synflux | 🎉 TANABATA FESTIVAL 🎊

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🎉 TANABATA FESTIVAL 🎊

WHO: Everyone in Neo Tokyo
WHAT: Tanabata festival! 🎉
WHERE: In the centre of the park
WHEN: 17/07 onwards
WARNINGS: N/A

NEO TOKYO TANABATA

aka operation festival funtime

As the middle of July opens, the streets outside of Neo Tokyo seem to get decorated almost overnight. Colourful origami banners hang from the trees, a mixture of tanzaku, kamigoromo, orizuru and toami.

For anyone who has been to the Sendai region in the midst of the Summer months, the decorations will look almost endearingly familiar; it's time for tanabata!

▶ 001. OPERATION: FESTIVAL FUNTIME.

The savvier of people might notice a particularly bright shock of pink hair running around in the early hours of the morning, taking part in setting up the decorations and putting together a basic layout of tables with tablecloths and various goods and prizes. Each decoration is hand made, and if you look closely you might see little golden traces throughout, giving a clue to who helped made these ones. There's something infectious about his enthusiasm and the delight, even as he gets a little more tired as the day goes on - there's nothing stopping him. Eventually, his section of the festival is set up; there are various stands, some for making decorations (bamboo branches with ornaments, more paper ornaments, origami, and various other cute and traditional arts and crafts), some space for you to take a break and have a fruity and always non-alcoholic drink and an area with a handsome backdrop for the taking of photos.

He's not alone, though!

Raidou's looking livelier than he has than in the last few weeks. He's helping the festival in an organizational capacity, while Yuji handles most other things. He sets up the stands, moves and directs supplies to the right place, picks out spots for decorations, and makes sure both vendors and visitors have everything they need. If you stop to ask him a question or ask for direction, you get a quick, polite answer before he flits off to the next task.

Once things are running smoothly, you'll find him working at one of the food booths, where he's frying up takoyaki and taiyaki. Raidou couldn't be more in his element - serving up fresh food and treats to the Outsiders and the community. You might even get your food handed to you from him with a smile.

At night, the festival is lit up with fireworks and sparklers throughout, lighting up the sky with explosions of little joy and happiness.

Throughout the festival, you can also get a free bento, delivered to you by a cute looking rabbit. The bentos come in many designs, cute, adorable or precious!

▶ 002. A DREAM IS A WISH.

One of the most exciting aspects of tanabata remains the wish-making. In the set-up for the festival, there are little posters left around near one particular booth (manned by local cryptid Choso) to explain the story of the festival and the meaning that it holds. Alongside it are an almost ridiculous amount of paper strips in various colours, left with some pens and calligraphy brushes for people to pick up and use. A big sign next to it declares the following:

Make a wish! If it's a good one, it might come true!
The directions are clear: write your wish on a strip of paper and hang it on one of the bamboo decorations. The harder you wish, the more likely it is to come true - and there are some prompts for the kind of wishes people could make, just in case you're strapped for ideas:

Academic or work successes
Prosperity or good health
Care and love for family and friends
Success in love or platonic relationships
Fulfilment of a personal goal or ambition

You might notice Yuji watching as you're tying your wishes up... Don't worry about that!

If you require further assistance in your wish-making (or even if you don't at all) Choso seems more than happy to lend a helping hand. When he isn't cutting up paper strips and sorting them out into strangely-organized piles (paper thickness instead of size or colour), he's preparing the calligraphy ink via manual inkstone grinding or offering an absurdly wide variety of coloured (and scented) markers for your convenience.

The strips of wishes can be as decorative or simple as you like, so don't stress about your artistic genius!

( ooc note: If you would like Yuji to take a shot at making your wish come true, please respond to this comment! There will be some RNG "granted wishes" that you can use in your top level and keep as a fond memory, but please note there is only one "granted wish" per character. )

▶ 003. AS THE POETS SAY.

