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whumpmatsus · 3 years ago

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aaaa are you still taking the sickfic requests?? maybe "don't speak" with choro as the sickie pls?

SickFic Prompts / ACCEPTING!

Don’t Speak - (character) has a horribly sore throat and is reduced to barely talking while they load up on hot drinks and soup to recover.

yesssss always!!! I had so much fun with this, it hit me right in the Honey Nut Feelios and I hope it does the same for u, sunshine 😩

After still feeling like total crap for several days while his brothers were almost completely recovered from the cold they’d all caught, Choromatsu finally breaks down and goes to the doctor.

He doesn’t really want to. Being sick is something they all hate, and continuing to suffer after everyone else felt better is just astronomically unfair. Sometimes he thinks he can will himself back to health if only he sleeps and takes medicine and does everything a sick person is supposed to do.

The others prod at him to get checked out, though, considering the fact that lately every time he’s tried to speak, it’s set off a cough and is painful even to those just listening.

When he comes back home with a pharmacy bag and an informational sheet proclaiming that he’s been diagnosed with laryngitis, it explains a lot.

He has little choice but to hand the sheet over to Osomatsu as Karamatsu comes over to help remove his scarf and coat and walk him over to the kotatsu. The eldest of them doesn’t necessarily know best all the time, but usually when one of them is sick or hurt with more than a cold or a tiny scrape, Osomatsu often slides into big brother mode and shows a surprising amount of maturity.

For once, Choromatsu is actually glad his oldest brother is taking charge of the situation.

“Okaaaay, guys,” he calls as Choromatsu settles in at the table. “So this thing says Choromatsu has… acute laryngitis. The doctor thinks it’s because he had a cold, I guess, since it says ‘viral cause’. Huh.”

Everyone else is already seated around the kotatsu since it’s the middle of winter and freezing. Jyushimatsu’s arm shoots up right away. “Oh! What’s laryngitis? That’s a funny word. Are we gonna get it too?”

Choromatsu opens his mouth to try and explain, like usual. Instead, he manages to get out a weak, “Probably not,” before he starts to cough.

“Hey,” Osomatsu pouts as Karamatsu pats the third eldest on the back, “this thing says you’re not supposed to talk if you can help it, Fappymatsu. So, y’know… shut up.”

What he gets in return for his efforts is an unimpressed glare.

Osomatsu grins, running a finger under his nose before looking back at the information sheet. “Well, I’m not wrong! Okay, so… the cold was contagious, but it says the actual laryngitis isn’t. It’s just some kind of throat thing that happened because of the cold. So it might happen for the rest of us, but I doubt it since we’re all feeling better already. Choromatsu just has bad luck, I guess.”

Karamatsu hums in thought and continues to rub his brother’s back. “Hmph, we’re probably safe then. Which means we just have to focus on taking care of our dear brother. How do we do that?”

Choromatsu holds the bag from the pharmacy up, allowing Ichimatsu to snatch it and dump the contents out on the table. He points toward the things he picked up at the doctor’s recommendation ― over-the-counter painkillers, lozenges, a throat spray, and cough syrup. There’s other stuff mixed in too, like tissues and a jar of yuzu-cha and a magazine. Though he could have lived without everyone seeing that, it’s not a huge deal.

Osomatsu waves the paper before picking through everything on the table. “Well, it says they don’t have any kind of prescription to give him. No antibiotics since it’s viral. Looks like it says the cough medicines and painkillers might help. ‘Home remedies may also provide temporary relief’… like tea and soup, huh? So we should probably try to keep the bastard hydrated with warm stuff.”

Karamatsu gets to his feet, grabbing the jar of yuzu-cha on his way. “In that case, why don’t I go mix up some of this for you right now? After being out in the cold air, your throat could probably use something warm. Want me to add a little honey?”

Choromatsu nods eagerly, mouthing, “Yes, please.”

Karamatsu’s face brightens at being useful, and he gives an exaggerated pose before heading into the kitchen. “What a good patient! Your big brother will be back with something soothing before you know it!”

“Hold on,” Totty comments as he scoots the lozenges, spray, and syrup toward him, “did you get all this stuff to take for your throat?”

His eyes scan over the labels, then roll back in his head when he’s finished. “Ah, Choromatsu-nii-san! You can’t take all of these at the same time. See, look. They all say ‘do not use with other medications containing�� ― uh ― well ― w-well, I can’t pronounce the word, but it’s the same one! They must all contain this ingredient, so you can’t take them all in the same day.”

Ichimatsu makes a gesture for Totty to hand them over, then nods after reading them. “Yeah, he’s right. If you take all these in the same day, even if you use each one like the directions say, you’ll be basically overdosing on this shit. Your mouth’ll go numb. Be drooling all over the place and maybe having trouble breathing.”

All the medicine is plucked from his hands by Osomatsu. “Okay, so we’ll rotate ‘em, and I’ll take care of giving it to you whenever you need medicine. Y’know, so that fever doesn’t fry your brain and make you forget which one you’re taking for the day. Which one do you wanna use today?”

Choromatsu lets out a soft groan which only serves to irritate his throat further. He could seriously just kick his own ass for not checking that before he bought all of those. The only excuse he has is that he’s in a lot of pain and not thinking like he normally does. He points to the spray, thinking maybe it’ll feel kind of like sour spray candy; once it gets sprayed on, it melts and lingers for a minute, which might be a nice quality in a medicine for sore throats.

“Alright, open up.” Osomatsu tears off the plastic packaging. “Totty, Ichimatsu, did either of you see how many times I’m supposed to spray this?”

