#kyoto walking tour

[daisyducklover2021]

Minnie took me to a tea garden.

#Japan #daisy duck #Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures #Tea House #kyoto destinations #cherry blossum tree #minnie mouse #animation #cuckoo loca #Relax #stress #walking tour #rocks

[martilyongabo]

osaka & kyoto pt. 1 (12.22-12.23.25)

#osaka #kyoto #kuhang abo #did a lot of walking #also got to find a lot of stuff to eat surprisingly! #kinkakuji #rokuonji #first two days i kept getting dizzy/nauseous because of motion sickness ajsissjjsjddi #and i was worried because i couldn’t really breathe well with a mask #but everyone else had like no mask but kept coughing #thankfully the tour guide for the kyoto trip helped us get i medicine for motion sickness :’0 #and it helped a lot #i still feel bouts of nausea up til now tho but it’s less severe than before

[kyotolocalized1]

Kyoto Localized

Kyoto Free Walking Tour During the Kyoto Free Walking Tour, you will get to experience the rich culture and history of Kyoto. This tour covers all what you need when you visit Kyoto. See Kyoto from a local perspective and feel the beauty and tradition.

#Kyoto Free Walking Tour

[therabbitthatpostthings]

Jealousy Jealousy

Nanami x Sorcerer!Reader

Based on this post. This’ll be a long one. Nanami is slightly OOC.

When a new face arrives at Jujutsu Tech in the wake of the Tokyo v Kyoto affair, Nanami cannot help but to feel wary of him. And why do you seem so close to him? Just who is this guy?

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。✫・。.・゜ ✭・.

Jujutsu Tech has never had a dull day. Especially not with Gojo around. He was back from his long standing mission and Nanami couldn’t believe how amazing 8 days go by. Honestly, Nanami enjoyed every second of it. But Gojo had to come back eventually and Nanami was once again, considering if this was really the life he wanted to stick with. He took the initiative to come in a bit earlier than usual and yet, You and Gojo insist on speaking loudly, and extensively, about whatever escapades Gojo got up to while he was gone.

Right in front of Nanami’s coffee.

And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. Not while Itadori needed him. Not while there were lives to save. You two however, always found a way to push him towards the edge though. Gojo was something he had come to be acquainted with, but you, Grade 1 Sorcerer (Y/N) (L/N), found a very special way to get to him.

“If I would marry anyone, it would probably be Nanami-San!”

That was the last thing you said to him before graduating all those years ago and even now you’ve stuck to it. Nanami cannot remember a single conversation in which you haven’t flirted with him or expressed the desire to marry him. And everytime he shuts you down and everytime you smile and say, “I’ll wait as long as you need me to!”

That’s not to say speaking to you was a chore. Once you get over the obligatory flirty comment, you are quite easy to have a conversation with. You aren’t pushy or handsy with him. You didn’t make any sexual or inappropriate jokes. If he asked you to not bother him, you wouldn’t. Still he couldn’t shake that annoying feeling he got when coming near you. He thought, maybe your proximity to Gojo is what makes you annoyed. That had to be it. Nanami didn’t have time to think about that, it was 8am and he was officially on the clock.

“Good morning Nanami, you look as handsome as ever.” You smiled as you poured a cup of coffee. The twinge of annoyance subsided as Nanami put the newspaper down on the table.

“Good morning (L/N).” In quick and precise movements, Nanami stood and walked towards the door.

“Why does he treat you nicer than me?” Gojo's whining voice became distant as Nanami disappeared down the hall.

Nanami didn’t actually have anywhere to be, Yuuji wasn’t due for their training until noon but it was so much better than hearing about whatever You and Gojo were talking about. 3 years had passed since you returned to Tokyo and you fell back into his life so seamlessly. You two weren’t close but you were one of his nicer upperclassmen. Nanami didn’t even notice how much you consumed his thoughts until he was stopped by Yaga.

“Oh good, Nanami-san.” Behind Yaga stood a tall man, a little shorter than Nanami, with shaggy hair and dark eyes. Yaga turned towards him, implying him to step forward. The man let out an awkward chuckle and stuck his hand out.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Hasegawa Ryosuke.”

Nanami shook the man’s hand and introduced himself. Yaga spoke again, “Would you mind giving Hasegawa a tour of the school? I’d like to have him familiar before the students start class.”

“Sorry about this, I went to the Kyoto school and only recently came back to Japan.” Hasegawa chuckled.

As Nanami agreed, Yaga excused himself. Hasegawa assured Nanami he wouldn’t need an in depth tour, anything quick would do just fine. “To tell you the truth, I never lived in Tokyo so I got a little confused and was late.”

He was a sort of awkward man. He dresses casually and ends every sentence in a nervous laugh. Nanami could tell that he was powerful though, probably a Grade 1. He followed quietly, sparingly asking questions or inquiring about the school. By the time they finished in the courtyard the students were already arriving for their morning classes. Yuuji excitedly called out to Nanami, who greeted him, Fushiguro and Nobara as well.

“Who’s this?” Yuuji asked.

“I’m just a guest, I’m Hasegawa.” He said suddenly a bit calmer. Almost calculated. Nanami didn’t think too much of it. Many sorcerers were still iffy surrounding Yuuji and his circumstance. The sudden edge wasn’t lost on any of them as Hasegawa’s demeanor shifted back to the one he had before. “I went to Kyoto, Tokyo is always so busy.”

“Yeah it is,” Yuuji replied. Nanami cleared his throat, they both noticed that Nobara and Fushiguro also seemed to passively turn towards Hasegawa. As if they were guarding Yuuji.

“Itadori, you shouldn’t be late for class.” Nanami stated.

“We won’t be,” Yuuji called back as Nobara started to pull him and Fushiguro along. Before they could leave the courtyard a loud shriek broke out from the school.

“RYOSUKE!” (Y/N) suddenly came running out. They jumped into Hasegawa’s arms and he spun them around. “What are you doing here?!”

“I came to visit.” He laughed, still holding them up.

“And you didn’t tell me!” (Y/N) playfully hit his shoulders. They once again pull him close for a hug before Hasegawa sets them down. “Do you hate me now Ryo?”

“Hate you? The light of my life? Never.” Hasegawa grinned.

“And yet, you never call me? How am I supposed to trust you Ryo?”

“We could go get ice cream?”

“Ice Cream? Are we teenagers again?”

“I always feel so young with you (Y/N).”

“And here you go, trying to flatter me again. I’m not that easy.” You laughed as a deep blush crept across your face. Nanami felt a sudden pressure build up, like he was entirely separate from whatever world you and Hasegawa were existing in. Awkwardly standing less than three feet away from you both yet it felt like miles. The distance between you two has never been this noticeable to him before. You always felt close. Like he could look over his shoulder and you’d always be there. How could it change so suddenly?

You finally noticed Nanami standing there, stoic as always. You idly turned your body towards him, “I see you've met Ryosuke.”

“Yes, I was showing him around.” Nanami replied plainly.

“Yeah, with everything going on recently, I thought it’d be best if I familiarize myself with the place.” He replied. And the mood shifted again. That same feeling he felt when Itadori was around. You didn’t seem to notice.

“So you're in Tokyo for some time then?” (Y/N) smiled, “Gojo and I go drinking sometimes, you should come.”

“We haven’t even planned our ice cream date and you're already trying to get me drunk? You move too fast for me (Y/N).” He smirked.

You lightly hit his shoulder and turned back to Nanami, “Ignore him, he’s always like this. Would you like to come to Nanami?”

In a surprising act Nanami accepted the invitation. This caught him and You off guard. You always invited him as a formality but never thought he would agree. He was just as shocked. Something however was pulling him towards the idea. Something about Hasegawa was too alarming to let You be alone with him. Especially if he would be hanging around Jujutsu Tech. This is not the kind of person Nanami would allow himself to be careless around.

You cheered, “Great! Gojo will text you the place, we’ll go around 7!” That familiar blush deepened and somehow soothed Nanami slightly. Your presence did have that effect however. Not just to him but to those around you. It made you a good fit for being around the students so much. No wonder they favored you over Gojo (though that wasn’t a high bar to reach).

“I’ll let you know if anything comes up.” Nanami replied and excused himself.

“Thanks for showing me around!” Hasegawa called out as Nanami stepped into the building. The weight of his decision suddenly hit him as he crossed the classroom and heard Gojo’s voice. Just what did he get himself into?

#no beta we die like men #nanami kento #nanami kento x reader #nanami x black!reader #nanami x reader #jjk x reader #jjk fanfic #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #kento nanami

[kyotakumrau]

2024.02.16-17 sukekiyo at Kyoto Gekijo

I really wanted to write about each show separately but then the 17th was filled with too many exciting things and there was no time. So I'll try about them together. And because of the setlists it also feels like they both belong together anyway.

2.16 The first day flow felt like the young idol started bright and excited, innocent, but then fell, experiencing the dirty side of love and people, but wanted to find love somehow anyway. And it finished with 呼吸・kokyuu...

As the BGM they are playing another movie (sound only).

5 minutes to and then at 6:30 the theatre buzzer sounded to signal the start of the show.

They had the usual see through screen in front of the stage (always done for the seated shows). sukekiyo and the tour name appeared as the snow was softly falling in the dark. At the same time band members walked on the stage, Takumi first, followed by Yuchi and Mika, then utA and Kyo last.

And Takumi started the piano melody of Margaret. It's so nice that they again chose to start with the last song from the previous tour, like they're creating a connection between then and now.

The stage was mostly their normal setting, but Kyo's stand had a dark bouquet laying in the middle of the table, I'm pretty sure it was the one with the doll in it that he shared in his Instagram story. There was also a high chair on the right side of his stand, right next to it.

And a new addition were big light bulbs hanging on wires over the stage, one over each band member hanging lower and four more a bit higher, nine in total. When グロス・Gloss started they lit up but dimmed when song got quieter.

During 愛した心臓・Aishita shinzo Kyo was dancing, he also came close the screen stretching his arm towards audience. (but I'm always unsure how much they can see from the other side because of how the light works on the screen), he crouched when dancing. Kyo was very dancey, utA as well (I was sitting on utA's side that night, aisle seat though).

They all wore outfits from their last artist photos. utA's hair was more standing, full 90s visual kei style. Kyo changed his look having a very different hairstyle. Because he shaved his head to get a new tattoo in January his hair is still very short, like in Citta he glued things on though, for sukekiyo he had two thin pink braids, one on each side, styled in a way they created two rings. And he had the porcelain doll effect make up, shiny face with drawn eyebrows, dark eye make up and full lips. The back of his dress is quite open so we could see his tattooed back. And he wore pink tabi boots to complete the look. (you can check those tweets 1️⃣ 2️⃣ to see fans drawings of him, just pls don't repost)

Both Candis and Valentina were quite fun with the pen lights. And this part had a lot of dancey songs that even come with set dance moves... But since it was a seated show it was only Kyo dancing, with other band members rocking and jumping as well, fans had to endure and stay in their seats😂

With 口に林檎・kuchi ni ringo the stage went darker and Kyo was lit up by his mic stand's pink light. aftermath followed with the soft dark mood in the venue and the video on the screen. Some of the autumn temple has been edited and changed to pink cherry blossoms with petals scattering. Kyo sang standing by his mic stand, illuminated in pink.

And after the song ended Takumi played the piano melody that starts the session. Kyo softly walked towards the chair and sat with one leg over the other, very dignified, like a film noir singer or a diva. A black clothed staff member walked on the stage from the left side holding a make up case and started to 'do' Kyo's make up. He patted Kyo's face with a towel, he then used a sponge and a brush, then 'did' Kyo's lips. I don't think he actually changed anything but it was a part of the performance. Kyo stayed seated almost motionless through the whole process.

Then Kyo softly got up and walked to his mic stand, the session continued as Kyo joined singing. The cheerful idol from the start of the concert was gone by now, the innocence lost. The want, the hurt, the darker feelings took place to create someone new.

訪問者X・HomonshaX had Kyo dancing like a bug, very different from the way he danced as a cute idol.

