Shirou: Morning MC. Stuff happened last night, but were you able to sleep? On a related note, Happy New Year! I'm glad we're seeing the holidays together, and I hope I--we all make great memories together with you as well.
Evils: YEEEEE
MC: Happy New Year! / Let's make the most of this year too / I'm glad we made it another year...
Shirou: For New Year's, we're supposed to have soba noodles and good to bed early. I wasn't expecting what happened last night to happen...
Flashback
Tezcatlipoca: BRRRROTHER
Tiger Man: AMIIIIIGOOO
Sandayu: GIT
Tezcatlipoca and Tiger Man: awwww
Present
Shirou: Right they're technically jaguars instead of tigers. Sandayu-sensei found them quick. I was just in bed until now checking everything over inside the dorm. I think Kengo and Ryouta are still asleep. Moritaka and Touji went out for their morning practice, still looking sleepy.
Behemoth: (yawn) Damn bro, I didn't expect New Years to start off so loudly. I'm still kinda sleepy but I got up because I got too hungry. But eating out the fridge wouldn't be cool of me, huh?
Shirou: Morning Behemoth, did you get some sleep? Also, Happy New Year's.
Behemoth: Yep, even with a different pillow! Happy Near Year's. I know all our plans have gone out the window, but are we still going to visit the shrine together when everyone's up?
Shirou: That was the plan before New Year's hit. It's almost noon and we're the only ones awake.
Behemoth: And I only woke up for food, bro. Not surprising after the noise from last night...
Shirou: MC has plans too, which was why we were supposed to go early.
MC: Still sleepy... / We can all go another day / I gotta move!
Shirou: Everyone associated with the Year of the Tiger's going out for their own special touring. I'm still surprised at how many people you know.
Behemoth: Is that something different from the Japanese New Year's shrine visit?
Shirou: The Japanese custom is to go make your first visit to the shrine on New Year's and see the visiting Toshigami-sama.
Behemoth: who
MC: Like a protective ancestral spirit that watches over an area / some of them are kids that look nice in kimono
(AB): Behemoth: Oh wow bro.
(C) Behemoth: Haha bro, you sound like you know one personally.
Behemoth: So you can do these first shrine visits as much as you want? I'll come too then! And then I'll get summa that first bit of food of the year!
Chouji: You sure are excited Behemoth. Morning everyone, Happy New Year's!
Shirou: Being superstitious on New Year's...? That might be a good idea. Chouji, if you're going out to stock up on things let me come with you.
Chouji: Okay! Want to come too, Behemoth? I can teach you about the first seasonal food products that go with New Year's stuff.
Shirou: Okay, let's leave our New Year's greetings until tonight then. Say hi to your other school friends for us, MC.
MC: Wait it's that time already!? Okay bye guys, we'll get the gang together tonight.
MC's phone's reminder alarm rings as they leave. Busy schedule today! Three destinations to get to, so time to get the day started.
Yoyogi
Kyuuma: HAPPY
Gunzou: NEW
Ashigara: YEAR'S
MC: Happy New Year's! / You guys sure are energetic! / you guys it is so cold out here
(A) Gunzou: Haha, so polite. Here's to another year of getting along!
(B) Ashigara: Heheh, of course! This isn't cold enough to stop ME!
(C) Kyuuma: Here's some tea I made just in case! Here you go, don't burn yourself on it.
Ashigara: Man, she's the last one to get here? Slacker!
Gunzou: C'mon today's special. Let's keep waiting a little longer.
Kyuuma: Oh look!
Durga: HNY guys! Sorry to keep you waiting! This is the Year of the Tiger, my year! Seemed like a good a time as any to dress up.
Jocks: WHOA
MC: Thanks for inviting me over / Happy New Year! / You look good in formal kimono
(A) Durga: Haha, was my text the first one of the year? ...wait, I sent it too early and it technically was still last year when it got through? Oops, sorry for jumping the gun! But I was still the first to say I was thinking of you, right? So Happy New Year again!
(B) Durga: Yeah! Let's both become first this year too! ...huh? We'd be competing if we did? Umm...what if I meant it like determination or attitude? Like that!
(C) Durga: Aww, thanks! I knew you'd be the first to compliment me on it! It's New Year's! Year of the Tiger! Why wouldn't I try to be the best? ...what would I be the best at? Everything of course!
