[Shirayuki Tamaya]

Of all the holidays there were, Obon was perhaps the one that Tamaya hated the most. With a history long enough to fill a book the ‘Shirayuki lineage’ had quite a few graves to visit and as staunch traditionalists they made a big deal of going with the entire family. Luckily if there was one thing the entire ghost-worshipping family put more value in than their past it was fulfilling whatever duties they had taken on so Tamaya had managed to get out of it rather easily by letting them know she had several long shifts at her part time job.

Of course she wasn’t gonna mention that she’d specifically asked the manager for them nor that she had to switch shifts with a few of her coworkers to actually get those double shifts three days in a row.

It wasn’t like anyone in their entire immediate family had worked anywhere other than some kind of decrepit dojo anyway, how were they gonna call her out on it? Not like they knew how anything in modern society worked. Hells, her own sister barely knew how to use a cellphone and the midget was barely five years older than her. A cellphone. This small thing that had just, you know, been a cornerstone of all kinds of communication for more than a century now. It was utter madness. How she managed an entire agency when it'd taken her hours, several crayons and enough exasperation from Tamaya to last her a few years to understand why she'd need to install a proper, modern internet connection in their office boggled the mind. 

Fate had a funny way of making things happen regardlessly however. The coworker she did have a shift alongside was going for a visit to her parents and Tamaya would’ve been a horrible friend if she’d let her go alone, regardless of whether Ruri asked her to come along or not.

“You holding up?” Tamaya asked bluntly once Ruri was done, pushing herself off the tree she’d been leaning against just far enough away from her coworker to not intrude on the private moment. “Let’s go for a walk. A bit of fresh air never ki- hurt anyone.”

She only narrowly managed to catch her awful phrasing. That was close. Far too close for her liking. Tamaya hadn’t lost anyone close to her personally but she couldn’t begin to imagine how much it’d hurt if she did. Even if it was Mai. She tried to find a way to change the subject into something more lighthearted to help take Ruri’s mind off such horrible memories and promptly proceeded to put her foot in her mouth.

“Hey, would ya happen to like ghost stories?”

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Tag: Kawahara Ruri

[Kawahara Ruri]

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[attr="class","ltr-tags"]for Shirayuki Tamaya

[attr="class","ltr-lyrics"]pull down this mountain [break] drag your cities to the sea

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Oh boy. There was almost a huge misunderstanding. Kawahara's lack of intelligence was exactly why and how she ended up in so many unfortunate situations and compared to her biological deceased parents her 'real' parents were the same way, albeit just slightly more intelligent than her. Even now when debt collectors came looking for Kawahara they would often mistaken them as "friends of their daughter" and send them to her apartment, much to the chagrin of Kawahara. In a way this family was a perfect fit with the different intelligences (or lack thereof) complementing each other. [break][break]

"Hmm? Mama, it's a ghost party! I couldn't go without my costume!" She would shake her oversized sleeves from her homemade costume [made by Yugure].[break][break]

"No, no, Kawa dear, it's Obon is to honor your ancestors. Your friend probably expects you to go to the gravesite and pray for your mom and dad."[break][break]

"Ohhhhhh...oops."[break][break]

After a quick outfit change she was off, her scooter nearly out of gas as usual meant that when she got to the bottom of the hill she would have to push it up. Panting when she finally had eyes on her coworker, she would park her scooter and greet with a hearty wave before they'd enter the graveyard and she'd pray to her parents. Yes, they were bad people, but from what she understood, they cared about her. Her debt was a product of their own addiction to gambling so Kawahara couldn't judge.

"Done!" she'd leave her offering on the gravesite and follow Tamaya along. Well until she heard ghost stories and she froze shaking her head back and forth "No no no way too scary!! Don't tell me you like them, Tama."

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[Shirayuki Tamaya]

Tamaya's lips twitched. Taking a deep breath and doing her best to keep a straight face she shrugged. "Like them? Hmm, well, hard to say. It's better if I do though, after all," she continued as she briefly looked Ruri in the eye. "I'm in one."

Adjusting her guitar case so she could pull out the guitar in question Tamaya pointedly stayed quiet for a moment as if deep in thought. In truth she was simply trying her damnedest not to burst out laughing. Closing the case back up she hung it over her back once more and made sure the guitar's strap wasn't twisted before she continued. The way that thing dug into her shoulder when it got twisted was a massive pain. Putting the thought aside she pointed a thumb over her shoulder.

"Don't tell me ya can't see it? I thought everyone could?" Tamaya asked while choking back laughter, bringing her hand down and beginning to strum away on the strings for ambiance. She'd struck gold. If this wasn't getting Ruri's mind off things she didn't know what would. "This tale begins quite a while back..."

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Tag: Kawahara Ruri

[Kawahara Ruri]

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[attr="class","ltr-tags"]for Shirayuki Tamaya,

[attr="class","ltr-lyrics"]pull down this mountain [break] drag your cities to the sea

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Shifting back and forth uncomfortably as Tamaya began to speak, Kawahara would shriek 'I'm in one' and cling to her much smaller coworker, "No, no, no!" She'd shake her head and cower as Tamaya brought out...a guitar? [break][break]

"Ooh a song!" Immediately getting over her fear she was prepared for a good song. Tama-chan did tell her during one of their shifts that she knew how to play, which was incredibly impressive. Imagine having a talent, couldn't be her! [break][break]

As Tamaya spoke again about ghosts, Kawahara immediately cowered once more, dropping to her knees and covering her head with her arms. "Tama-chan, this is too scary! Can't we just go to the pachinko parlor instead??"

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[Shirayuki Tamaya]

Ruri's reactions had been far more extreme than Tamaya had been expecting. Despite the fact that it was clearly getting her coworker's mind off things she was starting to feel guilty about it. Absently strumming her guitar Tamaya tried to backpedal.

"N-no, these are like. I mean, this one's like, a good ghost, you know what I'm saying? Like a guardian angel, one of those sent down by dead re-"

She stopped herself with an awkward laugh before her foot could go any further into her mouth. It was good that the evening gloom was obscuring her faint blush lest she turn the shade of a tomato should Ruri notice it. Changing the subject away from her blunder Tamaya did her best to hide her embarrassment.

"A-anyway, how's your singing? Don't mind the lyrics if you don't know the song. Just sing y'r heart out!"

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Tag: Kawahara Ruri