thenearshore | Open and Closed

Entry tags:

Open and Closed

Who: Yamazaki Ayumu, Cho Hakkai, and you!
When: late July 17th to July 19th
Where: Various spots on both the Near and Far Shores
What: Wardrobe problems, borderline practice in the park, and shopping.
Warnings: Possible mentions of violence, torture, and rape in the Hakkai thread if it comes up.

July 17th, night, the Far Shore (Open)

[The first few days of Ayumu's afterlife have been decidedly bizarre. How she'd gone from her present self to an ill-mannered child and later a cocky teenager is beyond her understanding but she's grateful when that final burst of energy comes, finally turning her back into herself even it did strand her on the Near Shore far away from her god's temple with nothing but a child's yukata and sandals to wear.

Ayumu's nothing if not resourceful, however, and the dilemma was solved easily enough with a little convenience store theft. And that's how Ayumu can be found strolling through the Far Shore back to her god's temple wearing a neon-orange glow in the dark rain poncho, a pink child's yukata tied around her waist in a makeshift skirt, and carrying a tiny pair of sandals in her hand. It's hard to tell for sure but she appears to be clutching a large wad of bloody paper towels in her right hand.

Regardless of her present attire, Ayumu makes eye contact with anyone she happens to pass by, offering them a cordial smile and cheerful greeting.]

Good evening! Nice night, isn't it?

July 18th, daytime, the Far Shore, the park (Open)

[Given Ayumu's current lack of wardrobe, her clothing options are pretty much limited to whatever she can find in her god's closet. His pants are a lost cause, being far too big to fit her small frame. However, the shirts are salvagable so she helps herself to one of those. He's taller than her, enough so that it hangs down low enough on her thighs to be somewhat decent enough to go outside in. But then again, Ayumu's definition of decent tends to be downright scandalous by modern standards, perhaps made worse by the fact all she's wearing at the moment is a shirt clearly recognizable as Hakkai's.

Currently, she's sitting on a bench, knees pressed together rather primly while she reads the information pamphlet given to her on her first day. Mentally, she's in a much better state to comprehend and absorb the information today so she's taking advantage of that with a little private practice on her borderlines. It's been a little rough going so when she finally gets it right, Ayumu jumps up from bench with a little cheer and fistpump at her victory.]

Yes! I did it!

[She's all smiles for the time being. Ayumu knows she still has a long way to go before she'll be able to consider herself a good shinki but it's a start. Dismissing it is much easier after which Ayumu celebrates by merrily scooping up a rather startled, floppy-eared puppy and holding it aloft.]

And you, my dear, are witness to my triumph.

[Ayumu drops a light kiss on its nose, apparently oblivious to any other witnesses to her antics.]

July 19th, morning, the Near Shore, shopping district (Closed to Hakkai)

[And at least, it's time for another victory to celebrate - clothing of her own! It'd taken patience and a careful strategy of wearing nothing but Hakkai's shirts for him to prioritize a shopping trip over work but it'd succeeded. Even without the bond between god and shinki, Ayumu's clearly in good spirits as she looks peers through the windows at the different clothing on display. Most of the styles look odd to her as they had when she'd been wandering the Near Shore as a child but clothes are clothes at this point and Ayumu will literally wear anything that she hasn't had to steal or improvise on her own.]

There's so many different styles, Hakkai-sama. I'm not sure what to pick. What do you think would look good on me?

[She turns to him for an answer, still barefoot and wearing another one of his shirts. Even though it's morning, it's still warm enough that she isn't cold.]

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Here. I'll carry one.

[Ayumu reaches out to take one of the bags. She needs to put on a pair of sandals before they go anywhere else anyway.]

So where's the next shop, Hakkai-sama? Is it very far?

[Hakkai hands over the one containing the shoes and underthings, and slides the other onto his wrist, glancing out over the street. It's a quiet day, and they could take the subway, but that might be a little too much new technology for one day for her.]

It's across town, I'm afraid.

[He holds out his hand.]

I can teleport us there.

