Quote:
In Tribute (9) : In the days leading up to the Star Festival, small stone shrines began to appear randomly throughout Destiny City–on rooftops, in alleyways, hidden down long forest paths. They’re small, altar-like platforms with a little bowl in the center and a single glowing stone inside. There’s something peaceful, refreshing, about the shrine, even if no one seems to know who is setting them. However, if the stone is removed, the glow vanishes–along with your sense of peace. This was not your offering to take. Immediately, you feel something breathing on the back of your neck but there’s nothing to be seen. Returning the stone returns the area to an uneasy stillness, but if you attempt to leave without returning the stone, a mounting pressure and anxiety will grow within you. You never make it far from the shrine before some unseen force overtakes you. It feels like a great force collides into your back, and unconsciousness is quick to follow. When you awaken, the shrine is gone. All that remains is pain and fear. If you are tempted to leave an offering of your own, however small, you will find yourself feeling as though you have received the protection of something greater than you can understand. This strange blanket of security will last for the remainder of the day. A shrine never stays in the same place for long but no one ever sees who is setting them up or taking them down.
Reina had arrived in Destiny City the night before. It was...very different from Aomori. It was different from Tokyo, too. Watching the United States from out the airplane window had been a strange experience, as the country seemed full of so many different landscapes--farms, cities, mountains, forests, deserts, truly vast rivers....
It had been a lot to take in, even from the air.
But, then, the flight had ended, they had retrieved their belongings, and driven to her new home. It wasn't quite what she'd seen in American media, but it did look a bit like the photos her father had had of his home. Dinner had been something spicy and earthy, like her father used to make, made by her cousin/sister, called "jambalaya." It had been good, but they hadn't had time to head out to the storage facility. Her new parents had seen her furtively looking at the Tokyo Pokemon Center, and had, on a whim, elected to breeze through, saying that she didn't seem to have a lot of belongings, she should feel free to pick something, since it seemed to be one of the only stores she kept looking at.
After much searching around, and simply enjoying her first trip to the Kanto Pokemon Center in years, Reina had finally settled on an extremely soft Alolan Vulpix plushie, an Espeon t-shirt, and an Galarian Ponyta t-shirt, plus a very pretty poster of Galar's Glimwood Tangle; she had other things gotten from the Pokemon Center when she was younger, but those would still be in the storage unit. If nothing else, it had been awfully nice to come back, and awfully nice to have new clothing for casual purposes that actually fit her.
At this point, slowly, the realization that everything that had occurred since that afternoon had not been a dream was starting to really sink in.
Which also meant confronting the reality that, legally, she was no longer an only child.
Keisha had been introduced as her new elder sister--her onee-san--though the biological relationship was technically cousins. Reina had been fully prepared for the older girl to hate and resent her younger cousin; after all, that had been her experience with her cousins back in Japan. What she had not been expecting was for Keisha to be a kind and friendly person. Even more surprisingly, Keisha could just as clearly pass for being an actual sister to Reina, having similarly dark skin, light hair, and light eyes, although Keisha's coloration was much warmer and more saturated--almost like Keisha had been born in sunlight, and Reina in moonlight. The similarities weren't purely physical, either, as Keisha had turned out to be a musician, as well, although, like their now-mutual mother, Shams, Keisha primarily played the piano. And it had been Keisha who guided Reina to her new bedroom after dinner--a Western style bedroom with a very pretty bed with bedding verging on the princessy. If anything wasn't new, it was still very clearly well-cared for. No battered futon on the floor with a thin blanket and dying pillow. No rejected kotatsu to use as a makeshift desk, either, as she had a proper desk, beautiful and well-cared for, complemented with a gaming chair. And Keisha had seemed so hopeful that Reina would like it, that the younger girl had felt like she couldn't rain on the elder girl's Tanabata like that.
She'd fallen asleep and then woken up the next morning clutching the new Vulpix, terrified of losing this new bit of peace she'd managed to acquire. Fortunately, no one seemed to be in any hurry to ruin things for her.
After breakfast, Keisha had suggested taking Reina to the storage facility to retrieve any and all belongings Reina wanted to take with her to her new home. The younger girl had been hesitant, as there had so far been no real discussion of getting Reina enrolled in the local school, but, upon being reassured by Shams that the schools in America were pretty much on break until the end of August, and that Shams was already filling out paperwork for Reina to start at "Meadowview High School" in the fall, her excuse of needing to prepare for school had evaporated. Leaving Reina no other real option than to say yes. She did want to go to the storage unit, but was apprehensive of going with her cousin. After all, her other cousins had been selfish, spoiled vandals and thieves; she didn't trust that her American cousin would be better.
Thus, they were now pulling up beside the storage unit in Shams' car, which Keisha was borrowing, unsure of what they'd find.
Keesh had been nervously excited ever since her parents had announced that they had managed to secure her cousin's adoption. From what her parents had told her, Reina's parents had been a video game developer and a notable video game composer, and Reina herself had been raised a bit more Japanese than American, though specifically New Orleans American traditions wouldn't be wholly unfamiliar to her. From the photos her parents had taken on their phones, it looked like Reina could pass for Keesh's younger sister, which was an interesting coincidence, although the exact shades were noticeably different.
What she hadn't been fully prepared for was how cute her cousin was, even in clothing that looked suspiciously like hand-me-downs. How had Reina been living in Japan? From what Keesh had read online, most Japanese people didn't really interact much with people who weren't East Asian, and could be very prejudiced against such people, leaving the older girl to wonder if the younger girl had had a rough time in Japan as a kid. America wouldn't necessarily be kinder about her skin color, but...if nothing else...the Lyon family, being almost all Black, could shower the poor girl with all the love and affection she might not have gotten in Japan. If nothing else, there was an extended family and a community that would be only too happy to accept a new child into their midst, even if she was unfamiliar with life here.
Thus it was, on the day of everyone's return from Japan, Keesh had spent the day in the kitchen, industriously cooking jambalaya, toning down the spiciness just a bit for a less Southern palate. After dinner, she had personally offered to take Reina to her bedroom, and, after breakfast the next morning, upon being informed that Reina had had a storage unit rented in her name here in Destiny City, Keesh had offered to borrow her mother's car to take Reina to go retrieve some of the younger girl's belongings from storage while her mother worked on filling out paperwork for Reina's transfer to Meadowview High. What Keesh hadn't fully discussed with her cousin, but had discussed with her mother, was picking her Aunt Thuraya up for clothes shopping afterward, on the basis that Reina's closet could probably use a refresh, and Aunt Thuraya would be a great resource on that score. Thuraya herself had agreed, as she had less work in the summer, and could be free for a few hours around lunch time.
Now, they were parked outside Reina's storage unit...and, sitting at the corner of the door, very quietly, appeared to be a little stone shrine, a bit Japanese looking, with a glowing stone sitting in the center. What...? Was this another bit of Destiny City Star Fest weirdness? Well, it seemed peaceful enough, so it was probably best left alone. Maybe Reina, as probably a very normal teenager, wouldn't notice it. Yeah. Like Destiny City was a normal town to begin with. Better start to come up with excuses now, on the off-chance something was noticed.
