Toshizou Hijikata ♦ 土方 歳三 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
koukai_kirai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thenearshore2017-06-22 01:48 pm
koukai_kirai) wrote in thenearshore2017-06-22 01:48 pm
I Ask for Nothing, I Can Get By [OPEN]
Who: Hijikata and you!
When: July 26th-28th
Where: The Near Shore - Kamakura, Kyoto. (Open to Wild Card options, too!)
What: Hijikata runs himself ragged using his power to bless his faithful; Hijikata tries and possibly fails to take a little care of himself, too (by which I mean he gets drunk and nostalgic at the Gion Festival and that could be either good or bad); catchall for wildcards.
[I. - The Near Shore - Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, Kamakura - July 26th-27th, any time during the day]
[The hydrangeas in the valleys are past their peak, but Kamakura is flush with tourists, all the same.]
[It's not a city Hijikata got to know in his life, but as a god, he's been making an effort to visit as many of his shrines as he can manage (a bit of a tall order for Hachiman of all gods, honestly -- he does have twenty-five thousand of them, and this is one of the biggest ones.)]
[It's a little bit bizarre to watch the worshipers at a distance. Plenty of them are just swinging by one of the big local landmarks since they happen to be in town, looking for an interesting picture or feeling like they probably ought to see such a famous place or something.]
[Others make their way more purposefully to the offering box where he's taken up hanging around invisibly right off the bat. Some of them are just the sort to do things properly, but most of them have something to say to him.]
[Help me find the strength to leave him.]
[I can't fail this test. They'll be so disappointed.]
[Please, let my child grow up strong and healthy.]
[Unseen and invisible, eyes full of a tired sort of compassion, Hachiman stands at his own altar and listens. And when he hears someone asking for the right things -- help me protect him, help me do the right thing, help me stand fast -- he reaches out to them with his power, giving them what he can.]
[He grants his followers resolve, strengthens the best of what's already inside them. To the new parents presenting infants at the shrine for the first time, he focuses on their desire to teach and protect and help their children to grow. To faltering students, he grants focus and motivation. To those facing greater struggles, he calls on the courage that carried them far enough to reach his doorstep, on their love for the things they have to survive for, on the righteousness that can move them past their fears.]
[He pours the strength of his own heart into them, and leaves the rest in their hands.]
[Periodically, he has to take a break, all but collapsing onto a bench in the shade for a few minutes at a time, gulping down bottles of water from a nearby vending machine. It's never for long, though.]
[His people need him. And he's not in the habit of giving any less than his all for the ones who believe in him.]
[II. - The Near Shore - The Kamo River, Kyoto - July 28th, afternoon or early evening]
[After a couple of days of using his power as much as he can manage, even Hijikata knows he ought to take a break.]
[There's reason to believe that this isn't really the way he should be going about it, honestly. Kyoto is a city full of memories for him, and the Gion Festival, stretching all through July, is tied up with a lot of those, too.]
[But he can't just ignore every place he's got memories of, can he? And he can't quite resist the siren call of the familiar traces of his old Japan, from time to time.]
[He veers away from the hustle and bustle of the festival's main drag, but stays near enough to hear it -- the cheering, the bells and the flutes and the drums, the distant rush of too many voices all blurred together. He wanders past one of his smaller shrines, picks up some sake that someone left him, and takes it to the riverbank with him.]
[By the time the sky gets dark and the fireworks start, he's had enough to get a distant look in his eyes, a small smile on his lips that looks outright painful up close.]
[III. - Wild Card!]
[OOC: If you've got something else you'd like to play out with Hijikata, I'd love to hear it! Hit me up at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
cognitiveleague, PM me, or run it by me OOC on this post, and I'd be happy to work something out and use this post as a catch-all.]
When: July 26th-28th
Where: The Near Shore - Kamakura, Kyoto. (Open to Wild Card options, too!)
What: Hijikata runs himself ragged using his power to bless his faithful; Hijikata tries and possibly fails to take a little care of himself, too (by which I mean he gets drunk and nostalgic at the Gion Festival and that could be either good or bad); catchall for wildcards.
[I. - The Near Shore - Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, Kamakura - July 26th-27th, any time during the day]
[The hydrangeas in the valleys are past their peak, but Kamakura is flush with tourists, all the same.]
[It's not a city Hijikata got to know in his life, but as a god, he's been making an effort to visit as many of his shrines as he can manage (a bit of a tall order for Hachiman of all gods, honestly -- he does have twenty-five thousand of them, and this is one of the biggest ones.)]
[It's a little bit bizarre to watch the worshipers at a distance. Plenty of them are just swinging by one of the big local landmarks since they happen to be in town, looking for an interesting picture or feeling like they probably ought to see such a famous place or something.]
[Others make their way more purposefully to the offering box where he's taken up hanging around invisibly right off the bat. Some of them are just the sort to do things properly, but most of them have something to say to him.]
[Help me find the strength to leave him.]
[I can't fail this test. They'll be so disappointed.]
[Please, let my child grow up strong and healthy.]
