exhibitionistsbox | Hot Springs and Ryokan

Hot Springs and Ryokan

Guess what, y'all. It's time for a field trip. We're heading to a Hot Springs and an Inn for the weekend, and everyone is invited. This place is huge, and has multiple springs both indoor and out. There's separate bathing, mixed, and even a spot for foreigners and prudes who like to keep their swimsuits on. Table tennis? Got it. Room service? You bet. Massages? Possibly. Ghosts? Maybe.

1. Hot springs: after you rinse off come take a relaxing bath. There are multiple options as to what kind of bathing environment you can have, so please choose wisely. Also, please read the signs. None of the springs will kill you, but if you choose the wrong one you might end up with some... adverse effects. Cursed springs might just be a Thing.

2. The Inn: you'll be here for a few nights so find your rooming buddy and get friendly. Whether bonding over food, games, or even just exploring the place there's certainly something you can find to occupy yourself. Just don't be too curious after curfew. The staff are pretty insistent, but they aren't cops so responsibility for your actions are your own.

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[Yes, instructions intensify! Now it really feels like she's helping properly. Mash begins work on the carrots and onions with a nod. Knife work isn't her specialty, and the cuts are far from expert, but they're passable, even if her technique could use some work. (And even if she begins to tear up at the onion-cutting pretty quickly, so when she responds to Shirou, she might look and sound a little more upset than the conversation warrants.)]

Yes . . . she really is. Ever since we met—I could sense that she was, and it didn't take very much time at all for her to prove it. She's the kind of person who doesn't even have to think about being good. Or—maybe it's that she doesn't have to think about being human. I think that's worth even more, to me.

[She sniffles conspicuously, but—]

I-I'm all right, it's just the onions!

Oh! I'll show you later, if you want! It's a game where two or four people hit a ball back and forth across a table with paddles.

[Once again, she's kind of hype to describe it; it's fun, after all! She worked up a sweat with Kaname! And anything that's fun is worth her enthusiasm, no matter how mundane it might be for other people. For her, it's a new experience to drink in.]

You hit the ball to one another until someone gets it past their opponent. The rules are a little more complicated than that, but that's the main goal. It's a lot more active than it sounds, once you get used to the rhythm and learn strategy.

[Maybe he'll want to play with her! The thought is exciting. Of course she hadn't won against Kaname, and was a beginner herself, but teaching someone else is just a different kind of fulfilling, and they'll be on more even ground . . .

It's funny: thinking about a silly game where you hit a ball back and forth on a table isn't that different from thinking about the existence of a resort dedicated to hot water in holes in the ground. Mash laughs a little, staring down at the vague shape of her body under the water, marveling at how little she can see of it despite how clean and pristine the spring feels.]

Games like this are another thing people came up with to entertain themselves . . . it's interesting. You're right. I guess we come up with anything we can to stimulate ourselves and make bonds with one another. If we didn't find ways to make the world into an experience, we wouldn't really be the same.

[ There was a trick to cutting onions without crying. Or at least, a couple of different ones. Slicing them the way that she did, not to mention when her work wasn't the best (still just fine in his eyes!) crushed them more than it did slice them sometimes. That released enzymes that provoked her to tear up. There's a part of him that can't help but be touched by the way that she talked about Ritsuka. She truly was something special, after all.

Then again, this Mash girl seemed the same. At least, in Shirou's eyes. With everything that he'd heard about 'Shielder' and all that. Before he can get a chance to ask her what's wrong (not cluing in immediately to the onions being the culprit just yet,) she corrects him with a cute little sniffle. ]

Ah-- [ And then, unable to help himself, he laughs a little bit. The kitchen was one of the few places he felt at peace in, and bringing a little happiness into the world from here was something he would always accept. ]

You're doing great, Mash. I'll show you how to cut them without crying as much next time. [ As he says this, he waits by her side until she's finished, bringing over some soft tissue for Mash to use if needed be. ] Here. Just make sure not to rub your eyes with your hands yet.

Er--right, sorry...

[9S is promptly lowering his own voice too, sounding sheepish enough to hopefully compensate for all three of them. All prospects of danger seemingly averted, 9S releases Masamune's shoulder quickly enough too, folding his arms and blinking between Mash and the new stranger alike. Well, geez...this new guy sure doesn't exactly seem like the friendly and polite type, that huge lack of greeting and an immediate insult in Masamune's direction considered. Looks like these two might know each other? Ah, but it also seems like Mash has been hanging out with this "Ishida" too, so maybe he's alright after all? Still, as 9S can't help but blurt out at the accusation:]

Uh, "wailing of an infant"...? This guy hasn't been crying at all, actually, I can confirm. [Because sure, they might be literally just delinquent roommate acquaintances at the moment--but still!! Assuming that "One-Eyed Dragon" is actually referring to him--and 9S kind of figures it is, considering he's the only party with only one eye visible in this whole lot--he may as well defend Masamune's not-crybaby honor a little bit!!! He just screams really easily apparently, that's not the same thing at all....but anyhow, it's time to look over to Mash again after this.] Aha, I guess we're not the only ones breaking rules right now...you guys should be careful, though! There's cursed spirits going around here.

[Stated gravely, as fact.]

Edited 2019-05-28 03:13 (UTC)

No!

[He should've, though. Damn. Whatever, he's just going to lay here, naked and dangling over the spring, his face bunched up in pain.]

Ugh, you ever... Get stuck trying to wake up? It feels like that... Am I high?

[With a mighty groan he reaches skyward, curling his fingers one-by-one into a fist...

and then he punches himself in the face.]

[What. The. Ever-loving. Fuck.

She's so baffled by what's happening, but in a way it makes sense? Like that time in Korea when she was drugged and the terrorists where trying to draw the Black Technology from her.

