[3 / open] here and there, i let my body go with the flow

[bratherine]

Who ⬤ Kate Galloway (bratherine) and whoever wants to bother her
What ⬤ More Tanabata and post-Tanabata shenanigans. Waiter life at the Pleasure Palace (featuring Stardust and/or smooches), fun and games at the festival, wishing dilemmas, impulsive reactions to assassination attempts and post-festival training. (plotting comment)
When ⬤ Tanabata weekend and the days following
Where ⬤ See prompts for locations
Content Warnings ⬤ THE GIRLS ARE FIIIIGHTING. Stardust, melancholy times with wishes, sparring and probably others when threads get going

this loud, loud, loud and frivolous heart of mine » pleasure palace, waiter gig ▻ potential cw: Stardust use

( Saying Kate has developed some skills at this waiting high class tables business is something she would shrug off. Months at the same job will have you growing accustomed to anything, after all, much like she's grown accustomed to wearing the uniform of the night: the same shirt, slacks, tie and waistcoat she'd wear up above ground. It's all just muscle memory.

Though, for those few people who have seen her face at the door of a high class Western-style restaurant in the Tamamo district, they'll at least notice some marked attempt at being a little more charming and conversational to the patrons of the Palace.

After all, who knows where Tenkohime's eyes stretch to in this new playground of hers. And, if nothing else, Kate doesn't deliberately want to antagonise the boss. Not when the promise of contract fulfilment hangs over her head so heavily, the promise of everything back home being righted a faint light at the end of the tunnel. One Tenkohime can all too easily snuff out.

She affixes a half-smile to her face as she turns with a tray of drinks and weaves in and out of tables towards the people who've ordered. Drinks lifted smoothly from the tray and placed neatly in front of whoever's sitting there.

It's all just muscle memory. )

Is that everything?

( She waits for a second, brown eyes taking in the customer, and decides; )

Got something to make your order better, if you want it.

( Yeah. You look like you need to enjoy your night a little more.

It may not necessarily be sanctioned by the bosses here, but there's a sachet of Stardust in her back pocket and a power flickering potent through her veins. )

who could ever notice it » tanabata festival, fun and games

( The manager at the Palace lets Kate scarper early, which is much appreciated, as spending all night in her work gear sounds... Well, kinda shit, honestly. And perhaps the manager herself has a vested interest in letting Kate go after helping to pick out her outfit for the night.

It's different. Kate agreed to traditional back in Mizukume, and after several wrinkled noses and complaints about too heavy materials, or stiflingly long kimono, a shorter, lighter option found her. Soft material grazes her arms, a subtle peach gradient and quiet floral pattern teasing out of the charcoal base of the kimono when she stands under the right amount of starlight. She needed help with the obi, whose ends trail down until they skim the floor, the centrepiece of an otherwise simple outfit. And everything, of course, is pulled together with the intricate nest of curls the neesans had simply insisted she wear (why would you hide this under hours of using a straightening iron, Kate-chan?) for the evening.

She lets the outfit, and the night, sweep her away for a little while. Spends time staring at the stars — the sun may be better, warmer, carrying all the promise of the summer, but she's never seen this many stars in the sky. Even if it's a fake sky. It's kinda cool, a real version of the projector Marc used to have in his room after he became part of the family. The memory comes with an ache, like it always does, but the anger doesn't follow.

She'll get home. She'll get home to a version of reality where nothing went wrong, and every inch of aching emptiness at being without her brother will be worth it. The resolve buries itself deep inside her heart, like it always does, and the ache fades beneath the music of the night.

And where there's music, there's— )

Wanna dance?

( C'mon. It'll be fun. )

i cried because i don't give a fuck » tanabata festival, wishes

( Kate gets a primer on what all of this is in the simplest of ways: Watching and putting two and two together. People writing onto talismans, words reflecting desires and the closed eyes as they place the colourful pieces back in place.

...Nah. This is dumb, right? But a little voice in the back of Kate's head whispers that she's asking Jigokucho for something much more crazy than money or love. If Jigokucho can grant something like that, what problem is giving someone a payrise?

Still. Cynicism reigns. The contract is a deal. It may be one where the outcome is far beyond anything a human back home could guarantee, but it's a deal nonetheless. You put in work, you get a reward. And the same goes for so many of these. You can work into a promotion, into more money. You can try to find love, if that's what you want.

