20 | Shopping Frenzy!

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Helping a grand opening go well
When: August 21
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: The owners and employees at a new shopping center are begging for help. Bad luck has plagued them, and their grand opening is this weekend! Gods and shinki alike have been asked to respond to their prayers on Opening Day, find the source of their misfortune and ensure that the opening goes smoothly.



The Yamada Corporation is opening a new, high-class department store in a Tokyo suburb. They've been running advertisements for weeks and excitement among their prospective customers is at a fever pitch. Unfortunately, things inside the project aren't going so well. Construction has been delayed, deliveries are wrong, employees keep getting sick or hurt on the job and it's starting to look like the grand opening will be a grand disaster. Their fervent prayers for help have reached the Heavens, who are passing them along to you to be granted... but with an addition: Heaven, too, is very interested in learning where that bad luck is coming from.



Maintenance Madness

For a brand-new building, Yamada Department Store is having a lot of maintenance issues. Toilets are overflowing, lights are burning out, stair railings are coming loose, and either the air conditioning is set so cold there's frost on the vents or it's not working at all. The overworked maintenance crew needs all the help they can get! How many gods does it take to change a light bulb?

Secret Shoppers

Are you really going undercover to make sure you stop problems before they start, or just enjoying a day of high-class shopping on Heaven's dime? Whatever your real motivation is, all expenses are covered... but you'll still want to keep an eye out for mishaps. Unfortunately, the grocery and bakery in the basement are under construction (they've had some flooding problems) but there are still six floors of designer clothes, consumer goods and restaurants to enjoy.

Retail Rescue

Between mysterious accidents and that nasty flu that seems to be going around, the department store is badly understaffed. Grab an employee uniform and someone else's nametag and pitch in before the lines get too long. There are positions open in every department, from the restaurant on the top floor to book sales on floor one.

It's not just sales and service you have to worry about: thanks to the store's misfortune, displays are toppling over, the wrong orders are coming in, fancy candies are melting all over the shelves and ink tags are exploding on their own. This is hard work!

Intrepid Investigators

The Heavens aren't just sending so much supernatural help to this department store to keep their faithful followers happy. They have reason to suspect that there's something more sinister behind this mysterious streak of extra-bad luck. Between keeping the lights on and the customers happy,
you've been asked to search the store and investigate all of the "unlucky" incidents in order to determine what's going on. The shinki who brought you this request hinted that Heaven would look favorably on anyone who uncovered something particularly useful....

If your character is investigating the department store and needs to know what they have found, please comment to the "Investigations" thread below with a link to your thread. Your hint will be provided.

Investigation threads longer than 10 comments will earn 200 followers for every god in the thread and 20 exp for every shinki. Once your thread reaches that length, please turn it in by replying to your hint under the "Investigations" thread to let us know you've earned the bonus.

In Summary:

• Keep the lights on
• Take some time out to enjoy a shopping trip
• Make sure the customers are happy
• Discover the cause of the bad luck
• Have fun~

Comments

[reformedsinner]

The goat. How did you end up with so many animals?

[Cheerfully, he adds:] Let Pookie know that if she'd like to recruit either of my cats, she is welcome to.

[kokuyoyo]

[Somewhat sulkily, Chikusa frowns at Hakkai's back.]

Bon is the bite fetishist's fault.

[He didn't ask for the dog, Hakkai!! He didn't ask for one that eats hats!]

[reformedsinner]

Believe me, I remember.

[Eats hats, and tackles people and youkai, and tries to make friends with cats who have absolutely no interest in being the friend of a dog ten times their size...

Bon is a troublesome pet.]

I thought you were planning to give him to Sharak?

[kokuyoyo]

[Just a long, long pause.... That, in its own way, is probably telling.]

She made me go back to get him...

[reformedsinner]

[It's extremely telling. Hakkai chuckles softly.]

She called me about it, too. -- Still, you might get her to take care of him from time to time. Did he tackle her?

[It could be a harder sell if he tackled her.]

[kokuyoyo]

[In response, all Chikusa does is get out his phone, fiddle with it, and then press it against Hakkai's back.]

[A certain portion of a conversation will be playing.]

[reformedsinner]

[Did you seriously keep the recording of the conversation, Chikusa?? Hakkai's listening for just a few seconds before he starts cracking up.]

That's -- [Some people could describe this as an evil cackle, and they would not be wrong.] -- almost exactly what I imagined.

[kokuyoyo]

[He keeps all the recordings he has recorded. It's just how he is right now as a dead teenager.]

[Since Hakkai's cackling is clearly going to drown out any other part of the recording, Chikusa tucks his phone back into his pocket.]