“Two sprays every two hours as needed. But it’s only supposed to stay for fifteen seconds, then he has to spit it out. He’s not supposed to swallow it or it might give him a stomachache. Totty, you wanna go get an empty cup for him to spit in and a glass of water to wash the taste out of his mouth afterwards?”

“What?? Why can’t you do it? Your legs aren’t broken!”

“Yeah, but I’m busy.”

“Are you kidding me? Doing what?!”

Ichimatsu shuffles himself closer to Choromatsu and puts an arm around his big brother. “I’m his emotional support Ichimatsu.”

Choromatsu chuckles a bit, though it turns into coughing pretty quickly.

“Oh, my God. Now you know why you’re not first in my brother rankings, right?” Totty grumbles, but gets up anyway. “Fiiiiine, I’ll be right back.”

The idea of an emotional support anything is nice, though, so Choromatsu leans into the contact, resting his head on Ichimatsu’s shoulder. As it is, the fourth eldest is almost like a cat, warm and cuddly when he feels like it.

His fever must be getting to him, because he could even swear he hears Ichimatsu purring.

The next three days in the Matsuno household are, predictably, a little wild.

Although Choromatsu sleeps on the couch in the other room so that his coughing doesn’t wake his brothers, it’s pretty much all for naught. At least one of them ends up missing him in the night and coming to camp out with him anyway; he just counts his lucky stars that when he needs them most, they show themselves to be pretty great brothers.

He also practically lives on soup and tea. Mom and the others try to switch it up a little, because otherwise eating and drinking the same things every day would drive him nuts. Plain miso and zosui were fine for the first day, but after he could breathe through his nose and smell things again, they started offering him other stuff.

Honestly, shogayu and negi-miso-yu have never tasted so good. Now that he can taste the yuzu-cha, too, and Karamatsu prepares some for him at least once in the afternoon, it’s like a small slice of heaven. He’s pretty sure Karamatsu can tell how grateful he is even without words, if the stupidly proud look on his older brother’s face whenever Choromatsu drinks it is any indication.

His throat still hurts like hell for a while. It’s difficult to speak, so Osomatsu, in his infinite wisdom, has relegated his brother to using a mini dry erase board and marker if he needs to say anything. That doesn’t mean Choromatsu doesn’t try to talk. He does his best not to if he doesn’t absolutely need to, however, since he wants to be rid of this thing more than anyone.

Thankfully, everyone is apparently using this as an excuse to treat him nicely. He gets to sit in front of the TV watching Nyaa-chan concerts almost nonstop, while nestling in against his emotional support Ichimatsu. Karamatsu in particular keeps checking every twenty minutes or so to see if there’s anything he can get for his little brother, and whatever Choromatsu asks for, he gets. Hell, at one point he’s craving ice cream, even though milky things aren’t a good idea for someone who’s coughing, and Karamatsu comes back with a melon ice pop, which is almost as good.

Totty even manages to do something nice while typing away on his phone. He says he’s got Choromatsu a date. With a girl. Who likes pop idols. Who’s really excited to meet him as soon as he’s better. He says he texted her a picture of Choromatsu and she thinks he’s really cute. It’s perhaps a good thing that he can’t say much right now, because he’s sure he’d scream loud enough to lose his voice a second time.

Jyushimatsu even sits there on Choromatsu’s other side, and reads magazine articles to him whenever they’re not watching TV. Of course, he doesn’t read the dirty articles… well, he doesn’t read those out loud after the first time he tried and everybody ended up crying with laughter. They all joked that even when he was sick that would be Choromatsu’s main priority, and for once, he laughed along with them despite the fact that it made him cough.

The one who surprises him the most is Osomatsu. Maybe that shouldn’t actually be a surprise, though. He fills the role of diligent oldest brother with a lot more ease than one might expect; he breaks out the thermometer every few hours to make sure Choromatsu’s fever isn’t getting higher, he keeps track of which medicines Choromatsu is supposed to take and when, he helps Mom cook things that will help Choromatsu feel better, and if he’s not doing any of that other stuff, he’s positioned with Choromatsu sitting on his lap, with Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu on either side, running his fingers through his little brother’s hair. It almost feels like the way things were when they were all kids.

Choromatsu is easily tired out when he’s sick, and he’s 99.99999% sure that it’s Osomatsu who carries him to bed every night when he inevitably falls asleep.

Despite the fact that he gives them a lot of shit, and none of them are perfect people, he knows he’s got some pretty amazing brothers.

Today he’s feeling nearly back to his old self, and his throat is less sore than it’s been in over a week. He knows it’s partially thanks to rest and partially thanks to how well his family has been taking care of him. Despite that he’s starting to recover, the others are still treating him much the same as they have been. Tea whenever he wants it ― as well as Karamatsu shoving it in his direction, urging him to drink with that pathetic puppy dog face of his, even when he doesn’t quite want it ― and lots of head pats and the TV turned to whatever he’s in the mood for.

He’s not quite as tired as he’s been lately, so it would be all too effortless to just take advantage of all this. Instead, his thoughts have just kept turning to how grateful he is to have so many people he can count on.

There’s some small part of him that has to admit he can be just as bad as they all are sometimes. He can be selfish and rude and lazy. But when one of his brothers is sick or hurt, he knows he steps up to the plate to try and take care of them. To know that they’re all willing to do the same for him when he’s the one in need makes him happier than he thinks he’s been in a long time.