It felt to me that the lights towards the end of the performance were changing between red - fiery, angry and strong - and blue - calmer and sadder, to me it felt like there was a battle of various emotions inside of our heroine. I aways have a ton of respect for Mika who is creating the visualisations for the shows. Like during 変わってくれませんでしょうか・kawattekuremasendeshouka? when the front screen is very simple and the sides are dark with water falling over Kyo in the middle as the rain is supposed to wash everything away.

During 夢見ドロ・Yumemidoro Kyo was dancing more seductively, even wrapped his leg around the mic stand, baring it to the people. During Scarlet Kyo was pointing his lips with his index finger, 'I want you to kiss me'. Even broken things want to find love.

And at the end the acceptance came and resignation. Ending with 呼吸・kokyu had many people crying, if they were not crying by then anyway.

At the end Kyo slowly turned and left the stage. The end credits started on the screen, the audience was clapping as the rest of the band members slowly left as well. But many people kept crying even then (yours truly included).

But we did get the Gion Matsuri tour announced! 4 days at Kyoto MUSE! I wonder how many people will manage to hit all tickets on one account... I'll try😂

2.17

One more thing that was different was Kyo's stand, on the second day there were no flowers there. So I guess it was a present for his birthday?

The setlist flow was was different on this day. They started with 訪問者X・homonshaX and Kyo's bug dance. He was also pointing at the audience as he sang.

During グロス・Gloss the light bulbs lit up again. There was one moment when Kyo made a movement raising his arms like he wanted to catch his light bulp between his hands.

The video for The Hole had a mix of colours and Kyo was dancing. He definitely had more of a seductress in his movements on the second night. He stretched one arm and moved the other with the music and switched them. The idol songs following felt quite different because of the way they started the set and the mood.

After aftermath the staff came again to 'do' Kyo's make up and it was followed up with a session. At the end the stage was quite dark with a simple spotlight on Kyo.

With 論外な生き物として・rongaina ikimono toshite I love how the song switches from soft to heavy, from Kyo carresing the mic stand softly to him headbanging.

And the hair set he had made it kinda interesting for headbanging 😆 he had thin pink braids glued to his hair again, this time the loops were shorter so the end of the brace was behind the loops. So they bounced when Kyo moved. He wore a cropped black top with puffy sleeves and strands of pearls over it. Flowy pleated black skirt and again pink tabi boots. Make up was very similar to the first night. (fan's drawing)

The rest of the band members had different outfits too. utA again had a very classic v-kei outfit, this time his hair was styled to the right side. Takumi had a long white collar outfit. Mika I couldn't see, from my seat Mika was obstructed by Kyo's iPad stand 😅 Yuchi had a sleeveless Nike top with long gloves, he changed his hair style too to add more braids.

I can't play any instruments and I don't have especially trained ears, but I'm always impressed with the sound quality at sukekiyo shows as well. I can cearly hear all instruments and they create this amazing harmony together. And I also enjoy the fact that band members use different instruments for some songs (like aftermath). I could hear the wonderful bass promised by Yuchi, Mika's powerful drums, utA's guitar, especially during solos, Takumi's piano and guitars. And Kyo's voice. 🖤

For ただ、まだ、私。・tada, mada, watashi. there was no visualisation on the screen, so it looked like there was no screen besides a bit of a smoke by the floor. There was light coming from the back of the stage and very lightly the band members silhouettes appeared above the stage. And because of this the stage appeared to be very deep.

I liked the flow of the last part of the setlist, it didn't feel as gut wrenching as the first night.

The end credits started aready during Margaret and Kyo calmly left as soon as the song ended. The rest of the band followed as fans started to give applause.

I'm so curious what we will see in Tokyo. Only one more performance left.

#sukekiyo #京都劇場 #Kyoto Gekijo #attempt at live report #京 #kyo #漆黒の儀 #shikkoku no gi #Jet black ceremony #TOUR2024 「冷たい沈黙」

[nuri148]

My Trip to Japan! ⛩️ Part 3

16.12

We had breakfast as soon as service started at 6:30, and then went to take the Shinkansen to Kyoto. The trip lasted just under an hour, and we arrived at 8:30. It was an adventure to get out. It would take us a day and a half to figure out the right way to move around the gigantic Kyoto station without getting trapped like a rat in a maze. We left the suitcases at the hotel, conveniently located just opposite the station, and went straight to Kinkaku-ji, the temple of the Golden Pavillion. The titlepavillion is one of several that make up the temple, though none as spectacular. The gardens were a delight. We had matcha tea at the temple's tea house, with a very tasty sweet bearing the pavillion’s outline and a touch of gold leaf.

We continued to the next temple, Ryō-An-ji. I liked this one a lot; it has a large stone Zen garden that invites contemplation... until the school outing arrives and misaligns all your chakras. On the way out, I bought a beautiful maiko doll for my niece, and we had a butaman, a very fluffy bread ball filled with pork. Very tasty.

Next on the itinerary was Ninna-ji, with an impressive monumental gate and a cherry blossom promenade that must be a dream during hanami season. Ninna-ji is an extensive complex, with many pavilions and a five-story pagoda. It was already 1 pm so we took a cute vintage train to Arashiyama, where we had some delicious sobaforlunch, looked at shops, and peeked at the Katsura River before attacking the fourth temple of the day, UNESCO World Heritage Site like the other 3: Tenryū-ji. This was the one that caught my attention the least (or maybe I was already saturated), but next to it ther’s the bamboo forest. You don't enter the forest proper, which is fenced, but walk through a pathway opened between the canes. Still, the height, greenery, and coverage of the bamboo canopy are impressive. You could hear the crackling of the canes hitting each other.

On the way back to the train, we happened to pass by a Shinto shrine in the middle of the bamboo forest, Nonomiya jinja, beautiful in its simplicity. Imperial princesses came here to purify themselves for at least a year before going to the Ise Shrine to ervve there on behalf of the emperor. Even if the custom ended in the 14th century, Nonomiya shrine still enjoys the favor of the imperial family.

In the evening we strolled a bit through the picturesque Gion district at night, had dinner, and went to bed for the next early rising.

17.12.

We got up at six sharp to go to the world-famous Fushimi Inari-taisha, the “shrine of the thousand torii” (ritual gates). We missed the train we wanted to take, lost in the mega-station, but we still arrived in time to start well before the hordes of visitors arrived. Even before entering, I witnessed something that gave a hint of how special this place is: while we were have breakfast in front of the konbini opposite the main entrance, a taxi stopped, the driver got out, prayed facing the temple right there on the tarmac, and continued his route.

The shrine was founded in the 8th century, dedicated, like the mountain where it sits, to Inari, the Shinto deity of rice, agriculture, and business, whose messenger animal is the fox. Therefore, fox-shaped statuettes are omnipresent on the altars spread all about the mountain. We went in, toured the different halls, and started the climb up Mount Inari along the torii-lined path. These gates are erected as votive offerings; the large ones, like the ones along the path, can cost as much as a luxury car, so they usually come from companies, but many minor shrines hold small, smaller, tiny, keychain-sized torii gates. Throughout the mountain, there are literally thousands of shrines: new and old, luxurious or very humble, alone or in groups, next to the path or hidden in the forest, pristine or claimed by nature.

Regardless of each person’s beliefs, Fushimi Inari has more than earned its sacred mountain status. Its atmosphere is tremendously spiritual. Even as I write this I get emotional, as I recall the overwhelming feeling that gripped me most of the way, despite the growing number of people appearing as the day progressed.

After leaving the shrine, we ate some takoyaki on the go and went to the center, to Nishiki Market, a covered street with very nice shops, especially food ones. I stopped at one which had all kinds of beautiful things, had my loot, and when I got to the cash point, the old lady took all her time to perfectly wrap the humble set of Hina dolls that I had bought. Position, bag, box, bag… I legit felt like Alan Rickman in Love Actually when Mr. Bean wraps the gift for his lover. Three times I told her she didn’t need to peel the price tags, as everything was for myself. Forget it, the price tag must go. We ate some more takoyaki to complete lunch at a place that only sells that. The basic ones were ¥280 (€1.90) for 6. In Europe, they charge you €5 for 4 balls. After eating, we went to Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion, with beautiful gardens and not as crowded as the golden one (spoiler: it's not covered in silver. That was the idea, but it never materialized).

We went down a little street that borders a canal called "The Philosopher's Path". A very bucolic and pleasant stroll, with a lot of green, traditional houses and hardly any shops, just art galleries or craft workshops. The last temple of the day was Eikan-do. Larger than we anticipated, it’s set within lush gardens and is beautiful: its many pavillions include a pagoda and a curved staircase nicknamed "sleeping dragon." Next to these stairs stands the three-needle pine, whose needles grow in groups of three, not two. It’s said to symbolize the virtues of wisdom, mercy, and sincerity. And that if you get a pine needle like that, you will be blessed with all three. Unfortunately, with everything being so clean, there was none within my reach.

⬆️ I haven't talked much about shopping so far, because the truth is there was hardly any AoT merchandise anywhere. These on the picture above are the only items they had at the Kyoto Animate store: One (1) chibi Levi clearfile; random manga volumes; One (1) Ereh acrylic stand and One (1) Levi one but it was teen Levi, not looking hot; and a "surprise" box with some chibi stuff but I'm certainly NOT spending 880¥ in a surprise. That's it. Neither Donki nor the discount place opposite had jackshit.

We had dinner on the 11th floor of the train station. Kyoto Station's building is a monster of engineering; the north hall rises ten floors above street level and includes a monumental staircase with LED colors on the risers that play with lights and even reproduce entire videos in full color (we saw the trailer for the latest Disney movie); on that side, there’s a huge department store, of which the last two floors are food courts: the 10th floor is only ramen restaurants, and the 11th floor has a bit of everything. We had beef tongue, a favourite of mine. After dinner, we went to the Sky Gallery, a walkway emerging from the 10th floor, with  panoramic views of the station and the city.

18.12.

We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel buffet, supposedly "western style," which turned out to be a hit-and-miss, not so much because of the Japanese version of what you can find at a buffet in Europe or the US, but because many of those dishes were cold, when they’re eaten warm in the West.

We started the day at Kiyomizu-dera, very spacious, with a clarity inside the temple that I hadn't seen in other Buddhist shrines. The impressive views over the city from its balcony supported by a structure of 13-meter-high wooden pillars are noteworthy. We walked down, looking at shops in Gion (there was a Ghibli shop here too!) and then we looked for an early lunch, as we had booked a kimono tea ceremony at one.

The buildig where the tea house operates is a registered cultural property. They dressed me in a kimono for me: an underrobe, tied with a ribbon (which straightens your back), the kimono itself, tied wit another ribbon, a plate to hold the obi (sash) in place, and the obi. They did my hair, and I proceeded to the salon, where Husband was already waiting for me looking like a full-fledged samurai. We were in a group of 8: us, an Australian couple about our age, and an Asian-American family of dad, mom, and two teenage children. Luckily, everyone was motivated and respectful of the place and the ritual.

After the hostess showed the entire process, she taught us how to whisk the matcha, and we enjoyed our tea (the traditional way is that everyone takes turns drinking from the same cup, but since the pandemic, each one gets their own bowl). Previously, we tasted sweets. One of them was a kind of dumpling filled with anko that blew my mind. It's called yatsuhashi and is a Kyoto specialty. The hostess wrote the name on a piece of paper for me and everything, but... My joy was short-lived, as when I went to buy it, the expiration date was quite short, so I could only got a small package to eat as soon as we returned home. Once the ceremony was over, we took photos at will in the house garden before returning the kimono.

In the afternoon we went to Nijo Castle, with impressive paintings on the door panels and exquisite marquetry on the lintels and ceilings. The historical significance of this castle is enormous, as it was the place wher the Tokugawa shogunate, better known as the Edo era, both began and ended. After the castle and more walking around the city centre, we had dinner and dragged ourselves back to the hotel, exhausted, and prepared everything to go to Nara the next day.

