Suzume Hitomi wrote: Sun Nov 09, 2025 4:25 am
"Sounds like the market has evolved over the years. A simple blanket to display things on must have been a lot easier to organize, even if the stalls are a bit more realistic." She can imagine the park covered in a giant quilt of blankets with all the children selling things and their families moving among all the little 'shops'. Not significantly different than today, though perhaps fewer people and simpler shops. "Those Kami-Wheels toys go for a lot when they show up in the shops...I can imagine that was a quick sale! I use holos of them through recent decades to demonstrate changing styles affecting things other than clothes for field trip lectures. A little more relatable for them than rooftile designs."
She look to Mariko again, now happily chatting with a classmate, flipping through their lists of sales. "I'm not sure if her family has arranged any artistic apprenticeships for her along with standard schooling." Not every artist needed to attend the Academy after all. "Actually, what sort of training did you end up steering into for your career Yasuki-sama? After all, you've been quite successful, despite the lack of an artisan-focused school among the Crab. I imagine, even if most of these kids are a bit young to have been fans of your idol years, some would still look to your path for inspiration." She laughs a bit at the idea that she'd have an advantage as far as these kids knowing who she was. "Even those who don't follow your work, can't have missed all the media about Green Carp's home-grown star."
Thinking about some casual, but shocking words from a year ago, she probes a bit. "Was it hard to give that up to serve as karo? It's a more powerful job, but I imagine it's less of a creative outlet."
"Well, I'm sure that we could have afforded to have a stall erected if we wanted to, but blankets do have that certain rustic charm about them. The heimen over at Tenjin Town sometimes have such wares sold in such a fashion outside their homes. Although I think part of the reason was that we did have a lot of things and wanted more space to hold them than to display them," she offered a faint smile at that, not wanting to throw her sister under the bus for being less organized than she was on the day of the First Market.
Her gaze offered a quick look around the market, looking a bit hopeful. "Actually, I've been mildly hoping that my old toys would turn up here somewhere. Perhaps passed down from one child to another. That might be a bit ambitious, considering that I had some popularity even prior to my departure from the islands as the governor's daughter. And yes, it might be a bit difficult to miss me on certain allocated informator hours."
"My start is thanks to some extracurricular activities, to be clear," she chuckled at the question, thinking back fondly. "They have ample opportunities for students to delve into certain clubs outside of their training in Aoihama. While it's not exactly merchant training, it allowed us to find a part of ourselves outside the walls of the dojo classrooms. We did have a sort of a mock-idol club at the school where we would practice songs, as well as the occasional old Crane idol groups that managed to trickle into the town. It was perhaps an excuse for a 'karaoke club' at first, although we managed to secure some extra funding from our club funding drives so that we could afford a machine in the school rather than needing to go out to the city. My parents were also kind enough to provide me with a music tutor, too, when they noticed my hobbies. From there, the word managed to travel quickly. It also helped that my uncle had some connection to the Silver Fin, too."
"Not a all, really," she gave a shake of her head at the question. It seemed like an easy answer to give and clearly not the first or 20th time she had been asked that question. "Sometime during my constant tour dates with Aoi48 and acting work in serials afterwards, there was a part of me that wondered if I would ever return home. Or, if I had found myself in too far of an ocean to ever return. I still visited the island from time to time during my entertainment career, but the stays were too short to be considered a true homecoming. Yes, I will miss the fame and attention that will come with my previous role, that is true. But when I left the island soon after my participation in the First Market, a part of my young self knew that I was always destined to return here and serve the province in this new role."
Actor 