In the centre of the festival, in the midst of a park with vibrant flowers, is a table where Yuji sits for a few hours at a time between breaks. He seems to be practically vibrating out of his seat, and when approached he launches into an explanation of this particular game:

THE SOULMATE GAME!

The aim of the game is simple: you are given a ribbon at random with a number on it. Your mission? Find the person with the matching ribbon within a time limit of an hour and win a special prize. Don't worry though... If you lose, there's a prize for not quite making it within the limit. The festival is meant to be a celebration, after all, and Yuji doesn't want anyone to miss out.

Here's the problem: Yuji isn't making it easy for people to find their soulmate. He's not left a boundary for how far you can go (in case you were tempted to hide...) nor has he done anything to make the festival less distracting. This area is set up with your traditional festival games, such as (fake) goldfish scooping, ring toss and some chairs and tables set out for food and conversation.

To make it worse? Sometimes, Yuji might pop up and give you a hint to go in a particular direction, only for it to be a total red herring. This is definitely fun, isn't it? Who doesn't love a good chase? The problem is...

Will you find your soulmate in time...?

( ooc note: If you would like to win (or lose) at the soulmate game, please respond to this comment! Go ahead and OOCly decide who your character gets paired with and whether or not you win or lose - there are different prizes for each. You can play the soulmate game as many times as you want ICly, but you will only get one prize roll per character! )

▶ 004. TINY FRAGMENTS THAT REMAIN.

NOTE: THIS PROMPT WILL REFER TO THINGS THAT ARE SPOILERS FOR JUJUTSU KAISEN CHAPTER 264 ( refering to Yuji's powers and how he uses them in a fight ).
Here's the thing: Yuji wants everyone to have fun. His dream is that people are able to find some joy and peace in the midst of the darkness of the last few weeks, and so he sinks into something that is familiar to him - cursed energy, and his domain expansion. In the early hours of the second day of his festival, you might catch him making a hand sign before a ripple of powers hits, collecting around the area of the festival like a literal bubble. Anyone on the edge of the bubble will see it like a flickering, semi-transparent void, but there's nothing to worry about... Right?

The power of Yuji's domain expansion is simple enough, in theory: it transports into the memories, digs into the heart of what people want to show. His intention is to share the tanabata of his childhood with the people of Neo Tokyo and spark some joy for the Outsiders who have been through so much. He wants to show them something sweet and nostalgic, but he doesn't quite anticipate the side effect.

Outsiders who end up stepping into Yuji's domain will find themselves able to come face-to-face with their childhood selves, and enjoy the festival together. If they're together with another Outsider, those childhood versions of themselves (shaped in the way they remember themselves rather than how they actually looked!) are visible and shared, like an extension of their thoughts come to life.

It's still tanabata, but this particular part of the festival is influenced by what Yuji remembers from his youth, and Outsiders can find themselves seeing and being able to take part in various activities:

Crayfish catching (try and get the biggest or rarest one!)
Archery (can you beat your friends and get the bullseye?)
Horse riding (and you might hear Yuji commenting on how big their faces are)
Parades (are you going to join in?)
And anything else you can dream up! It's your character's childhood too, right...?

As soon as Yuji realises his mistake (at the end of the day, lost in his own memories) he brings down the domain, but it might be too late for some Outsiders who have come face to face with their more adorable versions. Whoops.

EVENT BREAKDOWN (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. OPERATION: FESTIVAL FUNTIME: The festival is being set up by Yuji and Raidou, with support from other Outsiders to make decorations. Food and other entertainment is on offer for anyone who attends, but all drinks are non-alcoholic.

2. A DREAM IS A WISH: Outsiders are given the chance to take part in the tanabata tradition of wish making. They can decorate paper with their wish and hang it up in the hope it will come true. Yuji will be granting one wish per outsider.