#nuri148 trips #Japan 2023 #Kyoto #tea ceremony #attack on titan #aot merch #or lack thereof

[shinsengumi-archives]

The Shinsengumi's temple barracks

Yesterday I was looking into what year the Shinsengumi moved to Nishihongan-ji Temple, where they terrified the monks with their pigsty and cannon firing. And it turned out that the information about it was different everywhere. I looked deeper for clarification and got to a whole collection of all kinds of data, videos, and photos.

So, Hongan-ji (本願 - Hongan - great vow of Buddha to save all people, 寺 - ji - temple) was founded in 1272. In 1672, it was divided into the Eastern (Higashi) and Western (Nishi) temples.

Since then it has been rebuilt several times.

In February 1865, Hijikata negotiated with Nishihongan-ji for the relocation. On February 28, the authorities officially approved the move, and the Shinsengumi settled in the temple on March 10.

They were assigned two buildings on the right side of the fence. One of them is still standing today, the Drum Tower.

But the Shinsengumi's main barracks were located in the North Assembly Hall. It was 29x36 meters in size, or 300 tatami mats. For the Shinsengumi, it was divided by partitions into several rooms.

In 1873, this hall was dismantled and part of it was moved to Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture. It's now part of the Kameyama Shrine in Himeji.

The beams of this temple still have shinsengumi sword notches on them.

You can see what it all looks like here [descriptions only, images missing :(].

More photos:

kytfushimi.exblog.jp/12302763/

kata2.wablog.com/482.html

A drawing from the Edo period, year unknown [broken]

Map of Kyoto (Nishi Honganji temple a little southeast of Mibudera) [broken]

Another map of Kyoto (temple, palace, zoo :) )

Video - overview of the temple grounds with monastic chants [broken]

A video selection of photos of the temple with pleasant music [broken]

Another virtual tour, in two parts, for 16 minutes

I didn't see the Shinsengumi house there, but I did see a black cat walking around the temple.

#shinsengumi hq #nishihonganji #location

[hhighkey]

Haunted // Chapter Five, kyoto p1

Inumaki Toge x OC (female)

Chapter Rating: general

Story Contains: unhealthy relationships, strangers to lowkey!friends to lovers, family issues, OC is in high school going into university after summer, she thought curses were ghosts, bad parents want their child dead, 18/19 character ages, toge is so in love, eventual sex prior to relationship, soft dom toge, dacryphylia, over protective/ possessive toge, jealous toge

Word Count: 2573

KEY: 'text written with single quotations are writing/typing in notes or messages by toge' and bold text is when japanese sign language comes in

Tags: reply to be added

Masterlist

-

THE afternoon sun bathed down on the buildings that sat up upon the hills looking down onto the Kamo River, paths alongside. The blue sky above was dotted with fluffy white clouds that drifted in the gentle breeze above the city of Kyoto. Tourists and locals alike were out and about- many walking, cycling, and or relaxing on the banks of the river. Two girls in specific had gotten up early to begin their long walk to see different temples and end up sitting on a tiny hill where rocks went down to meet the water. They were enjoying their trip and no school, giggling about recent social media posts, etc.

It had been five days since they were attacked by a curse. Four days since Keiko was given the choice to join Jujutsu High. Three days since Aki's Grandma took the two to Kyoto. The friends didn't know how to talk about what happened that afternoon, when they saw each other for the first time after they just laid in Aki's bed watching television. No words could describe the schock and how they were trying to come to terms with how fast it happened.

Keiko's long black hair continued to whip into her hair as each time she'd laugh annoyed trying to tame it. Finally, she used a hairtie from her wrist to put it back; which she hated low ponytails. Aki was glued to her phone searching up things for them to do, where to shop, and pictures of Kyoto in other seasons.

"I wish we could come back in the spring, look at these pictures of when the cherry blossoms are fully blooming." Aki showed her the phone, where it showed pretty pink blossoms adorning the trees, sky and ground.

Keiko glanced around and back to the picture, she could only imagine how majestic it would be to experience that in real like than a picture. Few months earlier and they would be, "wow.. I mean we can during uni, we’ll have much more time.. hopefully."

"That's a great idea, I can’t wait."

"Let’s just pray rumors of uni being easier than high school are true."

"I know! Sort of an oversight there in my opinion to make high school more demanding." Keiko laughed, "I can't believe that's coming up... we’ve worked so hard."

"Don't even wanna think about it! Parents started getting all emotional lately." Aki groaned, "too much work, let's just not go. Convince your parents to let us mooch off them forever."

"I wish! But hey, if we hate University of Tyoko we can just transfer here." she thought back to Aki's grandma forcing them to do a small tour to get the girls thinking about university, "it's too close to home really.”

"Not like we knew your parents would suddenly let you leave town months after we decided.. though the six hours to get here was pretty lengthy.”

"I knowww but probably because we didn’t take the train." Keiko poked her.

"Ah true, but hey we really lucked out getting on the same dorm floor."

"Though I was gonna cry when we got the placement emails! If was smart of your grandma to have us email housing.” Keiko smiled.

"Literally! I swear if somehow fucking Emiko ended up in our building I’m dying."

"You still hate her?" she laughed at Aki's face of disgust,

"Always will!"

Keiko knew they’d be in different major taking different classes, around new people. They had their different hobbies and strengths in school and life. With Keiko having had private tutoring and being stuck at home, she found herself enjoying books on anything she could get her hands on. So suddenly math and science made sense to her as numbers just solved themselves, whereas Aki was torn between economics and teaching. Keiko had safety in her family life so leaving home seemed like it could be a great idea. Sometimes it felt like there wasn't much for her in Tokyo besides Aki; why stay? University was a touchy subject for a lot of students she felt. Keiko didn't necessarily have any strong emotions about it besides a mixture of laziness and excitement. Primary thankfulness to still have her best friend by her side.

A sudden VIBRATING snapped Keiko from her thoughts. She stumbled to reach into her purse to grab her phone.

"Oh?" Keiko murmured as she saw a text message from a number she didn't recognize.

"What's what?" Aki asked trying to see her friends phone screen,

"Text from an unknown number."

"Who!?"

"Inumaki.. forgot I gave him my number for a second." Keiko flushed red.

"What does it say?" Aki only knew the little about what Keiko told her- he'd saved them and he had been the most welcoming to her.

"Just saying that it's him."

"Oh, lame." Aki huffed, "you better tell me everything about this boy! I am gonna get you a boyfriend somehow,"

"Shut up, it's not like that! Lemme just respond," Keiko giggled shaking her head, knowing this she'd be spilling everything she knew about him to her.

4:55 pm

UNKNOWN: Hi it's Inumaki Toge:)

KEIKO: hi!! do u prefer to go by toge or inumaki? people seemed to call u by ur surname but i have to know what to put your contact as :)

UNKNOWN: Both is fine!

KEIKO: cool! also cool u texted

TOGE: So how are you doing?

KEIKO: well, i feel a lot better now knowing i'm not losing my mind or seeing things.

KEIKO: sorry I left abruptly btw...

KEIKO: Aki is okay, so i'm okay. we're in kyoto rn it's nice

TOGE: That city's nice! n glad you guys are okay. Injuries looked bad

TOGE: And you're good, sorry about Gojo

KEIKO: yeah, it's like all i see when i sleep now. and i am liking it here, much different than tokyo 

KEIKO: and its k, i wasn't doing great

TOGE: Can I ask you something?

KEIKO: yeah sure

TOGE: Would you mind coming to visit when you're back?

KEIKO: uh oh did your teacher put you up to this

TOGE: Yes and no

KEIKO: i don't have much of a choice do i ? lol

TOGE: Not exactly, but I'll stay by you if you'd like.

KEIKO: that'd be nice. ur teacher's a little straightforward

TOGE: He's interesting. You'll also be meeting the principal too

KEIKO: oh great :/

TOGE: You'll be fine :)

"Sounds like they want to see me back at Jujutsu High." Keiko groaned as she figured there was no point in responding right now. She wished the conversation with Inumaki didn't go that direction, "yeah it's super pretty there and cool to learn about curses and what not I guess, but I just want to be left alone right now."

"Aw his texting seems cute, glad he cares about us." Aki proclaimed looking through the texts, "At least go to see this boy! And when have you been such a debbie-downer? This could be that adventure we wanted."

"Seems a little dangerous to me... and I guess I would like to see Toge again."

"Uh ohhh crush incoming!" Aki teased.

"Oh my god, no way, I don't even know him. I'm just glad someone's being nice over there it's weird." Keiko scrunched up her face to give Aki a playfully annoyed look. She put her phone back in her purse so her friend couldn't stare at the messages some more.

"Maybe I can meet him sometime."

"Of course! He saved us. I hope if I have to go back I can meet some other people, being stuck with Gojo will definitely have me running again."

Keiko knew that eventually she'd have to explain more to Aki. It was all on the tip of her tongue ready to spill out, she knew she'd be ready to talk soon. It was also obvious that Aki was itching to as well.

"God I am burning up, I need some more of that breeze," Keiko growned as she stretched her legs out more letting a soft groan out.

Keiko studied her friend's features with careful eyes as she felt more precious than normal. At times, Keiko only saw the 'unconcious and bloody' Aki when she looked at her. At first it startled her, made her stare because she didn't know what to say. But now, at least, she could push the dark thoughts from her mind and appreicate the fact she still had her best friend.

"Ready to go get some tea then?" The two had one more thing planned for the night- Ippodo Tea. It was located in a quiet neighborhood almost an hour from where they currently were. Aki had chosen to go shopping the last few days and stop at known food places, besides seeing Kyoto University the tea shop was the one place Keiko wanted to go. "We should catch the train to get there it'll get you out of the sun," Keiko continued excitedly, "did you know they celebrated three-hundred years last year? They opened in 1717."

"Three-hundred? That's insane... and you would know that,"

"I know." she rolled her eyes pretending not to hear that last part, "I heard their tea is the highest of quality, like top in the world. Literally so happy we're going. They do tastings so you can try different kinds. Finally get to make my own matcha," Keiko was practically drooling over the thought of fresh, high quality tea that would surpass what she made by a long shot.

"You know, you're cute when you get all excited about things!"

"Thanks," Keiko stuck out her tongue at Aki as she watched her friend bounce up to her feet, where she stood above Keiko with her hands on her hips, in a triumphant manner. She grinned down and said,

"Come on lets go slowpoke."

-

Maybe it was the fact neither had the experience of a trauma together, or separately that bled into the other's life to know how to handle it. They were still children in the eyes of society as a whole, but adult enough to choose paths that would take them to the rest of their lives. They shouldn't have been subjected to the evil that appeared in the alley that day, the curse that almost killed them and changed their trajectory forever. The mood was sullen between the two girls as they sipped their tea they so dutifully learnt to make and understand the history of. It was like dark, tear filled clouds hovered over their heads as their gazes evaded the others- like it was hitting them in the moment of silence.

"For the first time I haven't known how to talk about something with you." Keiko said, a solemn look in her eyes as she stared down at the half empty tea.

"I don't think we've been ready the last few days. Had to process, it's weird because it feels like it didn't happen. Like it was all a dream at this point."

"I feel that," Keiko replied, "but also you were definitely unconscious for the worst parts... not that I'm trying to minimize anything, I swear."

"I know." Aki wanted to reach across and grab her hands, try to console her but she felt frozen, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect or help you, or experience it too. I don't know what I'd do if I watched you almost die."

"It's not your fault. I'm okay, really. And I think the fact it was me who did something about it helps. Just the pure pain of losing you and even Kaito made something just... happen. I can't explain."

"I'm proud of you. And thankful we didn't die that's for sure."

"Me too and Aki, I have to tell you about when I was at Jujutsu High without you guys," Keiko took a deep breath as she talked about Gojo wanting her to join the school, figured she could be useful. And as she began to talk about her dad, her voice cracked. With a kind look from Aki she took a deep breath and continued. Keiko couldn't even believe her own words as she said "they're jujutsu sorcerers Aki... My dads one of their leaders or something. Gojo told me to be careful."

"Wow. I-I don't know what to say about that. Now you have some answers..."

