yogen | .:An Adventure to Remember:.

Entry tags:

mo dao zu shi: meng yao

.:An Adventure to Remember:.

Who: Meng Yao, Subaru Akehoshi, Rantarou Amami
What: Some basic lessons are happening in the background, but some (mis?)adventures as well. Surely nothing will go wrong in a wonderful place such as this? Other than MY growing premature grey hairs. Either way, it's Exchange Program time, bby.
Where: Lanling Proper, and Koi Tower.
When: October 11th - October 17th.
Warnings: Potential death which will happen regardless and/or violence. Disturbing themes may be mentioned because JGS exists and golden end Lanling is still questionable. Just happier.

WELCOME TO LANLING—

The city is home to what is currently the largest cultivation sect around. It is prosperous and filled with many smiling faces. There are children who run through the streets, shop owners showing their wears, and people frequenting the establishments—inns, restaurants, you name it.

At the heart of the city is an important compound, Koi Tower. It seems to unfold before anyone who comes near it majestically, starting with the stairs and ending with the peerless infrastructure. It's terrific state is more than can be described in mere words, needless to say.

There are various gardens here or there, filled with a majority of the sect's symbol and flower—Sparks-Admist-Snow white peonies.

There is also one lotus pond located on the premises, but that is located somewhere towards the inner families' lodgings, and anyone passing through had better be someone who is part of the Jin Sect or a servant lest they wish to get into trouble.

As expected there is a magnificent reception area, a banquet hall, and another more extraordinary garden that houses a painting well done by a cultivator of renown. Said cultivator can be found around the city at certain points.

On the flipside, there are cultivators who are rather stuck up, though that goes the same for a good amount of the residents. Though the Sect Leader, Jin Guangshan is rather insufferable even if he is unfortunately talented at conducting himself with grace. Then there is Jin Zixun, who is neither graceful nor talented, but far more easy to encounter.

There is also, of course, the Treasure Vault. Another place that is actually guarded periodically though there are some dips in security due to the overconfidence the people have here.

Though even in this idyllic setting, there are places of ill repute if someone were to go looking around. Such as where others would sell weapons or other...things that are illegal or frowned down upon supposedly in Lanling. Hidden deep within the forest nearby that is essentially also part of Lanling, there is even a strange training ground that has been sectioned off by members of the Jin Sect. Going further where that is concerned is something that should be avoided lest anyone would want to experience a rather trying time, putting it very lightly. At the very least they'll shoo any wanderers away as long as they don't cause trouble or try to truly sneak in.

This is a city of golden times. But it doesn't mean that is the case for those outside of it or not caught within its golden age.

But whatever the case, their ends will be the same. Though, before that, shouldn't they enjoy their time while they still can?

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[UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS GONNA BE FUN SINCE AMAMI'LL KNOW AT THIS POINT,]

Well~... Um, so, you see~... Keigo and I haven't been together for a while now~, like we started going out... A few days before you, me, and Maimai left on our exchange. ☆

[they had a confession scene and a moment and then five days later he left them to go travel]

So I'm letting future me handle apologizing and making it up to them, with lots of affection and maybe some dinner and our favorite nighttime activity...

...

( he wants to scold subaru — wants to real bad, to be honest. does he really get what he's saying he did, and what he's trying to claim he's going to do to fix it? because, to amami, it just doesn't feel like that cuts it. it feels like that's the same thing he's going to be getting on subaru about a lot from now on, because the other already seems to be making a pattern of it so far. )

Is that all?

[amami out here making subaru a better man]

... Okay, so, what else should I do?

[because um

he doesn't have the best example to follow for stuff so he's sincerely curious here]

...And you expect me to give you the answer?

( subaru? put a little effort into it!! BIG sigh. )

I'll let you off the hook this time, ( because it doesn't seem fair to go off on him for a trip that was planned months in advance, ) but you'd better hope there's not a next time.

( do NOT let them down, subaru. )

Well? You seemed like you had an idea, Ama-chaaan! This is my first relationship, you know, and any of my friends would've been happy with that... Spending lots of time together and all.

[jeez... he'll kick stones as they go. heading towards one of the gardens in the city, because it's nice and they can sit and there's probably a pond amami can drown subaru in.........

...

well, he guesses this is a good of time as any, since they're on the topic... since it's still a worry in his mind, for all the direction he'd been given by meng yao.]

Also, I... did sorta wanna talk to you about them anyway, 'cause... I don't think it's fair that you of all people don't know. But you've gotta promise me two things. Okay?

