thenearshore | KINYOBI is open for business!

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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

"Yeah," Gojyo's nodding, but he's barely hearing what Tsu's saying. That's a pack of ayakashi wolves, and they look like they're starving. His own wide-eyed gaze flicks from wolf to wolf to Tsukuzi to... to the front door.

Oh shit there's going to be people -- shinki people -- coming in any minute for drinks, and they're gonna get eaten. Shit.

His brain spins. "No, wait." He takes a second to scan the wolves again. None of them are standing inside anything. They're not ghosts -- they're more solid than that. "The other way 'round. We trap 'em in here, then slam the door." How they're gonna do that, though, he's got no idea.

Tsuzuki shoots Gojyo a quick, panicked glance, stepping back from the dog spirit. It advances, long, purple brush of a tail flicking with interest.

"How do we get out?" The wolves are between them and the door. He heals, but that doesn't help blight, and if they get swarmed and eaten, he's almost completely sure neither of them are going to come back from it. There's not even enough room in here to cast a borderline without wrecking something.

He's definitely open for ideas, though. The wolf advances another step. Tsuzuki's shoulders hit the shelf behind him, and he perforce stops.

"Nice doggy. Nice doggy."

The doggy is not nice. The doggy is drooling all over the floor in a very not-nice sort of way.

"We get out..." Gojyo's hair is whipping back as forth as he desperately examines the shelving and walls (and floor, and ceiling) for answers.

The ceiling is just sagging, water-stained plywood that's been painted over with a few layers of thin plaster. They could bust through it easily, but then wouldn't the wolves just follow? Gojyo's gaze darts to the door again, and he takes another step back (or tries to, anyway -- the shelving doesn't budge). If that can get out through the ceiling, then one of them runs around to the front and slams the door? That only leaves the hole in the ceiling to seal with a borderline.

Which is good, because only one of them can cast a damn borderline. At least, Gojyo sure hopes one of them can.

"I hope you've had all your shots," he mutters. The ceiling's got to be full of rusted nails and mold and who knows what else. None of this is going to be fun. He reaches out blindly, never taking his eyes off the wolves, and sweeps an armful of bottles and cleaning supplies and god knows what else onto the floor between them and the ayakashi. The wolves start at the noise, then snarl -- they're close enough that Gojyo could smell them, if ayakashi had a smell. "Climb the shelves, quick! Get to the top!"

"What?"

The doggy is not at all nice. The doggy, as Tsuzuki takes his eyes off it to stare at Gojyo in bewilderment (he can't be serious, can he? Are those shelves going to take their weight?) lunges for him and closes its jaws on his leg. He yells, kicking at it frantically until it lets go and backs away. The pain of torn flesh is sharp and hot, with a sullen acid burn of blight.

And his pants are completely ruined. So's the storeroom going to be, he thinks, in no time at all at this rate -- even if they don't knock the shelves down trying to climb out of ayakashi-wolf-reach.

Well, fuck it. He slashes a hand down, shouting, "Line!" The borderline that blazes up between them and the wolves is almost transparent blue-white, and it cuts through three shelves and the paw of one ayakashi who was getting just a bit too close to Gojyo. That wolf recoils with a pained canine howl, limping backwards on three feet with its wounded foot tucked up to its chest. The severed shelf-ends topple sideways with an almighty crash of wood, old and new cleaning supplies, and something that had been made out of glass but, luckily, doesn't add to the pack of ayakashi when it smashes loudly under the shower of debris.

Shit. "Hold that line!" Gojyo shouts, scrambling up the shelving to Tsu's left. The shelves creak and sway, but they seem to be holding. How well they'd do with two full grown men on them is anybody's guess, but Gojyo's hoping to avoid having to do that kind of math today.

He's really strong. He's discovered that about himself already, but it's still amazing how smoothly his fist goes through the plywood of the ceiling. The rain of dust and filth that erupts when he pulls his fist free makes him sneeze, but he shakes it off and punches up again, yanking at the edge of the plywood to try and make a hole big enough to climb through. The shelves creak again, ominously.

"Almost through! You still okay?"

"Fine," Tsuzuki calls hoarsely back between fits of coughing. There is a lot of dust up there, and he's got plywood bits stuck in his hair and showering down the back of his shirt. And, what's worse, his leg still hurts. Is it just the blight? Or is it not healing? He grits his teeth, free hand clenching as he holds the borderline against the ayakashi. Two of them are pacing, sniffing at its edge. One bares those creepily white teeth, crouches, and hurls itself at the center of the line, only to bounce off with a yelp.

What's Gojyo's plan? Are they both going to climb up into the ceiling? The shelves are creaking already, and the ceiling had crumbled way too fast under a punch.

