thenearshore | KINYOBI is open for business!

Entry tags:

KINYOBI is open for business!

Who: Gojyo and anyone!
What: Drinking, fighting, insulting this disgusting bar...
When: Any time from August 9th through the end of August
Where: KINYOBI, in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan
Warnings: Please put warnings in the headers of your comments as they become relevant.

1. Friday nights at Friday's
Kinyobi is a small, dark bar, located on a street that was never nice, not even when the plant across town was open. This is an industrial area, and this used to be a blue-collar, industrial bar -- the floors are permanently sticky, there's dents and gouges and names carved in every wooden surface, the restroom is a horror movie, and the booze is either watered down or rotgut, depending on the day of the week and the mood of the bartender.

Still. It's home.

2. Shinki Sundays
Gojyo looks up when the bell on the door chimes, and smiles broadly at the newcomer. "Hey, come on in!" he calls. "You're shinki, right? Lemme see your mark."

3. Wildcard?

And some images to give an idea of what the inside of Kinyobi looks like:

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Edit as of October 6th, in-game: there is now a bar dog.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's been a few days. Gojyo's done some stupid things but- as far as Sharak is aware- he hasn't actually killed anyone. Nor has he exploded into some kind of blight monster. All in all, Sharak is prepared to call it a win. She hadn't really planned on holding Gojyo to that night of free drinks, but it could be a nice end to the week. She'd have hope that maybe she could have an evening drinks with a friend and have it be mostly peaceful, but something she found earlier in the day told her otherwise. They're due for a talk.

Still, it's time to take the kid gloves off. When Sharak enters the bar just as the sun sets, there's a lit cigarette dangling from her lips. In the interest of attracting as little attention as possible, she's dressed in casual clothes for a change. Jeans and a button down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up and the first few buttons undone.]

Oi! Gojyo!

[... Okay, even out of uniform, the magic has to work pretty hard for a woman like Sharak to go unnoticed. Even if she had bothered to remove the tail, it probably wouldn't have made a difference.]

[ It's really unfair, Gojyo's decided, that heaven is full of attractive people. His god is attractive, his new co-worker is attractive... in fact, it's really easy to tell who in the bar is a god or a shinki, and who is a mortal. Tonight, it's still mostly mortals -- a double handful of middle-aged regulars at the far end of the bar who like to pretend that getting blind drunk in company is somehow less sad than doing it alone, a group of teenagers with terrible fake IDs (none of them looks to be younger than 16, so Gojyo doesn't really care to kick them out so long as they don't get sick), and a table of elderly locals having a senior night out on a budget. Sharak gets the attention of everyone when she enters, which isn't surprising -- that she's still got several pairs of eyes on her by the time she makes it to the bar, is. ]

Yo. [ He raises one hand in greeting, his grin sliding into appreciative as he takes in her wardrobe choices. It's really unfair how hot she is, given how totally uninterested in him she seems to be. ] What brings you here?

[One of the teenagers manages to keep her attention on Sharak as she approaches the bar, squinting at the woman's back uncertainly. She mutters to the boy sitting next to her, "Does she have a fucking tail-" before she's quickly hushed. They'll forget she's there before too long, it's fine. Sharak ignores them and takes a seat at the bar.]

You promised me a drink, didn't you? I thought I'd come collect.

[ The door to the back room is closed, but from the fresh paint on the frame it's clear that somebody (or two somebodies) has been spending a lot of time cleaning the place up. There's no sign that there was a pack of ravenous ayakashi wolves in here a few days ago. Gojyo's actually really proud of that fact. Who would have thought that tidying a place up would be so satisfying? ]

Y'know, I do seem to remember sayin' something to that effect. [ And in fact, he's got a bottle already picked out, assuming she doesn't ask for something specific. It's just American whiskey, but it's better than most of the other crap on the shelves... and unlike most of the other crap on the shelves, this bottle didn't fall off the back of a truck. ] Whiskey okay?

[Considering how the place looked the last time she was here, she's moderately impressed by the state of the bar. Barely a wild demon spawn to be seen. Sharak's not very picky drinker, but she brightens a little bit at Gojyo's selection. Good choice, Gojyo, more or less what she wanted.]

It'll do. [Pour her a drink, barkeep. While he does that, Sharak takes a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket- one that looks like it's been put through the trash once or twice, honestly- and idly taps it against against the corner of the bar.]