[He's still working out the nuances of that new ability, but he's been able to move safely around his temple and even into crowded areas without difficulty. It just takes a good memory of the layout of the destination....]

[Ah, yes, teleportation. Such a convenient ability and one she'd enjoyed finding new applications for as a goddess. Alas, she remembers nothing of her previous time here, otherwise she could have given him some pointers.]

'Kay, Hakkai-sama.

[Once Ayumu has her sandals on, she picks up the bag, sliding its handle down to rest in the crook of her elbow, and reaches out to take his hand. There's no hesitation in the gesture. He's her god, her commander. If she can't trust him, who can she trust? Some things just come naturally to her and faith and loyalty to her superior is one of them. Well, now that the clothing issue is being taken care of and she can think beyond meeting her basic needs.]

What kind of shop is it?

[There seems to be a wide variety of shops in this world. It's different but not in a scary way.]

Accessories and novelties. [He takes her hand in a firm, impersonal grip, and the street around them dissolves into a different one. At this time of the morning, the traffic is light, but the shops are open: bookstores, clothing stores and jewelry stores hardly bigger than closets with a display table out front, and a few larger ones, like the store they're a few steps outside. Its sign reads, in cutesy bubble letters, Kitty's Closet, and is accented with a silhouette of a girl in a frilly skirt wearing a cat-ear headband and paw-gloves.

There is, though, a wide selection of hair clips, extensions, ties and headbands along the back wall (only some of which have animal ears) and -- he points -- a small section with eyepatches in different styles. Also, a section of novelty socks.]

The eye patches are there, and the hair supplies are towards the back. Please get whatever you need.

[No sooner than Hakkai gives her permission, Ayumu's dashing off to investigate the store. Her fascination with everything is blatant; there's so many new things to inspect and ogle. Everything's just so cute, that there's so much she doesn't recognize doesn't really faze her much.

Ayumu manages to restrain herself from just wandering all over the store, instead going over to look at the eyepatches. There's just so many! And quite a few styles she didn't think eyepatches came in. It takes her a couple of minutes to decide where to start - patches that go with the new wardrobe she's accumulating. She selects a few in different colors and one with an elegant floral print that'll look nice with her dresses.

Finally, she heads down the aisle to look at the hair accessories. The extensions are interesting on a practical level. She sees a lot of goods that would be helpful in disguise. However, that's not what she's here for. After a while, she returns to Hakkai with a small armful of assorted ribbons, barrettes, and hair ties in addition to a pink kitty brush and comb set that was too adorable to resist.]

I think this is everything for now!

[There's so much more she wants to look at but she can come back on her own time. The cute little dresses with the kimono sleeves definitely merit further investigation. There's a red and white maid outfit in particular that she keeps eyeing.]

[That, Hakkai has to admit, is an amazing pile of hair supplies. Somehow he hadn't guessed, when he'd known her before, that she'd have a weakness for cute; but now he knows.

Perhaps it's a good sign that she's feeling comfortable enough to express that now?

Well, the floral print eyepatch is genuinely nice. He smiles cheerfully at her and nods towards the cashier.]

They're very nice. Would you like to come with me this time? I'll show you how purchases work here.

[Ayumu beams.]

Please do. Are there any shrines near here?

[She's managed to figure out those work easily enough, thankfully.]

I'd like to come back sometime. After I've found work, of course.

[Regardless of the means he has, it'd be nice to have spending money of her own to make purchases with. For all her talk of feeling like a child in this world, she truly does want to become more independent.]

Edited 2017-06-11 11:06 (UTC)

Yes, there's one of Inari's a few blocks away.

[There are some hidden advantages to having a god who was once a shinki himself, and one of them is that Hakkai has a fairly good memory of where the closest shrines are to all of his favorite Near Shore locations. He's only recently gained the ability to teleport, after all.

He waves her towards the register, and clears his throat loudly as the shop attendant stares right through them. She starts, almost dropping the shirt she's folding, and her eyes come into focus on the two people standing right there.

She stumbles through a polite apology, and Hakkai returns the standard "oh no, of course not, please don't worry about it, we'd like to check out." He nods to Ayumu.]

