[OPEN/MINGLE LOG] New Year's Eve at the Youth Center!

[cuteshit]

Who: Kanji Tatsumi, Coraline Jones & you!
Where: The youth center!
When: Evening of 12/31 (forward-dated).
Rating: PG
Summary: The adults are celebrating New Year's Even in their own way, but what about the younger crowd?
The Story:

[The idea had actually been Coraline's, way back around Halloween. New Year's was pretty important back home, and in the wake of Wonderland's most recent event, Kanji was missing home more than usual. This would be the first New Year's he'd be spending without his mom. There was no shrine to visit here, and while he could still go around and offer New Year's greetings to his friends, he still felt like there should be something more.

Coraline's idea for a sundae bar seems like a pretty good solution. A lot of the adults in Wonderland will be ringing in the new year with alcohol, but that didn't mean the younger crowd had to miss out entirely. It's nothing like the traditions he would have observed back home, but-- since he wasn't at home, maybe doing something totally different was the way to go.

He has to ask Coraline for her expertise, not exactly knowing what goes into putting together a sundae bar, but he helps with the legwork and the lifting. By the time evening rolls around, the youth center has been turned into an ice cream buffet with an extensive toppings bar, including candy that had been inspired by some of the treats that Dustin had handed out to people for Christmas. Once everything is set up, he sends a text out across the network to grab people's attention-- can't have a party without people!]

Yo, Wonderland! Too young to drink? Youth center's got all the ice cream you can eat, come ring in the New Year right!

[Or, you know. By sending yourself into sugar shock.]

Comments

[jivitadana]

Thanks for setting it up. You're good at this.

[Like really good. Kanji thought of everything for this sundae bar, and it's pretty amazing. There's everything here that he could think of.]

Did you have some already?

[cuteshit]

Didn't do it all on my own. It was Coraline's idea, an' we did the setup together. I've never been to anything like this, but I thought it'd be fun.

[It's not like what they would have done at home at all, but maybe that's better. Makes them miss home a little less.]

Got my first cone, but you can bet I'm gonna go back for more. Who's gonna stop us, right?

[jivitadana]

[This was fun. One of Minato's weakness was ice cream.]

Right. But what is your favorite?

[Since Minato was having a hard time deciding. He could come back for seconds, thirds, or more, but going for something great right off the bat would be better. And he wanted to know what kind of things Kanji liked too.]

[cuteshit]

Ain't nothin' like chocolate, but this one that's got pieces of brownie in it? Freakin' amazing.

[He's a simple kind of guy.]

Why the hell don't we have places like this back home?

[jivitadana]

[Noted! Chocolate is always a win.]

The only place I can think of is the sweets shop at Iwatodai Station.

[But that was just a general sweets shop and didn't have nearly as many ice cream flavors or toppings as here. Which leads him to think:]

... Open one in Inaba?

[cuteshit]

Open one? Huh.

[The idea has merit, ignoring the fact that Kanji is still a high school student-- and not a very good one, at that.]

Maybe. I dunno, though, got my own family business to take care of once school is done.

[jivitadana]

What's your family do?

[If he can ask. Dealing with events and the like didn't allow for them to have some conversations steer in this direction. Minato was hoping it wasn't too personal a question either. Some people didn't really talk openly about family.]

[cuteshit]

[Luckily, not too personal at all. After all, Inaba's a small town-- everyone there knows what the Tatsumi family does.]

We have a textile shop. Ma runs it alone now since my dad's gone, but I help out where I can.

[jivitadana]

[A family-owned business. Minato had a friend like that, although hers was on a much larger scale. He liked the concept of something smaller too though since it would mean spending more time with family, being close to them, no matter who was left in it. The thought of being close like that made him feel just a tiny pang of nostalgia.]

What kind of things did you do there?

[cuteshit]

Uh, mostly help keep the place clean and sometimes make deliveries... take care of the front desk when Ma can't do it.

[That didn't come up too often; his mother was incredibly dedicated to her work.]

She's been buggin' me to start puttin' some of my own stuff up for sale in the shop, so I've been, uh-- makin' some things to sell, lately. Or I was before I got here.

[jivitadana]

[Kanji made things? At a textile shop? Minato had to ask.]

What did you make?

[Minato wanted to know, his curiosity getting the better of him again.]

[cuteshit]

Uh--

[He turns bright red, even though he's been getting more and more used to being open about this kind of thing.]

Knit dolls, mostly. People really seem to like 'em.

[jivitadana]

[Oh. That was really cute, actually. Minato smiled again.]

Cute. I want to see one you've made before.

[If that was okay? He might ask Kanji to make him something too at this rate.]