open/catchall: a sensei's job is never done

[reformedsinner]

Who: Cho Hakkai and you!
What: Kicking around the Heavens, refereeing pet conflicts, providing an education and continuing to test his new medication powers on unknowing human subjects
Where: Various
When: August 6 - 10, 2016

Chicken Feed - August 6

[Hakkai owes a few thank-yous for the help he got while he was sick. As annoying as it is to have needed so much help, he can't exactly ignore it; so he's gone the domestic route, made up a truly astounding number of small fruit baskets and other little food gifts, and is paying visits to the temples of his helpers to leave them by the front door.

He knocks first, of course, to deliver his thanks in person, but if no one answers he'll just leave the basket with its little thank-you tag.

At Sharak Sanzo's temple, he encounters a slight snag, namely, the fact that he can't seem to get anywhere near close enough to leave the basket on the front stoop. It's shielded, and he's going to have to wait until a resident wanders by.

A few of the resident chickens notice his presence, and peck their way thoughtfully in his direction, and Hakkai considers them, and considers the basket he's brought Sharak... and opens up the large bag of freeze-dried mealworm treats to start tossing them to the chickens. Until someone notices and lets him in, passersby may notice Hakkai crouched on the roadside surrounded by a dozen eager hens, offering little dried worms to each one by hand. It's only a matter of time before he starts convincing them to do tricks.]

Reading, Rites & 'Rithmetic - August 8 & 10

[Hakkai's at the school for his classes as usual, but before and after class, he's also putting up some hand-written flyers in the downstairs hallway. They read,

Seeking Shinki & Anyone Willing to Teach Shinki Spells

Practical Daily Lessons: Borderlines, Spellcasting, Shinki Combat Advice

Knowledge Shared is Knowledge Gained. Contact Cho Hakkai If Interested.

They're also illustrated with helpful hand-drawn ayakashi in a creepy, technically proficient but over-detailed style that makes the creatures even more grotesque. Hakkai, when not teaching or pasting up flyers, can be found in the library on the ground floor grading math workbooks.]

Herding Cats - August 9

Kishi, he doesn't want to play with you.

[Hakkai is standing in his temple's entryway, doors thrown wide, addressing a black-and-white cat in an exasperated tone. The cat is on his hind legs, pawing at Hakkai's knee and patting his thigh entreatingly as he meows at the white dragon curled up on Hakkai's shoulders. Another cat, a grayish tabby, trots up to the tableau, sits down, looks up at the dragon and adds her demanding meow to the first cat's.

Hakkai looks like he's developing a headache.]

Musha, no. Kishi! Down.

[Reluctantly, the black-and-white cat drops back down to his haunches and meows again. Hakkai lifts a finger scoldingly in their direction.] Go play.

[Suddenly, Jeep flares his wings, catches the wind, and drops from Hakkai's shoulders to soar up and a few feet further away from the entryway, into the front street. Musha and Kishi tear after him, eager paws kicking up dust from the roadway.

Jeep, midair, transforms, and a jeep thuds down onto the street right in front of the cats' noses. They yowl, hiss, and break for the safety of the temple, moving so fast there's nothing but a few floating hairs left in their wake. The Jeep's headlights blink on and off in something that looks a lot like silent, smug laughter, and Hakkai sighs wearily.]

Well, that's one way to teach them.

Heavenly Delivery Service - August 6 - 10

[When he's not otherwise occupied, Hakkai's still taking his homemade, and divinely powerful, medicines down to followers praying for healing. He has a large and carefully sectioned toolbox, padded with folded cloth for the glass jars and bottles, that goes with him, and a long handwritten list of prayers. Even with teleportation taking him to the general area, he's having to do some walking around and asking directions before he finds the proper house.

It doesn't help that quite a lot of them are in apartment buildings, although, at least, gods don't need to be buzzed in by a resident.

Anyone near enough to one of his prayer delivery locations might find themselves approached by a young man in a monocle, clearing his throat politely as he shifts the extremely large and heavy toolbox he's holding, and glances down at a memo pad in his free hand.]

Excuse me. Would you happen to know where...

[He flips a page.]

Happy Takada Apartments is? It's supposed to be somewhere in this neighborhood.

Comments

[reformedsinner]

Often, yes. He's been busy lately with all that work on his bar.

[Hakkai shrugs, but he's glancing very thoughtfully at Yata. After a moment, he ventures:]

... Are you still without a god? I've been wondering, you see. I never tried to cast a borderline when I was between gods, and it could affect the spell.

[thevanguard]

[ Yata blinks in surprise because that honestly hadn't occurred to him. But after a moment he gives a dry laugh as he huffs out a sigh. ]

Well, that would just figure, wouldn't it?

[reformedsinner]

Technically, when you're between gods, you're not a shinki. You're just a ghost.

[He spreads his hands in a tiny shrug.]

Or, at least, that's how it works for real shinki, which you aren't any more than I'm a real god.

[thevanguard]

[ Yata actually pales a little at that, looking horrified for a moment. ]

Shit. For real?

[reformedsinner]

For real.

[Unless there's another name for a dead spirit roaming the world without being able to find rest.

'Ghost' seems to fit well enough in Hakkai's opinion.]