If wishes are real, why spend them on something you can fix yourself?

The thoughts cycle through Kate's mind with each step she takes, each new talisman she reads. From the simple to the big asks, the tapestry of desires and people here unwinds itself before her eyes. She stops only when she sees someone pluck out a fresh talisman, leans against the nearest wall, and asks simply: )

What're you wishing for?

hold me and my confused heart » we know who you are, chase sequence

( It seems that a night's peace is an impossibility when the Lost Souls gather, doesn't it? Though the night had suckered her into thinking it could, perhaps, be the exception to the rule, the spell breaks quite thoroughly when Ryouma nearly fucking dies. When that chick gets kidnapped. The whispers of the night, sparsely sprinkled in customer conversations during her shift at the Palace, aren't exactly enough to provide any useful answers.

But there is one way to figure out what's going on: by slipping out amongst the chaos, following the quickly vanishing roaring of motorbike engines towards the ascent back to the overground. She won't catch them, that much is obvious, but the itch to do anything but hang around and wait for Enma officers to find out she knows sweet fuck all about what's going on pulls too strongly to ignore.

She's good at this kind of stuff, after all. Sneaking around, tying the ends of her obi out of the way and running up to the city proper. A bunch of wild motorcycles surely leave some sort of trace, whether in the memories of the people who are out at this hour, or on the roads themselves. Toppled over wastebins, anything like that.

Not that she knows where to go after she gets up. With no one to ask and nothing visibly indicating the direction of travel, Kate frowns. Well... Shit.

Where now? )

just give me something in return » post-event training, a shuten gym

( The effects of the talisman she'd hung before all hell broke loose made themselves known in the aftermath of the evening, when everything about her running was a little better. When her muscles felt stronger.

Kate isn't quite sure what it means yet, but she knows one thing: the best way to figure this out is by training. Which is how she ends up spending the morning after Tanabata in a Shuten gym, where things like punching bags and fighting rings are on offer, where everything smells a little bit like years of intense use compared to the clean and orderly Tamamo gym she usually frequents.

Is it the most intelligent decision of her life to be a fox in the oni den while working on her kicks and punches? Not really, but there's something about the grit and bloodthirst which makes it feel like the right place to be. Somewhere she'll be challenged. Where she may lose.

Where proving herself is essential.

But she keeps her head down to start with. Warms up, works through a flow of movements against a punching bag and feels it. She hits better. A small, nearly insignificant fraction of a percent better than before, but it's there. Her muscles don't tire as soon as they did before — she shifts from the first set of movements to a second, third, fourth, before the burn really starts to take form.

As though the stars read her wish and said sure, we'll give you that.

And, as that thought settles into place, she grows more settled. Pays more attention to the others here. Maybe even nods a greeting when she locks eyes with them. She's paid to work out here. That's all there is to it at the end of the day. )

yeah, yeah, i forgot. don't feel a thing » closed to shin

( The days after Tanabata are long and involved. From training, to work, to trying to work out what the right next move is. Where does she go from here, in order to guarantee that she returns home successful in fulfilling her contract?

The words written on her own wish linger in the back of her mind somewhere, raising the question of just how much Kate can live up to that wish with a little added strength and grunt work. It's what she's weighing up in her mind as she ascends the stairs to her shitty flat — are there benefits beyond a better paycheque if she tries to rise in the Tamamo ranks?

And it's what flies out of her head when she gets to her door and finds a familiar face standing right in front of it. )

What're you doing here?

( It isn't unfriendly, but there's an edge to Kate's voice. She didn't invite him, and despite the amount of time they spend together, an unannounced visit leaves her on the back foot, shoulders tensing as her fingers curl more tightly around her keys.

He could have texted first, at least. )

Comments

wishes

[empression]

[ This is nostalgic, in a place she didn't ever expect to be, but Haru takes every reminder of home with both gratitude and a sense of bittersweet longing. Can she actually ever return there? Is this the end of her journey? Should she have revised the contract to include going back? It seems a little late for that now. And it's moments like this where it prickles at her skin, scolding that she should have thought it through more.

But those thoughts are interrupted by a girl, a little shorter than her, prompting the curly-haired young woman in the flower-patterned white yukata to turn to her and give her the proper attention. That's... a bit of a personal question, but where she would say so to someone older, or someone male where she can't quite understand the intention and has to assume from experience that it might lead to something uncomfortable... she takes a moment to study her. ]

... The strength to protect the people close to me.