[Unseen and invisible, eyes full of a tired sort of compassion, Hachiman stands at his own altar and listens. And when he hears someone asking for the right things -- help me protect him, help me do the right thing, help me stand fast -- he reaches out to them with his power, giving them what he can.]
[He grants his followers resolve, strengthens the best of what's already inside them. To the new parents presenting infants at the shrine for the first time, he focuses on their desire to teach and protect and help their children to grow. To faltering students, he grants focus and motivation. To those facing greater struggles, he calls on the courage that carried them far enough to reach his doorstep, on their love for the things they have to survive for, on the righteousness that can move them past their fears.]
[He pours the strength of his own heart into them, and leaves the rest in their hands.]
[Periodically, he has to take a break, all but collapsing onto a bench in the shade for a few minutes at a time, gulping down bottles of water from a nearby vending machine. It's never for long, though.]
[His people need him. And he's not in the habit of giving any less than his all for the ones who believe in him.]
[II. - The Near Shore - The Kamo River, Kyoto - July 28th, afternoon or early evening]
[After a couple of days of using his power as much as he can manage, even Hijikata knows he ought to take a break.]
[There's reason to believe that this isn't really the way he should be going about it, honestly. Kyoto is a city full of memories for him, and the Gion Festival, stretching all through July, is tied up with a lot of those, too.]
[But he can't just ignore every place he's got memories of, can he? And he can't quite resist the siren call of the familiar traces of his old Japan, from time to time.]
[He veers away from the hustle and bustle of the festival's main drag, but stays near enough to hear it -- the cheering, the bells and the flutes and the drums, the distant rush of too many voices all blurred together. He wanders past one of his smaller shrines, picks up some sake that someone left him, and takes it to the riverbank with him.]
[By the time the sky gets dark and the fireworks start, he's had enough to get a distant look in his eyes, a small smile on his lips that looks outright painful up close.]
[III. - Wild Card!]
[OOC: If you've got something else you'd like to play out with Hijikata, I'd love to hear it! Hit me up at
no subject
[The familiar sound of her voice draws him immediately out of his reverie, and he snaps around to look at her even as he feels the too-familiar twist of guilt in his gut -- failed her, failed her, should have protected her, should have known...]
[His eyes are all too unguarded when he finally catches sight of her -- worried, grieving, full of the fearful and fragile hope that belongs to a man who's been disappointed by hope again and again and again...]
[It's her. It's her, and he feels almost sick with the twin floods of pain and relief. It takes him a moment to even realize that he still can't feel the bond that was there when she was his shinki. So, she doesn't have the name he gave her anymore...]
Jennifer.
[His voice is different from how she's heard it in the past, every trace of gruffness swept away for a moment by the same soft, vulnerable thing that's in his eyes.]
no subject
[She's not sure why it is that Hijikata's reaction touches her so-- she knows better, of course, and she knows that after everything they've spoken of he cared for her. Still, it's a bit of a shock, her old memories and feelings colliding with the personality and memories that had started when she'd been a shinki. 'Why does he care?' colliding messily with 'of course he cares' and it makes her head spin a moment.
Her fingers curl uncertainly and she takes a hesitant step towards him, and then another, and then she's broken out into a run and thrown herself at him before she can think to stop herself. It's a childish move that she would've scolded herself for even when she was a child, but it's been a stressful re-beginning and Hijikata had been one of the few solid presences she could rely on and trust in, and certainly had been the only god to mean so much to her. She'd chosen him, after all, and he'd been one of the first to just. Accept her.
She's not crying exactly, but her shoulders are shaking and she's clinging to him tightly. The're both real and here and she's not a ghost or dead (well, not anymore).
She'll apologize for rude behavior later, right now this was needed. Perhaps for both of them.]
I hope you're happy, I finally have post-timeskip icons now
[He lets her barrel into him without resistance and wraps himself around her like a big, heavy blanket, clinging to her just as tightly as he can without worrying he'll actually hurt her, suddenly shaking a bit himself.]
[He's lost too many people not to hold on to the ones who come back. He's done with not letting people know how much they matter.]
I thought... I heard...
[He can't bring himself to say it. He falls silent for a moment, just holding her close to him, hoping that will speak well enough for itself.]
v. happy : )
She doesn't say anything for a long moment, just closing her eyes and accepting his warmth that later she might be a bit more embarrassed by. For now, however, there's no use in thinking about things like that. There's a few ugly truths to get out of the way first, her voice slightly muffled against hijikata's shoulder.]
It wasn't a lie. [She'd been killed, she knows that. The scars on her back said as much.] But I came back. And I... I'm no longer a shinki either.
warning in this tag for mental references to torture, death, ambiguously PTSD
[There's room for a lot in his heart, but not for mercy on those who hurt his people.]
[But she's here. She's here, and for the time being, that overrides thoughts of vengeance, fills him overwhelmingly with the need to take care of her. She might not be his shinki anymore, but she's still someone who trusted him with herself, isn't she?]
[He tucks his chin on top of her head, hands pressing gently against her back, trying to breathe as steadily as he can when he feels like he might shatter at any moment.]