[thevanguard]

Uuuuugh.

[ Yata does not seem to agree, because any other name would have been better than that one, from the cold shiver that slips down his spine as he drops to huddle on his skateboard, his hands on his hat. ]

And I thought it couldn't get worse than being a shinki.

[reformedsinner]

Don't worry too much about it. After all, you're still here.

[Hakkai watches him huddle, eyebrows quirking briefly up before he shakes his head.]

And there's nothing wrong with being a wandering spirit.

[thevanguard]

I don't like ghosts. They creep me out.

[reformedsinner]

Oh dear.

Should a dead man be so prejudiced against his fellow spirits?

[Hakkai affects a wide-eyed expression of concern, raising one finger.]

They might be offended.

[thevanguard]

I think I offend them just by breathing, from how this last week has gone.

[ They've been offending him almost constantly, at this point he doesn't care if he's doing it back. ]

[reformedsinner]

They're just feeling playful.

[Probably. He smiles wryly, glancing around the school.]

I did have to fight off several textbooks myself the other day. They seem to be behaving at the moment.

[thevanguard]

Playful my ass. They tried to skewer me with an entire banquet table's worth of silverware. [ He's still rather put out about it, too. ]

[reformedsinner]

You don't look too badly skewered!

[Therefore, obviously, it was playing. It's all fun and games until someone gets a fork through the torso.]

[thevanguard]

That's because I blew out a 2nd story window and jumped. I don't think whatever it was could leave the house.

[ That was not his type of playing. Or maybe it was, but in that case, he preferred it if the rules favored him a little more. ]

[reformedsinner]

Oh, quick thinking.

[He sounds mildly impressed. His own battle with his bedsheets had ended in tying them in several large knots before they could throttle him, and he's not sure they're going to be in one piece once he unties them again on laundry day. Testing the limits of their possessed state hadn't exactly leaped to mind.

He'd also been confident in his ability to defeat his bedsheets, which helped.]

[thevanguard]

[ Yata looks momentarily surprised by the praise, then turns a little sheepish. ]

Maybe. But it was the only way out of the hallway. It was either that or stand there and get skewered.

[reformedsinner]

And I suppose it's a little challenging to fight silverware! Especially if there are more forks than you have hands.

In any case, with luck, that'll be all of it.

[thevanguard]

There were a lot more forks than I have hands. And knives. And a damn soup ladle that kept trying to.... never mind. [ He breaks off abruptly, rubbing his neck and looking awkward a moment. ] Man, I hope so. Between that and all those damn charmed, I just kinda want to hide in a hole somewhere until all this mess is over with.

...Although with my luck, there'd be a bear in it.

[reformedsinner]

As long as you check your pockets for charms first, you should be safe on the bear front.

[He chuckles.]

Well... charms and snacks. It turns out bears are quite fond of garbage.

[thevanguard]

Yeah, well, they can have it.

[ He just shakes his head, because he's had enough bad luck of late to last him several lifetimes. ]

So what else do you teach shinki besides the Borderlines? Although if I can't figure that one out, the rest are probably not an option either, huh?

[reformedsinner]

They're an important first step. There are other spells, though.

[He hesitates, and sighs, after a moment.]

... You really should try to find a new god, you know, Yata. Although I understand the desire not to....

[thevanguard]

[ The words hurt unexpectedly and he flinches backwards, averting his gaze as he hunches his shoulders inward. But he rubs a hand against the back of his neck and laughs it off anyway. ]

That's not really the problem. [ If anything, there wasn't anything he wanted more then to be useful to a new god. ] But I'm not quite desperate enough to put up a wanted ad on the BBS or some shit. What would I say, anyway? "Free to a good home, one no-good shinki who can't even cast a borderline?" It's fine. I'm sure I'll be reassigned soon. They're... usually pretty prompt about that.

[ Even if the last Training Day had come and gone without one. ]

[reformedsinner]

Ah. I'm sorry. [Hakkai folds his hands together, temporary surprise shading to a more neutral expression. He'd assumed Yata wasn't asking for a new god because he was still stinging from the loss of his last one. He hadn't thought that the younger man might fear himself unwanted.

He'd seemed confident enough earlier, after all. Lesson learned.]

... It's easier to ask gods you already know, in my experience. Reassignment can be quick or it can take quite a while.

Besides, you're quite good with a bat.

[thevanguard]

Yeah, well. That works better when you know gods who want another shinki, probably.

[ He shrugs and then shakes his head, waving it off. He kept telling himself it was fine; maybe he'd even convince himself of it eventually. ]

Thanks. At least the fighting thing I can do, but that's all from before. I think? It's fine, though. I can just... come back when I get a new god. [ He backs up a step. ]

[reformedsinner]

Have you asked?

[It does, admittedly, work better when you know gods who want another shinki. Or gods who have enough of an attachment to feel guilty at refusing the request, or gods who are intrigued by the opportunity for leverage, which covered Hakkai's experience.

He regrets, a little, the fact that he doesn't want a new shinki himself. But his attachment to Ayumu is still difficult enough to navigate at times. Forming another bond... no. Not so soon, and probably not ever. He plans on being dangerous to associate with.]

... but you are welcome to learn regardless.