"There's no way about any of it." Keiko knew it would be a dangerous denial for her to keep thinking that way; but, it was eating her up. For days she tried not thinking about it while they began their trip, but as things slowed down she had more time to think. Keiko never kept things from Aki like this so she could think, however family ties seemed like an okay thing to keep private as she tried to sift through everything she knew.

"Maybe you should consider joining Jujutsu High to some extent... what if you can really help people? Find out the truth about your parents?"

Keiko frowned as she was suddenly deep in thought. What Aki asked was a good question- she literally saved her friends. What if more people would need her? There was a nagging feeling in her that Gojo or Jujutsu High wouldn't be leaving her alone anytime soon. Keiko didn't want people dying but she also didn't know if she could be the one to help. She didn't think she was fit to take on something like that. But she always wanted to help. Make a difference. However, the world of curses seemed dangerous, not anything she signed up for or thought that would be how she'd help.

"Don't you think it's weird my parents suddenly gave me freedom. How my mom's been so strange towards me...." her voice grew quieter with each world she spoke. In her mind it seemed absurde, questions her parents; but, as she said it aloud she realized maybe it wasn't so crazy after all, "what if they didn't want me knowing about this? And not to protect me..."

"I-" Aki stopped herself before she said anything. It was a complicated situation for two girls aged seventeen, normally she'd have something to say if it was about a boy. Boys and school were always the biggest issues in their lives, mostly.

"I feel stupid, confused Aki. I feel like I can't stop thinking about it unless we're engrossed doing something. At night I've been laying awake while you're fast asleep. It's terrible."

"I'm so sorry... that jujutsu doctor gave Kaito and I someone's number if we needed to talk. I think I'm going to take them up, maybe we could go together. Or I think you should go back to Jujutsu High."

"Or we can pretend like we didn't almost die?" Keiko laughed with a tinge of bitterness.

"That feels like it would be easier..."

Aki watched her friend with sad eyes as she reached across the table grabbing her hands in her own. She knew things may not get any better if they tried to run. She also knew that everything happening was well out of Keiko's comfort zome, she seemed to be struggling this whole trip, seeming absent-minded, "I promise we'll get through this. Together and with Kaito too, he barely knew us and this happened. Us three need each other at the least even if we decide we want nothing to do with the jujutsu sorcerers."

#jujutsu kaisen #inumaki toge #inumaki x reader #inumaki headcanons #gojo satoru #anime #jjk toge #jjk fanfic #toge fanfic #inumaki fanfic #AO’s haunted #text #slow pining #dealing with trauma #strangers to friends

[japan-tourist-places-in-tokyo]

Best Places You Must Visit in Tokyo

Introduction:

Explore japan tourist places in Tokyo, which is a very interesting combination of tradition and also modernity. Admire the famous Tokyo Tower, take a walk through the historical Asakusa district, visit the lively Shibuya Crossing, taste the delicious sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market, and relax in the peaceful Meiji Shrine. Diverse wonders for every traveler await in Tokyo.

Tokyo's Towering Beauty: The symbol of the city, the Tokyo Tower is a very tall standing building with its orange and white exterior. Climb to get the panoramic views of the city’s sprawling skyline where modernity sits with tradition and a visual feast of lights and landmarks for the eyes.

Historical Charm of Kyoto: The city of Kyoto, also a capsule of Japan’s past, has many ancient temples such as Kinkaku-ji and peaceful tea houses in areas such as Gion. Walk along the streets of history where the traditional wooden machiya houses take you back to the nostalgia of the old times.

Natural Serenity in Hakone: Hakone, a serene haven, beckons you to unwind in its revitalizing hot springs, under the watchful eye of Mount Fuji. The untouched nature, including dense forests, and quiet lakes, only adds to the tranquil ambiance, making it a very perfect getaway.

Osaka's Culinary Delights: Osaka, a foodie’s dream, comes with an exciting street food culture. From savory takoyaki to the crispy okonomiyaki, savor the local treats. Discover the famous markets such as Kuromon Ichiba, where the smell of different tastes permeates the air, a culinary tour for every tongue.

Hiroshima's Peaceful Memorial: There is a memorial park in Hiroshima, a place of remembrance that honors the past. The Atomic Bomb Dome is a symbol of the city’s history. As you walk through the park and its peaceful environment, meditate on the messages of peace and resilience to encourage reflection and comprehension.

Snowy Adventure in Sapporo: Sapporo turns into a winter fairytale, mesmerizing tourists with its famous snow festivals and ski slopes. Enjoy the wonders of the snow sculptures, sample the local food at the Sapporo Snow Festival, and ski or snowboard in the beautiful Hokkaido scenery.

Nagasaki's Rich Maritime History: Dejima Island, a former trading outpost, showcases the maritime legacy of Nagasaki. Visit the old Dutch trading post that has been preserved and learn about Nagasaki in its maritime history. The Peace Memorial deepens the meaning, considering Nagasaki’s strength and dedication to peace after the atomic bombing.

Majestic Landscapes of Nikko: Nikko promises a grandiose landscape, home to UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the Toshogu Shrine. Admire the beautiful structures and peaceful scenery. Discover Nikko’s natural landscape, including the majestic waterfalls, where the spiritual and natural elements combine to form a mystical environment in this timeless and idyllic locale.

Conclusion:

Japan presents a collage of experiences, ranging from the high-tech marvels of Akihabara to the tranquillity of the Nikko. Indeed, as the Diper Tour brings the Filipinos closer to these wonders, Japan’s charm becomes more obtainable. Celebrate the cultural convergence in the Japan tourists spots from Philippines, which serves as a great bridge between nations that share similar wonders and also memories.

#Japan tourists spots from Philippines #places to visit in Japan #Japan travel #Japan tourism #Japan tourists spots #visit Japan #holidays to Japan #Japan itinerary #Japan trip #Osaka itinerary #Tokyo itinerary

[spicykaraage]

Tenipuri Complete Profile - Shuuji Tanegashima

[PROFILE]

Birthday: May 29th (Gemini)

Blood Type: A

Birthplace: Kyoto

Relatives: Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, Mother, Younger Brother, Younger Sister, Parrot

Middle School: Maikozaka Junior High School (graduate)

High School: Maikozaka High School

Grade: Third Year

Committee: Biology Committee

Strong Subjects: Psychology

U-17 Training Camp Position & Rank: Second String | Court 1 (temporarily) ➜ First String | No.2

World Cup Team: U-17 World Cup Japanese Representatives

Favorite Motto: “All things come from nothingness.”

Hobbies: Gun shooting games, cruising, playing the werewolf game [TP]

Favorite Color: Aqua

Favorite Book: Fashion magazines where he’s on the cover

Favorite Food: Tebichi, gim (Korean seaweed)

Preferred Type: A girl he can have fun with at The Land of Dreams

Ideal Date Spot: A night pool

His Gift for a Special Person: “I’ll pick out a nice bag and outfit for you☆”

Where He Wants to Travel: Touring the Mediterranean Sea on a luxury cruise ship

Thing He Wants Most Right Now: Earplugs ➜ A Ninebot One Segway [23.5]

Dislikes: Airplanes, people not paying attention to him [TP]

Skills Outside of Tennis: Swimming, communicating with hand signs [TP], arranging blind group dates [TP]

Routine During the World Cup: Swimming in the hotel’s pool at night

[DATA]

Height: 184cm

Weight: 71kg

Dominant Arm: Right

Vision: 0.5 Left | 0.7 Right

Play Style: All-Rounder

Signature Moves: Nothing (name of his technique)

Favorite Brands:

Racquet: MIZUNO F97 COMP

Shoes: MIZUNO WAVE TUSK3

Overall Rating: Speed: 5 / Power: 5 / Stamina: 5 / Mental: 7 / Technique: 6 / Total: 28

Kurobe Memo: “He is gifted with a wide field of vision and a good sense of intuition allowing him see through others’ weaknesses. He’s used to riding a Segway around, so his eyes are accustomed to moving at fast speeds. However, he is a bit of a moody person. He can improve a lot if he can be persistent enough to take matches seriously.”

[TRIVIA]

The Prince of Tennis II Official Character Guide: PairPuri Vol. 10

He is shown to be on the cover of Men’s Non-No, a fashion magazine for young men

The Prince of Tennis II 10.5 Fanbook

He is from an island in southern Japan

He came to Tokyo by boat since he dislikes airplanes

While taking a walk with Kimijima, he was scouted by an agency and is now a reader model for magazines

The Segway Tanegashima rides around the training camp is actually Kurobe’s

Konomi intended for him to be a dependable character and named him after the guns used in “Seven Samurai”

The Prince of Tennis II 23.5 Fanbook

What’s in His Travel Bag: A snorkeling mask set // He brought Kurobe’s Segway as well

After the “Cessna Punishment”, he had been bedridden. The punishment had spurred his dislike of airplanes even more and now simply hearing the word “airplane” makes him anxious

He likes to give people nicknames. His nicknames so far:

Ryoma: “Ryoma-kichi”

Kirihara: “Akafuku”

Kite: “Kiteretsu”

Shiraishi: “‘Nosuke”

Byoudouin: “General”

Oni: “Juu”, “Mr. Rabbit”

Kimijima: “San-San”

Tohno: “Atsu”

Ochi: “Tsukki”

Bismarck: “Bis-cchi”

He developed his dislike of airplanes when he was a child due to a toy airplane hitting him on the head while he was asleep

The Prince of Tennis 20th Anniversary Book: Tenipuri Party

He is described as a “flirt”

His ideal relationship is one where he and his partner focus on enjoying their time together

His catchphrase “chai” is a mispronunciation of “ciao” that he’s been saying since he was a child

#tenipuri #tenirabi #profile #my post

[bluestripedspeedo]

Indiscreet – 02. Suntory Time Pairing: Writer/Producer!Javi Gutierrez x you (Hollywood AU) SERIES MASTERLIST

Chapter summary: Javi and you live out one of your favorite movies and talk about your past. Chapter warning: So many filthy thoughts. 18+ only, please! There’s a 20-year age gap. You're a full adult in your mid-20s and you just met Javi last week. Plus some more single appearance OCs featured here + Dieter introduction. Word count: 6,6k

Playlist Alone in Kyoto - AIR Misty - Johnny Mathis Chances Are What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? - Ella Fitzgerald You're the Top Mia and Sebastian's Theme - Justin Hurwitz Manny and Nellie's Theme I Fall in Love Too Easily - Chet Baker I'm Thru with Love - Nat King Cole You Do Something to Me - Conal Fowkes

✧✧✧

DECEMBER

“Right this way, Mr. Morales, Mr. Gutierrez.”

You whip your head at the direction of the maître d’s voice, who’s walking towards you with Óscar and Javi right behind him. You arrived in Tokyo yesterday (it’s not like you had anything to do back home anyway) and spent the day revisiting your old favorite places. Luckily, Óscar’s costar that you were introduced to at Mira’s party was already here early too for some variety show appearances. You're currently nursing your drink alone at the bar after a full day out with her when Javi and Óscar make their entrance. Javi grins widely when he spots you and Óscar tells you to join their table. You almost say yes… but as much as you’d love to catch up, you honestly would rather pass out after three glasses of whiskey and excuse yourself to go back to your room instead. A couple of hours later, Javi calls you and coaxes you into being his tour guide for the time you’re here. By midnight, you already have the entire week planned.

Promptly at 9 the next morning he already waits for you at the lobby and dismisses his private chauffeured car after you scoffed at him for being “too celebrity”. “They have the best train system in the world here, what, is this your first time?” You know it probably isn’t, but you can’t help yourself from taking a dig at him. 

“I just thought the car would get us there faster,” he says. “So we wouldn’t waste too much time walking.”

✧

“How do you not love walking here?” You say dramatically, making a show of inhaling the cold fresh air of the Imperial Gardens. Javi has to admit that he was let down at first when you suggested a crowded public park to start the day. It’s not that he didn’t think he’d feel safe without a driver or the place wasn’t beautiful, but he’d expected you to take him for a breakfast “date”... now he’s walking with a completely empty stomach and trying to hide his mild shivers. Maybe he should’ve suggested it himself earlier.

“Hmm, I never said that.” Javi replies.