[ And she'll answer honestly. ]

[bratherine]

( Oh.

That's more earnest than Kate was expecting as an answer, really, for a question thrown out for nothing more than idle curiosity and a way to weigh up whether it's worth writing anything for herself. It's one she can understand all too well, especially in a place like this, which is far more varied and dangerous than the world Kate knew before. )

... 'S a big ask here.

( But maybe that's what makes it a good wish on a night where it feels like almost anything could be possible. A night where her mood is still good and the curiosity she feels is less about distraction and more about the relief of faces that aren't dudes or adults. (She knows way too many of both.) )

You work out already?

( It is not difficult to see that Kate lives and breathes physical activity, the evidence of years of running and parkour carved into her legs, and so it's easy to put together what potential she's weighing up.

New workout buddy, maybe? )

[empression]

Wishes made at Tanabata should feel at least a little extravagant, I feel... to honor the nature of the wish of two lovers to be reunited again, no matter the impossible distance between them. I made this wish with that in mind.

[ But she blinks, tilting her head ever so slightly as though pondering the nature of the question until she catches the hints just by looking this girl over. This... is most certainly someone who already works out often already. And it makes her smile, a little ruefully.

Because Haru looks plenty delicate, though the calluses on her hands and the subtle muscle in her arms will tell a slightly different story. The yukata sleeves hide said arms though. ]

I like to stay fit, but I would also like to improve my strength much more than this. I was actually thinking of going for a few laps after I finished here, to prove that I was committed to improving myself and not just willing to leave it up to the wish entirely.

[bratherine]

( So that's it, huh? She did not do much reading on this whole festival before it happened, so that piece of information is mentally filed away for reference. That probably explains all the happy, lovey-dovey feelings bubbling around here, the good mood which has taken hold of Kate and won't let go. )

In that? ( Okay, colour her impressed. It took hours of criticising every kimono and yukata she was shoved into as being too long, can't run in that before the neesans had the bright idea to go shorter (and throw some shorts on underneath, which makes this feel less like a formal outfit and more like an oversized top. Comfy!). Because, no, Kate wouldn't deny that Haru projects a certain image, and she hasn't looked closely enough at the other girl's hands to realise that image might not be the full picture. )

Y'might want some proper shoes.

( At the very least. 🤔 )

[empression]

I think the yukata will make it so that I benefit more from running with restrained movements, but...

[ She casts a considering look at her feet. This... yeah, that's a highly valid point. Anyone who wore a yukata for longer than ten minutes also knew to carry around band-aids in their bags for their feet, toes especially. Running in geta wouldn't be wise. ]

... You're right. I'm going to have to at least change my footwear into something a little more athletic.

cw drug withdrawal

[mindthebass]

(hell doesn't cut it to describe how shin looks. his eyes are sunken, so much for sleep. withdrawals are normal when you overdo it, he is more than used to it at this point. at least it distracted him from the matter that he's angry, annoyed beyond belief, and it hurts that kate is the object of these ill-feelings.

they were supposed to be making each other better, not to be about to fight.)

... I need to talk to you, that's what.

[bratherine]

( It's one thing if he'd just turned up offering booze and company, something which would quickly placate the initial unease at anyone turning up uninvited, the distinct feeling of the rug being pulled out from under her feet. A lack of safety in the closest place to a sanctuary Kate has in this city. She could forgive the intrusion were it just that.

But his hands are empty, he looks like shit, and his words are all too brusque. Her muscles tense further, the force with which she undoes the lock to her apartment rattling the already loose handle.

Fuck's sake. Whatever it is, she's not having this discussion in a hallway. Get inside first. )

What is it?

[mindthebass]

(thin hands get a stick of nicotine before he can come in. this is going to stress him, stress her, and he doesn't think it's going to be pretty until it's over.

shin's not for violence, and he's for self-preservation, as funny as that sounds.

once he makes it inside, he shoulders the leather off his body, setting it on top of a chair as always, before he pulls it out himself.)

What were you thinking going after the kidnappers?! You could have gotten hurt, Kate.

[bratherine]

( Her keys are tossed on the counter without looking, hair left in tight plaits pinned around her head. Her jacket remains, zipped up, sleeves pulled over her hands. The weight of tension hollows out her stomach as she waits, waits for the other shoe to drop.