Have you managed to avoid any other emergencies so far today?

[ Is that a flyer she picked up out of the gutter or something? Gross. C'mon, people sleep on that bar, put that trash away. ]

Can't complain. [ How about a triple, and does she take it with ice? ] No ayakashi, no more recovered memories, and other'n me the bar's been youkai-free for well over a week.

[Tap, tap. The paper is still cleaner than most of the faces that end up sleeping on this bar.]

And here I thought you were popular. [Triple, yes, and ice too. She's planning on taking her time here. Tap, tap.] You're not bored?

[ A triple on the rocks for the lady, and a single neat for him. ]

See, if you say it that way, I'm worried that if I say yes you're gonna have me clean out the chicken coop or something.

[ Is it a flyer for a party, maybe? Is she going to invite him to a party? ...Okay, that's the dumbest thing he's thought of in hours, this is Sharak Sanzo, she doesn't go to parties and she sure as hell doesn't invite her stray shinki to go with her.

A job then, maybe? Like a prayer? Gojyo slides her drink across the bar, and glances with affected disinterest at the paper. ]

Is that work or pleasure?

[... Do you want her to invite you to a party, Gojyo? Please don't rely on her for a social life, that will never pay off.]

I took care of that earlier, actually.

[Tap, tap. Sharak pauses, looking at Gojyo considering her next move. She decides on just putting the folded paper flat on the table and pushing it towards Gojyo.]

I think it's yours.

Mine?

[ He's honestly got no idea what she's talking about. And that genuine confusion lasts until he unfolds the page and freezes. Shit.

His guilt isn't bad enough to cause blight, but it's definitely strong enough to share. ]

Hey, don't get mad, okay? I was careful! [ He folds the page in half again, concealing the words, and lays his hand flat on it afterward for good measure. ] I checked for blight the whole time, and I stopped every time I got that feeling I was pushing too hard.

[Sharak shakes her head.] I'm not mad. You're leaping to conclusions all over the place, but it looks like you managed to stick to the present tense for most of it.

[Except for that bit about Dokugakuji at the top of the list, but he's remembered that much. Enough that he can think about it a little. Unfortunately there, the most danger seems to lay in Gojyo actually figuring out the truth.]

But I think we need to talk about some of this.

Huh?

[ He flips the page open again, skimming over his chicken-scratch handwriting. ]

What th'hell is there to talk...? [ But his voice trails off at the line about Doku. Of course she wants to talk about that. Ugh. ]

Look, it's fine, okay? [ He shoves the page back to her -- get it off his bar, please, he's done looking at it. ] I didn't kill him, and I'm not gonna. All I did was punch him a couple times... and he deserved more! [ Nobody seems to be listening in to the conversation, thank fuck. For once, he's grateful for the relative privacy being a shinki provides. ] I should have killed him.

[Sharak catches the paper under one sharp nail, pinning it to the table.]

Not just that, but we can talk about that first. If you want.

[One of Gojyo's many issues. They can start with that. Sharak stubs out her cigarette in a nearby ashtray and refocuses on Gojyo.]

I didn't think you would kill him.

[ Before he answers, he casts a thorough glance around the room. All the customers are content with their drinks, and everyone at the bar has at least a half a glass full. Okay. They've got some time to talk.

Gojyo tosses his shot back, and pours himself another one. ]

He admitted that he killed her, and he said he'd do it again, but... [ He reaches up to comb his hair back from his face, but it's still up in its regular topknot. Distracted, his hand falls back to the bartop, the habitual movement aborted. ] I dunno. He sounded sorry.

[ It's hard to talk about this and keep it present tense and safe. Gojyo's gaze flicks to the back wall, and the tattered and fly-specked event posters push-pinned there. ]

He wouldn't fight back, either. I think I broke his nose and he just stood there and took it.

[Sharak's keeping alert for any sign of blight or the sense of dread they all know. It's the simplest solution, but ignoring the past just isn't realistic. They're not being allowed to.]

... Whatever else he was, or did, he's your brother. [Takes a sip from her drink.] You both remember that now too. You can't ignore it.

[Yes, Dokugakuji killed their mother, but that's not the only knowledge Gojyo gained.]