“Right, right… if we’d taken your car though, I wouldn’t have seen that cute dog.” The park is a 15 minute walk from the hotel but it’s taken you more than 30 because you saw a very fluffy chow chow that you insisted on petting and taking pictures with.

“And if we had taken the car, you wouldn’t have tripped over… your left foot?” Javi teases. You were choosing filters to post a picture with said dog that you didn’t pay attention to where you were going. Javi grabbed your waist before you could even stumble, a contact that you were very much aware of.

“Okay, I’ll give you that.”

“And, it’s cold as fuck,” he says, letting go of your arm that’s linked to his to fix his scarf.

“I think you’re just old. Probably arthritis.”

“Argh, not again.”

“You are! Are your joints cracking yet? Do we need to–” You stop mid-sentence as you lose your footing again… and once again, Javi catches you by the arms just in time and holds you close to him.

“Don’t. laugh.” you say, suppressing your own.

Both of you burst into giggles. You look into his eyes, loving the sound of his laugh and the crinkles forming around his eyes. They make them look even kinder, you think. Before you could drown in them, Javi links his arm back to yours and the two of you continue walking through the park, falling into step together along the way. He’s right, though. It’s cold and it’s getting even more so. It doesn’t help that you’re functioning on a cup of tea that you only drank half of. You let out a full body shiver and you hope he won’t notice, but of course he does.

“You’re freezing, do you want my gloves?”

You’d forgotten to pack yours despite already laying out three pairs on the floor while you were packing, and you haven’t bothered buying new ones here. Innocently you thought burying your hands in your pocket or the crook of Javi’s arm would be enough.

“Thanks, but I’ll live.” You instinctively rub your hands together and stretch your fingers around for circulation. You’re almost at the other end of the park now, close enough to go into any building and warm yourself up. Javi stops walking and suddenly envelopes both your hands in his and massages them.

“Better?”

You smile. “Yes.”

“Why don’t we grab some food? That ramen place you told me about?”

“Oh, yes, please.” You sigh with relief. 

“One second.” He says with a wink and calls the chauffeur to get to where you were. 

While waiting on the side of the road to be picked up, he puts his hand that is holding yours into his coat pocket, hoping that would get you warmed up faster. You try not to think about how big it is compared to yours or how tender he is at stroking your hands with his thumb.

✧

“Here you go. Thanks.” You hand his gloves back to him before digging into your pocket to get your keycard. Even with the car’s heater, you still couldn’t get warmed up enough, so you’d given in to his insistence on them. 

���Keep them,” he says, handing the gloves back to you. “You’ll need it tomorrow.”

“What about you?”

“I have a few more.” 

The door clicks open and you walk into the room, putting the gloves and the card on the nearest table. Javi is still leaning on the doorway.

“I’d ask if you’d like a nightcap but then I might not be able to wake up early tomorrow.”

You’re going to take him to the Meiji Shrine first thing in the morning and it’s you who insists that you’d have to be on the way before sunrise to avoid the crowd. It’s important to you that he sees the entire place as serene as you did in your first time. 

He shrugs. “We could go bar hopping tomorrow night. Know any place?”

“Of course. We could have something better than these little bottles anyway.”

He chuckles. “As the designated guide though, you can’t get too drunk. Can’t risk me getting lost trying to get us home.”

You both had agreed to go everywhere on foot and public transportation starting tomorrow so he could have a full tourist experience blending into the crowd. Something that his father never let him do when he went as a child for security reasons. He only hopes his back would make it by the end of the day.

You smile sheepishly. “If we get too carried away though, we could spend the night at one of those pod hotels…” Your eyes grow wide when you realize what you said could imply. “God, that sounded wrong, sorry.” 

“It’s better here, anyway,” he chuckles. “And your room has a better view than mine.”

Javi already knew from Óscar that you’re accustomed to a cushy lifestyle since before you were even born, and he loves that you understand and can keep up with his lifestyle. It’s one less thing to worry about. You’re like a breath of fresh air for him... because even the highest paid movie stars always expected him to pick up the bill. Javi is far from stingy, but undoubtedly sometimes he feels like they’re only using him for his money and privilege when he genuinely only wants their company. They would always choose the most luxurious places to be at, all on his dime. But not you.

Once he heard where you’re staying, he changed his accommodations and Óscar did too, even though Javi initially wanted to use that as an opportunity to maybe… sneak around with you without being directly under Óscar’s nose. But this would have to do for now, and the understated luxury is more his thing than the hotel the studio initially booked for Óscar and co.

“I’ll see you in the morning, then.”

“Good night.” Javi looks t you one last time before closing the door for you and goes to his room to overthink his strategy. You’ve gotten rusty, old man.

He should’ve said yes to a nightcap. Should’ve said it wouldn’t matter if they woke up late tomorrow, the shrine is less interesting than you are. They could always go later in the day, he wouldn’t mind in the slightest. Truthfully he doesn’t really care about where you’re going as long as it’s with you. He should’ve said yes, and then maybe he could’ve spent the night with you. Come on, that’s hoping too much, he tells himself.

It’s not just tonight; he’s been thinking about it every day since he first met you. He couldn’t. He shouldn’t. Not that it stops him from falling asleep thinking about how your hands fit perfectly in his, how you brushed the foam from coffee off his mustache or straightened his scarf, how you sought his warmth whenever you felt slightly cold, how you didn’t hesitate to curl up to his side and sighed when he put your hands in his pocket…

…just like you can’t stop thinking about the way he held your hand every time you crossed the busy intersections today. Not the way you held on to him as he caught you when you were too busy laughing you didn’t notice the train had started moving. Not the way he just drapes his arm over your chair as you watch the jazz band perform. Certainly not the way he whispers in your ear and brushes his nose against your temple. What he says is innocent - and he’s only trying to be heard over the music - but it sends shivers down your spine.

This can’t just be the alcohol. The two of you had been drunker, much more drunker, back in New York but he was never this touchy. That had been purely innocent. This is different. Before you could overthink it and how you should react to him, a tall blonde man and his equally tall and blonde girlfriend walk over to the corner where you and Javi are sitting. 

“Didn’t know you’re in town!” The man’s familiar voice greets you. He turns his head to your side to get a good look at Javi, who is now leaning back on the sofa and watching the man intently. “Who– wait, I know you from somewhere…”

“James, this is Javi.”

 “Gutierrez, right?” He says to Javi who nods and gives you a teasing glance that says, See, he knows me. 

“And Tess,” you say, nodding to the woman. She looks familiar, but Javi can’t pinpoint it. “How’ve you been?” 

“Good, good. I miss playing in London. I love it here, but…” he shrugs. “I’m just looking forward to coming home.”

“Well, I’m jealous that you get to live here.”

“Yeah, and winning matches is nice. What about you? Where do you live these days anyway?”

“New York. But I’m gonna be in London starting next month, we’re filming together.” You tell James, glancing over at Javi.

“Oh, finally, about time!” Tess exclaims. “What did I use to tell you? You’re meant to be seen.”

“Well, it’s not really my thing, but…” you glance at Javi. “Anyway, it’s only because it’s my parents’ friend’s project.”

“Come on! You’re doing great, looking great…” she winks at you. “If only he could see you now, right?”

You let out a suppressed, uncomfortable laugh. “Uh, I… yeah.” You take a big gulp of your drink, a glass of whiskey that tastes even more sour and bitter on your tongue than it should be. 

“James saw him last week, didn’t you, babe? He–”

“Tess.” James says softly but sternly to his girlfriend who then mumbles an apology.

“No, it’s fine,” you wave your hand in front of you, an attempt to distract you from the taste in your mouth and dismiss their concern. “It’s just… a lot of things have happened since, and… I’m doing great now. Really great.”

“That’s good to hear,” James says sincerely. “It’s nice meeting you,” he says to Javi before turning back to you. “And seeing you again. Don’t be a stranger. Whatever you need and whenever, we’re here. Just know that. I don’t care that– just know I’m on your side–”

“Yeah, thanks, I appreciate it,” you try to dismiss it again as you take another gulp but Javi can’t help noticing that your hand is slightly shaking. “Good to see you around too, both of you.”

Tess offers you a small goodbye wave and an apologetic smile and you watch them blend into the crowd heading for the elevators. It takes you a minute before you finally look at Javi again and let out a big sigh of relief.

“Sorry that was awkward.”

“No, no, don’t be.” Javi frowns. He puts down his drink and scoots closer towards you. “It wasn’t. You okay?” 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

You know damn well he notices and you still try to hide it anyway. You know that he saw your face fall when James mentioned your ex and you saw the questions in his eyes when he quietly listened to the earlier conversation. You focus on drinking and watching the band again, and your hands eventually stop shaking.

✧

Javi knows something’s wrong the moment that James walks up to you. Your entire demeanor changes, your tone turning curt. He’s heard about your ex. Back in your apartment after a few drinks, you told him how you met him through friends and that it ended in a huge mess involving a lot of drama and a lot of other people, but you said it in passing that he didn’t think too much of it. You’re young and beautiful, of course you’ve had shitty exes and even shittier breakups. But the way you react to meeting old friends (are they? Friends?) makes him feel protective of you. He wants to hold your hand when he sees it visibly shaking and he hates that your “friends” even bring him up. He wants to reach out to you and wipe the tears that he sees pooling in your eyes for the last two songs. But he couldn’t. He shouldn’t.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Do you want to leave?”

“No!” You’re startled by his sudden speaking up. “Sorry, I’m just, in my head.”

“It’s okay, take your time.”

“It’s just, so weird... I’ve– I’ve… it’s not like it was just yesterday and I’m fine and then James– Javi, I’m so sorry, I wanted this to be a fun night.”

“I’m having fun with you.”

“No, really–” you start.

“I am. This makes me feel like I’m in Lost in Translation.”

You look up at him so quickly it’s almost comical. “Oh my God. That is 100% my intention. Thank you.”

“It’s a bit too obvious. This, and everywhere else we’ve been going,” he smiles at you.

“Right!” You laugh. He brings that beautiful smile back on your face and he swells with pride. You should always be laughing, he thinks.

You’ll never get tired of this place. It’s not just because of the movie, although it was true for the first time. Countless hours you’ve spent sitting in this very place, be it for breakfast or tea by the window overlooking the skyline, dinner in the next room, and many, many drinks at the bar you’re sitting now with various companies all your life. No matter where you’re staying, you always find yourself back here at least once.

“If I could live in this moment forever, I would.” You ponder.

“And what moment is that?”

“This place, this music, this view…” You.

“Even with bold friends coming up to you?” Javi treads carefully.

“Ha, ha. He’s not bad. I was just taken by surprise,” you clear your throat. “Yeah, even then. What about you? Any great memories here?”

“Nothing special. I’ve only been here once before you. I had my first sake here, if anything.”

“Same here. Cheers to that,” you clink your glass of Suntory to his before you empty the rest of it in one gulp. “I was here last spring too. I went alone and it was… it was nice.”

“Do you often go to places alone?”

“Yeah… I kinda prefer it, almost. I’m used to it by now. I don’t really like waiting on anyone’s plans, so… I’d just go by myself.”

Do you ever get lonely? Javi almost asks before you continue.

“It gets lonely sometimes, but I’m used to that by now too. And it’s not always so lonely in New York.”

Don’t ask. Don’t ask. He knows you’ve been going on occasional dates since you first moved there. That’s what you told him. Not only that, but when you were several drinks in and he was buying his time until his assistant would call him again to get to the airport, you told him all about the guys you went out with. And just a few days later you called him from a restaurant’s bathroom to ask him to call you again in a few minutes’ time so your date could overhear that Javi “needs you for an urgent business matter”. He wasn’t pleased when he found out the guy was another actor (your age) that you had met at Mira’s party. That was quickly replaced with relief when you told him he was such a bore that you wanted to crawl out of your skin. 

“Think your guys miss you back home?”

You laugh. “I doubt any of them even knows where I am. And, likewise. The dating pool is so terrible right now. Can’t seem to find a guy who doesn’t bore or double-time me.”

Javi raises his eyebrows.

“Yeah… Ben. Turns out he’s been dating this girl for months and he went out with me to scout for a replacement. Thank God he was boring and I didn’t take it further with him. Or any of them, as a matter of fact.”

