perfectmatch | week three

[ Homophobic of production to make these fine women go somewhere with so much meat on their date... and sincerely what is a pina koala ]

Wow... these western restaurants really have a lot going on. Don't worry, Yingying, I've got you.

[ She is being so mindful and demure, after all, how could she resist. Anyway, she'll place an order for a boozy blueberry lavender lemonade for Yingying, and a blackberry martini for herself to get them started while they peruse... the rest of the menu. ]

This kind of thing must be really different for you, huh?

[ She nods once, reading over the, ahem, "aussie-tizers." Whatever that means. ]

Mm... in my era, we had food stalls and restaurants, of course. But not quite like this.

[ The colorful menus, the themed seating room... it's all very theatrical. ]

I like it, though. It's great fun choosing from here, and looking at all the pictures...

[ Shoko looks at Yingying from across the booth, finding herself smiling at her earnest appreciation of this restaurant. She stands out here of all places, and truthfully, this isn't the kind of place Shoko would have ever chosen to take a woman like Yinging out to, but as long as she's having fun, it's alright. ]

Speaking of pictures, do you see this "Bloomin' Onion" on the menu? It looks kind of wild, don't you think? Maybe we should try it, since they seem to be making a big deal out of it.

[ shoko: this establishment isn't good enough for my precious YINGYING ]

Oh, it's fried, like market food. [ But it's so big... maybe they're meant to pluck the strings of onion off individually? What a strange way to eat an onion. ] I want to try it! I like foods like this, hehe.

[ She likes street food and festival food... plus, without a physical body, she's not really feeling any of the negative effects of eating fried oreos and cotton candy and now a bloomin' onion all back to back. It's fine. ]

We had fritters similar to this, in my home village. Fried scallions or other vegetables were pretty popular.

[ fr if they go on another date they're going to a michelin star restaurant ]

Then let's get that. We can split the big steak, too, so you can try it. And... since you like fried foods, let's get fries.

[ It's endearing, though, that Yingying likes this kind of food, when her elegant and otherworldly appearance seem given to more refined taste. Maybe it's something of a peek through the curtain of wisteria, at the woman she had been before tragedy befell her? And naturally, she's probably not going to be affected in the same way as a fairy...

Shoko takes care of placing their order with the staff with practiced ease; Yinging is very much being taken care of, hehe. ]

I've had fried scallions like that, too. They're really good. [ and go well with booze— ] Have you had a chance to have that kind of food again on your dates?

[ When it comes down to it, Yingying really is just a normal village girl, homey and rustic despite her fae-like appearance. She hadn't grown up wealthy or noble — just adored by the people around her, who dressed her in what silks they could afford, and who fed her what brought a smile to her face. It was a simple life, back then, and it's reflected in her tastes now.

In any case, she seems perfectly happy just being taken care of — Shoko is such a gentlewoman. Her moms would be very approving, if it weren't for the smoking. At the question, though, she gives an enthusiastic nod. ]

Mm... I got to go to some "festival" like places with Poppy, Nico, and Yi Sang. There were a lot of foods I didn't recognize, but also some that were familiar...

[ She trails off, just in time for their drinks to arrive. Which she then plays with the straw of, stirring it around to mix the blueberry flavoring more evenly in. ]

The fete in my home village was the most important time of the year for us. Dedicated to making wishes and charging forward, gently laying rest to the past. Getting to go to these places that were similar... [ Bustling, bright, and loud with music, the air thick with smoke and fried food... it was nostalgic. ] It meant a lot to me, you know?

[ She doesn't let the melancholy seep through, keeping her smile stable and distant in a way, removed from the tragedy she had told Shoko about before. ]

[ It's sweet. For Yingying, these festival must have taken place ages and ages ago... And they must make for some of her fondest memories. Shoko truly can't help but wonder what she had been like in those days, wandering through lines of festival stalls, enjoying fried foods, unburdened by the fate that awaited her.

It's nostalgic for Shoko, too, thinking about her school days, when they went to festivals and lit fireworks for themselves and made their own wishes. Those memories weren't quite so long ago for her, yet they do feel like they were from another life entirely. ]

Yeah. I can imagine why. It's been a while since I've gone to a festival like that, myself.