3. AS THE POETS SAY: The "Soulmate Game" has characters being randomly assigned numbers and tasked with finding their matching pair to win a prize. They have an hour to find their partner and, win or lose, there is a prize for taking part.

4. TINY FRAGMENTS THAT REMAIN: Yuji uses his domain expansion to bring Sendai tanabata to life, that has the accidental side effect of allowing Outsiders to meet and see their childhood selves. It also allows them to visit Sendai itself and take part in some other minigames that are not tanabata related if they want.

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So easy.

( And Geto has form with spiriting away children, so. )

It was sweet. You were cute. You looked happy. What was it like, growing up for you? Were you a happy child?

I think so. It was just me and grandpa, and I was happy enough with that.

[ A little shrug of his shoulders. ]

I didn't need anyone else.

I'm glad. Children deserve a happy life. Especially adorable pink haired ones.

( Surprise, he's just going to ruffle said hair. )

Are you doing better now that Fushiguro-san is here? The younger one, I mean. ( Obviously. ) He seems a very serious boy.

Yeah, I'm happier. It means I can take care of him, make sure he's doing okay... That's what matters to me.

[ But he blinks up at Geto, biting his lip. ]

We've talked about a lot of stuff, you know?

( He's just going to assume that it's to do with the little radar that went pinging off in his brain when Megumi spoke of Yuji, that's fine. )

Did you? That's good. Did it help?

Yeah. We... We made a promise to be honest with each other, and that's good.

[ This is awkward, and it sucks, but - he ha to do it, right? He has to. It's haunting him. ]

Which... There's something I have to talk to you about.

( He pauses, turning to look at Yuji. There's something in the boy's tone of voice that worries him a little, and so Geto hums, points to a nearby shaded area, a tree a little further out. )

Shall we sit? It sounds serious.

( And he's determined to be there for him. )

Yeah... That sounds like a good idea.

[ Slowly, he walks over, slumping down on a bench and motioning to the spot beside him. ]

Did I tell you much about Shibuya?

A little.

( He crosses his legs, rests the plushie in the crook of his knees. )

I know that it was something traumatic for you, and that you lost people.

Yeah. I got fed more of Sukuna's fingers, and I lost a lot of control.

[ He starts to play with his hands, absently. ]

I killed people, too.

( Ah. )

Sukuna killed people, Yuji. You were only the vessel. Do you think we should blame a sword for cutting? I don't think so.

( A hand between his shoulder blades, soothing. )

Haven't we talked about this? It's not your fault.

That's not - I know that. Sort-of, I do, that's not the point this time, Geto-san.

[ He grips his trousers, staring at hie shoes. ]

There... When he first woke up, there were girls. Two girls. I - they... One had a weird little plushie thing, and the other one had a cell phone.

( A plushie and a cell phone.

Geto's hand falls away, but there's no immediate leap to a conclusion. Those items are normal, they're every day. Instead his words come very slowly, very carefully, shoulders wincing tighter. )

Two girls.

( It can't be -. )

Sorcerers?

Yeah.

[ Yuji doesn't look up. He doesn't move. ]

They gave me a finger, because they... They wanted Sukuna to kill the guy in your body. One of them had dark hair, and the other one had lighter hair. They bowed to him, and he...

[ He breaks a little, eyes bubbling. ]

He just...

( No.

There's a ringing in his ears. It's like his hearing muffles, then goes sharp. A ringing, and every other noise around him suddenly heightened. All at once the world is too much, too loud, too close, too bright. His stomach roils, his fingers tightening in the grass. Dark and light, a plushie and a cell phone, Mimiko and Nanako. Force-feeding Yuji a finger because someone was in his body. The pretender. Kenjaku. He hadn't realised -.

He'd not known they'd seen it.

Why had they seen it? Why hadn't they all fled? Who left them behind? ~~He did~~. Questions crowd, his blood pulses, energy rising like a slow, desperate crawl. )

He just what, Yuji?