Just put it all on the counter.

[Meanwhile, he produces his own wallet from his back pocket, waiting for Ayumu to put down her purchases and the cashier to ring it all up.]

[Ayumu does as instructed, carefully depositing all of her items on the counter and stepping back to watch how the transaction is done. It's a little odd having to be taught how to do something so basic but she doesn't recognize the machine on the counter at all.]

What's this called, Hakkai-sama?

[Her tone's curious as she points to the cash register. Now that the attendant's noticed her, she gives Ayumu an odd look but says nothing as she starts ringing up the items.]

That's a register. It's like a cash box that adds up prices.

[The attendant is giving them a very odd look now, but she'll forget them by the time they've walked out the door. Hakkai is not concerned.

He points out the scanner, and adds:] That's a machine for reading the price tags, so that the register can add them.

[At least, as far as he's gathered. Cash registers he's familiar with, but optical scanners are something he'd never seen back in Tougenkyo. Technology that advanced that's used by small shopkeepers every day is still eye-opening.]

Oh, I see. So the register is a bit like an abacus then?

[It doesn't look like an abacus at all but it's the only mathematical tool Ayumu knows at all. As for the scanner, no comparable device comes to mind at all so they must not have existed where she'd lived.]

These both seem to do a lot of work very quickly.

[It's strange but she feels a little disheartened somehow looking at them. Finding work in this world isn't going to be an easy task, she thinks. Not when machines can do so much and she recognizes none of them.]

They look to be pretty common. I saw them in places when I was here before the other day. When I was small.

Yes, exactly. It's like an automatic abacus.

[He glances at her with a spark of concern in his expression.]

You were here when you were smaller? On the Near Shore?

Yes. I woke up in the temple without memories again. I didn't know where I was and how I got there. I didn't have any clothes so I borrowed one of your shirts then, too, and ran.

[Even at the tender age of eight years old, she'd been highly independent and self-sufficient, putting her fear aside to perform necessary tasks.]

I saw someone use a shrine and figured it out by watching so I did it, too. I was in search of clothing for a while when Hachiman-sama found me. He bought me some clothes and bandages and explained where I was before we parted ways.

[It's not her intention to make him feel guilty; her tone's impersonal as if she's simply giving a report. Somehow it feels natural to do so. Besides, she'd survived and found her way back to him. That was the most important part.]

[There's no point in either apology or recrimination: he hadn't known she was here, and she hadn't known he was, or known it could be dangerous to flee to the Near Shore. He's silent for a moment, absorbing the information, before he offers her a tiny nod and reaches out to take his change from the shop attendant.]

Bandages. For your hand?

[It hadn't looked like too serious a wound, but then, he also hadn't seen it before she'd cleaned and bandaged it on her own.]

No, they were for my feet. They were blistered and I'd scraped my heel. Hachiman-sama helped me tend to it. When I grew up a little more, they'd healed.

[It'd been very strange magic but a sort Ayumu had been grateful for. Though she'd refused to show the full extent of it, her feet had really hurt. It'd put her in another in another situation without shoes but she'd managed.]

I cut my hand on a package the night I'd returned. I didn't have any clothing so I had to improvise with what I could steal. Shizuo-san found me on my way back to the temple and carried me here.

[Shizuo's story of gods disappearing along with their temples has been weighing on her mind, making her question the wisdom of dedicating herself solely to serving Hakkai and while she'd accepted his apology, the impression of unreliability is difficult to shake. That total strangers had treated her with more consideration and care has left its mark on her as well.]

I also met a woman who offered to make me a yukata.

[It's too early to tell if any of the connections Ayumu had established within her first days here will prove useful but she has to admit that letting the public see her as vulnerable had turned out more fruitful than she'd anticipated.]

There are quite a few kind people here.

[His tone is as light and mild as if he were commenting on the weather: Shizuo, Hachiman... Hijikata, wasn't it? -- and someone who made clothing. It could, he supposed, be Forrest. Or Orihime; he'd heard she was about.