...So Bon still technically stays around. [ S I G H ] Ken likes him too which makes it harder....

[reformedsinner]

Perhaps we should pick up some actual chew toys for him while we're here. [And while it's subsidized. Coffee first, though. The elevators aren't far, but, on the other hand, he's not trusting the elevators in this building until they've been checked by an inspector he knows is reliable.

Stairs instead. It's only a few flights' worth.]

[kokuyoyo]

I didn't find a pet store of any sort...

[Or trust him, he would have gotten everything for all the animals that they apparently have. There' a moment of dead eyed disdain towards the stores, but.... Yeah. He doesn't trust the elevators right now either. So he follows after Hakkai with only a couple seconds of delay.]

...Pet stores don't usually carry things for owls, do they...

[reformedsinner]

They might have things for parrots.

... but probably not owls specifically.

[He hasn't gone looking for pet supplies specifically, but he'd assumed they were somewhere. Too bad; he'll have to look elsewhere for cat treats.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Pet stores just don't have his needs. Typical. Chikusa sighs.]

Mukurou is going to be annoyed...

[Yes, he named his owl exactly what you think he did, Hakkai.]

[reformedsinner]

Mu-kurou? How do you write that?

[It's definitely owl, though. He chuckles.]

[kokuyoyo]

[No answer.]

[A second later, however, Hakkai's phone will buzz with a text message. Did Chiksua send the spelling to him? You bet he did.]

[And yes, it is a pun of "corpse" and "owl". Mukuro... Fukurou... Same thing.]

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai checks his phone and laughs merrily.]

What a good name.

[And! Not much further: he waits on the top landing for Chikusa to catch up. There's an advantage to the fact that the customers are being scared away: the line at the coffee shop isn't very long at all, and they're advertising several specialty late summer drinks. The chocolate ganache/chestnut mocha looks tasty, and then there are cold teas with fruit, too... he seems a little distracted by squinting at the menu.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Thank you for appreciating his own questionable sense of humor, Hakkai.]

[Finally reaching the top landing, Chikusa peers around Hakkai to eye the menu.]

....I didn't know there were that many kinds of iced teas...

[reformedsinner]

Neither did I.

[Hakkai pauses, dubiously. Iced tea with grape juice? Really?]

I'm not sure that there should be. What would you like?

[kokuyoyo]

...Coffee soda sounds interesting, I guess... [Something seems to occur to him and he looks at the menu with renewed interest.] What's a sweet drink?

[reformedsinner]

Those blended ice ones are very sweet -- a little too much so for me.

Why?

[Maybe he'll just get the hot green tea. Or the matcha latte, if he's feeling like self-indulgence; it's been a long day...]

[kokuyoyo]

...Then a blended chocolate frappe... and a coffee soda.

[He sounds pretty decided on this as he leans forward to slump against the counter. The question earns a dull blink.]

...Ken.

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai smiles, and steps around Chikusa to reach out and wave a hand rudely at the barista.]

Excuse me, sir! One large chocolate frappe, a coffee soda and a medium matcha latte, please.

[The man jumps, abruptly spotting the two people barely a meter away, and rings them up with a flustered apology, and Hakkai glances back at Chikusa as he hurries to make their drinks.]

I didn't know he liked sweet things.

[kokuyoyo]

[Honestly, Near Shore people ignoring him and by far less rude than some gods and shinki he actually knows, so Chikusa mentally checks out for a moment as the money part of the transaction is handled. He comes back to earth at Hakkai's voice, however.]

Mm. He eats gum a lot, so... But chocolate might be different, so we'll see...

[reformedsinner]

Well, then, I hope he enjoys it.

[The barista is finishing the last drink, and stopping, blinking, and looking down at them as if he's confused by their presence on the counter. Hakkai calls cheerfully to him.]

Over here!

[--and, luckily, that's enough to keep him from cleaning up their drinks; Hakkai hands Chikusa his, and wraps his own hands around the paper sleeve on his latte.]

If chocolate isn't his favorite, the strawberry one might be a bit more like bubble-gum flavors.

[kokuyoyo]

[With both drinks in hand, Chikusa shuffles over to the nearest table. At least with so many people being chased off, there's less of a chance for someone to sit with them...]

We'll see... Ayumu is here right...?

[reformedsinner]

Yes, she is. [Hakkai settles at the chair across from him; it's not a large table, which will also, hopefully, discourage anyone from trying to join them.]

She had some shopping she wanted to finish, besides seeing if she could overhear anything interesting.

[He glances at Chikusa, with a flicker of mild concern.]

How are things between you two?

[Ayumu had considered Chikusa a possible student... but Ayumu had also been less than pleased when Hakkai dragged himself home after the ablution.]