[open] take it from me

[kokuyoyo]

Who: Chikusa Kakimoto and you
What: Staying at the Li Tieugai temple is becoming too annoying lately. Fortunately, Chikusa has plenty of things to investigate, from the library to the blighted spot.
When: Throughout the latter half of November
Where: Heaven's Library, the blighted area, other places
Warnings: Heavy violence in the Add thread, death (temporary)



A - Heaven's Library (constant)

The price of information, to Chikusa's great misfortune, always seems to be effort.

It explains why anyone visiting the Library throughout the month will seem to always eventually run into Chikusa if they're browsing around between the shelves long enough. On one hand, it's not particularly unusual. For months, now, Chikusa has been a constant presence within the library ever since the goblins which maintained it passed away due to that strange time warping event. Most of the time, however, he's been distant to anyone else that's been there with him, and not always looking for anything in particular. In fact, he seems to always be working in his unofficial capacity as one of the library workers there trying to keep it some idea of organized. (Which isn't always particularly successful...) Anyone who's seen him before in the library has likely seen him at work, staunchly ignoring all other shinki or gods, for the most part.

For the next few weeks, however, he's clearly searching for something. Instead of dully pushing around a cart full of books (or slumping against them in what is apparently extreme exhaustion from such an arduous task), he can be found carefully thumbing through the various titles before he organizes them. He can be found leaning against one bookcase with his eyes roaming the spines of book, taking in every title or lack of wording. Sometimes, he even reaches upwards, searching out what appears to be bits of loose paper or scraps that have somehow slipped on top of or inbetween books. Rarely does there seem to be anything worthwhile on the stray papers, judging by his quiet sighing, but occasionally he pauses to stare intently down on what seem to be random scribbles. Perhaps someone will even get to see him doing so.

....Alternatively, they may see him find what's apparently a blank piece of paper, take a pen out of his usual bag, and scribble something on it that's almost definitely rude before putting part of it underneath the strange door in the back of the library.

Fuck you, mysterious presence.

Other times, he's actually sitting down, a small stack of books around him. One is always open, his hand laid out against it to keep it that way, and he occupies his other hand with writing down what are apparently notes in a simple notebook. While Chikusa can be a little hard to read even on good days, he doesn't particularly seem pleased with what he's finding... or, perhaps, not finding.

While he's otherwise busy, he won't stop anyone from approaching him, and will even pause in the middle of what he's doing to level that dead eyed stare of his onto whoever has come near enough, whether they mean to interrupt him or not.

B - The Near Shore, the Blighted Zone

If the library won't give him the answers that he wants, then that means he really has no other choice but to go investigate himself... Well, by peering in on what exactly Heaven is doing in its own investigations on the area that became so badly blighted during the night of the God Meeting. After all, looking into the forest is clearly going to be a little harder.

For anyone else just passing through or perhaps even trying to look into things themselves, Chikusa's lanky figure is an easy one to spot, and not only because he tends to tower over other people even in a dead slouch. Rather, it's probably the shark finned beanie that he's wearing... It's not particularly subtle, but sometimes Chikusa rarely bothers to be. What has more of his attention is apparently ghosting throughout the neighborhood, pausing to take in a particular spot he can recall, or leaning against a wall to overhear what look like some of Heaven's shinki. With the amount of time he's spent in the Far Shore and his own skills of observation, he's learned to pick up familiar faces, after all.

C - The Near Shore, Asakusa

It's late at night. Why anyone would be out at such a time is a mystery that can only be answered by the individual themselves, but then, that's Asakusa for you. There are a lot of festivals held throughout the year in this place, and the amount of temples and other such things means that it's an enjoyable place for travelers of all sorts. Yet the recent ghost stories have apparently been creeping people out. In the dark streets, where various buildings and apartments have gone dark... The sound of footsteps echoing... going faster... and faster....

And bursting out of the doorway of a nearby building in the form of a frantic pair of shoes moving all by themselves, hastily dodging a borderline suddenly shooting out from inside the building. That sure is Chikusa, eyes sharp and his fingers still borderline ready.

Hopefully no one is in the way. That would be just horrible.

Comments

[closed to Add] some vague ass time after the training log

[kokuyoyo]

It's taken a lot of careful thought, planning, testing.... and a frankly exorbitant amount of tuna. Still, all of it is worth it. It's been long enough, he thinks, that he's faded into the background of existence once more, or at least he's been forgotten enough that Add hasn't tried anything again. (Of course, he might also have just lost track of where they live. Chikusa isn't entirely sure which.) All that matters, now, is putting everything into motion.

First step:

There is a cat.

Add is free to notice it at his leisure, although the cat in question has made sure to prop herself nearby to where he's working on his usual community service. She sits quite properly, split tail almost able to mistaken as one with how they're wrapped around her feet while she daintily cleans herself.

Cats usually look like they're casually pretending not to want attention while also putting it in neon that they super want it. In this case, that's especially true.

[subtract]

Honestly, at this point he can't even remember how much community service he was told to do. How many hours are left? Is he done already?? But bothering Suijin or one of her shinki about it sounds like it'd be even more of a headache... so, maybe he's just pretending to get back in their good graces now... or getting in some extra hours in advance for the next inevitable time he'll break reality...

Still, it's tedious and boring work, so he can't help but get distracted when he spies a cute looking cat on the side of the road. Add's raking slows to a halt as he stares. After several long seconds of this, he does a quick glance around him to make sure no one else is watching right now before turning back to the cat.

He definitely, absolutely wants to pet it.

