festival;

[invinciblemikey]

back in japan this time of the year around july-august there's somethin called obon. if ur religious like me then this time of the year is meant to say hello to the spirits of your deceased cuz they come around and stuff and to commemorate and celebrate em. if ur not religious then its a party with hella food and games either way.

well. i wanna make it happen here this year so its ALDRIP 1ST OBON at the sano dojo and i gotta do some math to figure out when its gonna be so imma let yall know one day. also for these things you wanna wear a yukata if youre either real fucking short either gender or an absurd beanpole guy i can lend some or i can help you find fabric and ill help the tailors.

also i cant cook for shit YET (sorry aragaki shinjs its a process) so if you can please step forward

- manjiro "mikey" sano

Comments

text;

[izanagis]

[...

Several weeks ago, he would have skipped this post entirely. Today...he doesn't commit to anything, of course. But he only barely hesitates to respond.]

"Yet?" You're learning how to cook?

[invinciblemikey]

......... ye i guess

shinjs teaching me cuz apparently cake aint a diet

action because i can

[laserguy]

[Why is he visiting Mikey? Scott doesn't know, maybe he secretly hates himself or something. Might explain a lot about him-- okay, no, it's not that, because he knows why he's here and why he's shuffling closer to the dojo, maybe half hoping that the former biker won't be home. Because that way he can say he tried and he doesn't have to talk about feelings and crap again.

He could've sent that message anywhere, right? Yeah, like at a restaurant or... club. Of course, the moment he starts looking around the dojo to explore the familiar grounds, he spots Mikey doing pushups and great. It might not be too late to leave, but ugh, Mikey probably already knows he's here and then it will be really stupid later. Time to just suck it up and walk towards him.

...He's glad he isn't gone again.]

Hey.

[Look at him unaffected and cool.]

[invinciblemikey]

(in the realm of aldrip, his usual work-out falls flat - he needs more weight, but instead of wasting time finding something he has trouble lifting, he does more repetitions. it makes his time in the actual dojo part of his house far longer than it should be, so it's not that difficult to find him in it. shirtless, and barely sweating, one, two--

summers? an unexpected voice, but you know? not at all unwelcomed, both due to timing, and due to the company.)

Hey. Grab whatever weight is the heaviest to you and sit on my back and then tell me what's up.

(he's so serious, bro.)

text!

[luneminary]

Japan has an occasion like that? Maybe I should have transferred in summer, after all.

[Paying your respects to the dead and upholding their memories felt like a good idea to him. Not that Ryoji knows of anyone who has passed away, though.]

What kind of food do you bring? I can't do anything complicated yet, but Shinjiro-senpai taught me a trick or two! (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

[izanagis]

It's not? Shocking.

How's it going so far?

[invinciblemikey]

who would have thunk

anything other than before is an improvement

i can fry an egg and now its not coal

[invinciblemikey]

oh so aint ever been to a festival?

takoyaki n soba n okonomiyaki n shaved ice that kinda stuff street food

also text!

[drugsnotclubs]

you wanna do a festival here?

[That... would be kind of nostalgic, he won't lie.]

Guess you could spread the word to the market that people like... I dunno little masks and fans and stuff
i don't think I've ever actually worn a yukata either

anyway i'm sure you'll strongarm me into cooking so what do you want
you can pick one or two simple things if it's for a huge group

[invinciblemikey]

yeah. thats the plan

ah. you're almost shinichiro's height i might have somethin from when he was younger so u gotta come check em

wow damn aragaki when have i strongarmed u into anything

yeah can u do the tako? and the taiyaki
u can keep it away from me

[drugsnotclubs]

Sure, maybe his taste is better than yours.

and you're annoying and persistent enough that it counts.

Takoyaki sure, taiyaki might take a few tries to get right. you got a mold for it anywhere?

[invinciblemikey]

bruh he had a pompadour idk

also fuck off

also probably idk whats in this fuckin kitchen everything is in the top shelves i wasn't about to grab a ladder

[drugsnotclubs]

damn really
That's embarrassing

Next time I'm over I'll look. If there's not one I'll check out the market I guess.