He’s still got the dumb little whiteboard Osomatsu gave him, because his voice isn’t back to normal just yet. For a moment, he scribbles on it, then he holds it up for Osomatsu who’s sitting behind him. “Hey, Oso,” he speaks up in a quiet, breathy, raspy voice.

“Uh…! Hey, dumbass, you’re not supposed to be talking yet,” Osomatsu laughs, then lifts his head to look at the board. “… Huh? Choromatsu… hey…”

He laughs in a way that makes it sound like he’s about to cry, then takes the board and waves it to get everyone else’s attention. “Hey, guys! Haha… look! Look at this shit!”

Four other pairs of eyes turn in their direction. Practically as soon as everyone has processed what Choromatsu has written, he’s buried in a pile of brothers. He gets arms put around him, and kisses on his forehead, and everyone nuzzling against his face. They’re all laughing in that same way Osomatsu did…

… Well, until they all start actually crying. Including Choromatsu himself.

The whiteboard falls to the ground, mostly forgotten, but the words written on it hanging over the sextuplets like a rainbow.

Thanks for everything. I love you guys. 💚

#Osomatsu san #whump #Choromatsu #Osomatsu #Karamatsu #Ichimatsu #Jyushimatsu #Totty #illness #laryngitis #caretaking #UGHHHHH THEY'RE ALL SUCH GOOD BOYS DAMMIT #I'm crying into my tea I love them so much look at them aLL AGGRESSIVELY TAKING CARE OF ONE OF THEIR OWN

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kyosohmastan · 5 years ago

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Hajime and the Curse (Part 2)

Thank you for your kind words on the first part! I was really nervous to share it because I didn’t have the biggest confidence in my writing, but I’m glad y’all liked it. Here’s the second part and I hope you enjoy it!

Here’s the link to part 1 in case this is your first time hearing of this: https://kyosohmastan.tumblr.com/post/186271984339/hajime-and-the-curse-part-1/embed

The rest of the day went by without any further issues. However, I was still shaken up from meeting my dad’s father. I’ve been anxious to get home to hear about this curse, as unbelievable as the concept seems.

“You still look nervous. Are you sure you’re okay?” My dad asks me and the guilt hits me for making him worry. He moves a tree branch out of the way for me and I trudge ahead to the house in the estate we were staying at.

“I’m still a little bothered over running into him, but I’ll be fine. It’s just...do you really regret having me?” The question slips out before I can think it through.

His lips turn down. “No. Absolutely not. Don’t let what he said get to you.”

I nod and let the subject go. Why would he be undeserving of having kids anyway? Unless he’s hiding the reason from me. It must have something to do with the curse.

I enter onto the glistening, frost covered grass leading up to the house.

“Kyo-Kun! Hajime! Welcome back!” My mom says, exiting the house and racing towards us. I stop in the middle of the lawn, arms spread in her direction to catch her in case she falls.

“Don’t run!” My dad and I shout at the same time. She comes into my arms and hugs me so hard, every last breath leaves me. She has to lean further than usual to hold me due to her round belly being wedged between us.

Dad catches up to us and knocks his knuckles against Mom’s head. “You idiot! You can’t run while you’re pregnant!”

She lets me go and hides her smile behind her hands. “I’m sorry. I was just so excited to come out here and tell you two that I successfully made hot dogs for the first time!”

The words needed to ask her what made her decide to cook western food are on the tip of my tongue, but my dad maneuvers around me and throws his arm around Mom’s shoulders. He pulls her against him and plants a lingering kiss on her lips. As always, I’m the third wheel. They act like such a teenage couple. It makes me have to force back a gag.

Hachiro clears his throat from the open doorway of the house. “The hot dogs are going to burn. I think they’re ready,” he says.

“Let’s go!” I say all too eagerly. Thank God for an excuse to get out of that uncomfortable situation. My parents follow behind us and Mom begins serving us our plates.

I turn on the electric heater on the kotatsu and settle down next to it, removing my heavy coat and handing it to Dad for him to hang up in the foyer closet beside his. The heated fabric feels amazing on my chilled skin. Coming back to a warm house is truly a blessing during this winter season.

Hachiro plops down next to me and examines my face with concern. “You look troubled.”

“Really?” I relax my features, or at least try to.

“He is troubled,” Dad says as he sits across from me. “And we’ll tell you guys the reason behind it.”

“The reason behind what?” Mom asks. She sets the plate of buns on the middle of the kotatsu before sitting down. I take a bun and put my hot dog together, awaiting for my dad to go on.

“The curse. I promised we’d tell him about it,” my dad says to Mom.

Her smile drops and her forehead creases. “But I don’t think-”

“Please, Mom,” I say, dropping the bun. “I can’t take not knowing anymore.”

“What’s this about?” Hachiro asks. As far as I know, the curse hasn’t affected him as much. Although during the nights we’ve been left alone in either one of our rooms, when the house is the most quiet, we bounce our speculations off of each other about what the family is hiding.

“He’s thirteen,” Dad says, pushing his plate an inch away and placing his chin on his knuckles. “We were going to tell him when he was at least twelve anyway.”

The corners of Mom’s lips dip further. I can’t fathom the harm it would be to tell me. Perhaps this secret is more serious than I thought.

“Yes, you’re right,” she mumbles. She releases a shakey sigh. “I know both of you have been curious. But what brought this up so suddenly?”

Dad has the same unnerving expression as I have. “He bumped into my dad. Not Kazuma. The other one.”