[ Yingying doesn't let that melancholy show, but Shoko thinks of that morning, when she had. ]

I'm glad you got to experience something like that again, while you're here. And maybe by the end of it, you'll get to make another wish, Yingying.

Mm, maybe. Everyone's been advising me about it.

[ Which she says with some exasperation — it's not exactly the type of reaction she thought she'd get when she came here. She mostly expected to stay on the fringes, stay mysterious and mostly unknowable. Now she's got all sorts of people invested in her wish and her future. ]

I'd like to stop another calamity from falling though, if I feel it's on the horizon. [ She doesn't want another star to fall, or for the apocalypse the first caused to get worse. That would be... the logical thing, to do with her wish. Not wanting to dwell on it or be asked about it, she quickly shifts the focus onto her companion, instead. ] Have you got any idea what to use your wish on, Shoko? With the competition ending, it seems everyone's bringing it up more and more.

[ It's..... a noble wish, Shoko thinks. Far more noble than any wish she could have considered for herself, especially when she's not certain, just yet, what the conditions for these hypothetical wishes are.

So, at length, she shakes her head. ]

I don't. I'd have to think about it carefully... so you wouldn't want to wish for better health, Yingying?

[ Their drinks get here before she can answer her question, before I forget that they're at Outback Steakhouse discussing this. ]

....I'm not sure.

[ She answers honestly, stirring the straw in her drinking. ]

Truthfully, I came here with no intent of using it on myself.

[ It's somewhat of a dark thing to admit, but she does so with all the same ease and charm that she says most things, looking off with an exasperated smile. At the beginning, she'd resigned herself to her fate to wither away into obscurity. What would be the point of fixing her health? When she got here, she had no hope there would ever be any more meaning to her life, really, no real reason to start over.

But, the last few weeks... have reminded her of how warm life used to be. How fun. Now she's conflicted, torn between selfishness and defying the heavens. ]

Like you noticed, Shoko... you could say I'm a bit like a spirit. An illusion. Normally, people can't even see me. [ Leaning forward, she takes a long sip from her drink, savoring the strange and otherworldly flavors — even this is something she can't normally do, something as simple as tasting things or eating them. ] After this competition is over, I won't be able to meet and talk with anyone anymore, unless I use this wish.

[ While Shoko is no stranger to the ephemeral nature of life, it seems... cruel, that Yingying would be fading away into obscurity after their time here together, after knowing all of the feelings and experiences and sensations of life once more.

Somehow, it's something she could have easily accepted were Yingying a fellow sorcerer, or any other spirit that she's seen over her life. It's simply a part of the cycle, for lives to come and go. But Yingying... Yingying, whom she met under the veil of her wisteria and who's made so many of them smile, who's eased a sleepless night for Shoko and likes fried food and festivals... she has something selfless she wants to do, at the cost of her own life. Contrasted with her own self, who doesn't quite know what she would use a wish for, would probably even use it for something as mundane as unlimited paid time off, or perhaps safe-keep it for the next sorcerous disaster...

She's not really like a nature spirit at all. She's... Yingying. Shoko takes a long sip of her own drink, her gaze contemplative as she responds. Her tone is as level as ever, but it's tinged with sympathy, a softness that's usually reserved for patients, for students who need the kind of support she and her friends never received when they were themselves students. ]

It's not so easy to let go of everything you've come to know again after so long. It's only been a few weeks compared to the hundreds of years you've experienced, but they've shined brightly. It's a difficult spot to be in, Yingying.

[ . . . ]

Would you want my wish, then? Like I said, I don't have anything in particular I would want to do with it. If I could use it to wish for your good health, for you to actually get to live as Yingying, then as a doctor - that would suit me well.

[ And as Shoko, she would be content, knowing someone might get to live freely. ]

You know... you're not the first person who has offered that to me. You're all too kind for your own good, trying to save an old spirit like me...

[ The words are murmured softly, while she draws her drink closer to herself. Her gaze drops, thoughtful. How did she ever become so lucky and blessed, surrounded by people just wanting to wish for happiness and health again? After her moms, uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters all perished... she'd wondered if she might ever feel love and concern like this again. It touches her on a deep level, and the offer isn't one she takes for granted in the slightest. ]

In my homeland, wishes were are greatest tradition. The reason I came here was so I could see everyone's wishes granted — not because I was looking for one myself. I thought... even if I were to disappear, I could be happy seeing other's dreams come true, up close and personal, one last time.