( it's not genuine if it comes from him, is what he's thinking of saying — even if he were to give subaru an answer for what he thinks is best, he doubts kamo-kun would find happiness in the idea of subaru being told what he's supposed to do. he's ready to explain as much, but the words die in his throat once subaru offers up his own, and gonna be real with you chief, it's not exactly the best opener. immediately, the fact that he has to promise to know has amami bristling.

his gaze is sharp as it snaps back to subaru, searching for an indication of just how bad (or at least unpleasant, he hopes it's just "unpleasant" rather than bad) whatever he doesn't know is... )

What is it?

[his tone is even and his face perfectly the same, the look of a trained professional in performance, not even flinching at the sharp look as he answers.]

You won't be mad at them, and you won't do anything on your own.

[he knows one of them is easier done, amami wouldn't get mad at them but on their behalf the same way subaru had done, but--

doing something on his own is a high probability.]

Akehoshi-kun...

( subaru should know better than to ask him something like this — obviously, it's not something that even needs to be asked in the first place. )

Alright, sure, I promise. Now tell me what happened.

[yeah no he trust amami to a point and it's parallel but different to how he trusts komaeda.

but it's definitely easier to talk about in the third round of it, which he will never tell amami is the case, and he slows his walk so he can pause at a wall, the nearby garden smelling so coylingly sweet in the night air.

...]

So, you remember how I brought up a contract the other month?

[it was for maya and themselves, as far as relevancy goes to third years, but,

that's a good start, and it's largely rhetorical as he tone loses its normally casual edge. he plays with the clothes meng yao had bought them so kindly, and twists the fabric around his fingers.]

Keigo has one too. That's how they can stay in the school with us without being a student, or a teacher, or anything like that -- that's what binds them here. For now.

[for now.]

It's in trade for something very, very important to them, but it's got just a high a fee. And that fee, whether they get the amount of money they need or not, [he turns to see amami, exhaling sharply--] was their chance at reincarnation. At the end of the school year, they won't exist.

( when subaru turns back to amami, his expression is frozen on his face — unreadable as he takes in the information, though clearly nothing positive as he breathes out, exhaling long and deep and tired.

whatever it was, they'd been so worried, so convinced, they had really believed that he would be disappointed in them over it. but... he can't say he is. not disappointed, or angry, or upset with them at all really; he doesn't know what led them to this choice, or how they got there. he doesn't know what made them so desperate that they were willing to take a deal like that. he is angry, and that's undeniable...

but not with them. )

How long have you known about this?

[this is why he didn't ask amami not to be angry with him, because he knew even if he'd learned the week before the other would be mad. but subaru will be honest, not turning his eyes away as he simply states--]

The contract I learned about from Macchi. [so before natsume's yogen and you presentation, however far back amami wants to reel that back.] The details I learned a couple days after that.

[so, all in all,

a while.]

You were going through a lot, though. I didn't wanna add something else.

[that said. he has plenty of time in lanling to say something, too.]

And you thought that hiding it from me would make it better?

( waiting until he was far away — too far to see kamo-kun, to support them, to be there for them when he knows that they didn't want to be left alone in the first place, and it's only now that he can quite understand the depth of why that likely is. it's... it's not something that he appreciates, to say the least. to have his choices taken from him, and to be removed from a situation before he's told anything about it. )

Guess you really wanted to stretch out how stressed you could keep me for as long as possible, huh.

( never thought of ripping off the band-aid so amami could get over it all at once, did he. )

[natsume did bemoan subaru's learned consideration for his friends, once upon a time. he presses his lips into a frown and he shakes his head, standing straighter.]

It's not like that, Ama-chan, c'mon. I wasn't just gonna pop over to you after Keigo'd finally gotten okay again, after Sai-chan and Rikki died the way they did, after you were stabbed, and say "Hey! The kid you're pretty protective of made a deal with someone that cost them their soul!" -- they're okay right now, and we've got time to figure things about.

[he never once thought about it at all.]

( first of all, the stabbing was a good thing... more importantly? )

Well it would've been better than waiting if you had. Do you think it hurts less to find out now, when I finally started to calm down?

( because on some level it's true — he lost saihara, he lost rika, he almost lost kamo-kun too... it didn't feel great. in fact, he felt like he was barely moving forward for a while there; an empty shell of a person who only kept taking those steps out of habit, without any heart behind them. and now, it's only once he's started feeling secure again that subaru decides to tell him that he's at risk of that happening again? )

Not only that, but whatever you say, all that time that I didn't know is still time that I could've used to figure something out...

