just a couple kids on a summer street

[socials]

Who: Souji ( socials ) & Homura ( timeshields )
When: 06/28, 06/29
Where: Downtown on the Near Shore
What: Team Izanagi decides to deal with some yakuza and ayakashi in one fell swoop.
Warning: Minor violence

Though Souji is a social creature, nowadays, he understands that his shinki isn't in the least bit. It's in contrast to both Reiji and Akihiko, although they were social in different ways, but, really, he cares a great deal about Homura and her comfort. He's not about to force her into a situation that she's not comfortable in.

Which is why he's opted to take this prayer. She doesn't do well in social situations, but she does do well in combat ones, and stealth as well. This prayer calls for them to at least locate the den, if not deal with yakuza or ayakashi. It feels a lot more appropriate than the prayer they helped Nanako with, even if they all enjoyed it. For the most part.

Long and the short: let Homura do behind the scenes work or fight things, when it comes to prayers. It'll result in less stress for her.

Comments

[socials]

If he could send that feeling bad, Souji would. As it is, he uses gestures and praise and his voice to do it for him, moving forward to resume the hunt for the straggler ayakashi that are plaguing these wayward mortals. He has a feeling that there's something more to all of this, but... that might just be past experiences talking, when they discovered an entire chain of something more.

"Then let's get started." He gives another little tap, and then starts moving forward, venturing deeper into the radius that she's opened up for them. "We've got a lot of work to do."

[timeshields]

Ayakashi show up all over the place for all sorts of reasons, and she's long ago accepted that. Most of them she notes down as not her problem. If they're not bothering Souji or Nanako they're not worth pursuing. It's a different matter when Souji wants to track them down.

She can't sense exactly where the nest might be, or if there is one in particular. But she knows that this many of them hovering around people is unnatural at best.

We're getting closer.

Prayer #25

[socials]

After having dealt with Izanami, there's no way that he'd ever ignore even an inkling of a feeling when it comes to suspecting there might be something more to a situation. First Namatame was their culprit, but it was all the more obvious he was a victim, himself. Then there was Adachi, and shortly after that it was Ameno-sagiri. It could've all been left to that.

Souji wasn't about to do that, though, and they got to the bottom of it in the end.

He's not about to ever leave someone in need, or leave any job unfinished, if it means he can help. He's just glad that Homura will go along with it.

"I feel it, too." Something niggling at his senses, though not something he can put his finger on. He summons Ishtar again in a flash of blue and the tinkling of shattered glass, the second he sees another of those little ayakashi perched on someone's shoulder. She electrocutes it, and he rends it, and then he's moving forward again.

[timeshields]

Homura cannot be bothered to give a singular damn about people outside of her very small ring of important people. Unfortunately for her, all of her important people on the Far Shore have this annoying habit of caring about everybody. She's not about to let them go off on their own when she can do something about them. So she'll go along with it.

More for their sakes than for anybody else's.

There's something bigger in the area.

[socials]

Ishtar immediately circles back to Souji, as if she can hear what Homura says - she just might, through him, or at least is capable of sensing the way he tenses up further - and touches his shoulder. There aren't any words, and there never are, but she seems prepared to back them up, and disappears to conserve his energy for whatever the upcoming opponent is.

It's good to know that he has so much support, even when it's just the two of them.

"Something controlling these little ones. Giving them orders." It's his best guess, if something is bigger.

[timeshields]

Homura bristles in the odd space that shinki seem to occupy in their vessel forms.

Most likely. Why couldn't any other god take a job like this? There are plenty of more combat oriented shinki out there. But here's Souji, willing to help as long as the problem is in front of him. Homura finds it excessive and tiring, but like hell he's going out there alone.

It's a few alleyways away. I'll stop time when we get close. You can have a good look at it. And be in no danger is what she doesn't add.

[socials]

Even if she doesn't say it, Souji can pick up on it. He knows her well enough now even without their bond to know that's what she thinks, to be honest, but at this point it's not even something he can argue.

But still he forges onward, inclining his head slightly. Her conserving her energy, even with his ability, is certainly a good idea. Much else and she might overtax herself, and if they're going up against something huge...

They're going to need it.