Javi's eyebrows pretty much disappear into his hairline. That’s unexpected. He thought you've been… busy. Now you’re presenting him with the fact that you haven’t been getting any in however long and it awakens something in him. “Someone will come around.”

“Yeah. Anyway, here’s to you, the only decent man I met this year,” you raise your empty glass to him. “And all this Lost in Translation shit.”

✧

“You good to walk?” Javi asks you on the way out of the elevator. 

“Yeah, why?”

“Your outfit isn’t exactly ideal.”

You had raised your hand to get a waiter’s attention when you accidentally slapped someone’s hands that were juggling three bottles of beer. The whole ordeal caused them to spill the entire content on you, drenching your body and your jacket that was slung over the armrest. The girl had apologized profusely and the manager brought you the only thing they had ready, a thick bathrobe, to change into. Now here you are, walking across the lobby as if you just needed fresh air and not to walk to the train station 20 minutes away. The gust of wind when the sliding doors open decides it for you.

“Actually, no. Let’s get a taxi.”

“Sorry about that. It was my fault,” Javi gestures to your body with a laundry bag that contains your wet clothes. “You can still have my coat if you want.”

“But then you’d be cold, old man,” you wink at him and you climb into the backseat of a black car. “So. Do all of your fangirls spill their drinks on every woman you’re with?”

“This would be the first time,” he laughs. It all happened so fast. He saw the girl coming towards him. Then your hand flew up and knocked the drinks out of the poor girl’s hands and onto your lap. It was unlike him, but he couldn’t be bothered to check on the fan to see if you were alright. She was shocked, obviously, but so were you. She had apologized while he was uselessly trying to dry your jeans with tissues when someone in a suit came to your rescue and pulled you aside. The manager covered your bills on the house and even offered to comp a room for the night. “Sure you don’t wanna just go back upstairs? I’m fine going back alone.”

You shake your head and let out a yawn. “What are we doing tomorrow?”

“The premiere.”

“Before.” You make a ‘duh’ face.

“Roppongi and the museum you told me about.”

You nod and think for a moment. “Do you think Óscar would be okay if we skip the premiere?” 

Javi shrugs. “We usually leave after the movie starts anyway. Just stick around until then, you never know who you’ll meet.” Hopefully not another lame dude, he thinks. “Why?”

“Doesn’t he have a Q&A or whatever after it ends?”

“Depends, I guess.”

“Okay… what if after the movie starts we sneak out back to the hotel and watch something else instead?”

“Yeah? What do you have in mind?” Javi asks carefully, heart pounding in his chest.

“I don’t know, I just want to stay in on our last night here… We don’t even have to watch anything. What do you think?”

Javi can’t believe what he’s hearing. What are you saying? He tries to not assume that you’re asking in the guise of getting him into your room. To be fair, that’s what he wants. So his hopes aren’t that far fetched anyway. But he still doesn’t know if you’re interested in him like that. You didn’t respond to his touches earlier much and you still seemed very much affected by your ex. This must be all in his head. Only one way to be sure. 

“Can do. Yours or mine?” He asks as he looks deep into your eyes, hoping you’ll get the implication.

“Mine. You’re the one who said it’s much better. And I’m pretty sure my bed is softer.” 

God damn it. “Right you are.”

“What are you wearing tomorrow?” You intentionally cross your legs, hoping that he’ll follow your movement as the bathrobe parts in the middle and shows off your thighs.

“My assistant picked it out. I haven’t seen it yet, actually.” Holy shit. If you weren’t careful, he’d take you on this backseat right here and now – if there wasn’t a driver who’s already aware of each of your exchanges. So he does the decent and gentlemanly thing: he carefully closes the bottom of your robe to cover your side upper thighs… Did you take off your panties too when you changed? he wonders. Are you bare underneath? Fuck.

“I’ve had this midnight blue dress for years. Bought it for a wedding, never wore it. This is a much better event for it.”

“A wedding?” Not yours, surely?

“No, it wasn’t mine.” You smile. Javi doesn’t realize he blurted that question out loud. “And who wears blue getting married?”

He flushes red. “Uh… a lot of people, for the reception,” he fumbles.

You smile seeing him flustered. So you decide to play with him. “No, but why did you think that I was getting married?”

“I mean, it’s possible? You’re around that age, you’re beautiful, brilliant…” he chuckles, and you feel warmth creeping on you at his compliment. “Someone must have wanted to?”

“Actually, someone did ask me. To get married. I didn’t say yes but I didn’t exactly say no either - and it wasn’t even a proper proposal, he just brought up the idea one day. And I thought I wanted to think about it. Anyway, obviously it didn’t work out, and while I was ‘thinking about it’ he went and fucked girls I knew. Said if I wasn’t sure he needed to look at other options.”

“...I’m sorry to hear that.” He actually feels sorry that you were hurt, but thank god you didn’t go through with the ordeal. “Did you want to?”

“Don’t be. No… I dodged a bullet. I was supposed to wear tomorrow’s dress to his sister’s wedding. I didn’t get to go, obviously…” Should you be telling him this? It seems too much, too soon. “It was all just so weird and sudden. It was just a casual thing that escalated and we never even officially came out as a couple. He proposed that idea because it was the next thing to do on his list. A lot of athletes marry young if you ever noticed, and a lot of his friends were already settled, some with kids even…”

You take a deep breath before continuing. “And then we broke up… like I said, most people didn’t know we were together, even the ones we considered friends. So he went back to sleeping around and I turned down every invite from them. They eventually asked me why I wasn’t around anymore, and I told them my truth. But he told them we were never anything but friends who went on a date. One. They were his friends first so of course they believed him and thought I was delusional. James too, at first. I was a lot more hurt by that than the breakup.”

You two sit in silence for a few moments while Javi takes this in. “Sorry, that was a lot.”

Javi touches your shoulder. “Don’t apologize for telling me about yourself. If it would ease your mind, lay it on me. Payback for you having to deal with me asking how to use an app.”

“Yeah, that sounds fair,” you smile at him, though it doesn’t quite reach your eyes. “So yeah… that’s… all that. Well, not quite, but… him asking me and then doing that, made me not wanna get married at all. And he wanted kids right away too. I just couldn’t imagine. I still can’t imagine doing all that so young. Some of my friends are already doing that, and it just seems too much right now. I mean, I never even had a proper job, things like that were out of the question.” 

“But look at you now. One less thing to worry about. That’s your advantage, you still have a lot of time to consider your options, what you want to do… decide what you’re ready for and when.” Javi assures you. “I made up my mind when I was your age. I couldn’t do anything else but to be in the family business, couldn’t be with anyone because it’d be risky for them… never even thought about settling down.”

“There wasn’t anyone? Ever?” You normally didn’t dare to ask him anything this personal after your blunder at Mira’s party, but you just laid out half of your life story in front of him, and it’s only fair for you to get a glimpse of his real life too. At worst, tomorrow you could just blame it on the alcohol. Besides, you’ve been dying to hear it straight from him since you couldn’t bring yourself to Google his past conquests. You’re not ready to face the bevy of gorgeous women you’re sure would grace your screen.

“I was in a serious relationship once, back before all this. She worked for the family business. After that… she was comfortable finally doing honest work, and we were close to Italy, to her family. She was only a few years younger than me, so she was ready to settle down, and I… I wasn’t. I never had this many opportunities before in my life and I couldn’t pass any of it up. She didn’t like this industry much either. So we decided it wouldn’t work out, and I moved to London the next day.”

“Hmm. And where is she now?”

“In Italy. Married with kids.”

“I heard mine is getting married too. Next year.”

“At least you wouldn’t have to watch that in front of you?”

“You did?!”

“Had to. We’d been friends for half our lives.”

“Oh god, that must have been awkward.”

“Everyone’s better off now,” Javi shrugs. “After her I vowed to never get into a serious relationship again unless I’m really, really sure.” He makes sure to look right at you and gives you a knowing smile.

“Same here. Is your dating scene as depressing as mine?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but no. Everyone’s been really great.”

EVERYONE??? You’re screaming in your head. Should you be surprised, though? He looks like that, he’s very rich, he’s in a position of power, he’s kind and smart and gentle and… probably a very generous lover. You take a sharp breath and decide to tackle this, once and for all. “All those beautiful models and actresses?”

“Cliche, isn’t it?” He smiles to himself. 

Technically, you’re his actress now too, right? You could use this to your advantage, with liquid courage egging you on. 

“Is that your type?” You slyly ask as you lean your head back, exposing your neck. You know if he looked down your robe even a little he could see that you’re wearing a black lacy bra. If he takes the bait and you get lucky, you’ll show him your matching panties too. 

Holy fuck. “Never know who’s not going after the fame or money, though.”

“That’s true.”

“Do you think I should worry about it?” You raise your eyebrows in answer; of course, duh. “How do you tell?”

“First, depending on who, I suppose…” You’re not sure where he’s going with this. A test? “And things like, never picking up the tab, for one. Or name dropping. Remember this one guy I told you about, who couldn’t not mention he was like 5x removed from the Windsors? That’s bad news. Or… boasting about you, a lot. Especially on social media. Posting your things without asking first. Those are my red flags. ”

Javi nods in understanding. It’s good to know you’re on the same page. His hand is back on your shoulder, fingers playfully stroking the collar of your robe, and you’re not sure if he wants to expose more of you or cover you.

So you continue. “I feel like that’s more relevant to my generation though, almost everyone’s like that, especially the social media part. I wouldn’t really know about people your age. They’re more lowkey, aren’t they? And, settled.” And now you want to know his preferred range. You mentally scold yourself for digging this hole. 

“Not all of them. They’re in the business for a reason.” Javi answers. “There’s always more to want.”

“I see. But I can’t imagine anyone could be worse than the ones I’ve dealt with. They’re just all so… silly.”

“Aim older.” Javi blurts, his heart pounding in his chest. 

“Should I? I haven’t thought about it.” You bite your lip and rub your thighs together, needing contact. You’ve thought about him, thought about pursuing something with this man 20 years your senior, thought about his lips devouring you everywhere, his beautiful hair that you want to grab onto as you take him, his mustache tickling you as he whispers Spanish filth, his big arms that you want wrapped around you, his neck that you want to nuzzle on... Oh, how you’ve thought about it.

If only he had taken his private car with the blacked out partition and the NDA-clad chauffeur. He could’ve made a more direct move. You’re practically halfway to parting your robe open and he’d like to take care of that. He tells himself he shouldn’t hope too much. Shouldn’t have even said everything he said, and shouldn’t have let you either. He’d promised Óscar too… not that it matters much since he’s been fisting himself every night to the thought of filling you in between your shooting schedule. You, begging for him until you couldn’t stand it anymore. Cleaning him up and going in front of the camera with his remnants still on your tongue. It’s safe in his head, where there’s no friend or public perception to consider. He could live with it, for now, at least until production’s done and you’re both out from under Óscar’s nose. He has a professional reputation to maintain too. Those worries aside, he and both his heads will have even more fun tonight knowing you haven’t been with anyone in a while.

“Javi…” he hears you whisper breathily. Before he could refocus himself, the car slows down to a stop. You’ve arrived back at the hotel. Where do we go from here?

✧✧

“Let’s never come here again, it would never be as much fun.”

“I disagree.” You quip.

You’re on your stomach next to him, still in your floor length dress and full makeup. You look absolutely stunning tonight. He was relieved he didn’t have to get you at your door like in the morning, because otherwise he might have said fuck it and talked you into ditching the whole thing to continue where you left off last night. He’d immediately excused himself after walking you up to your room, not wanting to cross professional boundaries just yet. He now could surmise that you more or less wanted the same thing, but what’s stopping you, he doesn’t know. Maybe you’re a more traditional type who waits for the man to make the first move. He’s fine with that - not that he could anyway. Not when he’s your boss. You didn’t look too disappointed when he left so you must’ve gotten a clue. All day today you kept a respectful distance from him.