( There is no emotion in his voice, there's no inflection. It stays flat despite the hysteria clawing at his throat. )

What did he do to my daughters?

[ Yuji takes a long, wheezing breath.

He doesn't remember a huge amount of it, not the specifics. It was hard to, when it all hit him at once when he came back to himself, a tidal wave of memories and grief designed to cause him the most hurt. Sukuna had seen to it that Yuji would suffer as much as possible, and the aftereffects of that haunt him even today.

The truth is that Yuji doesn't know how to handle that, doesn't know what to do about it, his fingers flexing. He's struggling to breathe, and he hates himself - for doing this, for choosing to burden Geto with this grief, but... Doesn't he have the right to know?

Wouldn't Yuji want to know if their roles were reversed? ]

He killed them.

( A noise like a retch, instant. There is suddenly not enough air, or if there is Geto does not remember how to find it. Anything else is beyond him, here. )

No.

( It's a protest. It's a plea. It's nothing in particular now that Geto is on his feet, the plushie Yuji won him knocked to the side. One hand fits in his hair, knuckles blanching white at the too tight grip, his gaze on the young boy unseeing. His girls, his girls. He can't think, thoughts clumsy. He wants to shake Yuji until all of the answers fall out, instead he has to tug on his own dark locks, teeth grinding in his skull. Didn't he tell them? Didn't he tell all of them? If he died they'd go, they'd stick together. Wasn't that the point? He'd made a family, and they should remain at each other's sides? So why -?

Why? )

I promised them. ( Voice barely a whisper. He's going to be sick, he's going to -. Everything tightens, grief threatening to snap. ) I wouldn't let them be hurt. I promised them.

( He'd killed anyone who did, and then who tried. He'd slaughtered an entire village, hadn't he? Shouldn't he? Somewhere a child laughs, shrieking in the festival. Geto's hollowed out gaze snaps to the crowds. Why is it always them? Why does loss dog every step? How is it fair? How is it right? What is the point in trying when everything is gone anyway? )

[ Yuji lurches immediately, almost reaching out but resisting the urge.

The blood on his hands is real, and there; these are people that his hands killed. These are people that were important to someone who is special to him, someone who means a lot to him, and he is now the one causing him so much hurt and so much grief.

No matter what happens, it always comes back to him. If he hadn't eaten the finger, if he hadn't lost control, if he had been better at ensuring that Sukuna didn't take over his body, if, if, if... If he had just been stronger, then maybe so many people would still be alive.

But none of that matters right now, because this moment...? This moment is Geto's grief, not his. ]

I'm sorry.

[ His voice is low, hoarse, broken. ]

I... I couldn't stop him. There was nothing I could do.

Don't.

( It's too sharp, too quick. Rage finds it's place in his veins, chasing away the icy shock. He cannot look at Yuji face-on. Threat sits right behind his teeth, thick with potential. A part of him knows he is not to blame, Geto was telling the truth when he told him so, he still understands the intricacies of the situation. And yet the yawning despair includes the boy. His hands shake when he drops them at his side, a call for violence unanswered. ( Should he answer it? )

When was the last time he saw them? He remembers their bright fervour, the surety in them. They would win, and Geto-sama would come home, things would be better. And he'd abandoned them. Did he kiss their heads goodbye before he went off to die? Did he tell them he loved them? Did they know after that he'd been sure he wouldn't return? )

You should have told me when Sukuna was here. ( Tone devoid of all things. ) You should have told me the first time we spoke of them.

( What has he been doing living a life when the girls he raised were dead? Was there anyone to even bury them? Did anyone know? There's no point, there's no point, there's no point. His thoughts circle, sludge-like. Rainbow dragon appears from behind the tree, an answer to a call that he hasn't realised he's made, her eyes glowing in the dimming light. Dangerous to summon her here, with so many natives around. Dangerous because there is a knife's edge.

( Should he kill them? ) )

I loved them.

