my uncle...one of them. I dunno," he said, with a shrug. Shun then introduced him to Ai. "Oh, yeah! Not sure if you remember me but I'm the one who signed you up for the concert. My name's Yuki...what's yours?"

He leaned against the mask table, although he slipped a bit, and a mask fell down. It was the super sentai he was looking at. "Man, uh...they sure make funny masks every year, huh?"

[Ai]

The more the merrier indeed. Ai’s smile seemed to only grow brighter as Shun told him that there would be someone else joining them. “Oh, really, that’s awesome!” If it was Shun’s friend, the boy was sure that they would get along. “Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll tag along.” Man, he felt so grateful about having someone to hang out with, and it was even better since it was his friend Shun. He really wanted to get to know him better. And another person too? It didn’t hurt to make more friends.

“Ah?” Ai blinked curiously when he mentioned yukata. “This is actually my first time wearing a yukata. Haven’t been to a festival in ages.” He sighed, remembering the happy days for a bit. Those when him and his parents did everything together. “I mean, yukata or not, it’s not really a big deal. We’re here to have fun after all, no?” Ai grinned. “You know, I actually got this one from my dad. It must look pretty old-fashioned compared to the fancier ones these days.” He was starting to sound like an old man reminiscing about the past days.

“The guy who signed us up huh…” Ai couldn’t remember him because they were in such a hurry to get signed up on time… and felt kind of guilty about it, frankly. And there he was, at the mask boot. Ai offered him a smile and extended his hand for a handshake. “ Nice to meet you, Yuki, I’m Ai!” On seeing the super sentai mask, Ai, picked it up and felt nostalgia take over. “Man, I used to like these a lot…”

[Deleted]

"Don't mind it at all." He seems to be quite happy that more and more people are joining him for this entire festival. Nobody's gone with anybody, which he found to be absolutely strange. That is until he asked around and got some people to tag along. Why is this festival looking more lonely than he originally thought anyway? It's just super weird. While everyone not really connected to Seiyo has a happy face and a fun time, those who tackled the corruption and x-egg problems really overpowered that sense of happiness. For now, he'll just keep quiet about it.

"Small world. I haven't been to one since I was a little kid. And back then I actually HAD a yukata." It wouldn't fit now, anyway, so he couldn't really do anything about it. "I kind of make it a big deal to look good everywhere I go. But you're right. It should be about having fun." With his money, he really should tone down the 'look good' part. At least because it was thanks to excessive shopping. Old habits die hard. "Nothing wrong with looking old fashioned. Throw in some accessories and maybe you can look more contemporary while paying homage to the roots of tradition. Now THAT is style." If he could ramble about anything for hours on end, it's probably fashion.

"Mmmmhmmm. Don't blame you if you don't remember him. But now's your chance to introduce yourself, yeah?" As much as he liked making friends, he enjoyed introducing them to each other and hope they get along. "Used to? You don't anymore?" Masks aren't really his thing, but the two seem to be reminiscing over it, so he'll bite.

[Yukiya]

He was surprised that the both of them hadn't been to a festival like this in a while. He couldn't think of a time he missed the Tanabata Festival, but he knew some of Shun's story with his family. He shrugged as Ai mentioned about what he was wearing to the festival today. "Huh, nothing wrong with a hand me down yukata. Mine is too. Must be at least thirty years old. I don't want to know how much my dad ate wearing this..." he said. He waved the sleeves, trying to get any food smell out of it. "...eh? Shun, you think you could be my stylist one day? Like, when I go on dates?" he said, grinning. Well, just looking better would be helpful at work too.

"Aha, I'm just a staff member working in the back. Hopefully I'll see you on stage again. Nice to meet you too, Ai," he said, bowing to him. "Haha, you watched them as a kid too?" He took the mask that dropped next to him, a red one even, and held in front of his face, "Ultramegazord, activate!" He even punched the air with his arm, like in the show. "Good times, huh?"