“Oh. Oh, no.” Mom slides closer to the edge of the kotatsu, her hand finding mine underneath it. “We didn’t think we’d find him here. From what I’ve heard, he doesn’t get out much. Are you okay?”

I nod a bit too vigorously. “I’m fine, honestly. It wasn’t a pleasant experience though.” She squeezes my hand harder and I move on from the topic so as not to make her worry any further. “He told me I could be cursed. I just want to know what that means.”

“I see,” Mom says, and a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes returns to her face. “Then let’s not keep you two in the dark anymore.”

Hachiro chomped down on his hot dog, but looked to Mom and Dad intently, waiting just as I had been for years.

“First of all, don’t freak out.” Dad chuckles. He spends a few moments in silence to gather his thoughts. “The Sohmas used to be cursed for generations. Thirteen of us would transform into one of the animals from the Chinese zodiac when hugged by someone of the opposite gender, or sick or under a lot of stress.”

One of us was cursed as the role as God, which was the head of the Sohma family.” Dad looks up from his gaze on the surface of the kotatsu to confirm that we are still listening. “The head put the majority of us through hell. Not only that, but our parents all but abandoned us. It wasn’t a good time, to put it lightly.”

So it truly was a curse. It sounds like it in every sense of the word. As unbelievable as it seems, the evidence backing it up was undeniable; the relentless ridicule my cousins, particularly Akito, Yuki, Rin, and even Dad received from their parents today, the uneasiness all of them appear to feel whenever the past was brought up, it all made sense.

“So then...were you apart of it? You changed into an animal?” I ask. There was no way he wasn’t involved. The look of pure agony he gives every time the word “curse” is mention is proof of the fact that he was. And there has to be a reason why his father hates him.

Dad nods, closing his eyes and furrowing his brows. Making him have to recount his past that he’s always tried to keep hidden away causes an ache in my chest. “Yes. I was the cat,” he says.

Hachiro finishes the remainder of his hot dog, then blurts, “But how?! From the story Mom tells us, the cat was never a part of the zodiac. He was shunned by the other animals.”

Dad laughs and the tension that leaves his body helps me relax again. “The cat isn’t a part of it. That’s why I was very ostracized from the family for years.”

Mom nods and speaks, most likely to give Dad a breather. He appears hesitant to go on. “The cat was the most cursed out of everyone. He was doomed to spend the rest of his days in isolation after getting out of High School. I believe you’ve passed by the small house he would have stayed in, Hajime.”

That’s what that was for. The reason it had made Dad and I feel so uneasy every time we went near it came to light completely.

“He also turned into a beast unless he was wearing special beads that prevented him from doing so,” Mom says.

It’s no wonder he never wants to talk about it. I can’t even imagine it. To have to go through something as incomprehensibly terrifying as that.

“He transformed into the cat’s true form in front of me one day,” she continued. “It wasn’t easy to see, but...”

“I ran away,” Dad adds. “I was prepared to never see her again. I thought she’d be so terrified that she would reject me. But she came after me.” A grin pops onto his face as he looks to Mom. “She told me that she wanted to stay with me even though she was afraid of me. That’s when I fell in love with her. No one had ever told me that before.”

Mom hangs her head and blushes. “Who knows what would have happened had I not brought him back home?” She cooes and lays her head on Dad’s shoulder.

“You wouldn’t have had us,” Hachiro says, making a valid point. That’s a scary thought.

“You’re right!” Mom gasps, lifting her head. “And we wouldn’t want that!”

Getting back to the matter at hand, I say, “You said the curse is broken. How did it break? Especially after being in the family for so many generations.”

Dad ate the last of his hot dog before speaking. I start on mine as well. I had gotten so wrapped up in the conversation that I neglected eating. “The curse gradually weakened over time. Some of our spirits left us before others, in fact. But the driving force that broke it in the end was actually your mother’s doing.” He placed his hand on top of hers. “She helped every one of us trust in her more than the head. Suddenly, she was the most important person in our lives and that lifted it. I really don’t know what we’d do without her.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Mom remarks. She rolls her eyes with her trademark goofy smile. It sounds like it was everything.

Taking it all in, I come to the realization that everything I heard isn’t as bad as it seems for the sole reason that the curse is broken. It wasn’t ongoing. The Sohmas, including my parents, Hachiro, and my new sister wouldn’t be plagued by it. I had nothing to worry over after all.

“Thank you for telling us,” I say. “I’m so happy to know. It’s been eating at me for so long. I’m...truly grateful.”

Mom side hugs me and I wrap my arms around her fragile waist. “We’ve been hesitant to tell you because we didn’t want it to dishearten you. It’s a serious thing. We don’t want you to think less of your father because of it.”

I release her, baffled by the very thought. Nothing could convince me to be disillusioned because of Dad. My adoration for everyone in my life is unconditional. I turn my attention to my father. “How could I think that of you? If anything, I have a higher viewpoint on you. To have gone through that and in the end be the strong, optimistic person you are today is astonishing. You deserve it.” When am I ever one to get this sappy? But I think Dad needs to hear these words from his own child. Something tells me he wants just that. However, being this vulnerable moves me to turn my gaze down to my lap. “I’m glad you’re happy. I’m glad you didn’t lose hope that you would get to this point in your life. I’m relieved you never got locked away because the world really is a beautiful place with you in it.” I lift my head only to find droplets lining my dad’s eyes. He gazes at me with his lips parted in what has to be surprise.

I gather my courage to really look him in the eye. “I love you. I’m so happy that you don’t have to go through that pain anymore. Thank you for telling me.” I bow my head and Hachiro does the same after thanking them.