[ ..... ]

I want you to use your wish on something that will really make you happy, Shoko, and will fill your heart with joy. [ if that something is saving her, then, she would never insult her and prevent it... at the same time — ] Do you not have a sincere desire in your heart? None at all you can think of?

[ It... says volumes of Yingying, that she's had this offer made to her many times already, and that she's likely politely refused each one just as she does now. But it's deserved, Shoko thinks, for the softness and kindness she's shown them.

For Shoko, especially, that sort of genuine concern for her wellbeing is... it can be hard to come by - harder still, to accept it. So she's strangely grateful for Yingying, for seizing matters into her own hands that one night, to simply give Shoko the rest she so needed. Offering her this wish doesn't feel like too big of a kindness in exchange for what she's given Shoko. It was much more than just rest - it was a pleasant dream, a reminder of bygone days that she can look back on with less regret, and a quiet, tender morning. Maybe she'll never quite articulate how much that meant to her, but she can at least share her reasons for freely offering her wish on Yingying's behalf. ]

The only sincere desire in my heart isn't something I want to use a wish for.

[ Shoko closes her eyes and sighs, though the slight curl in her lips suggests a sort of wistfulness than anything else. ]

My old friends - the ones I saw in the dream you gave me... When I think about it, I realize that we were all wanting the same thing, in the end. For sorcerers to be able to live better lives... But I think that it's attainable, even now, even without a wish. Because the students... they're strong enough to change things for the better. Stronger than we ever were at that age.

So I don't want to use a wish, because I want to see that change happen because of the students. And because of the teachers that raised them to be able to achieve it. If that makes my work easier, too, then I have no reason to be discontent.

[ She sighs again, shaking her head, this time because she can't believe she said all that sappy stuff in front of cameras, just now. ]

That's why I don't mind using my wish for you, Yingying. But it's not something that needs to be decided this second, either.

[ A wish that can be achieved on her own....

Those are the best kinds, aren't they? As ever, wishes don't just come true if you pray for them to. Putting your heart's desires in motion, holding on to that wish over time until you can see it come to fruition, those are much more powerful ways of "wish granting" than any fairy could have. Her brow furrows, conflicted, but still managing to smile through it all. ]

I see what you mean. It's a wish you need to see come true on your own.

[ There were lots of people like that who came to her dais, asking merely that she watch over them while they pursued their dreams. So, she does understand.

It still... doesn't feel quite right, being on the receiving end of all this generosity. For not only Edamura and Aventurine, but also Shoko to offer her their wishes? They've only known each other a few short weeks. When she was a baby and was taken in by what would become her family, she never knew anything different but the selfless, all-encompassing love given to her, a poor weak thing found at the base of a tree. But now she's grown up, and she can recognize, beat for beat, the actual weight of such acts. ]

Still... think about it, okay? People are always wishing for things for the people around them — be that fortune, health, or happiness. That's the beautiful thing about wishes. [ Loving or caring about someone so much that you would forego your own solitary desires is, in her mind, the miracle of living. ] I'm honored you would think to use your wish for my health. But if there's someone you really love that could also use your kindness, don't feel obligated to me.

[ She's sure Shoko has other loved ones, even though she's lost a lot... she even has Poppy here, and other contestants, too. After saying that though, she reaches across the table to take her hand and squeeze it gently, trying to communicate her earnest wish for Shoko. ]

[ Yingying reaches for her hand, and Shoko doesn't shy away from the casual touch; instead, she laces their fingers together and rests her other hand atop their joined hands. The illusion of Yingying is, as ever, cool to the touch despite the warmth that carries in her voice and in her demeanor. ]

A lot of the people I love are gone, Yingying. And I'd never hear the end of it in my dreams if I used something like a wish to cut past everything they worked hard to build up. I can't let the kids down, either.

[ ...But that Yingying still encourages her to hang onto her wish is what makes her so kindhearted and lovely, isn't it? She wouldn't be someone that the lot of them would offer their wishes to, otherwise. ]

But I hear you. I'll respect your wish, too, Yingying. But if there's anything else we can do for you while we're here... just ask, okay? You're not alone here, after all.

[ She's got Shoko, and everyone, and also this Bloomin' Onion that is now on their table... ]

week three | dates

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weeps over yingying

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