For the reason he seems so pissed off.

And she doesn't have to wait long. No sooner is his jacket off before he's speaking, the reason for his attitude catching her off guard for a simple reason: )

I didn't.

( It was a largely uneventful move, and she was almost certain it would be. She's fast but bikes are bikes, especially when they're driven by yokai who are determined to get the fuck out of there as fast as they can.

She was never going to catch them, and she kind of knew that from the second she set off. Unless they happened to have a hideout right around the corner, and really, who is stupid enough for that? )

tanabata

[everblooms]

[ The tanzaku in her hands is crisp and a pretty shade of pale pink. She thinks briefly of another man, but that's an impossibility to her. There is no saving that situation. You can't hold onto a ghost, after all, so she begins to write down onto it—

...only to be interrupted by a unlikely but welcome face. ]

I was about to write down your name.

[ She jokes, but hey— don't look a gift horse in the mouth. ] Honestly... I don't know yet. I wonder how real these are, anyway...

[bratherine]

( That gets a snort. And a smile, actually. The mood of the festival is clearly getting to her.

But Aerith's wondering hits on the same spot Kate's own mind drifts. Logically, she doesn't believe in this kind of stuff. )

Would say it were bullshit back home. ( She finds one which could be best described as vermillion and cradles it in a hand. ) But this place is weird.

[everblooms]

[ While this is physically much the same girl, Aerith does notice that something's fallen over her. It's nice to see, but glances aside to a waiter. Upon their tray is an assortment of Tanabata themed drinks, glitter and stars swimming in alcohol. Tenkohime always took alcohol to the extreme conclusion; inhibitions down, anything can happen, and tongues loosen.

In this case? She supposes that it's harmless enough. Hands folded over her abdomen, she nods to agree with Kate. ]

All the more reason to make a wish! No time like the present, right? [ Kate asked her question first, and Aerith's polite enough to share. ] I'd just be happy to see everyone happy and well. With everything that's been going on, feels like we're just always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[ ... But there's no denying her more selfish desire. With a little girl, she continues. ]

Or maybe some of my mom's home cooked meals. That, too.

[bratherine]

( Anything's an improvement over nightmare blood rains (or clinic cleaning duty, even if she diligently does so), to be fair. But tonight keeps a warm blanket of something pleasant over them, erasing anything negative from the mind for the moment. It makes Aerith's ideas sound good instead of saccahrine.

... Yeah. She's right. They've all been carrying around that tension of some shit is going to happen, and tonight magic quiets all of that. They get to enjoy this shit, wishes and all.

But there's one problem: )

... No idea what I'd wish for.

the gym

[no_kyouken]

[ Of course Majima is there. Half the time when they break off from running he goes to the gym. He's working with any of the Shutens who show up. He's a rough teacher, but not unfair if his students can get past the humiliation of being knocked down over and over again. ]

Ignore it. Get up. Keep goin'.

[ The real lesson underneath the rough treatment. They need to get used to it if they really want to be fighters. He can't really invite her over without disrupting the focus of his current crew, so he approaches her as the others towel off and gather their things. ]

Hey, how's it goin'?

[bratherine]

( Physically? Pretty good. She's getting through her routines with more ease than before, everything's connecting to the punching bag better.

But there's no celebration of that. No quiet pride or excitement to try more. Just a gritting of teeth and a final, too hard, swing at the punching bag that sends a nice, familiar, shock of pain through her nerves.

It doesn't get rid of the emotional stormcloud inside her, but it does offer a brief distraction. )

... Fine.

( Yeah. That's convincing. )

[no_kyouken]

[ Uh-huh. That's definitely why she came down to use enemy territory's gym. So he just points out dryly, ]

Gonna bust yer knuckles like that.

[bratherine]

( Yeah. That's what everyone does when they're in a good mood: comes to fight in a gym of feral Shuten.

Kate pulls her fist back, looks at it. It doesn't look damaged. Still aches, though. )

Wouldn't be th' worst thing that's happened to us here.

