[b]Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Central Shrine | Wednesday, July 13 2015[/b]

Once they were under way, Kotori soon found herself easily distracted from her thoughts by the various sights and sounds of the festival. Lanterns hung all around, warding off the encroaching night with their warm orange glow. The crowds gave off a persistent, indistinct murmur - always lively, often joyful yet never quite too loud. Once they reached the stands, Kotori occasionally briefly paused to look them over. Even if she had no immediate intention of buying anything just now, it was still interesting to look nonetheless. Occasionally, she was even stopped or waved over when one of the stall owners or fellow visitors happened to recognise her - unsurprisingly, these turned out to mostly be neighbours, given that she lived in the shopping square.

After each of the many regards she was to give to her mother or wishes for her to enjoy the festival, Kotori apologised to Rui for the brief holdup - even though he didn't seem to particularly mind. Without further incident, they managed to reach the shrine itself. It was quite a popular spot - several festival-goers too had taken the opportunity to give their thanks or prayers. However, few stayed for too long and as such they didn't have to wait too long before they too could step forward toward the shrine. As she did so, Kotori paused to think on what she should pray for.

Success with studies? Should she really pester a deity with such simple matters? Perhaps assistance in the mysteries of the Mirror Realm? But with no clear idea in mind, she wouldn't feel particularly comfortable with that either. Maybe she should just try for good fortune in the future - at which point a thought crossed Kotori's mind that caused her to briefly pause in the last last step toward the shrine itself. She managed to stop herself from instinctively raising her hand toward her chest - though the same could not be said for her bespectacled gaze that turned downward, if only for a heartbeat.

With all excitement that had been going on recently, she had almost managed to put it out of her mind - but only almost. Perhaps this might be something that she could ask of the gods - and almost as if he'd been waiting for it, Rui chose that particular moment to speak up, asking her what she would be praying for. [color=green]"Eh?"[/color] was Kotori's immediate response, given her surprise at the particular timing before quickly recovering - and then realising that this wasn't exactly something she could or even wanted to just say out loud.

[color=green]"Oh, uhm... good fortune, uhm, i-in the future... maybe...?"[/color] It wasn't hard to see that this wasn't really what she wanted to say. Between the unconvincing tone, the way she averted her eyes and how her fingers were nervously playing with the strap of her handbag before she reached inside to pull out some money as well, it wasn't hard to see that there was something else on her mind - but this time, it didn't seem to be the usual attempt at wrapping her head around the strangeness that was the Mirror Realm. Instead, Kotori's mood seemed heavier than that - but lasted only for a brief moment longer before she took a deep breath.

With a half-hearted attempt at a smile restored, Kotori would make her prayer in silence; her eyes closed all the while she stood there with her hands together. She even gave a small bow toward the shrine before she would vacate the spot together with Rui for the next in line - and though they hadn't taken any longer than those before them, Kotori still felt apologetic for holding them up. Still, they had only gone a few steps when Kotori glanced over at Rui - this happened a few times before she finally managed to speak up: [color=green]"Uhm... what did y-you pray for, Shinichi-san?"[/color] Whilst the question was posed mostly in an attempt to avoid an awkward silence, there was a certain amount of honest curiosity in Kotori's voice.