When I raise it again, Dad is shedding a river of tears while forming a shaky smile. “I will never forgive you for making me cry in front of you guys.” He laughs weakly, quickly wiping his cheeks and under his eyes.

Mom plants a big kiss on his lips and snuggles his arm. “We all love you.” She positions herself onto his lap while he kisses her back.

Oh, dear, God, I need to abort this place. “Okay! Well, again, thanks for dinner. I’ll be heading to-”

“Wait! Do you want to see the real beads? You actually see them every day. They’re on the bookshelf in the living room,” Mom tells me.

Realization dawns on me. “So that’s what those are. I can look at them with new eyes now.”

“True,” Dad says, standing up as I do. “Then I’ll show them to you with those new eyes.”

I hand my empty plate to Mom then follow him to the floor to ceiling bookshelf lining the wall. It’s filled with more photos and momentos than actual books. Right next to a picture of my mom as a baby with Grandpa Katsuya and Grandma Kyoko, sits a bowl that holds several red and white beads.

I pick one up, testing the texture between my thumb and fore finger. “They feel unusual.”

“That’s because they’re made from human bones. The red ones were dipped in blood.” His eyes narrow on the bead I hold. “Lots of lives were lost in order to make that bracelet.”

I meet his gaze for a moment then turn it back to the single red bead now in my palm. In all the years these have sat here on this shelf, I would have never guessed they have held this much history. Every single bead represents one life given in order to assure that the cat was protected from its true form.

I close my palm over the bead and close my eyes, saying a silent prayer to the sacrifices made to save my father from the wrath of the cat’s original form.

I’ll have the final part done really soon! Again, thanks for reading!

#FRUITS BASKET SPOILERS #fruits basket #fruits basket fanfic #fruits basket fanfiction #kyo sohma #tohru honda #hajime sohma #fruits basket another #furuba #furubana #fruba #fanfiction #fruits basket 2019

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kaitlinmcandrews · 7 years ago

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Well, I have really failed at writing this blog. I feel like the more stuff that there is to write about, the less I want to write. I don’t know if it’s because I’m overwhelmed, if I’m not that inspired, or our activities haven’t been that interesting… (K, I know it’s not that last one. We have definitely been up to some really fun stuff). There is a lot of cultural quirks in Japan that I really want to talk about, but I feel guilty that I haven’t written anything here. Oh well. I’ll try, eventually…

Did you know that Japan has 4 seasons? Well, you may be thinking “uhh, Kaitlin, everywhere has 4 seasons”. Well you aren’t wrong. Japanese people are very proud of their 4 seasons and it can be kind of an awkward conversation. Like, how do you respond? “Oh, really? Wow! That’s amazing! I have no idea what that could be like~”. What I think they mean is that they have festivals, events, food and traditions associated with each season. They seem to have a meaning behind each of them.

Spring is when everything is new. Students start school in April, the cherry blossoms start to bloom, and the weather starts to warm up. It is their chance to start over (sort of how we view new year’s). People are getting new bosses, changing schools, starting University, etc.

Summer is incredibly hot here. It is very humid and people are basically sweating the entire day. I’d say that most of the festivals in Japan take place in the summer. The students have nearly an entire month off for summer holidays and about 3 weeks in the winter and 2-3 weeks in the spring. Fireworks are especially popular in the summer here.

Fall is almost the opposite. Again, it’s a change. The new trimester of school starts in September. The leaves change colour and eventually fall, which I’ve heard some people think represents life. This is a big time for vegetables to be in season. There are many festivals and food stands that are selling sweet potatoes and chestnuts.

Winter is seen as a time with family. Insulation is not so great here, especially in older buildings. Because of that, families gather under the kotatsu (a heated table with a heavy blanket on top) and eat nabe (a very delicious soup with many vegetables). They have many events around New Year’s. Then, they celebrate all of their “firsts” of the year. They have their first temple visit, first sunrise, first dream, etc. They look back at the year that had just passed. Unlike in the west, were we tend to forget the last year and plan the next year, they seem to think about and reminisce about what happened in the previous year.

Well, anyway, that’s what I’ve gathered by just observing, I could be way off.

Okay, maybe you remember where I left off. Last summer, Pat’s parents came to visit us. (Yes, I’m THAT far behind… I know, I know). So, let’s start with Fall!

Fall

At this point in time, we were out of Kyoto and living in our new place in Kawasaki. We weren’t here for too long before we started exploring. I think that the summer weather lasts a bit longer here than it does back home. I don’t think that the leaves started changing colours until mid-November or so… The first place we went to was Takao Mountain. It wasn’t too difficult to get to from where we live.

So, I learned some interesting Japanese words for fall.

Autumn – aki (秋）

Autumn leaves – kouyou　（紅葉）

Mt. Takao (高尾山)

When we were in Korea, we did a fair amount of hiking. I don’t know why, but we really haven’t done any in Japan (other than Fuji…). There are definitely many mountains to climb, so we have no excuse. I guess in Kyoto, we didn’t have time. Now, we do have time, but it has been winter the whole time we have lived here. Those are my excuses.

For our first climb, we really didn’t give it much of a chance. When you go hiking, even if it’s a small mountain, you should go early. We left pretty late in the day. I’m fairly sure that we arrived to Takao station around 2:30. That’s right. 2:30 in the afternoon. [Also, before you start thinking that my memory is so amazing, don’t be fooled. My camera and my phone puts a time stamp on the photos so I just look at the photos to figure out when we arrived and such.]