Kyuuma: Okay we're all here. Let's go the the nearby shrine!
Ashigara: Wait it's just gonna be us? So Yasuyori isn't the only one ditching...?
Gunzou: Don't be like that Senpai! Everybody else had over places to get to, people to see, games to get to.
Ashigara: I-I know. Yasuyori and Wakan Tanka and...uhh? Durga, where's Daisuke?
Durga: Oh yeah I just heard from him!
One explanation later
MC: Winter mikoshi carrying? At this time of year? At this time of day? All the way over at Kasai Coastal Park? In the middle of wintertime?
Durga: Yes. Apparently this is a regular thing.
Gunzou: It's famous here. The Kasai Coastal Park Winter Mikoshi Carrying Competition. All the athletes join in on it.
Ashigara: And they do it through the cold winter ocean water! Good for New Year's exorcism!
Durga: It's not like mikoshis are brought out all that often. How about we do it too?
Jocks: WAT
Durga: What do you guys mean, wat
Gunzou: I mean, you wanna go dressed like that?
Kyuuma: Y-yeah, that!
Ashigara: R-right. You're dressed all fancy now. Ain't that a problem?
Durga:
Durga: I REJECT YOUR REALITY
Jocks: !?
Durga: What the hell guys, I dress a little bit up and you all start acting like that? Yeah I know I don't dress like this much, but I pride myself on looking the best! But I'm still ME, Miss Supercompetitive Aims For First Place At Everything! Anything that sets off my competitive edge, I am doing it!
Ashigara: Durga I think you're misunderstanding something here
Gunzou and Kyuuma: (nods)
Durga: Hmph. And what could I be misunderstanding?
Ashigara: Okay yeah, no one at our school would back down from swimming in wintertime.
Kyuuma: But this is a mikoshi we're talking about here.
Ashigara: And you are in formal clothes. How much do they cost!?
Durga: Uh. Well...this is a rental and...it still cost a lot even with Arachne's special discount deal...
Ashigara: And what's gonna happen if it gets all wet?
Durga: Uh, w-well...! Yeah it'd be bad for me...
MC: Why don't we check it out? / Let's go to the shrine first! / Well...
(A) Durga: I knew you'd say that! Okay let's go people! Oh yeah, we're still going to the shrine first. If there are multiple events, we go for multiple first places!
(B) Ashigara: Let's do that then and leave the rest for later. We can do the mikoshi afterwards!
Durga: Yeah! Leave the hard thinking for later!
(C) Kyuuma: L-let's go visit the shrine first! We can think about what to do after that.
Durga: R-right! We'll be together then! Thinking later sounds good!
Gunzou: On another note, when's Daisuke-senpai's mikoshi race supposed to start?
Durga: Uhh...one and a half hours from now. Better hurry up with with the shrine visit or we'll miss out!
Ashigara: GIRL YOU ARE BEING TOO CASUAL ABOUT THIS
Kyuuma: Yeah it's not like we can just hustle there and make it!
Durga: We better get cracking on that long distance relay race then! On your mark... (zooms off)
And so the group chases after her.
Later, Shinjuku Shrine
Durga: Okay guys, got your offerings? We get in and out quick, then run for the train station!
MC: (wish for peace and safety) / (wish for success) / (wish for love)
Kyuuma: (thank you spirits for looking after me. This year I hope I stop being a bench warmer!)
Gunzou: (I wish that no one on my team gets hurt. Also I don't wanna see any ghosties or anything!)
Ashigara: (I wanna spend more time with my friends and I want tons of new friends!)
Durga: (firstplacefirstplacefirstplacefirstplacefirstplacefir--)
And then the group heads over to Kasai Coastal Park
MC: omg look at all the people! / I see people I know everywhere I look / Swimsuits! Fundoshi!
(A) Ashigara: Wow it's hopping way more than I thought it'd be!
Durga: Isn't it great we came!? It was worth it to run full speed head empty!
(B) Gunzou: Wow MC, you really do know a lot of people. A bunch of participants are waving over here.
Durga: Yeah. I could make a dream team with your connections.
(C) Kyuuma: I'm getting uncomfortably cold just looking at them! And somehow they still don't seem bothered!
Durga: Now that's what I call high tension!
Durga: There he is! Hey, Ikusaba-senpai!
