005. those countryside roads to somewhere

[takasugi]

( weeks spent gathering non-perishables and their personal items into boxes couldn't have prepared them for what was about to happen.

it occurs in a flash, like a plant's tendril reaching out to seed a new life in something.

the sea vanishes, their epic on the high seas punctuated by a change in pressure. like when a whale breeches or dives with something inside it's mouth, it's an almost unimaginably long pause. their watery landscape transforms into an empty void, pieces of a plane that simply don't exist in the mind, and if one were to stay here, it could easily drive them mad. humans were never made to shift between realities and witness such emptiness, after all, and before takasugi can even think to figure out how shouin's soul might be contributing to this, everything tilts. the world about them flips to a new chapter filled with light, darkness, and stars, and if one blinks, it all becomes clear that everything is floating, floating without a sky to touch the pitch-black remnants of the rippling universe below, and—

a blink of the eyes next reveals that everything they've known has come to change.

the arahabaki mk. ii on the water is gone, and only rolling hills remain.

in the distance, a couple women tend to a small, cultivated field off a well-worn path, meticulously monitoring the water that'll birth life into their crop. the town is green and vulnerable under the piercing blue of the bright spring sky, with a quieter vibe compared to the larger towns that boast all the hustle and bustle of city life. a few open tea houses welcome visitors, inviting them to pause on their journey as they seek bigger opportunities in this new era of industrialization, but most importantly, as the members of 3kon might notice: some of the citizens here are sporting animal ears of various types, and no one acts like each other is worser than wear for it. )

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[hanabee]

[Dinner and a performance, just for them... That sounds nice. Even with all their faith placed in Takasugi, the past few weeks had still been busy and a little nerve-wracking (though Niki had worked hard to hide it). He'd never been opposed to trying to escape that place, but that didn't mean it wasn't also a little scary to do so. It wasn't the same as hopping into a plane or onto a boat and going to some unfamiliar but still known destination. There was no telling where they'd end up or if they'd even end up there at all... Takasugi had even said so himself! So having an opportunity to really, truly relax, even if it's only brief, would be more than welcome. Niki thought the other two particularly needed it. Maybe the music would help to soothe the soul of the one who'd willingly given up something he admitted he couldn't live without, and maybe the food would help to ease the heart of the one who could only dream of the possibility of seeing a certain someone again.

Well, that assumes that all goes well tonight, of course. But Niki's already cheerfully humming to himself while they walk and talk, imagining dinner and fresh rice and maybe they can convince the ladies to give them some eggs, too, and...]