[New Year's night, and Inaba is bustling with activity. The old shrine, normally ignored, is filled with people. There are even small stalls set up, selling food for those passing through. Of course, some are at home celebrating with their families or friends, having a delicious New Year's feast.

With so much tragedy for the last year, now is the perfect time to shrug off the bad luck, bad murders, and bad-badtouch to have a good time.]

((We're not running this. It's New Years! Everyone can enjoy! Get all dressed up, handwave NPC interactions like purchasing food, visit the shrine, and have fun with each other. Or sulk around Inaba. Whatever strikes your fancy!))

*It's winter, and cold. Snow is falling lightly, and there's a nice white blanket over the ground. It seems calm.

Naturally, this can't last. Paru is about town. She's dressed in one of those short Santa costumes, and she's got a very large bag. Be afraid.*

[So. You might know, or have seen Alejandro Roa around before - the foreign exchange student is hard to miss. Today, however, with him is a boy you might not have seen before, holding his hand and completely in his personal space, half-dragging him around.]

Show me something interesting, Alejandro.

[laugh at him/them? Bother? Stare at?]

[Blanket Christmas post for my characters! Used for dating, exchanging of presents, all that good stuff. Linda and Michi both have dates, while Emilio and Shiki are just around. Even if we didn't set anything up in the post earlier on, feel free to tag in if you want ♥]

[It normally doesn't snow in Inaba, but anyone passing by the apartment or happens to be in the area will find that today, it is snowing. Closer inspection reveals that the snow is actually soap foam. If they care to find where it's coming from, the "snow" is apparently being blown from the rooftop of the apartment.

Or maybe they just heard the idiot celebrating up there.]

Ahahaha, it works, it wooooorks! MERRY CHRISTMAS, INABA!

[Next to said idiot is his brother, who looks completely distressed and is probably trying to think of an explanation for when they get caught.]

((OOC: Mingle! Neither Sai or Zaiten will be responding unless it's directed at them.))

[Okay, so, Hisa was due at Adachi's an hour and a half-ish ago. She spent a while pacing her apartment, wondering if she was really going to do this, a while writing a blog entry, and a while having officially decided she was going to ditch the cop and spend Christmas alone.]

[But no, she couldn't do that. Because that was suspicious, and he was a cop, and he'd find some other way to guilt her with those puppy eyes that were much too far apart and Hisa didn't think she could take that. Plus, the guy was so desperate he did her laundry for God's sake. This was so annoying, why had she agreed again?]

[It was time to resort to Plan... Z. The shots began pouring, one of everything in her liquor cabinet until eventually, she wanted to see Adachi.]

[So now she's stumbling down the hall, wearing an over-sized sweater and those same polka-dot shorts she's been wearing for three days now despite her laundry being done. She misses Adachi's door several times before drunkenly pounding on it and borderline falling on it]

[A blanket Christmas post for my characters! Chieko and Seiji have dates, Zhi Lin has a date, but a certain rabbit doesn't like her and it will not be appearing on screen, and Yui's just hanging around. Tag for dates, exchanging presents, and so forth.]

[so basil made it back to gekkou's house with the help of isao, and promptly collapsed from exhaustion. but now he's awake some hours later, and making his way to saburo's bed.

. . .it's possible he may not be thinking very clearly right now.]

[HEY GUYS WE NEED MORE POSTS

So there's a Christmas date thread. Let's like... make this kind of in character. Use this post as a thread dump for making plans for Christmas ~shenanigans.~ It doesn't have to be dates, exactly. Not!dates or bro!dates are also acceptable, or curmudgeons determined to spend their holidays alone and warding off all attempts at not being alone. Just approach people with whatever plans you have for them. And don't get sad when if you get rejected.

Or, you know, just mingle.]

[Hisa is tipsily wandering the hallway of her apartment, bag of laundry in one hand and detergent in the other. She is headed straight for the laundry room, barefoot, and wearing polka-dot shorts that are nooot meant for December.]