You're a god?
[Good. Good. Then no one will ever be able to force a name on her again, no one will have her feelings to toy with the way her old master did...]
...I'm glad. I'm glad you're with us again.
no subject
I am. I... [A pause and softer] I'm home.
[And though it's not truly her home, it feels like home, at least right now. She's glad they're invisible to the everyday people as it was or she might have been much more embarrassed by the public display of affection and emotions she's doing now, but her divulging news isn't over.]
I'm a god no, yes, I... [Jennifer's fingers curl into Hjijkata's clothes, her shoulders beginning to shake once more. It's not fair, none of it is fair, but then, it never has been. Hadn't she learned that lesson long ago? The world was unfair and cruel and the Heavens here appeared to be no exceptions.] I'm... Sigyn. She's-- She's the wife...of Loki...
[it's not fair.]
no subject
[There's a gentleness that's nearly reverent in his voice, but then the moment passes, the mood changes. Briefly, he feels the rise of tension in her body almost as clearly as if he could still feel the echo of her emotions on his own heart. The way she hesitates...]
[He could wring Loki's neck himself, without needing to hear a single word more.]
Do you have a temple of your own?
["Away from him?"]
no subject
Yes, thankfully. It's not close to his either. [Not that it really matters when you can teleport and all, but the distance is still comforting.] But no distance is enough.
I don't think he'll hurt me, exactly... Hopefully. But, I... [Still worry. She sits up some, pulling away just a little, shaking her head.]
...There's no use dwelling on sad things like that. I'm just so glad to see you again.
no subject
[A hint of exasperation sneaks into his voice there -- it feels like old ground to be treading with Jennifer, and he just... wishes she didn't have to still be struggling with this.]
It really is good to see you again, too. But listen...
If you run into trouble, don't hesitate to come to my shrine. I don't care if you're not my shinki anymore, Souji and I will do what we can for you.
[She's still important, and he knows Souji will feel the same way, too.]
no subject
(Though Jennifer would argue they'd BOTH probably give Schuldig a run for his money in one way or another.)
Still, she looks startled at Hijikata's comment.] That's... I... still have a place with you two? [It had been a sort of worry, though not a very important one. They weren't god and shinki anymore, so what, exactly, were they now? To hear that Hijikata still intended to help her and look after her makes her heart feel heavy with emotion.
Quickly she adds:] Not-- Not that I doubted you, or anything, but I thought... I just... [Pause.] I'm not sure what I thought.
no subject
[He's never been good at this.]
[Time to try and do better anyway.]
You have that place, whenever you want it.
Listen...
[And he hesitates a moment, not used to sharing things quite so personal, thinking over how to word it without putting Souji in any danger.]
When I was human, when I was young, I told someone once that if he made himself useful, I'd always need him. That there would be a place for him at my right hand, if he was using his strength for me.
We both grew up. Loyalty to our promise turned into something else. He became someone irreplaceable to me, and I thought he understood that.
He followed me for more than fifteen years, until a time came when his body was too broken to fight for me anymore. And when that day came, I realized that he still thought I would only love him so long as he was useful.
I don't want you thinking that, too. So...
Who cares if you aren't my shinki? You're important to us, anyway. We'll still fight for you, as your friends.
no subject
Important to you... Friends... [She trails off and closes her eyes, feeling herself tear up all over again. It's an overwhelming feeling in hr heart, threatening to crush it entirely under the weight of it all. But her heart holds strong, of course, and she wipes at her eyes, leaning forward to hide her face briefly in his shoulder.]
...Yes. Alright. [She'll accept that and believe it--how can she not, in the face of that conviction?]
no subject
[He feels a small weight lift off of him, just knowing that he's told her, that she knows.]
So if there's ever something we can do to help you, I don't want you hesitating to tell us.
[His choice of words might be brusque, but his voice is nothing but gentle. He can't even pretend otherwise, right now.]
no subject
She still hesitates though, an then sort of laughs since it's on the heels of him telling her to do the exact opposite of that]
My... My shinki... She's someone from my world. She's still a child, only a little girl, but she's still someone I used to know. She's... troubled. [To put it lightly, and Jennifer frowns, shaking her head with a sigh.] I think--If it's possible, if you could, I... might need help with her. She needs more positive role models in her life, and I can't think of many other people who'd probably be good for her...
[Jennifer trails off, looking at him hopefully]
no subject
[He has to bite back a laugh at the unbidden memory of Ichimura's first day at work -- I don't remember turning this place into a daycare, Souji! -- but if it's what he can do for Jennifer right now...]
Bring her around sometime. Kids usually like the ducks, and Souji always gets along with them...
[So even if he's not sure How to Kids, it probably won't be too much of a disaster or anything.]
no subject
[Even though Souji was an Adult--more or less--he still acted young enough most of the time... But ducks. Sure. Maybe ducks would help.
Then she remembers what happened to both her dog and Eleanor's bird and winces again] Perhaps... Perhaps it would be best to not let her alone with the ducks, however.