Of course, for Yuki, this wasn't nostalgia - this was what he was still into. But like they would ever know that. Hopefully. There was the fact that the song he sang back at the talent show was from a giant robot/space opera anime.

[Ai]

Shun seemed to be making quite a big deal out of these yukatas. Ai honestly couldn’t be bothered about it, though he supposed they were a nice thing to have for traditional events, just to be in tune with the atmosphere. But still not something to mop about. Besides, Yuki was right. His outfit was nice. He didn’t know Shun had some kind of fashion sense, but then again, he kinda sorta just barely met the guy once. Still, he was considered a friend.

When Yuki mentioned his dad, Ai couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “You know, I’ve actually been wondering the same thing about mine! This used to be my dad’s too, after all.” He remembered his dad telling him that he and his mom actually had their first ever date at a Tanabata festival, so this yukata had some sentimental value.

“Oh, you’ll definitely be seeing a lot of me, Yuki. Been practicing a lot in the studios. Faberge has become sort of like a second home to me.” That was true. Most of the time you could find Ai and his guitar in Sasaki-san’s studios, even during school breaks. He seemed to be taking his work very seriously. It was just one more step towards achieving his dream, after all. And now that his band was missing a member, the boy hoped that he could potentially meet someone at Faberge who could take his place.

At Shun asking if he didn’t like the sentai heroes anymore, Ai seemed to become thoughtful. “It’s not that I don’t like them, more like… I grew out of them. Don’t have much time I can allocate to watching tv anyway.” True, he was very busy with practice and part time work and staying with his mom at the hospital.

[Deleted]

"Oh man, if I borrowed MY dad's yukata, I would have to live with the fact that there's a hole in the bum and a tear in the right arm, not to mention the fraying bottom from all the nasty years of dragging around that he never covers up or fixes and I'm ashamed to wear that abomination. I'm so bummed out by hand me downs, especially from my parents. Of course, I don't think you want to know 'that feel when your dad uses yukatas as a bathrobe substitute sometimes'." They aren't exactly the people you'd call for when you need something taken care off. You know, like your yukata? Next thing you know, there'd be cow's blood on it or something and they'll pass it off as 'art'. Ew.

"OF COURSE I WOULD! You'd look SO HYPER MEGA FRESH AND AMAZING that you's still look amazing even through the toughest rejections!" He replied eagerly, with two thumbs up. Somehow, that felt more like a jab than anything. "But why would they say no to Yuki? That statement is out of the question! You'll be even more popular and cool than ever before!" Yeah, but maybe not when you're hanging out with Shun, cause then you'd just be a bullying target. As usual.

All this faberge talk has probably pushed him to poke around about it even more. Well maybe someday, when he has more time. He'd be lying if he said he DIDN'T want to be part of that hype. Plus, the idol stage is very tempting. And faberge has all the secrets to that. "I can't even remember when I used to have my own TV. It was always the neighbor's TV for me." Irrelevant, but whatever, he felt like reminiscing about it. Just borrowing the neighbor's TV or watching with them was a thing.

[Yukiya]

"Oh...I see," Yuki said, when hearing about Shun's dad's yukatas. "Well, like I said, you look good, and that's all that matters right?" He shrugged, and turned toward Ai. "Looks like we got something in common. You might want to air your yukata out too just in case it smells too. Haha."

Thankfully the smell of food seemed to have been taken off by putting it in the wash enough times. Although Shun had to mention the word rejections...ah. "You wound me, man. Then again, I should let you know...I've decided to be less of a flirt! And only compliment a girl when I feel like she needs it! Still, I wanna look good, so I will take you up on your offer one of these days." He couldn't really think of any situations where he would need to do that, though...but who knows.