Daisuke: Durga what you came in formal wear? ...and you're with MC!?
Juugo: Oh, MC. I never thought I'd see you on New Year's.
MC: Hey you guys! / Happy New Year's, Juugo / dang are you guys cold
(A) Daisuke: O-oh my god oh my god! MC, come here for a second!
Daisuke: W-w-w-why are you here...? O-oh, right! I remember you saying you'd be going to the shrine together with us. I wish I could've come too. I mean, as a friend! Hahaha, yep!
(B) Juugo: Happy New Year's...hm? am I in the mikoshi race? Well, yes. I've been coming here every year ever since my teacher told me about this. It's a good way to brace my spirit at the start of the year. I know Ikusaba through our teachers because the two of them are rivals. Since this is a friendly game, I'm joining in to make friends. I think I've gotten more confident since knowing you.
(C) Daisuke: We know each other because our teachers do, and since then we've been joining in this together every year.
Juugo: Ikusaba's been helping a lot, and his non-judo techniques are showing me plenty of things.
Daisuke: I didn't know you were MC's friend. Does that have anything to do with you getting softer lately?
Juugo: !? N-no, I wasn't intending to change...!
Daisuke: Haha that's what I'm getting at. But I'll stop here.
Eita: Happy New Year's! We've got fires made if you're cold! Lots of people not here this year. The fish harbor guys are all super happy!
Yamasachi: Cooold. And yet you people still got together for this. (sneezes)
Otohime: Everyone is in strangely elevated spirits. Is this another heart trend in Tokyo?
MC: Eita you're here too? / HNY Yamasachi! / Otohime, you're here for the mikoshi race!?
(A) Eita: All the fishermen come join in every year! I'm a kid but I'm just as determined! Watch us and fall in love with how we men of the sea live!
(B) Yamasachi: Happy New Year, and many happy tidings to you! I hope I find that fish hook soo--I SEE SOMETHING! Oh it's just some can...
(C) Otohime: Happy New Year's to you, MC. I'm here helping as a volunteer. The New Year's soup will be ready soon, so please feel free to help yourself to some as much as you like.
Dagon: Nice, another lively gathering. MC, I pray for your happiness in the new year. As a teacher at a marine school, I'm interested in sea-related customs. Yamasachi and I are here as volunteers.
Yamasachi: I was surprised to see Otohime here. Something lucky to start things off with.
Otohime: I am also an escapee of the Dragon Palace sanatorium. Allow me to tend to your physical and mental health. The parameters have already been put into health management system this year. If not upheld, this year's treat will end...
Yamasachi: I-I think you've gotten stricter since coming here...
Otohime: I came to Tokyo to study people's hearts and how they are expressed. I still must learn how to better reveal the timidity and impatience that comes from driving others away. If you continue to search for your destination, then I shall also strive to learn how to get closer to the hearts of good people.
MC: So you two are here, Dagon and Otohime / did you ever find that fish hook / I hope you have a good year too Otohime!
(A) Dagon: Yes. I don't like going outside, but I had an interest in these Shinto sea rituals. Aegir? He'd never wake up in the morning to participate in something like this, haha. There are countless records related to the sea about customs for praying for things like this. Truly fascinating. This particular event happens because it's New Year's, and the reason for the mikoshi race is...actually I'll tell you some other time. Come see me if you want to know.
Otohime: I came here for my own reasons based on my emotions. Yamasachi has been growing since leaving the Dragon Palace, so I should as well.
Yamasachi: Did you just call yourself my rival!?
Otohime: Yes.
(B) Yamasachi: Nope. But I'm not doing this for my brother's forgiveness. I want to do this to settle something. If I don't find it, I'll apologize to him. Then I'll find something more important to me.
(C) Otohime: Thank you very much, MC. I will pray for your health and fortune. I may be a machine, but I will study in hopes of being proud of having a heart that cares for others.
Durga: Hey! Stop talking amongst yourselves and introduce me already! I wanna make the most friends this year!
Eita: Wait MC you know everyone here? Hey, introduce us too!
MC: *(introduce the Yoyogi athletes and Toyosu people)*
Dagon: Oh, the Yoyogi students? They're just as energetic as the rumors say. And I see an event like this is spreading to the younger generation even as other traditions fade through the ages.