Tonight you were already waiting in the car with Óscar, telling him all the places he missed out on while he was occupied elsewhere doing press obligations. Javi sat opposite you and had to look out the window when you crossed your legs and showed off the slit that went up to your thigh, lest Óscar noticed he was leering. You have a thing about doing that. He wasn’t ready either when you stepped out of the car first and he saw that your dress was backless… but he didn’t have time to think about it once the cameras flashed his way and you slinked into the background, making your way inside with one of the assistants.

Just as Javi predicted, all the cast but one left as soon as the movie started. Once the three of you arrived back at the hotel, you immediately said goodnight to Óscar and told him you were too tired from all the socializing to join him for a drink. Javi stayed at the bar with him, waiting for your signal.

“I gotta go,” he said to Óscar thirty minutes later, putting his phone back into his pocket.

“Got someone for the night or something?” 

“Or something,” he smirked.

“Sure, tag along just to leave me for some girl.” Óscar rolled his eyes. 

“No, but good night.” He slapped Óscar’s shoulder.

“Yeah, right. Fuck her up!”

You opened the door to Javi with a bucket of champagne and way too many plates of sushi that he had taken the liberty to order and timed perfectly to his arrival. You had been contemplating changing into something more comfortable. Should you go for the robe, but without anything else underneath this time? Remind him of what he was missing out on last night? He didn’t seem affected by the way he acted today. You were waiting for him to bring up the age thing again all day, but he never did. And all that was quickly forgotten once you saw the food.

“Fuck yes, I forgot I haven’t eaten anything since lunch.” You moaned.

“You’re welcome,” Javi closed the door behind him. “Think of this as the event your dress deserved. It looks fantastic, by the way – and you, too.”

“Thank you,” you climbed into bed and started arranging the food on your bed frame. “And your robe is impeccable, I have to say I’m jealous. Do you want to open it up?” You pointed to the champagne. 

“Fill your stomach first, you’ll throw up.” Javi took his robe off and threw it on a chair behind him. “It’s yours if you want it.”

“I’ll think about it,” you said with your mouth full.

An hour later, with all the food gone and only half a flute of champagne left between the two of you, he watches you watch the movie with a soft look on his face. This is what he imagined nights with you would be like: you, laid out on the bed looking dreamy and completely relaxed. In the scenario in his head, he’d be slowly teasing you with his hands and mouth before you beg him to take off your dress that you’d put on just for him.

“Javi?”

“Huh?” He’s too far in his own head, wondering if you’d prefer him to take it off from the top where he’s very aware you’re not wearing a bra given the design of your dress, or slowly up your legs and take off your skimpy panties first and foremost. He’s pretty damn sure it’s some tiny little thing. 

 “I disagree. Let’s always come here again, it will always be as much fun.” You look up at Javi with your hand supporting your head. “It’s all about making new memories, right? Even if the next one turns out to be a bad one, that just means all the more reason to go back again.”

“You’re right. Would you say this is better or worse than the last?” He asks, making sure to look at you square in the eyes, letting you know he’s expecting a particular answer.

“Hmm… I don’t know. Still up in the air.” You give an exaggerated shrug and a wink and you scoot over to plop down next to him. “This has been a really fun week, Javi. Thank you.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you. I would’ve been sitting in coffee shops alone if you hadn’t come along.”

“Come on, you’re not that boring. You’d still go to museums and parks. Alone.”

“And it wouldn’t be as much fun.”

The two of you lie on your backs in silence, enjoying each other’s company, listening to each other’s breathing. Eventually you turn your body sideways, and he turns his head to look at you.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” his deep voice answers you amusingly.

“Are you sleepy?”

“It’s not that late.”

“Even for you?” You roll over to your stomach, forearms supporting you… and pushing your chest up. It’s fully covered, but it’s the idea that counts in Javi’s head. He doesn’t bother with a comeback, and instead gives you a rumbling giggle.

“Hey…” Javi starts, looking deep into your eyes. “Are you going anywhere for the holidays?”

NO, you want to say immediately. But before you could answer, your phone obnoxiously vibrates on the desk, interrupting the moment. You always leave calls missed, but for some reason this one compels you to pick it up. 

“Hi! Hi. Yeah, yeah. No, I, uh, I’m… not busy,” you clear your throat and glance at him apologetically. “Sure, um–”

He disappointedly takes his cue and gathers his robe from the chair. Whoever is calling you clearly needs you more - he’s certain he hears them crying. 

✧✧

“How was your night?” Óscar asks him with a smirk over coffee at breakfast.

“Could’ve been better,” Javi says with a shrug.

“It couldn’t be that bad. It’s still sex.” Óscar checks his watch. “So, I need to talk to you about her before she comes.”

Her? Javi perks up, his eyes cautious.

“Dieter Bravo’s a flight risk, so I think we should minimize his role a little bit,” Óscar suggests. “And then we’ll make her character bigger and move up her start date. What do you think?”

More of you on set? Why not! “When have I ever said no to you?”

He knows it’s a blatant lie. There’s a line he’s willing to cross that Óscar has drawn very, very clearly. 

✧✧✧

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#fic: indiscreet #pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x reader #the unbearable weight of massive talent #javi gutierrez fanfiction #javi g fanfiction #javi gutierrez x reader #javi gutierrez x you #javi g x reader #javi g x you #the bubble #lost in translation #pedrostories #pedro pascal smut #hollywood au

[anueutsuhos-touhou-profiles]

Maribel Hearn and Renko Usami

In addition to the games, ZUN has released a number of albums. These albums contain a mix of new songs, and old favorites from Touhou. The albums all have a story set in the future of outside world Japan, starring two college girls named Renko Usami and Maribel Hearn.

The future they live in, while not quite 1984 or Handmaid's Tale, is still pretty bleak. Children don't smile anymore, all food is artificial, and the entire world is suffering the declining birthrate Japan suffers now. There are tours to the moon but they cost $3 million a visit so it's nothing but pointless information to the average Joe. Oh and all beer is non-alcoholic. That's the worst part.

Maribel Hearn is a European foreign exchange student in Japan. Her name is apparently too hard for Renko to pronounce normally, so she just calls her "Merry". She's a psychology major at the University of Kyoto. Throughout her whole life, she's been able to see the boundaries between things. The border between here and there, then and now, light and darkness, humans and youkai, or life and death. Apparently she was born with these powers, and they are hereditary, but she's kept them a secret for fear of being ostracized by society. Not that she has many friends besides Renko anyway. She often travels to Gensokyo in her dreams, and has seen many iconic locations and has been attacked by a number of youkai. She's not sure whether the dreams are real or not, or if they're the only real thing and her current life is the dream.

Renko Usami is Merry's closest companion. She and Merry co-founded a group called the Secret Sealing Club, a club that discusses the occult and the possibility of other dimensions. They're the only members. She's a theoretical physics major, though in the future there isn't much to theorize about. Pretty much everything is in one super unified theory. She's a lot more headstrong than Merry, as well as viewing things in a more rational sense. She believes what Merry is seeing is real, and tells Merry to make the dream she desires most the real one. She also has an unexplained ability, to be able to tell the time by looking at the stars, and the latitude and longitude by looking at the position of the moon. This effectively makes her a walking GPS.

Together they explore the nature of Merry's abilities, the future they live in, and strange esoteric sites. With each album Merry has been growing in power and control over her abilities, and has been able to take Renko on trips to the moon, Gensokyo, an abandoned overgrown space station, and even back in time to prehistory. They've self-published a collection of their misadventures under the pseudonym of "Dr. Latency", though it may have been embellished to sound more exciting than what actually happened.

Now... the fact that Maribel can travel back in time... her last name is Hearn, there's a woman who looks a lot like her with absolute mastery of boundary manipulation named Yakumo, Merry wants to make her dreams a reality, Yukari is one of the founders of Gensokyo... hmm. I wonder what the connection is.

But if Merry goes on to become Yukari... then what happened to Renko?

#touhou project #touhou #maribel hearn #renko usami #magical astronomy

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Vol:9 - Looking back at the Phalaris tour

Part 2 (To part 1)

J: Well, you toured nationwide, so im sure there are many stories to be told of your travels. So Leader, what have you brought for us...some photos from your trip? You've brought some photos to show, especially for Niconama.

T: Oh, exciting!

J: Ok, lets have a look at the photos that Leader took for us. Here they are! These look interesting. Shall we go through them one by one? Here is the first one. 

*photo shows some old gacha mahines*

T: Whats this? "Jyan jyan no anaba"?

K: This was in Shinsekai, in Osaka...near Tsūtenkaku and stuff. 

T: Its old fashioned. 

K: Yeah, this type of stuff is still around there. 

J: Its has a very Shōwa feel. 

K: The next photo is of the shopping arcade where this is...is arcade the right word? *next photo appears* There, look, you can see the machines at the side. 

J: Oh yeh! A lot of the shops are shut, aren't they?

K: Well, this was about 10:00 or 10:30 at night. 

J: I see. This has character, doesn't it?!

T: Yeah, it does.

K: The thing was, our manager said he wanted to eat kushi katsu, so we came down here to get some. He nearly ate himself to death. 

J, T: haha 

J: Ate himself to death? haha. This street looks kinda scary to walk down, was it ok?

K:Hm?

J: Isn't Shinsekai a bit scary?

K: Well, some of the outer areas might be a bit dubious, but its mainly a tourist area, so its totally fine. 

T: Everyone, do you know the guy eating loads...its Fujieda, right? Fuji fuji. 

J: Does he really eat that much?

K: He eats a tonne. 

J: Its like what is he doing there, eating that much??

K: Well, he said he wanted to eat, so its ok, haha. 

J: Ok, next photo please. *photo shows a buffet table* Oh, more food. 

K: This was in the venue in Osaka. At long last, we had a buffet put out. Its usually only been bentos during covid. We couldn't just walk over and get something to eat. 

T: What is that?

J: It looks like rice crackers pilled up.

K: Its katayakisoba, noodles. 

T: noodles?? 

J: Interesting!

K: And you put sauce and stuff on them. 

J: Did the members request those?

K: No...

J: But how did they taste?

K: They were good. 

J: Thats the first time Ive seen katayakisoba in a buffet. 

K: Yeah, same. 

J: When I worked for Rolling Stone, where was it that I came to see you?

K: Osaka, this venue. 

J: Ahh, I remember the buffet. It was so nice!

K: Uh, this was the 20th anniversary for this venue, Namba Hatch. And you know, recently, we played our last live at Shinkiba Studio Coast, that was our 74th live at that venue. Well, on this day at Namba Hatch, it was our 75th time to play there. This is our most played venue. 

J: Oh, amazing! Ok, lets see the next photo. 

*photo of lots of whisky bottles*

J: Oh, again, all of a sudden...

K: This was Kyoto. 

J: Kyoto??

K: I went to the Yamazaki Whisky distillery. You know our manager Fujieda, he loves whisky, well..I drink it too. So, we had a free day in Kyoto, so he said, 'Lets get tickets to tour the facility'. 

T: Haha, he loves it that much. How was it?

K: Well, it was the type of thing you can't usually do, you know, seeing inside the distillery. 

T: Did you see the barrels and stuff?

K: Yeah. 

J: Can you do tastings too?

K: Yeah, you can. 

J: Someone commentd "I wanna drink Hakushu!!" haha. But taking a break during the tour is really important. 

T: Did you get drunk? 

K: Well, I posted this on my blog, I did a little video, well not of the inside. No filming inside. *photo changes to a 25yr old bottle of Macallan* Yeah, they have Macallan in there too. 

T: 25 years old. 

J: I bet thats expensive. 

K: This wasn't for sale. Im not quite sure what it was doing there. 

J: Someone asked, did you buy any whisky for yourself?

K: I bought a bottle of non-aged. You can but that there. 

J: You havn't drunk it yet, have you?

K: No, not yet. Its the type that you wont be able to buy there for much longer.  People keep reselling it. They sell it for three times the price. 

J: Really?? Well, maybe if Hanshin win, we should open it. 

K: No, we need something better than that if Hanshin win. 

J: Ok, lets go for Champagne!

K: Nah, I don't really like Champagne, haha. 

J: Ah, thats a shame...Ok, next photo. 