The mountain wasn’t too far from the station and was clearly marked. It was really muddy when we arrived, so we were a bit worried. Anyways, when we got there, we saw that they had a chairlift and a gondola that went up a good portion of the mountain. Since it was so late, we decided that it would be a good idea. We took the chairlift so that we could have a nice view on our way up.

Felt pretty safe all the way up

such vivid colours!

I tried to capture the many colours

The view was great in real life. Unfortunately, it was behind us.

Once we got off the chairlift, we started our hike. I think we started around 3pm. It was incredibly busy in that area, but seemed to clear out the further up we climbed. It was quite muddy for a while, but there were some stones that you could stay on that were much better. The problem was that people seem to hate moving over? Like a group of 5 people would seriously walk together, side-by-side and take up the entire path. Me and Pat would be forced onto the muddy path (single file, might I add) so they didn’t run into us. Rude right?

Goodness, this place had a lot of stairs. I don’t know why, but I love photographing stairs. My photos never turn out how I want them to, but I still love them. Stairs and tree caves are my weaknesses.

Spoiler: These are all the stair photos from the entire hike.

Okay, sorry, let’s continue. So, the hike was really easy. Not really a hike at all, to be honest. Other than the muddy parts that people essentially drove us into, the path was paved for the most part. There were lanterns up the path, so I think that hiking at night would also be a fun option.

The mountain was a bit colder than the temperature at the bottom, obviously, so as we ascended, we saw more and more snow. The air was a bit chilly, but it wasn’t bad.

To our surprise, there were temples not too far from the chairlift. I suppose that most people were going to see these, since the crowds thinned out past this point. But, to be fair, it was pretty late haha.

Temples and shrines do start to all look the same after awhile, but they are still stunning. There were also some souvenir shops and food stands.

One of the stands was selling something called ‘dango’, which is essentially three rice cakes on a stick. These dango were interesting because they are slow roasted over coals. It was kind of funny because about a week before that, my students were writing about different places in Japan and a few of them mentioned these interesting dango-cooking method! So random. They weren’t talking about this mountain, so it was pretty surprising to see this food that they were talking about.

We weren’t hungry yet, so we didn’t stop. I was just excited.

This temple and shrine area was pretty big so we explored around there for awhile before continuing up.

quite a bit of snow, especially compared to town

awesome detail

It was quite nice and worth checking out. Since it wasn’t too far from the chairlift, it would be an easy day (or evening, haha) trip. I believe this area also had an onsen (hot spring) and I wish we could’ve went into that. We decided to continue up the mountain. From that point forward the roads were not really paved and pristine. There also weren’t any lanterns or anything like that.

We could see some snow peeking through the trees

I can see the summit!

The further we went up, the more snow there was and the colder it got. It was kind of nice because we didn’t get heated up from hiking.

We reached the top at 4:30 so it was obviously not a difficult or long hike. There wasn’t much at the top actually. There was a nice view of the town and if you’re lucky you could see Mt. Fuji on the opposite side. It was a bit late and foggy so we couldn’t see Mt. Fuji, unfortunately.

Mt. Fuji is out there somewhere…

I think we were kind of lucky with our timing actually. We were able to see the day view and the night view.

The way down was a bit more difficult than the way up, but only because it was dark. I got my dango treat (luckily they were still selling them), but I didn’t take a photo. Sorry. They don’t look that interesting. The way down was sooo dark. We didn’t take the chairlift since it was soooo busy. They line up was huuuuge. We decided to just walk down. Well, warning, the path from the chairlift to the bottom is not lit up. It was so freakin’ dark. We had to use the flashlights on our phones haha.

I don’t remember if this was before or after the dark path… sorry!

We didn’t take the chairlift since it was soooo busy. They line up was huuuuge. We decided to just walk down. Well, warning, the path from the chairlift to the bottom is not lit up. It was so freakin’ dark. We had to use the flashlights on our phones haha.

Okay, the next Fall adventure I want to talk about was a guided tour that we went on in a town called Hakone.

Hakone/Odawara (箱根 / 小田原市)

So, our work sometimes gives us opportunities to go to events, go on tours, or get packages that are English friendly. It is quite nice since usually many events are in Japanese only. Personally, I think it isn’t really worth paying extra money to go on a tour or attend an event in a language you don’t understand. Like, I could go on my own. I would get the same experience essentially.

Okay, that’s not always true. I think that guided tours/tour groups are especially great when the destination is hard to get to or would be a hassle to book in Japanese.

In this case, the tour we took was definitely unnecessary, haha. Well, for the most, I’ll get into it later. It cost us 2,100 yen each. The cost included the tour guide, lunch and a map.

According to the invitation, we went on Dec 4, and met the tour group at 10:30. We met at a really small train station in the middle of nowhere, so it was kind of an interesting start to our journey.

To get to this station (if you want to replicate our journey) wasn’t too difficult, but since not necessarily easy either.

Odawara Station is pretty easy to get to. You can take the Tokaido line all the way there. Honestly, I have no idea if that line goes through Tokyo or not, but I’d imagine so. From there, we had to locate the local train out to Hakone.

It wasn’t bad. I swear the biggest difficulties with transit in Japan is whether or not you need to take the local, express, limited express, etc. My tip to you, is follow the times on Google maps. For example, if the time says 10:24, look for the signs that say 10:24 next to the destination. It isn’t too common for there to be multiple trains leaving at the same time.

Okay, back to our tour.