( She's just saying. But before that can settle in too much, Kate exhales. She needs something more to get the last of this frustration-driven energy out of her. )

C'mon then. Give me summat harder t' do.

tanabata

[peninhand]

[ Monika didn't really believe in those things... Superstitions like that really were just that: beliefs with no basis in reality. If you made a wish, you immediately believed more strongly that it would come true. A placebo effect, basically. And if somehow what you wished for ended up up becoming true, then you started thinking "maybe that's because I did put my wish there!" When really, odds are making the wish didn't change a thing.

Still... When you're desperate enough, you'll try anything. Even silly superstitions that you know deep down cannot be true. Lying to herself was one of Monika's grand specialties, after all. She'd been about to hang her wish on a bamboo tree when a girl suddenly addressed her out of nowhere. ]

Ah, um... [Gosh, that's kind of a personal question, isn't it?] True love?

[ She had two wishes she could share, and somehow this one was the least embarrassing of the two. Her other wish was way too heavy and personal for her to reveal to anyone. ]

Kind of a silly wish, ahaha.

[bratherine]

( Possibly, but that isn't Kate's problem to deal with. No one's asking her the same. And she has no idea what she'd wish for, or if she even wants to wish for anything right now.

Ergo, the best idea is to poll others and figure it out, right? And this girl's answer is a far cry from anything Kate would actually pick. Which, any other night of the year, would be a cause for a snarky comment and eye rolling.

But the magic of Tanabata and stardust is everywhere, and her mood is pretty good, and instead she asks; )

... In hell?

( Are you sure this is a good idea, miss? )

[peninhand]

[ Right, that probably sounded even weirder when you took into account that place was "hell." She more or less forgot about that until someone reminded her of it. She had a good reason, though. ]

That's what they keep calling this place. [She tilted her head.] But I must say, it doesn't really feel like hell to me.

[ Maybe because her life before had been what could be best described as a living nightmare, that had altered her perceptions. But she really couldn't begin to see this world as hell, not even close. ]

Does it to you?

[bratherine]

Not tonight.

( It's hard to remember the feeling of being stuck in the blood rain under the night's magic, but she knows those memories are there. Knows that her nightmares take on a distinctly coppery tang when she's unfortunate enough to have them. )

Can get pretty shit, though.

( Ever the understatement. )

closed / birthday movie night

[bratherine]

( It's an easy enough walk from Grave Wax to the studio apartment she now shares with Shin, so it makes sense to meet Megumi and Yuuji outside after her tattoo is completed.

And that's exactly what happens. Kate's got a bag in one hand and her phone in the other, carrying presents and the night's selection of appropriately terrible movies while she checks to see if either of the lads have messaged—

Ah, but there they are. )

Hey.

( She pockets the phone, nodding a greeting instead of waving, a half-smile on her face.

This is different. She's never spent her birthday like this before, but that's a good thing. )

[ahost]

[ this might be the first time anyone (officially) invited yuuji for a celebration in their home, and he is excited! yes, it's fun to play host and let megumi suffer later with the clean-up— but let's see how it feels like to be someone else's responsibility for a change.

since it was kate's birthday, yuuji insisted to show up wearing a party hat. megumi, despite all efforts, refused to do so and the argument lingered during their walk here. honestly, why is it so hard to wear a little hat? anyway, kate gets a hearty greeting when she finally arrived. ]

Happy birthday! We're here- [ he tugs megumi closer by the arm to highlight on the 'we'. ] -and we're ready for the cheesy movies!

[mahoraga]

[ It's both their first times spending the day at someone else's home. This isn't something Megumi's ever done - not in Jigoku, nor back when he was alive. There's something touching and personal about being invited into someone else's space, and for that reason he was a little excited to come.

-- Not excited enough to wear a party hat, though. Sorry.

Megumi's pulled towards Yuuji and he doesn't flinch, too used to this treatment. In his hand is a paper bag that holds both their gifts. He presents this to Kate. ]

Happy birthday. We had to find something last minute, so there wasn't any time to write a card.

[ She'll find two gifts: cutesy perfume from Yuuji, and knee pads from Megumi. He knows she parkours and thought they might help. (Yuuji forced him to choose a more exciting colour than black.) ]

[mindthebass]

(no tattoos for shin, but he is glad to come as support and company as kate gets her own skin inked. to him, it's a special day to behold, he's even willing to be good and nice with everyone - even when he always is with kate. all he does is watch the exchange with a smile, taking the cigarette that had been sitting behind his ear to his lips.)

Oh, what did you get?!