"Huh, have you? I guess this is what happens when you hang out backstage all the time - you miss a lot of the talent," he said to Ai about Faberge. "Shun, speaking of which - when you gonna join? You're a good singer and dancer! Unless you're not about that life?" he said, "There was this girl who was talking about you actually, another backstage person. She'd really like to see you perform again. Ah! I'm surrounded by talented people."

He was still holding the mask, and played with it. "Grew out of it...ah, yeah. Sometimes it's just time to move on," he muttered. Too bad Yuki hadn't done that at all. And Kanpa only encouraged him to watch more...but he didn't mind. As long as it was the two of them.

"So, what are your guys plans for the night, anyway? Did you eat or play any games yet?"

[Ai]

Ai cringed a bit upon hearing how Shun's dad treated his yukata. He probably wouldn't want to wear it either if that were the case. Yukatas were nice things to have.. but also kind of expensive. They had to be treated with care. He knew his parents took care of theirs, his dad's looked quite neat even if he'd had it a long time. He didn't get to wear it all that often, probably that was why. "Heh, point made." He winked to Yuki. "But I think mine's alright." Shun's parents sounded quite careless, but again, that was none of his business, right?

The boy chuckled a bit at the mention of rejections. Ah, poor Yuki, but Ai doesn't see flirts in a very good light thanks to the ever-so-troublesome Ouji, so you're good. "That's a good approach, I think." Ai nodded. "Some girls... I mean most girls don't like it when guys try too hard to impress. Compliments are good, but don't overdo them either. Just be honest and someone's bound to appreciate that." He smiled at his new friend, giving him the thumbs-up.

Ai thought for a bit about whether asking Shun to adivse him on his style, but he wasn't sure rock was his thing? He heard he was a k-pop singer or something of the sort. Besides, Ai's sense of style was quite alright, he didn't really feel the need for a change. Not now, at least. He had some crazy things in mind, but he'd save them up until after he finishes high school. If he looked any more wild and improper than this, he was afraid that he'd be expelled.

"Oh Shun, you weren't in Faberge already?" Ai widened his eyes, seemingly surprised for some reason. "I don't know why I thought you would be, probably because you sing. I, for one, joined Faberge as soon as they scouted me. Haven't they invited you for a personal interview with Sasaki-san or something? Regardless, Faberge is cool so totally give it a shot!" It was a blessing, at least for Ai. He finally felt that he was moving forward with his dream of becoming a musician. All the equipment and the professionalism Faberge had... it was all he wanted, really.

"I have no set plans, really. I went around the festival already but I didn't stop to play games or buy food... we could do that though. Speaking of which, I'm kinda hungry."

[Deleted]

"Ah, really?" And here he thought that flirting is just a way to be nice. "But what will they do without your compliments? You're always so nice to them, but most of them aren't nice in return." What's up with that, seriously? "I just don't know why they'd reject your compliments. But you can be assured that you'd look good even if they shot daggers out of their mouths." Really, who does that anyway?

"Why do you need to impress them in the first place?" Courting and dating people. He doesn't get any of it. Won't get any of it anytime soon. "Ai here is right. I can agree with being honest and getting appreciation." He tries to understand the topic, but fails. It's not up his alley anyway. He'd listen in on it, though. "If you want to look better, you could always start by doing simple things. Like accessorize. Or maybe mix and match your outfit better? I mean look, the t-shirt and jeans combo is comfortable and simple. But have you ever thought of accentuating anything else? Simple is great, but you want to push it the extra mile just to give yourself a standout look." Fashion rambles, go. It's seriously hard to stop talking when you ramble this much about what you love.