[The girl is especially jumpy without her MP3 player and headphones (she has Basil to thank for that), she wants to get the hell back to her apartment. Finally, she makes it too the laundry room and plops the detergent down with a loud THUMP on top of the washing machine. She's taking deep breaths, it's not helping...]

[If you live at the apartment place, feel free to annoy her =D]

[There's a new girl on the block~ A new girl, wandering around Inaba as night begins to fall and the curtains begin to close. With all the murders heavy on Inaba, it's not a good idea to stay out too late. Everyone knows that. Except, it seems, her.

Because it doesn't look she has has any intention of going inside, wandering down the emptying streets, murmuring to herself occasionally with words like 'intriguing'...

Maybe you should approach her.]

[so you left your house today, doing whatever you were doing. and some kid is passing by you, and he doesn't look too well. but whatever, right?

... and then he just sort of stops and... faints, unconscious. possibly on you.]

[ intro get. and basil will wake up within a few comments in a thread, so no worries about dealing with an unconscious person the entire time. ]

It’s come to my attention my blog has some… popularity; I guess you can call it? The fact people are reading the crazed (usually drunk) ramblings of me is just- eh, anyway.

Because my Mom’s dumb, I will not be going to the Gackt concert. So, no review there unless one of you wants to lend me some funds. Then again, those funds would most likely be used to fix my poor toaster, which once spit toast beautifully onto my plate, and now just kind of sits smoking in a corner. The smoke’s a little out of control, but it kind of smells like toast and it’s kind of nice.

So weird to think my little hometown’s getting so much press. Good luck to the police. And if you’re an out-of-towner coming here because of the murders, please remember to buy shit, give a little back, you know?

(OOC: say hello to the fresh meat, guys =D)

[Emilio is in Junes, holding several greeting cards and a hat. That is, making an attempt to get to the checkout counter with all of these things at once-- it isn't particularly successful, though, and he drops a good amount of the cards. He swears under his breath and starts to pick them up. Alternatively, if one frequents Aiya, you might notice that he hasn't been to work recently.

Linda, rather than working on things at the floodplain as she usually does, is sitting on a bench in the shopping district, attempting to sketch people as they walk by. It's. Not very good, to say the least.

Then we have Michi coming off the train from Okina with several bags from their Animate, which she is trying to hide. It isn't working out.

And then there's Shiki standing nearby the bulletin board, pen and paper in hand as usual. She appears to be thinking about something.]

[Sitting at the pavilion on the flood plain today is Alejandro, who's working on an what appears to be an old-fashioned, hand-written letter. He's got his laptop, and while it's not blasting music, the sound of thudding beats can be heard. He looks pretty bored, or maybe the electronica's messing up your daily routine. Go bug him.]

[Yasuhiro, on the other hand, is manning the counter at the book store. It's been fairly busy - as busy as the old shopping district gets - but he's enjoying a short break for lunch, as small as it is. He mostly seems to be interested in a book, but unless you happen to speak Russian, the cover's declaration of Котлован doesn't do a lot of good. He's switching between it and a translation dictionary. Clearly, enjoying himself is wrong, and you should fix that.]

[Meanwhile, at Junes, Isao is doing some shopping. And for once, he's not just buying health stuff and energy drinks. He's actually buying food. Granted, he's having a little bit of trouble with the hand basket and supplies, while his other arm is in a sling, but - he's managing. Mostly. You might want to see what's got into him that he'd actually cook something, or maybe why he vanished for a day and came back half-dead.]

[While going about your business on this fine, if rather cold, December afternoon, you run across a young girl. She's been sort of aimlessly wandering around the shopping district, occasionally sitting down to read, but resuming her roaming after a few minutes. Every so often, she looks around intently, before seeming satisfied by something.]

...

Just a week left until Christmas! Aunt’s got almost all the decorations up for our staff party. We haven’t been able to buy the presents for the staff yet though; seeing as this year was quite a busy year since we’ve decided to sell seasonal treats like gingerbread cookies and cupcakes, but I’ll get onto that soon!