There weren’t too many of us in the group. They split us up into a few groups. Our first stop was a small shrine across the railroad tracks. You can’t see in the photo above, but to the right, there is a set of stairs that goes over the tracks.

It was pretty small, but pretty cute. The tour group lady told us a whole bunch of stuff that I can’t remember (see what I mean about it not being worth the cost? I don’t even pay attention!). We washed some money, which is supposed to bring good fortune. So far, it hasn’t worked.

I’m not sure if you can tell, but it was a beautiful day. It wasn’t hot by any means, it was still December, but it was sunny.

After the small shrine, we crossed back over the tracks.

Because of the sunshine, the coloured leaves looked absolutely breathtaking. I took about 2039483098 photos, but none of them look like they did in real life. Isn’t that the way it always goes? sigh.

Again, the tour lady told us a lot of stuff while I was off taking photos and ignoring her, apparently. oops~

It’s not my fault! The beauty!

Anyways, our next destination was a traditional style Japanese hotel (called a ryokan in Japanese). I can’t remember much, but I do remember that it was super old. It was almost like a museum in some ways. We had to walk along a road without a sidewalk to get there. The scenery around this hotel was so beautiful.

The one redeeming factor of paying for the tour guide was that we were allowed in the hotel and were able to look into the rooms, check out the onsen, and we got to eat the hotel’s food.

The name of the hotel: ichinoyu

Their website: http://www.ichinoyu.co.jp/honkan/eng/

So, by a quick look at their website, this hotel was founded in 1630! Holy moly! It was pretty cool to see the old style. The rooms were pretty nice. Some had an onsen/hot tub on the deck outside of the hotel room. When I asked about the price, I think it ended up being around $120/night. Maybe next fall or winter we will stay there.

The meal we had was quite traditional and really delicious. Traditional Japanese food can be kind of hit or miss, but this one was really good. I feel like the fee we paid was worth it just for the meal.

After we finished eating, we walked along the narrow road to a place called Kannreidoumonn. On the way there, we had some pretty great scenery.

It was a tunnel that I don’t think is in use anymore. I can’t remember if the guide said it was built to protect from landslides or if it isn’t in use because of that or what…. She did mention a big earthquake. This is why I should write these closer to the time that I go.

Sorry.

Although, are any of you here to learn anything? If so, man, you came to the wrong blog.

Our next destination was another hotel. This time, it wasn’t to look at the hotel, but it was to look at it’s garden. The hotel’s name was Yoshiike Ryokan. If you want to check it out, here’s the website: http://www.yoshiikeryokan.com/ .I don’t know if this is open to the public or not. If it isn’t, then I take back everything I said about the cost.

We walked through the town, that was also known as onsen town. This area of Hakone has a lot of onsen. Well, actually, I believe there are only a few sources that many hotels feed the hot water from. I’m no expert…. obviously…. so, who know?

Okay, so the garden at this hotel was so beautiful. I am going to just spam you with pictures:

Gross… I will neeeever get used to the freakin’ spiders here. Gross.

After the garden, the tour guide let us on our way. In other words, the tour was over and we were left to find our own way home haha. It was fine because we actually wanted to explore on our own anyway.

That was all for our Autumn adventures. I’ll talk to you in 0239483 years to talk about winter!

Until then, here are some more photos!

hungry fishes

so hungry! Sorry buddies. I have no food for you….

The 4 seasons of Japan – Autumn Well, I have really failed at writing this blog. I feel like the more stuff that there is to write about, the less I want to write.

#aki #autumn #autumn in japan #Autumn leaves #changing leaves #秋 #紅葉 #高尾山 #fall #hakone #Japan #kouyou #Mt. Takao #Mt. Takao (高尾山)#odawara #Takaosan

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letsplaystarrysky · 8 years ago

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Starry★Sky in Winter -Tsubasa- 12/31

Today’s New Year’s Eve and the start of the student council babysitting all the students who stayed at the school over the holidays. What kind of shenanigans can we expect them to get up to?

To start with, they’re planning a countdown hotpot party. Kazuki sends Oshirou to let the students in the dorm know, and asks Tsukiko and Hayato to go shopping for ingredients while he and Tsubasa get the rest of the preparations done between the two of them.

Tsubasa: Aw man, I wanna go shopping with Tsukiko!

Kazuki: Hell no, you’d just buy weird stuff.

He totally would, too.

Hey wait a minute, Kazuki…

That just gave you an idea didn’t it?

Because when Tsukiko and Hayato return later with all the food, they find the table in the cafeteria already laid out with a bunch of stuff. In response to their question, Kazuki informs them that one hot pot will be a mystery “yami” (dark) nabe, with a hodgepodge of random ingredients from whatever the students had on hand. The stuff Tsukiko and Hayato bought will be used to make a normal “hikari” (light) nabe.

Tsubasa runs in at this moment saying he found the perfect ingredient for the yami nabe hotpot.

Kazuki: What is that?

Oshirou: Yeah, what is that?

Tsubasa: 8D I have no idea! I found it in Azusa’s fridge.

Whatever it is has clearly been in that fridge for a good long, while and is so frozen no one can figure out what it...used to be. They tell him it’s too dangerous and to put it back. What’s that other thing he’s got?

Tsubasa: Gyouza!

Tsukiko, Kazuki, Oshirou: Oh, that’s not so bad…

Hayato: waaaaiiiit a minute. How old is it?

Tsubasa: idk like a year or so.

All: (=_=;)

Kazuki: I’ll just go...give this a good burial…

“Nuuu! Not my gyouza!”

Yes, yes your gyouza.