The subtext, All of these people helped me while you were derelict in your duty, does not go unnoticed.

He leaves it subtext, though.]

... There's also at least one murderer. [He'd been morbidly tempted, for a moment, to say at least two: but while true, it's not helpful. Only one of them has been recently active.] I'm certain you can handle yourself, but --

[He hesitates, briefly.]

-- Be warned.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

[Ayumu's content to leave it subtext as well. What's done is done and her clothing crisis has been resolved. She may have a natural inclination toward being harsh and unforgiving of mistakes but she's not completely unfair or unreasonable.]

What information has been gathered about this murderer so far?

[The more information she has, the better. The contacts she's establishing aren't merely for her god's benefit but her own as well. While Ayumu intends to do her best, she can't ignore the information gained from Shizuo. It would be in her own best interest to cultivate alliances and resources of her own in case she suddenly finds herself homeless.]

[Having her own contacts and her own, reliable resources is just good sense for a shinki. At least, even if he disappears, she'll have the school and whatever he leaves there to rely on.

And Asshole, he supposes, although Asshole isn't particularly good company. Hakkai's woken up twice to find him standing silently in the bedroom since he'd named the man, and he has to give no-longer-Banri credit: he's gotten strange enough to even spook Hakkai. A little.

He frowns thoughtfully, considering the question.] The first known murders happened just after Tanabata, and have tended to occur in pairs. The first two were laid out in a park on the Far Shore with 'Death to Amaterasu' carved into their backs, the second two were also laid out in a park, and since then a few more have been killed in varying ways.

Amaterasu's shinki have been investigating. I'm afraid I haven't paid close attention to the investigation's progress so far.

[She listens intently, picking up the shopping bag off the counter and begins to move out of earshot of the cashier. The sooner she forgets them the better, otherwise given the subject matter, she could alert authorities.]

Do you know how many victims have been taken so far? Or if there are any similarities between them?

[Depending on how much attention Hakkai's been paying to this matter, she may need to look further into this investigation on her own time. She needs to be aware of any and all threats that might endanger her god. Besides, a killer can't be allowed to run unchecked.]

More than four. I don't know the identities of most of them.

[He tucks his wallet back into his pocket and follows her, settling the bag from the other shop more comfortably over his arm.]

... if you're going to go look into it, would you like to pick up a weapon or two as well? While we're out.

Yes, please.

[If nothing else, Ayumu will simply feel more secure being armed. With her wrist and her eye being as they are, she's hesitant to rely on her unarmed combat ability, especially since she's not quite sure what her own skill level with that is. Just that she knows she can fight.]

Are Amaterasu's shinki the only ones investigating to your knowledge?

I believe some of the friends of the deceased may be looking into it, but I don't know too much. You might try asking Izuku.

[He glances thoughtfully down the street. This is just a fashion district, no place to buy weapons.]

What sort of weaponry would you feel most comfortable with? Knives, swords, staves, guns?

[He's seen her fight unarmed, and it looked like a style that would adjust most comfortably to short melee weapons, but that doesn't mean she isn't trained with others. Something concealable, he thinks, ideally.]

Knives. Maybe a sword - a short one.

[Something concealable, definitely. But also something with a little extra reach would be worth looking into as well. She's comfortable with the idea of both.]

Do you know where to find a weaponsmith?

[From the looks of the shops in the area, this seems to cater to different clientele.]

And Izuku's the one mentioned in the pamphlets, right?

[The name sounds familiar.]

Not offhand, but I can look it up.

[He already has his phone out and is tapping away at the screen for a search.] Knives are easier to find than swords, at least... yes, Izuku is the one who compiled the pamphlets. He's very good at keeping track of local information. I'm afraid I was in no shape to track events through the beginning of the murders, and then I was gone for a while.

Knives will suffice then.

[She's not surprised to hear that swords are difficult to obtain. Or how a killer could claim so many victims so easily. As confusing as this world is, it also seems soft to her somehow.]

I'll contact him then. I still have the flyer in my room.

[She's been working on committing the information within to memory.]

Ah, were you injured recently, Hakkai-sama?

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