( the more time passed, the less he's able to do, and the worse he feels. )

There's nothing to figure out right now, Amami.

[he would know. he's tried, he's thought it over and frustrated himself sleepless nights over it; that frustration shows now and subaru turns to start walking again to hide it, nails biting into his palms.]

We've got half a year. They're not gonna just disappear on us without a word, 'cause they wouldn't want someone to do that on them. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, okay?

Not here, there isn't.

( his words are matter-of-fact, but tired and bitter all the same. it takes him a moment too, looking after subaru as he starts walking again — considering it, before amami heaves a sigh and decides to follow.

subaru should be sorry though, and he's not entirely sure he accepts the apology either, so he opts to ignore it instead. )

But if it's something like this, every minute counts. I wouldn't have expected to figure it out right away, but even just having that head start...

( it could have meant something. )

[being admonished sucks, and subaru scuffs his shoe as they walk to one of the gardens. the fragrant scent reminds him of maya during music club, of natsume's perfumes too, and he sits on the ground close to some versus anywhere else.

... there is something that bothers him though, and he props his chin on his knees as he glances over at amami with an even look. a little guarded in that way people get when they don't want to show they're hurt, even if subaru's willing to pipe up anyway--]

You talk like I haven't tried thinking of stuff myself, y'know. Like you're the only one who'd wanna do anything for them, or wants to think about it. It's annoying, especially if you don't mean to sound that way.

You're really gonna try to make it sound like I'm the one being selfish, when you're the one who was holding back on saying something so important?

( and now he's sulking too, to top it off, sitting himself on the ground all small like that. honestly? amami'd expected better. it's childish, and it's not something that he exactly has the patience to deal with right now — not in a matter as serious as this one, keeping his arms folded over his chest as he stands a couple feet back. )

Didn't say anything about doing it alone, Akehoshi-kun, just that no matter how many people are thinking on it, starting earlier is going to be better for something like this. If you were more worried about the credit you'd get for helping them than actually solving the issue though...

I'm not!

[immediate, lifting his head a bit before carefully undoing his position so he can sit cross-legged instead. he wishes not for the first time that someone better at talking could take his place, because mao or makoto would be better than he is, but they're not here. he is, and getting wound up is a habit he still has yet to break.]

I told you why I didn't say something earlier, [to him anyway,] and that's all there is to that! If I really cared about something stupid like credit, wouldn't I just have kept it to myself? It's not like it's hard to keep secrets from people, and there's no way Keigo would've said anything either.

[... they hadn't wanted subaru to press either, but he did anyway.]

We're not the only ones involved, anyway. I already asked Maimai and Maddy to help out too.

( so he's the last one to know.

it's the first and last thought to pass through his mind at the names subaru gives, a pang in his chest at the understanding that it wasn't only him who was hiding this from amami. komaeda... even a-yao knew, and here he was...

what is he doing here?

just like that, he feels hyper-conscious of the knife tucked safely in his pocket.

he doesn't reach for it though. instead, curls his fingers into fists, little crescent shapes pressed so hard against the inside of his palm there's no doubt they'll linger there even as he opens one hand, running it through his bangs with a look equal parts exasperation and irritation. watching closely the way his brows furrow, lips pulling into a thin line, it probably isn't difficult to see the hurt underlying either.

but he doesn't put it into words, or actions, or anything at all really. he swallows it down, as he does, and heaves a long exhale. turns to face — away. it doesn't matter where, just away. )

I'll see you back at the inn, Akehoshi-kun.

[it's not hard to recognize the signs of frustration and hurt, mostly because subaru knew the other would be -- but lying never settles well with him, and he doesn't want to hide anything else from amami, either. it still sits low in his gut, seeing someone he wants to be friends with, had so insistently asked to be friends with, turn away because of him, but--

he knows when someone wants to be alone, since the number of times he's ran off himself are too many too count. subaru'll stand, but he won't follow; he just calls out again, voice wavering a little but determined nonetheless:]

I know it doesn't mean a lot now, Ama-chan, but there's nothing else I'm keeping from you. And I won't keep anything from you about Keigo in the future, either -- no matter how bad the timing might feel, as soon as anything comes up I'll let you know.

[because he knows better now, and he can do that much.]

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.:An Adventure to Remember:.

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