On the other hand, Tsuzuki's sock is squishing with blood and there are a lot of ayakashi waiting between them and the door. Maybe they'll be able to barricade the ayakashi in here after all, if they drop down behind the bar and come at them from the front.

It's not like he can think of anything better right now.

The aggressive ayakashi flings itself at the borderline again. Tsuzuki can feel the impact rattling his molars.

"You can hurry up though," he calls, voice a little higher-pitched with nerves.

"Working on it!" he hisses back, coughing through a lungful of dust. One more good handful of plywood and foam and god knows what else rains down, and finally the hole in the ceiling is big enough to squirm through.

Here's hoping it's strong enough to support his weight.

"I'm gonna climb up in here then pull you up, okay?" he calls over his shoulder, feeling through the hole for something sturdy. There's got to be beams in here, right? ...Ah, yes, there. That's solid wood. With a grunt he hoists himself up; the space is crowded with beams and wires and pipes and shreds of insulation, but he's skinny for a big guy. He can fit.

And he would have fit, had the beam not crumbled in his hand from dry rot. With a yelp Gojyo falls, bringing a big chunk of the ceiling with him.

Tsuzuki's been drilling his borderline practice. Tsuzuki has, in fact, gotten pretty good at it: he seems to have a natural aptitude for the kind of focused mental effort that goes into creating and sustaining that barrier. Or training, but he tries not to think about that too hard.

He's fairly sure, though, that no shinki in the Heavens could have held a borderline with half of a ceiling, and Gojyo, landing on their head.

Gojyo's knees and elbows turn out to be a lot sharper than they look. Tsuzuki goes down in a heap, the borderline fizzles, and three glowing purple wolves leap forward with deadly grace. Swearing, Tsuzuki flails and tries to roll sideways. He's more resilient than Gojyo, even if his leg's still hurting -- that's just the blight, he's sure of it, a bit of water and he'll be fine. He can take a couple of bites.

The teeth that actually do sink into his shoulder, though, hurt. A lot. His curse breaks off into a pained squeak, and he winces through the dust and the darkness -- oh, shit, did the light go when Gojyo fell through the ceiling, too? He thinks it did, or there's more plaster dust in his eyes than it feels like there is.

"Call for help!" he manages to croak out, and, not caring about the blight to his hand, tries to punch the wolf worrying his shoulder away. He misses.

The light did, in fact, go out. It's a wonder Gojyo didn't electrocute himself -- that ceiling is not up to code.

His head is pounding -- shock of the fall aside, he's inhaled enough crap from that ceiling that he's going to be wheezing for a week -- but there isn't time to recover. The wolves are on Tsuzuki, they've got no god, no way of holding them back. He can't fight them off -- he swings (as much as he can from his position still half-kneeing in the rubble) but all he manages to do is blight the hell out of his hand. And he's got no phone. It's behind the bar, where he leaves it for safekeeping while working.

"I can't!" he shoots back, throwing out his hands in desperation. He can't cast a borderline -- he's never had the concentration for it, and he knows as he tries that it's a futile effort. But what else can he do?

There's a flash of light, and nobody is more surprised than Gojyo at the nearly seven foot staff that appears in his hands. For a long second, he just stares at the object in his hands. What in the world...?

But it's a weapon, and that's just what he needs! He swings the nearest blade around, jabbing at the wolf attacking Tsu. The crescent blade crashes through the shelving like... like a hot knife through really cheap plywood shelving, and Gojyo changes tactics to smacking the wolf with the spade blade instead. "Get off! Get back!"

There's a flash of light, and Tsuzuki manages to inhale a lungful of crappy plaster and dry-rotted sawdust when he gasps in surprise. He hacks, chokes, and curls into a rib-rattling cough as the wolf, swatted by the metal -- shovel? Spear? What is that thing? -- releases his shoulder and backs off. The other two are backing away behind it, watching the weapon in Gojyo's hand with a wariness that's beyond mere animal fear.

Ayakashi really freak him out. Tsuzuki wipes his good hand over his mouth, leaving a dirty streak on his cheek but clearing the worst of the mucus from his lips, and rolls up to his knees. His other arm's hanging limp from a mauled shoulder, and he can't move it without stabbing pain, but it'll heal. They'll be fine. Gojyo's next to him and he's got a weapon.

... Gojyo has a weapon.

Halfway through fumbling his phone out of his pocket with one hand to place a frantic post for help, Tsuzuki shoots him a disbelieving glance. The back storeroom's messy, sure, but it's not messy enough that he'd miss something like that.

"Where'd you get that thing?"

Tsuzuki's hurt pretty bad, from what Gojyo can see (he's not taking his eyes off the wolves long enough to really check, but there's a lot of blood, enough that he can smell it). He's still moving, though, and from the sound of things is able to get to his phone. That's good. He'll call for help and then help will come and this can go from life-threatening to simply embarrassing.