Kyuuma: We got a lot of people who join in all excited about things, like not letting the cold get to them while holding up the mikoshi in winter.
Dagon: Haha, the vast sea will calmly accept a changed faith like that.
Durga: What exactly is this event anyway?
MC: It's good to know the origins of things / really?
Eita: Oh, oh! The fishermen talked about it before! It started as a festival to give gratitude to the Sea for its blessings when Tokyo was walled up.
Yamasachi: It's also for praying against drownings and tsunamis and stuff. My brother knew a lot about sea-related stuff. He'd always be learning about things when we were kids and--stop saying I keep talking about my big brother, MC!
Otohime: Searching database...it appears carrying the mikoshi is meant to greet those who protect the seas. Oh, excuse me for interrupting. My competitiveness with Yamasachi came out.
Gunzou: So, what, they just threw a bunch of stuff together? Sounds like that's getting overdone.
Dagon: The representative sea for Tokyo would be Kasai Coastal Park, so various sea-related customs would converge here. And you could replace the word custom with faith. What would happen if those gather here? How interesting.
Durga: Does that mean the winter mikoshi event is the greatest event in Tokyo's ocean! I want in then! I wanna win with everyone! I know I'm in track and field but I wanna try! And I've been wanting to get better at swimming too, so it all works out!
Ashigara: Haha, there's no stopping Durga now. Okay, let's all join in!
Gunzou and Kyuuma: Yeah!
MC: Wishes are important / Please let them join! / sorry she's like this Eita...
(A) Durga: I believe in meritocracy, but I think vows and wishes bring out results. Isn't it important to get motivated trying to make New Year's wishes come true?
(B) Durga: Good, you understand how I feel!
Gunzou: Oh, MC's asking too? Okay, we'll join in.
(C) Eita: If she's that bold, then everyone should be okay with it! People of the sea like that kind of passion! It reminds me of someone...maybe I'm just a pushover?
Kyuuma: Okay we're gonna borrow that changing room and get ready. Feels like it'll start soon!
Eita: I'll take you there! Hurry up guys!
Otohime: Would you like me to help you change clothes? Taking off formalwear kimono can be challenging.
Durga: You sure? I couldn't put it on by myself to begin with, so I'll take your help!
Otohime: Very well. Allow me to store your clothes as well.
Eita: Oh no they'll start soon! The old fishermen are too excited for this!
Yamasachi: A-anyways, let's go!
Durga: NOOOO I can't trip and fall this early in the year!
Gunzou: Well yeah you can't just rip the thing off. And it's a rental, so you gotta be careful!
Ashigara: W-w-we need ideas! Is there any way to take it off in a jiffy!?
Kyuuma: W-what do we do, MC-senpai!? We won't be able to make it either!
MC: Go as is!
Eita: Really? ...well, I think I've seen some people do that?
Otohime: If I may, perhaps the fishermen may know of something?
Dagon: Maybe. Let's ask the staff.
And so the party runs over to ask.
Elsewhere
Gouryou: (BIG SNEEZE)
Gouryou: God, why are we surfing on New Year's. I mean I don't see any hotties around. You're the only one surfing here! In the middle of winter!
Typhon: Aww, don't be like that. The more the merrier! And you'll see something good soon. They do winter mikoshi around here on New Year's.
Gouryou: Let's go surfing, buddy! Starboard, HOOO!
Gouryou: HMM. Babe alert!
Typhon and Gouryou look over to where the noise and mikoshi are coming from. Durga is standing in her formal kimono on top of the mikoshi cheering the guys on.
Otohime: I'm glad Eita found out a workable solution from the fishermen. Apparently in past times during celebratory years, the blessed would ride the mikoshi and bless everyone else in turn.
Yamasachi: That's nice, but is coming over in formal kimono enough to celebrate?
Dagon: Haha, maybe the fishermen are happy that youngsters want to participate in the event. Traditions move fast here in Tokyo, so having the young take an interest in them is cause to celebrate.
Yamasachi: Okay I'm convinced. Let's join in!
MC: I wish I brought my swimsuit! / Looking good Durga! / I'm taking pictures!
Durga waves back to MC, and the people cheer loudly for the new year. Everyone's thoughts warm up the chill weather. And atop the mikoshi stood the one who congratulated the coming of spring more than anyone...
End of Episode
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