"Once we're down to a block, that way we have some room to advance."

[timeshields]

She can't stop him, so she can at least be there for him. All the time, whenever he needs her. ... It's not like she's planning on leaving him any time soon. With a bleeding heart like his and Nanako's somebody has to exist to settle them.

Her time stop isn't active right now. But the base power of knowing where the ayakashi are doesn't stop. She's agitated as they get closer to their target.

There are more ayakashi the closer we get.

[socials]

If only he were a little less of a bleeding heart, but Homura is a good balance for both him and Nanako. They're lucky to have her. Souji, steadfast as he is, has found that all he wants to do now is help people after he'd been exposed to so many Shadows, so many people that needed comfort, someone to listen to them. And these people need protected from ayakashi, so he'll eliminate them when he can.

When they happen across one of the ayakashi, away from any others, he rends it before it has a chance to do anything. If they can get rid of them without drawing attention, he's going to do it.

"We'll avoid the ones in numbers."

[timeshields]

He doesn't need to save everyone, not to mention that's impossible. Even as a god, he can't be everywhere. If he would just leave some of these problems for the other Far Shore residents, she'd be a little happier.

Not that she's expecting that out of him.

They're concentrated around the biggest one. The ones further out are alone.

[socials]

A part of him realizes that it's unrealistic, but he rationalizes it as saving someone will lead them to doing the same, someday, in some way. Great or small, they'll pay it forward, somehow. Souji will believe that.

He'll hope for that. That's his job, after all. Izanami might not have expected it out of him, but it's what she got.

Quiet a moment, considering, he slips away from the center of the alleyways and starts walking close to the walls. There are things to walk around, but he's used to walking through the dungeons that people imagined up. Stealth through here is nothing.

[timeshields]

Souji's giant heart is both admirable and a huge pain for a person like Homura. She was like that once before the timeloops took all the hope out of her and desperation took hold. Not that she remembers any of that.

It's for the best.

The closer they get to the large ayakashi the more on edge she becomes. And finally, they're just a block away from it and all the ayakashi that it's been spawning.

Are you ready?

[socials]

Knowing what he does, Souji considered trying to tamp down on his need to help people. But he decided that they would temper one another, with their differences, and it would benefit them more in the longrun. So far, their partnership has proven to be a great one. Their relationship, as a whole, is a great one. They work well together. Efficiently. They both have the combat experience necessary to make everything run smoothly, being tactical and precise as they are, and it just... it works.

Their personalities are a little like that, too. Meshing where they're similar, but balancing where they aren't.

That's what makes this easy for him, as he pushes up and into a teleport, winding up on a rooftop to get a better vantage point for attack. He rotates his wrist, spinning his uchigatana briefly to adjust the grip.

"Ready when you are, Homura."

[timeshields]

They strike a surprising amount of balance when they're working together. It's something she's grateful for, even if it's a much quieter, constant emotion when they're working together like this. They've got each other and that's comforting even in a situation like this.

Now.

And with a pulse, everything that they can see goes eerily still. They're the only people who can move and interact with anything in her time bubble.

[socials]

The eerie stillness washes over him, reminds him a little of Izanami's world in the Midnight Channel, the same stillness Yomotsu Hirasaka had without the thick fog rolling over everything. But Souji embraces it, this time. He moves to the edge of the roof, dropping down and buffering the fall with a there-and-gone flicker of a teleport, heading right for the nearest ayakashi.

They have a timeframe to work in. While they know, now, the length of an augment, he's not going to push it, and instead he focuses on their mission.

Beheading the smaller ayakashi and destroying them is the route he takes, first. Eliminating them to focus on the big one will help in the long run, and who knows - maybe they empower it somehow.

[timeshields]

Was the jump really necessary? It wasn't as though the ayakashi were going to move while everything is completely stopped in time. Whatever, it's not as though Souji's hurt like this, so she can excuse it.

While she can tell the amount of ayakashi, and the large ayakashi is also here. She can't tell how they necessarily relate to each other. A shield doesn't have those properties and her power is stopping time... for a very long time, right now.

Are you satisfied with the small ones?

[socials]

It just seemed like the quickest route to get from point A to point B, to him. Souji also sort of likes testing out the limitations of his strength as a god, and that includes the uses of teleportation.