[ Yuji wouldn't be offended if Geto did hit him.

A part of him expects it. Violence is second nature to him now, familiar to him - the burn of the grief, the way that it digs into his heart and settles there like poison, flooding his body and making him feel sick with it. It's just like the moment Sukuna gave him back control again, the bile rising in his throat, his hands twitching, desperate to do something to numb the horrible, painful feeling of it all. He wants to rip out his own heart again, to crush it - he knows what that feels like already, but it feels like it would be a relief from this.

There are so many excuses he could've made, things to get him out of this situation. He could say that Gojo told him not to, he could say he was trying to protect him, he could say a thousand platitudes and stupid comments, but none of them will be enough. None of them will do anything except cause more harm, and that's the last thing Yuji wants to do. Hasn't he done enough?

No matter how much good he tries to bring to the world, his very existence makes it worse.

Every. Single. Time.

Yuji sees the dragon, he breathes out, but he waits. He stops.

He trusts in Geto. The man he had come to know, the man he believed in, who had been better. The man who had stood at his side and been so kind, so comforting, like... He can't finish it. ]

He would have killed you, too. But... You're right. It was wrong of me to hide it. As... As soon as I knew, I should've said it.

[ And risked Geto killing people? At that time, back then...

Yuji doesn't move. He can't. It feels as if one shift will rip the tension between them and leave them bleeding. ]

They loved you, too. All they wanted was... For you. Geto-sama to be safe. To be free from Kenjaku. I'm sorry I couldn't save them.

( Maybe the point is that Sukuna would have killed him.

He'd have had somewhere to put this then. The violence in him keeps swelling, keeps floundering, a terrible vicious cycle that has him dizzy with grief. There's no direction for it. How can there be, when he cares about the weeping boy before him now? He'd thought that if he couldn't be a father to his daughters then he could try and help somewhat here, and he hadn't known. What kind of man is he? What kind of monster? )

It's my fault.

( It is, it is, it is.

He'd followed through on his plan knowing it was the wrong one. Splitting his forces up, dividing his strength. He'd been half sure even then that Satoru would find him, that Geto would have forced his hand. He'd known how it might end, and he'd done it anyway. He'd promised those girls to protect them, and he'd left them. He might as well have been the thing to kill them himself.

Another shrieking laugh from the festival, only this one has Geto taking a stumbling step back, towards the dragon and away. )

I can't -.

( He'll do it, he knows he will. If he stays, if he hears another young girl's delight, if he sees someone smiling, he'll kill them. Or he'll force Yuji's hand. It would be easy. The boy would have to stop him, and then that would be another body. Hasn't he been through enough? Could Geto do that to him? What is he supposed to do himself? )

I can't be here. ( He wants to hurt something. ) I have to -.

I know. I get it.

[ Yuji doesn't move. He doesn't even try to.

There's no way that he can reach out and comfort Geto, not with the hands that took his daughters from him. Not with the body that ripped away the people he was most proud of, that he loved so deeply. There's nothing Yuji can do to erase or undo it, his guilt eating at him and making him feel sick.

He stares at his hands, and he breathes out sharply. ]

You should go. I'll...

[ Be fine? Be okay?

He doesn't know. ]

Bye, Geto-san.

( There are no words that he can find, not while the grief is choking him. Whatever he's feeling it has its hands pressed tight to his throat, it's too soon to shake it. So he cannot do anything for Yuji like this, his continued presence is too volatile, too dangerous. Even as he backs away like a wounded animal everything in him is begging to expose his teeth.

To tear, to rend, to hurt.

Like his girls were hurt. Like he's hurting.

So rainbow dragon. Hands on her scales, quick about it. She hurtles through the sky like a bullet loosed from a gun, instinctively answering him. He has to get away, that's all.

He has to go. )

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🎉 TANABATA FESTIVAL 🎊

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tw: a lil emetophobia, mental instability

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tw: emetophobia refs

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