[X] It's a Kanye West song, okay? C'mon, click the link, it won't kill you.
(Source: Some fellow named Konstantin Egorov. Found on photoshelter.com
The sun has nearly set on Thursday evening as the bus comes over the hill, and you and Ami gasp in delight. The shifting colours of the spotlights directed at Tanzaku Castle are visible even at this distance, like a lighthouse for weary travellers and hungry card-sharps alike. The bared slopes of Mt Ogon, used in winter for skiing, have been lit with torches that spell out WELCOME in characters thirty feet tall.
"You're very lucky to have been born on the Equinox, sweetheart," Mom says, smiling. "It's as though the whole town is celebrating your birthday with you."
For once, you have nothing to say. All you can do is smile back at her.
The spectacle doesn't end when you arrive in the town itself; drummers and pages proclaiming the commencement of the 118th Annual Tanzaku Gai Shubun no Matsuri flank the gates, serenading you and the other travellers as you dismount from the bus and enter a glowing tunnel of rickshaws, high-rollers, touts, call girls, tourists, and innumerable neon signs. The main drag of Tangai (as the locals call it, according to your guidebook) stretches in a straight line from the gates to the castle palisades, and not an inch of vertical space has been allowed to go to waste.
The Limetree
TONIGHT ONLY: MASUYAMA EIKO AND THE HONEY FLASH FIVE
THE GLASS SLIPPER
Featuring Special Guest MC: Sohma Ayame
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Seven Sisters Casino & Lounge
Kitajima Maya is
Kurenai Tennyo
The international award-winning production in a limited two-week engagement
5 RYO SHRIMP PLATTER!
"Which hotel is ours, Takae-sensei?" Ami asks, eyes drinking in all the brightly-decked inns and boarding houses. She's called your mother that ever since she found out her maiden name and put two and two together. You wouldn't have figured Ami for a traditional-music fan, but apparently you would have figured wrong.
"It's in a much less exciting neighbourhood, I'm afraid," Mom says. She turns at a broad intersection and leads you down a street not as bright but just as gaudy as Castle Boulevard.
Eventually, the gimmicky signboards and statues of 'goddesses' of luck give way to a quiet residential district, full of well-tended apartment houses and traditional single-family homes. At each gate hang pink lanterns, illuminating the street with a gentle glow.
Just when you're reaching the point of whining about your backpack being too heavy, you catch a whiff of sulphur on the breeze, and look up at mom in shock.
"But you said it was going to be too expensive..."
She winks at you, and echoes your plea of two months ago. "How can we visit Tanzaku Gai and not stay at a ryokan?"
"Whoo!" You turn to Ami and hug her enthusiastically. "Hot springs here we come!"
The inn in question is owned and operated by a widow and her very, very tired-looking son-in-law. He brightens up when he sees mom, then goes back to normal when he sees she's travelling with kids. With a sigh, he hands over the keys to rooms 10 and 11.
You are stoked to be having your own room. Dad wanted it to be all three of you sharing, but Mom was really nice about your request for privacy and talked him into springing for two rooms. Mom takes the one facing the exterior garden; if you need her, she'll be right across the hall.
Dropping your bags in exhaustion, you and Ami collapse gratefully onto the futons that've been laid out for you.
So this is Tanzaku Gai. The whole place can't be more than a third Konoha's size, and yet it seems like the beating heart of everything worth doing in the world.
"... hey, Ino?" Ami sounds sleepy already.
"Mm?"
"What's with that nickname your mom has for you?"
"... oh, 'sweetheart', you mean? I dunno, it's just something she's always called me. Dad does, too."
"It's kind of weird. Does she mean your heart is tasty, or that she thinks you're the goddess of sweets or something?"
You blush in embarrassment. "I never thought about it before. I guess she means that my feelings are sweet, or something like that."
"Mm..." She yawns (you try, unsuccessfully, not to echo her), and rolls over.
"Hey, don't go to sleep!" you protest, shaking her. "We have permission to stay up for as long as we want if we don't make too much noise."
"You're such a kid, Ino," she mumbles.
You huff. "Well
you can sleep and be boring if you want to. I'll just go through the guidebook by
myself to decide what stuff we'll do tomorrow."
"'kay."
You sit there for a while, underlining interesting stuff to see in silence.
"... Ino..."
You glance over at Ami. She's curled up into a little ball on her futon, facing you. Her eyes are closed, and her chakra indicates she's in the peaceful state between sleep and waking. You smile. Somehow it's just so... Ami, that even when everything else about her is relaxed, her mouth and brows both fall into a natural frown.
"... Ino..."
"Yeah, I'm listenin'," you say. Your first instinct is to touch her hand or something, but Ami isn't much of a touchy-feely person even when she's awake.
"... thanks..."
----------
Never underestimate the overactive imagination of a shoujo manga fan when it comes to setting design. :3
It's a bright new day in Tanzaku Gai! What's first on the list you made last night?
[X] Go check out the castle! Tangai started out as a gold-mining town, they've got to have loads of beautiful stuff on display in there!
[X] The markets! Mom says they double in size during festivals and bring in stuff from all over - who knows what you could find?
[X] The festival-proper! Between Ami's skill with throwing stuff and your fast hands, you two'll make out like bandits!