"It just appeared!" He jabs at the nearest wolf again, the blade slicing painfully into the purple-red flesh. The wolf snarls with rage, shaking its head and back up just out of range of the staff... but none of the three are going anywhere.

That's good, right? They've got their attention. At least they aren't trying to leave the bar. ...Yay?

"Maybe this is why I couldn't cast borderlines, huh? I got the offensive shinki power instead of the defensive one!" But it's not time to brag -- there will be time for bragging later, but now is really not the time. "You callin' your god?"

The wolves aren't going anywhere, and that's good, because it means they're not going to attack anyone else coming in. It's also bad, because there's no way the two of them are getting out of the storeroom now.

Tsuzuki tests his leg. It hurts, but it hurts like blight and not like it'd been chewed on, even with the blood chilling on his pants and sticking the fabric to his leg hair. He can put his weight on it with no problem, and he does, standing slowly.

Sakura, here, fighting a pack of wolf ayakashi? He cringes at the thought.

"She's not a fighter and I turn into a spoon." He'd been thinking of posting a general cry for help -- but what if no one's checking the BBS? What if it scares off their customers, just when the place is starting to get a little busier?

He swallows. "What's your god's number?"

"Sharak?" Shit, if Sharak finds out about this he'll never hear the end of it! "You can't just...?"

The lead wolf -- the wound on its face already healed -- lunges forward, great jaws snapping and spattering Gojyo with stinging, blight-raising spittle. He curses fluidly under his breath and swats the wolf back with the sharp edge of the blade. The little pain caused by the blade isn't going to hold them back for long, he notes grimly, and mentally gives in.

"She's in the index," he offers at last, defeated. "Sharak Sanzo, with the sha for gauze." If the wolves want to eat him before she shows up to save his ass, he'd really be okay with that.

"Right." Sha, Sha-- there it is. Weird name, he thinks, and taps in a fast text.

At bar with Gojyo. Ayakashi attacking. Please come help. He punches a finger against the send button, and then, in belated practicality, also sends the address. The two wolves towards the back are spreading out to either side, heads held low and ears back as they growl. Those teeth look even bigger than they had before.

Tsuzuki drops his phone and slashes his hand down.

"Line!" This one is uncomfortably close to them, and three more shelves go tumbling bisected to the ground, but it'll hold for a couple minutes, he thinks, if it has to. He blows out a breath, and catches his balance as (to his surprise) he realizes he's listing to one side.

"...so, Gojyo," he says, watching the wolves pace and snarl, "next time, let's just throw out the weird old sake bottle, okay?"

Those teeth definitely look bigger. Are their teeth really getting bigger? How is that fair!?

"Oi, you are not going to pin this on me." Tsu's got the door barricaded for the moment, so Gojyo takes a second to adjust his footing and get a better look at his new weapon. It fits his hands perfectly, like it was made to go there... and there's something rattling in the shaft. What the hell is this thing? "Blame whoever put the ayakashi in the bottle and didn't tell anyone about it, don't blame me."

"I'm not blaming you!" Tsuzuki's taking the chance to breathe, and shuffling a few feet to the side to lean against the wall as he catches himself listing again. His shoulder is killing him. "I mean, I did warn you, though..."

And it's at least as much his fault for not objecting more strenuously. He'd been the one who'd actually known there was something weird going on with the bottle. Glancing over at Gojyo, he tries a weak grin.

"Help me get this blight off once we're out of here and I'll call it even."

It's hard to avoid the wolves in a tight space like this. There's a lot of them, it's dark, and there are large, sharp weapons being waved around. All of a sudden there's a third human-ish body in the small, dark storeroom. Sharak Sanzo appears out of thin air, gun in hand and ready to be a hero before she trips over an ayakashi and falls over backwards onto the floor, crashing into some debris.

"Shit- fuck- what the fuck are you idiots doing?!"

The possibility for a dramatic entrance ruined, Sharak scrambles backwards from the ayakashi towards Gojyo (she thinks). Luckily the side of her body closest to them is mostly covered by her robes, but already she's joined Tsuzuki in needing a wash in holy water after this.

They're all going to need a dip in the spring, and Gojyo's already planning to sit on Tsuzuki if that's what's needed to drag him to the doctor (healing powers or no, ayakashi bites have got to be filthy, and he doesn't want to think about what kind of infection they could grow if left untreated). His large, sharp weapon flashes again in the dim light as he tries to chase the ayakashi back through the narrow doorway, but they've already learned that the damage the blade causes, while painful, is temporary.

With a low growl that sounds far too much like a laugh for his taste, the ayakashi begin their advance again.