Hopefully it won’t be on hold until the very last day (as it usually) is or I might just go crazy wrapping all the presents, which I’ve gotten in charge of this year for buying them late last year! I’ve already gotten reminded today about it so maybe I’ll head out tomorrow to carry out the errand…

So what's your Christmas wish?

[Enjoy another "get my characters active" post.]

[Seiji is out on the flood plain, playing solo because he didn't have anything better to do today. Specifically, he's playing this and not doing too badly at it.

Zhi Lin is minding the bookstore. Unfortunately for her, the newest teen ~romance~ book in a popular series just came out. Chieko is at Junes. She is happily clutching the box set of an anime in one hand, and several fancy greeting cards in the other.]

[Well. The guys are all home. After somehow persuading his and Tomiko's parents that they're okay, everything is fine, he leaves a voice mail message each with Chieko and Michi about him being fine, no problems. And he sounds completely shell-shocked while delivering them. He's going to be hanging out at the flood plain today, and was sure to let them know.

Meanwhile! Sayoko is at the hospital. She'll see to it that anyone that needs it gets medical attention. Other medical staff may also be standing by.]

[Did you hear? Fujioka Naoki was taken away from his house by an ambulance! this morning. The rumour mill is rife with answers, but, whatever the case, he isn't around to tell you the truth.

Speaking of rumours... There's a lot of them to discuss, isn't there?]

((Mingle madly.))

[So, it's a hot day.

A really, really hot day.

Rather than sanely been inside, preferably clinging to the air conditioning, there is one high school girl at the pavement on the flood plains.

She has chalk, and is doing chalk drawings, with a big bottle of water beside her.]

((Will be mega-slow, study interferes))

[Christmas shopping post! It's getting to be that time of year, when people consider what to buy for friends and loved ones. Of course, any shopping trip is replete with running into friends, hiding presents and so forth. Go! Buy! Mingle!]

[Typical day after school on the first of December- nothing special. The crowds in the hallways have already started to thin. Usually, by this time, Yukiko has already left school. But not today. Near the Home Economics room, she seems to be contemplating something.

Maybe you should try talking to her?]

[After school, there's a student in a cool hat rummaging through his locker by the entrance.]

Damn, did I drop it again?

[Annoy him?]

[Rather than going to/leaving work or completing his not-so-usual mile run, Emilio is sitting under the gazebo, reading a newspaper. Also hatless, apparently.

Then, you have Linda, sprawled out at the floodplain. Sunbathing? Maybe. Kind of looks like she's in pain, though.

Alternatively, in Junes, Michi is looking through racks of clothing. She picks up a blouse, sighs, puts it back where she got it, and keeps on looking. Isn't it sad?

And finally, there's Shiki, sitting on a bench in the shopping district with coloring books! She. Isn't very good at the coloring part, though, unless trees are bright purple and yellow in your world.]

((Feel free to tag multiple characters, note who you're tagging in your tag somewhere, blah blah blah.))

[so maybe you've found something of yours missing! maybe you just left it on a bench, or forgot it on the side of the road. whatever it is, be it a bag or a book, it's gone.

now, should you be by the lake today, you may notice some kid on the dock with a pile of junk! you might even see your junk in it. but he's looking through the stuff, and putting them into what seem to be piles.

will you rightfully reclaim your stuff?]

This one's no good either . . .

[So, Yuki Idane went ~missing~... But he's back in Inaba now, although it was a couple of days, and plenty of assurances to the police about how he was just visiting his family about those false rumours and forgot to register it with the school (haha, my bad) until he crawled out of bed to actually show himself to the world again. And, right now, he's lugging over ten days of homework home from school for a very long night.

He seems cheerful enough, at least.]

[Every where. All day on a Tuesday.

Where are you, and what are you doing?]

((Mingle post!
How it works: Comment with your location and the time ie. [Emily is at the flood plains at lunch time, drinking. and it definitely isn't water.] and play between each other like every comment is a miniature post.))

[Hey guys, who wants to get a flu shot? The hospital is giving them out for a mere pittance at Junes the next couple of days, and today, Sayoko happens to be on duty.

Get your shots, mingle, do whatever you feel like.]