But still?! To watch someone else do it? It's wild!!]

[Like it isn't satisfying on at least SOME level to see him smash his own face in!!

Anyway, he takes a few ragged breaths and then lets his head loll to the side so he can look at Kaname. It's an unusual look for him but his expression is plainly apologetic.]

...I am awake, right? Tell me I'm not a samurai.

Is that what you were supposed to be?

[ARE YOU TELLING HER SHE MISSED OUT ON KISSING A SAMURAI? She's been robbed.]

I don't even know.

[It's not like the samurai's gone, wink wink. And that's just making this all the more disorienting.]

Is that what sleepwalking feels like? It sucks. Shit, Kaname, I didn't mean... [...to... you know...]

H-hey. I know it sucks. I've felt it. So let's just... get you back to the room, maybe? I don't want you overdoing it by being dehydrated in a hot spring.

[She leaves his side to hurry and get the things. Her yukata, his, and the sake bottle because she's not just going to leave things sitting around for someone to clean up.]

Yeah... Yeah, okay.

[He's pretty unfocused but he manages to get himself to his feet with a little help and slip his robe back on. He has the fuzzy, overlapping memory of being a weak, sick child needing help just crossing the room.]

What, what was it you said about yours again? It's like it's not you?

[ Funny how a Xavist School was responsible for the destruction all while proclaiming they were spreading the message of love... from a flying warship. ]

I don't think so... I think even the headmaster survived the direct assault, but he's something else entirely.

What's really weird was how we didn't see it covered in the media at all after. Even if our school was known for some pretty crazy stuff, you'd think destruction on that scale would have caught someone's eye.

[ Or at least all the students who should have been in school and weren't. ]

Oh wow. [ So in that case, definitely reminiscent of the Church covering their tracks. After all, while the media covered some of the odd activities that were going on in Fuyuki at the time of the Holy Grail War, anything supernatural? Covered up quite cleanly.

But more importantly then that, a hand on his chest as he lets out a small sigh, ]

That's a relief. I'm glad you and everyone else made it out okay, Sasuke.

S-sort of. It's a cross between someone trying to teach me something and someone trying to steal my body from me.

[Once they're dressed she pulls him in close to help hold him up. For some reason this feels familiar... like she's done this before in another life.]

[He groggily lets his head fall against her shoulder. He could probably keep it up if he made the effort, but... nah. Kaname's warm and comforting.]

Mm... You sleeptalk sometimes... Getting taught, I guess. [Math shit, science shit, all of it shit beyond his understanding or field of interest.]

Mine's not that scary. It's still... me, I think. A past life or something? I dunno, it was always just dreams until this time.

Past life sounds... Accurate to what I was putting up with, I guess.

[She hobbles them back into the building with sake taken along. Maybe when she has him lying down she can just gun some shots and not give a damn about the weirdness.]

Do you remember anything, or like do you not really share awareness while like that?

This is the first time it's happened like this, but... [He trails off while Kaname kindly gets him situated.]

...I don't- I don't know how to describe it. I remember what I did, I remember how I was thinking and what I- he?- remembered.

Holy shit, what if it's trying to steal my body too?

Hah, I don't think he's trying to steal your body. He didn't seem to like it here.

[She'll hold him close until they reach the room. Graciously Kaname will set him down on her bed linens.]

I'm glad you're back though. Should I get something edible and absorbent to try and help with the nausea?

Thanks. For being patient.

[ Ritsuka knows herself: she's nowhere near the level of closed-off wariness that plagues a lot of people she knows, but she's also not the most forthcoming. Some of that is just not thinking of her experiences as worth bringing up, some of that is not being aware of her own troubles until they've percolated too dark and deep, and some of it is just... flat-out not being the best at speaking her feelings all the time.

But if Mash says she can wait, then Ritsuka trusts that. ]

I promise I'll tell you, when I can.

I've tried that and tried a few others until the staff kicked me out.

[ All that happened was that he got really pruned. He tried looking for more info in the inn's small library (more like a reading room), but he got no luck in finding anything that about a hot spring that would turn a boy into a girl. The staff had nothing to offer him either, though Sasuke wondered if they even believed him or were just nodding their head to get rid of him faster.

Sasuke lifts his cup of tea. ]

I've given up on sleeping for tonight. My roommate deserves to get some sleep even if I can't.

... You didn't take the bus with the rest of us? I'm pretty sure I saw you there.

[ Sasuke is really confused right now. ]

Are you telling me you have selective memory loss?

[ She nods enthusiastically, finally! Someone knows it's her! She lucked out with it being Sasuke of all people.

She lets out a whimpering sound as she lowers her head. She's been a crane for way too long today. ]

[ Who are you calling a beast?! She lets out a indignant squawk and instead stalks closer to him. Say that again you... you... you stupid dodo! How can you be so rude to a lady, a cursed one at that.

She has a wing outstretched to aim a good slap at him. ]

Kicked you out, huh...

[ She huffs a little at that, glancing to the door like she expects some staff member to appear right now and do the same thing again. ]

Normally I'd say that's a problem we should complain about, but honestly? I'm sure they're used to it. A place like this has to make its money somehow in the modern day, right?

[ Not that most mages she's known would openly go into hospitality, but... on the other hand, there is Shirou... ]

Well, if you don't mind the continued company, I'd be up for pulling an all-nighter. This place is a lot nicer than most of the places I've had to do that.

. . . Thank you.

[It means a lot. Mash may not know everything, or even close to everything, about Ritsuka yet, but she does know this about her: that this is a thing that's hard for her for whatever reason. It's hard for Mash sometimes, too. But no matter what, she trusts Ritsuka isn't just putting her off on this, either. It's a process for both of them.

She leans harder, less shy in it than she was.]

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Page 12 of 14

Hot Springs and Ryokan

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