Thankfully not his durability. He hasn't put that to the test just yet, and he knows Homura wouldn't approve of it, anyways.

Another of the shoulder demon ayakashi loses its head, before he cuts it in half to destroy it completely. Souji moves on from it, making quick, effecient work on those he can find. "No, but in my experience, it's better safe than sorry to take care of the small enemies when they're surrounding a big one. Either they're a shield, contribute power in some way, or have the capability of healing the bigger enemy somehow."

[timeshields]

Unnecessary. Both the teleportation and the small enemies. If she had her memories, she would remember why she felt so strongly about wasting time on the little things. The big one is the biggest threat and when it's dead everything else goes right along with it. That's how witches and their familiars worked.

But without that knowledge, she just watches Souji cut the small ones down.

Everything is frozen in time. If you attacked the big one, none of the little ones could do anything.

[socials]

While their experiences differ - you had to eliminate all enemies, when it came to fighting Shadows, before a fight ended - Souji makes sure to give Homura's the consideration it deserves rather than dismissing it. He doesn't stop slaying and destroying the other ayakashi as he does, a flash of Maziodyne eliminating the ones that are closer together, but he does, eventually, stop.

And then he adjusts his grip on the sword again, moving towards where the massive ayakashi is frozen. After facing the Shadows he has, and Ameno-sagiri, and Izanami in her true form...

This doesn't really do much more than give him a bigger target to work with.

"Maybe so. But we'll take care of all of them, to make sure none of the little ones can become like this, too."

[timeshields]

That only happens if the familiars kill enough people. But this is a different world with potentially different rules. She shouldn't assume it works the way it's supposed to. Maybe sparing the time to kill off the smaller enemies was worth it. She can't tell.

Fine. Don't over exert yourself. Like she isn't the one who's been allowed to go far, far beyond the boundaries of what she can usually accomplish.

[socials]

No familiars here because somehow this world with hidden monsters is better than her world with hidden monsters.

"You're my guide," Souji replies, walking a circle around the big ayakashi. He's trying to find a weak point in it, to make this a more quick rending. It's large enough that he's not sure one strike would take it down, a lot like the cubes when he first arrived here.

"We'll take care of this one, to make sure we're at our strongest when dealing with it, and then return to the small fry."

[timeshields]

Why'd she get the shortest end of the hidden monster stick? Who does she complain to?

At least they have a while before she needs to let time flow normally again. She's still a bit uncomfortable having Souji so close to a huge ayakashi like this. Even though she knows nothing in twenty feet could possibly move right now.

It's a deal. The big one is the biggest threat.

[socials]

There are too many people to complain to, and none of them that they actually can.

Even if they're close to it like this, he's making a point to give it a decent berth, no room for accidentally touching it. The only problem is, giving it one strike at all would possibly unfreeze it, and it's not something that he's very enthused about trying right now. But... risks have to be taken, and Souji knows that.

He reaches his hand up, Arcana card materializing - it's the Lovers for Ishtar, until he gives it a swipe, changing it into the World. "If it unfreezes because we can't destroy it in one hit, I'll stun it with an elemental attack before finishing the job."

[timeshields]

She has a lot of complaints.

If he touches it and it isn't immediately killed they're going to be stuck with a giant ayakashi trying to kill them. It's probably fine considering Souji's level of combat ability, but that doesn't mean she's going to be happy about it.

Fine. This would be simpler if you had a ranged weapon.

[socials]

So does he, don't worry. They'll find the complaint box someday.

"It would be, but unfortunately I need training for those." And it'd be a lot better if he had a combat-oriented shinki. Homura compliments him, true, and he's thought a lot about it, but this makes it a little more difficult.

But Souji summons Izanagi-no-Okami, and opts to use Mind Charge first. That way, the attack will be almost three times stronger, and he'll do more than enough damage to probably kill it between the two attacks if the first fails. (If the first doesn't fail, then he'll just use Megidolaon on the remaining, smaller ayakashi in the area, and destroy all of them with severe overkill.)

With his Persona watching over him, ready, he brings the sword he carries around and down onto the back of the large, obese demon's neck.