"Oh about that...I mean, invitation wise...I don't know. I kind of helped someone...Steal from Sasaki-san once. I would like to get help. I mean, I want to be an idol, but...You know." It kind of feels like he is repeating his past again. Stealing wasn't wrong to him before, but now, it's really eating him up. "I mean, they didn't really send out for any investigations, but even if they're alright with me, I still can't forgive what I did. Not yet." Oh man, he's probably ruining the mood right now. "I know how cool it is. And uhh...Thanks. It feels good to hear that I'm doing something right." Singing and dancing. Who would've thought. He trusted these two enough to tell them what's going on, at least. "Really?? There's a fan already? Ahahaha, that's surprising." Then he reverted back to the happy mode he is usually in. "Sure, but you're talented as well. Faberge can probably tell you that. And maybe you have a massive amount of hidden talents that no one else knows about. REPEAT AFTER ME. I AM MINAMOTO YUKIYA AND I AM TALENTED AND I AM A CLASSY FLIRT." He said that kind of loudly. Some people can be heard snickering in the background, but nothing harmful.

"Eh, you're hungry? Well let's get some food then! I suggest starting with grilled squid and then takoyaki and then candied apples." He pushed both Yuki and Ai to get moving already. "Come on then, can't leave him hungry for the rest of the festival."

[Yukiya]

"Ah yeah. I'm really trying these days, you know! ...seriously, I should just a get a girlfriend so I can compliment them all the time!" he said, laughing a bit. As expected Shun didn't really understand the importance of it all - but at least it led to something Shun really did like. "So basically I should drag you to the mall one of these days is what you're saying. Maybe we'll bring this guy with us too, unless your schedule's not gonna work out these days?"

He was surprised to hear that Shun did anything like that. To Sasaki-san even. "...w-what? Seriously? What hap--wait, no. Did you return it back? Or..." Yuki couldn't believe it. "...whatever it is, I hope you returned it. But if you can't return it...I won't blow your cover. Promise."

Shun...he wasn't the type to do this on purpose, he knew. Probably got caught up in something unfortunate, knowing his bad luck. Hopefully Ai wouldn't say anything about it either. Shun wouldn't have mentioned it if he wasn't comfortable with the guy, right? Shun soon recovered though, at the expense of Yuki's complete embarrassment. "What are you saying - didn't I just say I'm a recovering flirt?" he asked. But he ended up laughing again while clutching his stomach. "As for talented...I'd rather just support guys like you, I think. Sasaki-san doesn't know anything right? Just like he said... join already, man." He gave him a thumbs up. "Your hidden talents need to be shown to the world. But first, food!"

He started walking ahead to the squid, although he already ate actually. "Come here! I had some already tonight. The squid here's top notch."

[Ai]

It seemed like Shun wasn’t really familiar with how flirting worked. Was he a very sheltered child while growing up? Or was he just plain innocent? Anyhow, Ai didn’t like that sort of obvious flirting… he hadn’t… really flirted before either? Or at least he didn’t think he did. But this was just common knowledge to him. “Well, this is kind of how the world works… If you’re nice to people, they won’t always be nice in return. Don’t ask me why, though. I personally find it much easier to offer people smiles rather than frowns.” He even remembered having read somewhere that more facial muscles are used for frowning than for smiling. Plus, frowning causes wrinkles. He didn’t want to get old ahead of his time.

That aside, while Shun seemed to be clueless about dating, that didn’t seem to be the case with fashion. Ai himself was fashionable, but his fashion sense was totally different from Shun’s. He usually dressed like a rocker, all ripped jeans and tank tops and skulls and band T-shirts. Hell, he even had tattoos. Those were his ‘accessories’. Outside of school, obviously, because otherwise he might get a scolding and even be expelled. Luckily the tatts were in places he could easily cover with clothes, so.

When Shun mentioned having stolen from Sasaki-san, Ai’s eyes widened in surprise, looking completely and utterly flabbergasted. “You… did what? Why would someone even steal from Sasaki-san? What has she ever done wrong?” If it wasn’t obvious enough, Ai idolized the woman. She’d been so nice to him ever since he joined. Unlike the other adults and teachers, she completely accepted him, didn’t seem to mind his appearance at all and always seemed to be proud of him and the progress he made. This mattered to Ai more than it should, but still. Don’t mess with Sasaki-san alright.