*photo shows a red carpet leading up the wing to the stage*

K:This is the stage wing. 

T: Ehh? Where? 

K: Well, in the tour venues. Our stage director came up with this idea for our 25th anniversary. He put a red carpet leading up to the stage for us, for when we enter. 

T: Cool!

K: This was for all the venues. 

J: Ah, such a happy thing. The audience can't see this though. Its a gesture of love towards the members. 

K: Yeah, I think so. 

J: So great, a red carpet. Ok, next photo. Oh, its him! You know who this is straight away, right?

K: Who?

J: Haha, its Shinya.

K: This was probably when he was taking the photo to upload to his Instagram. He's needs the light to make it Insta worthy. 

T: You took a photo of that moment?

J: From behind! His most embarrassing moment. You've been caught, Shinya!

K: Hahaha. 

J: Shinya wears white a lot, doesn't he?

K: Yeah, he does. 

J: Have you got any recent stories about Shinya?

K: Stories?

J: There's usually something about the members doing something to him right?

K: Yeh, its only stuff I can't say. 

J: Hahaha 

T: Stuff you can't say?

J: Haha, I feel like I need to hear this now. 

T: Uh, we have some mesages from viewers here, can I just read some of them? 

J: Oh, thank you! Die did this part last time, didn't he?

T: Yeah. Uh, From Yuko san, "How do you feel when you see Shinya playing the drums like crazy during The Perfume of Sins?

K: During lives? I don't have time to look at him. 

T: Haha. There you go!

J: Any more messages? We've been asking for communications from you all. Im not sure about using the word 'communications' these days though. 

T: Ok, this one is about Hotarubi, which we mentioned earlier...from Imo san? "Good evening, Kaoru, Joe, and Tasai. Kaoru, well done on the tour. When I heard Hotarubi on the first date of the tour, I got goosebumps, it was so cool. My question is, is there any reason why you chose Hotarubi for the first day? I love this song, so I was so happy to hear  it. Im looking foward to the next tour!"

K: Well, yeh, it was because it was a fanclub live, we did Hotarubi for that. We usually do this, like, do one irregular song for the fanclub live. 

J: Ahh. Ok, one more please. 

T: Ok, this is from Nanatsu san. "Hi Kaoru. Ive been excited to hear the new songs on tour, but which is the most difficult song to play live on Phalaris? Also, please tell us what to look out for in the 25th anniversary tour. Im also looking forward to Phalaris Vol:2". Please tell Nanatsu san which is the most difficult song to play, or any other difficult parts, if there are any.

K: Well, im always nervous at the start. But on the otherhand, this time, no one knew the songs at first, so they wouldnt know if we messed them up. 

J: Ah, before the release?

K: Like, even if it was awful, they dont know, so...haha. 

J: Well, yeah, but thats part of the enjoyment of watching the first song. 

K: Hm, yeh, I think so. But yeh, the hardest song was probably Schadenfreude. 

J: And being the first song too...You must have been nervous. The audience would enjoy it though. 

K: You know that song starts with Die's acoustic guitar. Its a fade in effect. So with the fade in, you have to start playing first, and then fade in, right? When we first played it, it seemed like some people thought his guitar wasnt working, haha. 

J: Really?? You had that kind of trouble?

K: No, it wasnt trouble. The sound doesnt come out at first, it fades in. So, he's playing with no sound to start. But the audience dont know the song, so some people apparently though the sound was broken, haha. 

J: Ahhh, I see, because of the fade in, f couse. Do you have any other stories, or mishaps to tell us about from this tour?

K: Mishaps?

J: Or like, interesting stories involving the members backstage?.....Oh, we'll save that for the second half. Our producer knows how this is done! Ok, so after this we are gonna dive into the second, but like I just said, we'll have more stories from the tour then. And like we said at the start, we have various ways to pamper, and reward Kaoru, which you can look forward to. Now, how to watch this. The second part of this show is for members only, so you need to subscribe in order to watch to the end. If you subscribe, you can watch this broadcast in the archived for one year, and there will be member only videos to be released later. We have a lot of plans in store for them, so please sign up to watch them. Ok, how to subscribe. Can you all see the blue link at the top of the screen? Leader is pointing to it. If you click this, you will be asked to choose your preferred payment method. Choose your method, and click proceed. Then you can input your details. If you havnt already joined, please do so to enjoy the rest of the show. Ok, we'll leave you for a breif monent while we change over into the second half. A changeover screen will appear, so if you are a member, please wait a moment. If you are not a member, please subscribe to enjoy more tour stories, and our pamperIng of Kaoru.

K: The members only video that we filmed recently was fun, wasn't it?

J: Very fun. 

K: It was wild, haha *snorts while laughing*

J: You just snorted! It was so much fun, Leader snorted! You need to watch this everyone!

K: No, they'll wonder what the hell we are doing. 

J: No, its artistic...artistic! I think the viewers will enjoy it. So, everyone, please look forward to this members only video too! Ok, Leader, a final word from you. 

K: Yep, See you in a min. 

*Info which I gathered from the comments during the paid contents, which are publicly viewable. 

They mention the towel incident at Namba Hatch. 

They talk about underpants preference, with reference to boxer style or otherwise, ck, tiger pattern, fuji patern (Kaoru got given Fuji Q underpants froma fan???).

Talk about tour goods from the last tour.

Kaoru was eating potato salad, but he wanted beer with it.

Then he was talking about all the different veggies he likes to add to it.

They were then trying out a few massage devices. Joe had one of those vibrating massage wands, and was using it in dubuios ways, causing the viewers to scream in the comments. Kaoru had a try with a face massage roller, apprently resembling a cat.

They talk about the upcoming tour, and mention some of the venues. 

#dir en grey #the freedom of expression #translation #薫

[nhidalgo9]

June 15th Kyoto national Museum+ Kyoto Imperial Palace

Before I got started on this blog I just wanted to say a quick hello to all those reading the blog either on the trip or back at home. Hope you’re all doing well as you read this and hope you enjoy it. For this morning’s breakfast I ended up being the first one to wake up and shower between Raj and I so I headed to 7-11 to get breakfast, it's a damn shame they do not give us Japanese breakfast (like the artist) anymore the western breakfast that came to replace is much worse, at least in my opinion. Today is Sam’s or Joe Cool’s bday which means we will probably head to karaoke to celebrate him as one group. For the academic excursions today we headed to Kyoto’s national museum which I thought was better than Tokyo’s but I understand that saying that is a hot take. As you walk into the dimly lit, mysterious, and aesthetic room you are greeted with giant stone statues standing at almost 20 feet tall which represent various kings and entities in the religion like Enma. As we made our way through we were generally separated because everyone goes through the museum at a different pace, for that museum I could’ve been there the whole day I kept reading every little infographic that was there and I liked almost all of the exhibits that were there (except for textiles, textiles suck). When tasked to find an object that spoke to us I could not help but be drawn to these two twin scrolls that represented two different views of Kyoto. Since we were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum I instead wrote my thoughts down while at the museum and will now share them. The paintings were called Uzumaza in spring: evening light in the Katsura river. The left scroll includes a railway which goes to show the modernization of Kyoto all the way back to 1876. The dichotomy between this natural scene and the industrialization you know is going to happen in the years to come gives the painting an eerie and ominous aura to it. Almost like you are viewing something moments before an event that you know will change Kyoto and Japan forever. As they rapidly get swept into a movement that they have no control of, you can't help but feel remorse for the many aspects of traditional Japanese culture that gets lost due to their inability to keep up with the expansions. If you made it past that the rest of my day consisted of going shopping with Chelsea, Julie, Aulora, Casey, Sam, and Xander, as we walked from store to store there was not much that caught my eye, although they did convince me to buy and  start using a loofah because I guess you’re not showering right if you do not use one?? Chelsea wanted to go to the Sanrio store to buy a gift for someone. While she was shopping, others donned some Kawaii ear wear and took some pictures in the Sanrio store that will not be seeing the light of day and went home. 

Academic reflection 

Our academic reading today was all about painting the scene for our next read tonight on the “Tale of Genji”, so we could familiarize ourselves with the different aspects of ancient Japan that are prevalent in the story. One of these ideas was that living closer to the imperial palace signified your wealth and stature, the closer you were to the imperial palace the better. The reading also talked about how these palaces usually had a garden to them either with an artificial lake that had some sort of rock arrangement. We saw something similar to that today by seeing their “beach” like structure that had a little shoreline made with rocks to represent the sand. 

The furniture used in the houses and palaces were also very sparse, the traditional tatami mats that we are used to nowadays did not exist yet in that time instead there were straw mats that you would place down and pick up wherever you sat. We were able to see a little bit of this barren inside during our tour but the most that we got out of it was just how big the imperial palace itself was, there was lots of open space and a lot that was in the open air surrounded by the natural beauty of Kyoto.

[memorableconcerts]

THE CURE

Wednesday 28-06-1989 - Estadio Jose Alvalade - Lisboa-Portugal

1ª Parte - Shelleyan Orphan

Tour: 'The Prayer Tour'

This was the first ever The Cure concert in Portugal.

Price: 12,50€

Mainset:

Plainsong

Pictures Of You

Closedown

Kyoto Song

A Night Like This

Just Like Heaven

Last Dance

Fascination Street

Cold

Charlotte Sometimes

The Walk

A Forest

In Between Days

The Same Deep Water As You

Prayers For Rain

Disintegration

Encore 1:

Lullaby

Close To Me

Let's Go To Bed

Why Can't I Be You?

Encore 2:

Hot Hot Hot!!!

Three Imaginary Boys

Boys Don't Cry

Encore 3:

Homesick

Untitled

Faith

Songs played: 26  (16 | 4 | 3 | 3)

Line-Up

Robert Smith

Simon Gallup

Porl Thompson

Boris Williams

Roger O'Donnell

Flyer

Recorte Blitz

The-Cure-1989-06-28-Prayer-Tour-Lisbon-Portugal-DVD

#Gothic rock #post-punk #alternative rock #new wave #portugal #live music #lisboa #the cure #robert smith #1989

[sebastianinjapan]

June 20 - Osaka Day Trip

A couple of my peers in our group had already been to Osaka, and each one of them only came back with glowing reviews. I was pretty excited in the morning as we departed, and upon arriving the city reminded me a bit of Tokyo. Significantly fewer people, but tall buildings and more energy compared to a city like Kyoto. The first thing we did was break for lunch since the train ride was about 2 hours long. I went to probably one of the best curry spots I've been to in Japan, a fusion of Japanese and Indian curry. At this location (which was entirely staffed by one man) the chef offered a Whimiscal Curry of the Day, which I found out was fish so that's what I ordered. It was delicious, and I only wish there was more on the plate. I also ordered a mango lassi which he hand-made in front of us. After that, we regrouped and traveled to Osaka Castle. While we didn't go inside as it has been refurbished with a modern aesthetic the outside was quite beautiful. After we traveled to Ameri Village, which was a burgeoning little district mainly filled with second-hand clothes retailers and well-dressed youth. We didn't stay long as our tour guide Leina was nervous about the location (but I eventually came back later and did some shopping). We then went to this area which looked like a smaller-scale version of Time Square. As we walked down the rode, many many shopping carts and restaurants lined the street. I wasn't very hungry even though Osaka is the food capital of Japan. After doing a good bit of shopping I went to the Botanical Garden exhibit held by TeamLABS. Honestly, it was kind of meh just some pretty lights in a wooded area. Afraid to miss the final train Eliza, Nico and I left the group early to return to the hotel. To finish the night off I went to the onsen down the street alone and had a nice soak.

Academic Reflection

Our reading for Osaka dealt with urban planning. It reinforced the knowledge we had gained from the previous reading on Tokyo’s urban planning such as the effect loose building codes and overall layout had on the cities effect. As I stated above both cities mirrored each other which was a welcomed pace of change compared to the general slowness of Osaka.

What I’ve come to appreciate about Japan’s construction is how each area is evidently suited to the people that live there. This was more so the case in Tokyo where districts were more clearly delineated. However, beyond just making the city walkable and accessible different areas serve particular functions.