"I'll explain later," he yelps, waving the spade end of his staff wildly at the oncoming monsters. "Just say my name!"

Tsuzuki won't even fight getting somebody to take a closer look at those bites once he's been dipped in shrine water. They ache. This is the worst day on the job ever. He casts another hasty borderline inside the door of the increasingly crowded storeroom, and stays mostly sagged against the wall, his free hand clenched with determination.

"Hi," he says to Sharak. "Long story. Are you okay?"

Sharak ignores Tsuzuki- sorry, Tsuzuki- in favour of grabbing Gojyo by the arm to pull herself back up to her feet. She fires a shot at an ayakashi that makes a move for her leg, but while that's enough to make it jump back, it isn't enough to kill it. She can't quite assess how many of them there are in the dark nor what the best, fastest solution is.

"Shaki." She growls, tightening her grip on Gojyo's arm. It's one less body in the room, at least.

He can help with the darkness issue, at least. Shakujyo and Gojyo both vanish, and Goyjo reforms in Sharak's hand as a broken -- and glowing -- sword. And if Tsuzuki laughs, he'll find out just how sharp that stumpy little sword is.

Really, he's not much more than a knife, his blade hardly as long as Sharak's hand. But at least his glow is soothing?

He's good at borderlines, if you want to split the pack.

There's one wolf -- the leader, the biggest, with far too much intelligence in all its rolling eyes -- in the doorway, and at least three more out in the bar. Any minute now, that front door is going to chime as the afternoon crowd wakes up and stumbles inside. They don't have much time.

But he's hurt, too.

Gojyo vanishes and reforms as a knife -- sword? His blade's broken halfway down, and Tsuzuki's immediate reaction is a flash of concern. Is he hurt? Is he blighted? What makes a shinki into something broken --

But there's nothing in that glow that looks sickly or damaged, so Tsuzuki swallows back his worry and turns his attention back to the wolves. They're still close, and he lets his borderline fall again, looking out past the doorway. There are still more out in the bar. They're going to have to get out.

"What's the plan?" he asks Sharak, his voice a bit uneven. His shoulder is killing him. "I can keep them off with borderlines..."

Or split the group up, and distract them so she doesn't have to fight them all at once. Gojyo looks wickedly sharp, but she'll have to get up close to fight with him.

Ah, wonderful. She can see. She also has Gojyo's commentary in her head, which helps catch her up on what she's missed so far and the various things to worry about. Three wolves out in the bar, endangering civilians. The leader here watching them. Tsuzuki hurt and their only support.

"Stop them from grouping up. Keep them off my back, if you can, and try not to move around too much." Sharak holds Shaki's hilt in both hands, linking her fingers around him as she raises him up. The glow lights up her face eerily. "We'll cut them down."

She can't just run up to them all and stab them, that'll get her blighted to hell and she can't afford to be immobilised from pain.

"On marishiei sowaka-" A wolf leaps at Sharak, tired of waiting, when the spell cuts into it in midair. A few others are hit as well, cut apart by an invisible strike. It doesn't so much more lasting damage than shakujyo, but it's enough to knock them down and make them yelp with pain while Sharak drives Shaki's blade into the head of the nearest wolf. "Rend."

He doesn't spend much time in his weapon form, not with Sharak and not with Ekko, back when the kid was still here. But for all that it's a rare experience, it's still a bit unsettling just how comfortable it is to be a thing. He can see everything, all around him -- Tsuzuki isn't a blur in the corner of his eye but rather in just as much focus as Sharak is, and the wolves, and all the rest of the room (and, for that matter, the dark blur where her hand is wrapped around him). It should be disorienting, but it's anything but.

He might not be able to cast a borderline in his human form, but his rend is clean and sharp as you please. The wolf thing shudders as its head splits -- there's just enough time for the wolf to make a kind of pained howl before it falls away into first a wet puddle, and then nothing. One down.

The other three go mad when their leader falls. Two throw themselves into the doorway, teeth snapping at Tsuzuki and Sharak both. The third slinks around to the side of the bar and disappears from sight.

Tsuzuki might not be much use as a weapon, but the concentration and precision that comes with casting a borderline come naturally to him. When the two wolves come snarling and snapping through the doorway, his hand lashes out.

"Line!"

He half-sags, free hand going to his shoulder, but the borderline stays up, and the two ayakashi veer off to either side. Their howls of pain are eerily human.

One of them goes after Sharak, and the other, frustrated by the barrier, whirls and jumps for Tsuzuki. His back, as he jolts away, hits the wall he's leaning against, and that's it: there's nowhere to go.

He does manage to get his arm up to shove its snapping teeth away from his throat and face, but he doesn't have the strength to shove it away. He's had better plans.

KINYOBI is open for business!

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