How many people you thinking will show cause I ain't catering the whole fucking city

[invinciblemikey]

i can give him a break cuz it was the 90s and stuff but still

yea you can reach probs i have no idea whats in some places of this dojo

idk dude its me throwin' it there's people mad at me still

but well figure it out maybe u can teach some restaurant or somethin and we can order from there

[drugsnotclubs]

we can look but if it's all dated like that I'll go find my own

Guess we'll see whose interested

Takoyakis best fresh made so it'd be cool to have someone there making it

[invinciblemikey]

nah u doin enough just tell me what u need and if we cant find at home ill go find it for u

ye i was thinking that too. hire some people. whoever wants to cook there and get some profit would be cool too

[drugsnotclubs]

thanks man. I might take you up on that. Dara's already got a pretty cute yukata, but I can see if she wants another.

I bet the bunch of us can come up with enough to pay someone to make 'em fresh. that sounds cool.

festivals where I'm from we'd usually hold at the local shrine, but I guess your dojos the closest to home we've got

[invinciblemikey]

yeah i aint got a yukata for all her arms so we gon have to look into that also she aint ever come to the dojo wassup with that

yeah that's why im holding it there i need a shrine man i built a lil prayer place in the corner of the dojo to burn incense and pray at but it aint no shrine

shit can dara hear my prayers ask her

[laserguy]

[Of course Mikey requests something like that. Scott almost snorts, but isn't he supposed to be just a little upset with him? Okay, more than just a little, but a lot? Yeah, but it's just really relieving that Mikey is still himself. Sure, he mentioned the curse is gone, but it won't be easy to forget how quickly he went downhill last time.

Mikey is like that solid presence from before-- the one that made Scott feel less shit. Should he... lean on him again?]

Seriously dude?

[He settles on light exasperation, like he's trying really hard not to be amused or shit. Normally, he'd worry about breaking someone's back like this, but it's Mikey-- guy still has super strength, right? Scott looks around and grabs the 15lb weight next to him, before carefully arranging himself so that he's sitting cross-legged onto his back.]

I was just in the area, that's all. [So great at the lies.]

[invinciblemikey]

(himself is some ways, different in others. his essence cannot change, though - even if he has a better understanding of what about him bites him in the ass on occasion. manjiro is just manjiro.

there isn't any trembling on his voice as he continues his exercising, even as he speaks through it.)

Forreal.

(but once scott actually does it, it makes mikey giggle a little. it feels like someone placed a grape on his back, which is ridiculous. he hates this place. the only thing that changes is his focus on balance, so scott doesn't fly off.

well, better to plank. so, he's just planking.)

Sure thing. Dude, you ain't weighing at all. How much do you weigh? Grab another.

[luneminary]

Hmmm...Nope. I'm sure I haven't been to one.

But I have tried those foods before! Takoyaki especially. There's a friendly lady that sells them near my school. They taste great even though there's no octopus in them. (￣ω￣)

[drugsnotclubs]

I think the one she's got only has two sleeves- she kind of hides herself a lot. So yeah maybe we can get her one for all six.

Shes still not really used to like interacting with people. She came out for the masquerade but that's kind of been it. I dunno I don't wanna push her too much.

What have you been praying to her? Weirdo. Sure I can ask.

[invinciblemikey]

ye its a cool gift lets get to it

yea i think i may have met her there too i just meet her randomly in weird spans of time

nah i pray general. but i have asked actually

i owe her some soda btw we got a project

[drugsnotclubs]

yeah? Alright. The one she's got now is gray so maybe something more colorful for her. Her tails mostly a reddish sort of brown...

What is this we have a project

But yeah she goes crazy for the fizzy sweet stuff

[invinciblemikey]

maybe flowers if she is into em i got some prints here from our kimonos n we can see if we wanna use any as inspiration or somethin

we as in me and dara man

bet u dont tell her that ain't a diet