Randomly, I like Tsubasa’s casual clothes. They’re so classic teenaged guy, and despite how tall he is, making them slightly oversized adds to his childish, rambunctious, active image.

Once the gyouza is given a proper send off, Tsukiko and Hayato make the normal hotpot while Tsubasa is left to gleefully make the danger!hotpot. Kazuki and Oshirou disappear to complete preparations for where they’re all going to eat…

...which turns out to be the rooftop gardens. But it’s so cold!

Not to worry!

They’ve stolen all the teachers’ kotatsu tables. (low tables with a heater underneath you can run a comforter or blanket between the base and the tabletop and keep your feet toasty warm. I am sitting in one right now actually!) As Oshirou puts it, if they put the tables back before the teachers find out, what’s the problem right? The only one they couldn’t steal belonged to Hoshizuki-sensei...who had his bolted to the floor.

Hayato: I am so impressed by his foresight.

I bet you are.

In any case, let’s eat! It’s hotpot time!

They start off with Tsukiko and Hayato’s lovely hikari nabe and all the students enjoy it. Then comes the danger of the evening… Oshirou explains the rules, or rather, the rule: close your eyes and dish up something from the pot. What you get is what you eat. No matter what it is, they will make sure you eat it. Hee hee hee.

(randomly, Suwabe’s delivery here is where he most reminds me of the Undertaker from Kuroshitsuji)

Now then, the top batter is, of course, who else but Tsukiko.

She closes her eyes and puts down her chopsticks. Where do they land?

The middle of the pot

The left side of the pot

The right side of the pot

From the right side of the point comes something...soft and squishy and utterly unidentifiable…

“That’s my uh… wait, what did I put in again?

I forget what I put in! Nuhahaha!”

He promises he made sure it wasn’t expired...uh, whatever it was. Not to worry! It’s safe to eat! Tsukiko looks at it doubtfully. At least it’s edible…? Cluing in to her distress, Tsubasa offers to eat it instead. He doesn’t want to make her feel bad. Here, aahhh~ C’mon, put it in his mouth, he’s waiting! Tsukiko’s a little embarrassed but does as he asks. He begins to chew. It’s something a little salty...but also sweet... it’s a surprise in his mouth! It’s good! Can she feed him more? Nuhahaha!

The party game goes on, and when it gets to Tsubasa’s actual turn he gets some random off-screen-kun’s half-eaten yakisoba bread.

Dude, not cool.

Tsubasa being Tsubasa though, eats it anyway, says it’s actually pretty good and oh hey! He got to eat ‘toshi-koshi soba’ (a traditional New Year's food) earlier than anyone else! :D

After they finish eating, this collection of nerds starts to stargaze and call out different stars in the winter sky. Eventually they name the stars that form the winter diamond. Kazuki makes some old-man comment about how Tsukiko better grow up to be a lady worthy of receiving a beautiful diamond and Tsubasa wistfully wishes he could take down one of the stars to give to her.

Before they know it, the temple bells can be heard in the distance and the New Year has arrived. Happy New Year, everyone!

After all is said and done, they return to the room they’re staying in for the night. Tsubasa is a bundle of energy as the boys go off to use the bath together, leaving Tsukiko the only girlperson to bathe by herself. She’s the first one back and ends up dozing off while she waits…

She wakes up when they return, but only just slightly, and lets them think she’s still asleep. Tsubasa thinks nothing of it, saying she looks cute and using the moment when Kazuki and Hayato have their guards down discussing how Tsukiko doesn’t seem to consider them men or she wouldn’t be so comfortable falling asleep around them (oh otome game tropes) to claim the futon next to hers and promptly go to sleep.

This nicely gives Team Mom and Dad a moment of alone time. Hayato quietly thanks Kazuki for accepting this chaperoning job to make sure Hayato and Tsubasa weren’t alone over New Years. Aww. I ship it so hard.

Speaking of Kazuki doing nice things… (and of Kazuki and Hayato bickering like an old married couple)

When Tsukiko falls back asleep, she dreams of a time awhile back when they were still all getting to know Tsubasa. Kazuki had strongarmed Hayato and her into joining him for lunch at the student council room where Tsubasa ‘just happened’ to be working by his lonesome. Together the three of them help to make Tsubasa feel like part of their little family through the power of shared lunches.

When Tsukiko awakens from this dream, the lights are off and the other three are all asleep...or so she thinks until Tsubasa lifts his head and asks if she’s awake. She returns the question to him and he says yeah, but even so, sleeping all together like this makes him feel really comfortable, and also a little nostalgic. He always used to sleep like this with his grandparents. Tsukiko asks what about his parents, but he says he doesn’t have any, just his grandparents.

Tsukiko feels bad for asking.

Tsubasa asks her to come closer...

He pulls her close and wraps his arms around her. Tsukiko is made super nervous about this, because despite what Kazuki and Hayato think, she is actually aware that they are guys and have...guy parts and stuff. That said, we’re not entirely sure the same can be said for Tsubasa who just says sleeping like this is relaxing. Doesn’t she think so?

Internally, Tsukiko gives this a big NOPE but knows that if she says so it’ll break his heart. So she lies, and he says he’s glad...although, he confesses his heart is beating kind of fast for...some reason. He doesn’t know why, but he doesn’t dislike it. This is something Tsukiko can hesitantly, but honestly say she feels too…

#sutasuka #starry sky #otome game #let's play #amaha tsubasa #long freaking day is long #new year's eve #nabe party #yami nabe #tropes galore #suwabe jun'ichi is a gift

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