[ And that earns Sharak a disgusted snort as Gojyo tosses back his next shot. Maybe he's getting drunk tonight. Good night for it. ]

I'm not his brother. [ The shame and self-loathing is coming off him in waves -- it's a wonder the back of his neck isn't solid purple. ] Don't you get it? We're not family, I'm something that happened to his mom.

He calls you his brother. [Tilts her glass onto it's edge, watching the ice roll around inside.] You don't have to call him yours, but it's something you have to decide on.

You assume he hates you because of what you are, because of what your parents did... But I don't think we've seen any evidence of that. [Shame, self-loathing... And he's thinking about these things no matter how hard they try to ignore it, isn't he? Yes, this conversation is long overdue.] You can hate him if you want, of course, but you can't decide for him.

[ Parents. That earns Sharak a glare, and another disgusted grunt. He doesn't have parents, okay, he's got -- had -- a mom, that's all. The human guy who forced her -- it had to be rape, what youkai woman would voluntarily sleep with a human? -- doesn't deserve the title of dad. ]

Evidence? [ The fury in his voice raises a few drunken heads further down the bar; Gojyo bites his tongue and leans over the bar, hands flat against the sticky surface, his voice turned down to an angry hiss. ] He tried to kill me and she jumped in front of him! I saw it, Sharak. And he didn't deny it. He hated me enough to kill me then... [ And okay, he has to admit it: ] ...and something's changed, I know, he could have turned me ayakashi but he didn't.

[ It's too confusing. He can't reconcile his memories with Doku's actions. He needs answers, but he can't have them.

...But Sharak can. ]

You could talk to him. Couldn't you?

You saw him kill her, I know. There's lots of reasons to do that and you're assuming you know what it was.

[She can't tell him what Hakkai told her, can't tell him that the bitch had it coming, but she doesn't have to indulge him leaping to conclusions. Blaming himself for something that didn't even really happen is the last thing Gojyo needs, particularly with the factor of blight.

No, she can't tell him what Hakkai told her- Gojyo's alternative makes her pause, looking a little surprised.] ... I could.

[ He holds her gaze for a second, clearly surprised. He didn't expect her to agree, and certainly didn't expect her to agree this readily! Is she just fucking with him?

But no, that's not the kind of person she is. A bit uncertainly, he nods, and steps back, hands finding things to do beneath the countertop. ]

If you tell me he had a good reason to do what he did, then we'll leave it at that, [ --he says to the clinking glasses on the under-bar shelf. ] You need a top off?

[She said she could, Gojyo, not that she would. She will, of course, not that she needs to, but that isn't the point. Sharak holds her glass out, not paying it much attention. She hasn't had much of the drink yet.]

It only works if you trust me, you know. He can tell me every detail and I won't be able to repeat any of it to you. You'd have to trust my judgement.

[Can he do that?]

I don't have much of a choice, do I? [ --he quips, studiously avoiding looking her in the eye as he tops off her drink. The truth is that he doesn't trust her -- it's not personal, he doesn't trust anyone -- but he also doesn't think she has anything but his best interests in mind. She could kill him with a sentence, and they both know it, and they both know she wont' do it. That's a kind of trust, isn't it? ]

Get every detail, though. Punch him if you need to. [ A small shrug. ] Or you want to. [ And a smirk. ] Actually, assume punching's part of it. He's sturdy, he can take it.

... I suppose not.

[Sharak picks up the subtext there- he doesn't trust her. She's surprised that bothers her at all. Whatever this is will do for now.]

If I'm resorting to violence, I'd rather cut the crap and just shoot him. [Sharak, no.] But if I can't intimidate some information out of an idiot like him without going that far, I'm losing my edge.

I think punching sounds more fun, but... [ Another shrug, and he slowly refills his own glass. It's only a shotglass, so he can't go too overboard -- this shit was expensive, and he did buy it mostly for her. Mostly. ]

Well! Now that that's settled, whaddya say we put more of a dent in this bottle huh?

[ Because that was the only thing she needed to talk to him about, right? ]

You look more excited for it than I am. [But it's half way decent and probably the best Sharak's had in a while, since she and all her drinking buddies have terrible taste in bars. She raises her glass to cheers him.] Keep it coming, barkeep.

[She downs a good portion of her whisky, puts the glass down on the bar, ice clinking together-]

So, why do you think humans and youkai aren't meant to get along?

[They are so not done.]

Sanzo Saturday

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