open | i think i'm prone to getting blinded when it's bright

[nemuru]

Who 🌙 ritsu & whomever
What 🌙 a nice neat little catch-all
When 🌙 the night parade + april in general
Where 🌙 night parade + here and there
Content Warnings 🌙 n/a; adding if it comes up


≫ THE NIGHT PARADE :: ペストリー

( There's a ton of different stalls set up for this event—and Ritsu's set up one of his own. Did he get clearance for it? ... It's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission, okay. Anyway, there's a number of different wagashi, cakes, and so on that look very appetizing...

And then some stuff that looks a little less nice—the type that if it was on television, it'd have to be pixelated or blurred out because it just looks way too gross to bear. The taste is all the same though: really, really good. In fact, maybe the fact the last ones look so terrible makes them taste all the better...!? If you can get past how, uh, unique their composition is, anyway. )

Welcome one and all to Ritsu Sakuma's Confectionary Carnivale...♪ Heheh. Wanna try some? I'm not chargin' tonight, seein' as it's a party. If you want a recommendation, I'd go with... ( ... He taps the gross-looking sweets. ) These ones. I put my whole heart and soul into makin' them.

≫ THE NIGHT PARADE :: 花見

( Ah yes, cherry blossoms... Spectral they might be, they're still a familiar sight for Ritsu; their whispers not so much, but he forces himself not to pay them any mind by putting his focus elsewhere: mainly, scaring people.

Maybe that's not really the right word, but it's probably what happens anyway when someone suddenly steps out from behind a tree in the grove the Alliance has set up and puts their arm through yours. Hi! Partners now. Ritsu has a drink with him, thogu given where he is, it probably isn't Tamamo-spiked. Sutoku's refreshments are a little less... risqué. )

Yo~ ( Sooo friendly-sounding, like he didn't just materialize out of seemingly nowhere (he's just quiet). Ritsu smiles languidly, all the world a cat in human form. ) Let's walk together~... How about it?

( ........Like he is just asking for courtesy's sake, honestly. )

≫ THE NIGHT PARADE :: 花火

( Before everything goes to hell (haha)—

Ritsu's tired of being on the ground, but too many people have taken to higher spots to watch the fireworks... so he's with the crowd instead, a little more on the edge rather than in the middle of it. Less elbow brushing and bumping that way. He watches the sky, thinking of sea spray and the flicker of something in his chest at the sight of tears shed on a stage shared, and nudges the person next to him. )

Hey, did you know? If you share a kiss with someone when the fireworks start, your lives will allllways be entwined... Think that even applies in Hell?

≫ AFTERMATH :: 隠し

( Those in the Sutoku Alliance get a little more from the Kappa than other factions, given they're under the same banner, and after listening to a few frenzied youkai Ritsu's decided they're probably (probably) not at fault here. Actually, he's almost certain of that; the Kappa wouldn't have anything to gain from killing the Alliance's leader, so it just plain doesn't make sense.

The other factions, though... Well, there's probably something in it for them.

Ritsu'll be doing his best to hide kappa in his place of stay (sorry roomie), in any of the several hiding places he's found since coming here (sorry, people he's shown them), and even calculating the risk of throwing himself into a struggle between someone getting arrested or taken in and, well, their arrester—before doing it anyway. He's not one of the noble, gallant Knights for nothing, even if that is just supposed to be a stage presence; it's something that's ended up seeping into their very being.

Besides: it feels wrong to just sit back and watch people get blamed for things when nothing's actually be investigated yet. It smells just like someone finding someone else to pin the blame on to get rid of them—he doesn't like it, and he resolved, once, to take more action when he can.

...Even if it's going to earn him a few broken bones.

Help him out, scold him, or be the one fighting him—all's good. )

≫ APRIL GEN :: ステージ

( When none of ... that ... is happening, when things are calmer(?), or as calm as they can be, Ritsu can be found performing in a Sutoku-aligned bar; normally, he's part of a pair with Emily as La Force—and they even have matching outfits, too—but some nights, he just wanders up on stage to play piano. Most of his experience lies in being classically trained, though he just as often will play whatever melody comes to mind, not paying attention to any particular work or composer.

He also pauses to take requests, and if he likes you enough, he might agree to teach you—if you're interested in that kind of thing. Just don't mind how careful he is when he moves, and if his fingers catch on the keys because he stretches too far and too fast and it hurts like a bitch... No he didn't! You saw Nothing. )

≫ WILDCARD

( If none of this catches your eye, or we've made other plans, just toss me a starter! Alternatively, you can hmu on Plurk or PM this account to make some plans. )

Comments

[deadtective]

You think so?

[she echoes Ritsu's question, but tone is far more bittersweet as she directs her attention back up to the pinwheeling explosions of light and color. the sentiment is a deeply romantic one, even if the bond was potentially platonic, and once upon a time it would have appealed quite a great deal to Hazel. it still did, if she was being honest with herself, but life had cast dark shadows on such pretty things. it was the sort of thing that felt far out of her reach now.]

People change. You might end up trapped with a monster by the end of it.

[and she'd know all too well, wouldn't she? even without a fireworks kiss, she'd never be able to escape herself...]

[nemuru]

They don't change as much as you think. Whatever change you find in 'em's always been there, ( he replies, watching the fireworks. ) S'just been hiding.

( Good or bad, they've always had the capacity. It's just a matter of what pushes them to that point... besides, he's seen the worst of the people he loves, and he loves them all the same.

...They feel the same way about him, too, even despite the fact he sometimes still considers himself a monster. )

Ahhh, that's way too down. ( A glance around... He nudges her shoulder. ) Wanna mess with people who aren't actually watchin' the show?

[deadtective]

[that is not the sort of answer Hazel wants to hear when her thoughts are turned as deeply inward as they are in this moment. it isn't so much that she disagrees as - well, fuck, who can accept that maybe they've never been human at all? that her outside might match her insides in a way that the witch had no hand in was too much to bear, too much to hear someone else say. she couldn't pretend it was all bullshit with outside opinions aligning without ever knowing the context of her situation.

the fireworks seem overwhelmingly loud all of a sudden, the crowds too close. she's sure that if she still could breathe her chest would be tightening, pressure bearing down on her until Ritsu's nudge for attention punctures the sensation and pulls her back into reality.]

What, and ruin all that destiny they're trying to cook up?

[...she grins. it's not like this guy could know she'd been feeling sorry for herself, right? to him there was nothing wrong, and to her - Hazel never could say no to being a pain in the ass, especially when she needed a distraction.]

Yeah, alright, guess I'm in. How big of an asshole are we being?

[nemuru]

Biggest.

( it's time for a little chaos. Ritsu's smile isn't as big as her grin, but the same mischievous energy is in his eyes. )

I mean, those fireworks people worked sooooo hard on all of this, yeah? Seems rude for people to just ignore all that just for a little destiny. ( mmhmm, that's the reason. ) I was thinkin' of just givin' em a scare, y'know, like a ghost or somethin'... Boo! and whatever, but I'm a nice guy. I'll take suggestions, 'specially from a co-conspirator.