Lowering his rake to the ground with Dynamo, he takes a few steps closer to the cat before crouching down, rubbing his fingers together in a beckoning motion. "Here, kitty kitty..."

[kokuyoyo]

For a moment, the cat only stares at him, tails swishing up and down against the ground. What's going through it's little kitty head is a mystery, as with most cats, before it finally gets up, takes a step forward.... and does a looooong nice stretch.

God damn cats.

After that, however, it begins to trot forward fearlessly, taking a good look at those fingers.

[subtract]

Ah yes, the expected annoying cat routine. When it comes to cats, at least, Add is patient. He doesn't mind waiting for it to come to him. He remains in place, hand still held out to it...

The double tails is a bit odd, though. He's seen a couple cats like that around the Far Shore before... but it doesn't seem to be an especially important detail. Maybe it's some kind of spirit cat or whatever, but it's still a cat. Nothing suspicious here. He's not going to shun a perfectly good, fluffy, adorable cat for a petty reason like that.

If it comes just a little bit closer, he can pat it on the head...

library;

[sageprincess]

[Zelda is also here today, carrying a notebook of her own as well as a few vaguely sorcery-related tomes as she looks for a place to sit and go over the things she's collected. The library's generally messy atmosphere inevitably leads her to where Chikusa's cleared out a space for himself, and, hazarding an educated guess, she asks:]

Are you researching the kind of magic they used in the forest as well?

[Their morals might be extremely different but it seems their drive for information has led them down similar paths.]

[kokuyoyo]

And during the God Meeting.

[Slowly, his posture shifts a little bit in the direction of his notebook.]

And anything about ayakashi... and spells...

[There's a reason the amount of books around him has piled up to the leve that it has. He's been gathering anything that's looked generally relevant and dealing with the details later, as in now.]

[sageprincess]

That is quite the burden of research you have placed upon yourself.

[She would say she's surprised, but she isn't, really. Chikusa gives off the impression of someone with barely enough energy to keep himself upright, but he's quite intelligent underneath that. Carefully, Zelda sets her own small stack of books on a moderately clear spot of his table.]

Would you mind a second pair of eyes? I would be very interested in learning more on those topics as well.

library;

[handle]

[ Sorey's a pretty constant presence in the library. In fact, it's rare not to see him either there or the other rather large library. Reading about history and the like is more or less a passion for him, but he's always interested in reading other genres, too.

It's why he doesn't fail to notice Chikusa there through the month. However, it's not difficult to notice that he's been there to help. When he seems to be searching for something, Sorey offers a small smile in his direction. ]

Can I help you with something?

[kokuyoyo]

...Maybe.

[Letting his fingers rest limply against the spine of a book, he glances over at Sorey.]

Have you... noticed any stray pieces of paper among the books...?

[handle]

Stray pieces of paper...? You mean, belonging to other books?

[ He tilts his head slightly. Is that what he means? ]

...to the library!

[erogappa]

[ Gojyo is new to this whole library thing. Arguably, being a shinki, he's new to everything, but while drinking and fighting and getting his stupid ass into trouble seemed to come more or less naturally, reading thick books for hours on end clearly wasn't something the living Sha Gojyo did much of. It takes real effort to keep his ass in the chair and his eyes on the page sometimes. Sometimes that effort takes the form of pacing. Sometimes it's swearing at the book's author. Frequently, let's not lie, it's both.

But sometimes he falls into the zone where the words make sense and stick in his brain even after he's turned the page. Sometimes he can sit still for an hour, even, ignoring the demands of his body to move as he absorbs page after page of the book in front of him. And sometimes, just as he can feel the threads of the thing pulling together, some asshole with a squeaky trolley breaks his concentration. ]

Oi, fuck off! [ But his snarl trails away at the end -- he really wasn't expecting the librarian to be Chikusa, of all people. Blinking in confusino, one hand steals up over the page of the book he was reading, hiding it from sight. ]

You work here?

[kokuyoyo]

[Honestly.... Chikusa was expecting that reaction to come just as a matter of him being around, when the familiarity of that voice sinks in, so the follow up question actually has him pause, blinking owlishly over in Gojyo's direction. If there's one person he wasn't really expecting to show up at all in a place like this...]

....I've been working on his place... for months now. Since the goblins died...

[Which he prefers, honestly. Fuck goblins.]

....Didn't think you were a reader.

[erogappa]

[ That fragile connection that had been beginning to form, about Heaven's previous responses to an ayakashi storm and how it related to the recent fires, is gone. Purged. Wiped clean out of his brain. Instead, there's just bratty little goblins in beanies dancing around. ]

Guess you're not as smart as you thought.

[ He's working here. How did Gojyo miss that? Dammit, now he's got to find somewhere else to do his research, because like hell is he going to stick around when Skinny here might choose at any moment to fuck with him. With an annoyed huff Gojyo slams his book shut and starts pulling all his shit together (there's a notepad covered in chickenscratch handwriting, a couple pens, a bag of chips, half a (warm, going flat) beer... ]

Hakkai know you work here?

More nerds at a library

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Judar was actually here, returning some of the books- Some later than he needed to (given he mastered Silence a while ago)- and ready to skim through the awful organizational mess that this hellhole was. Once again he was ready to look and see if that weird person was still holed up behind that door.

Instead he sees someone- an asshole- crouched over, stuffing something through the crack underneath, wearing a stupid beanie. Because this one is clearly would've suffered immense back pain in their future, had they not died, it was obviously Beansprout, and not Loudmouth (Yata.)

However, this is a place with a lot of things he needs, and he'd rather not risk damaging something he'd actually want just to vent out some frustrations, as tempting as that truly is. So he'll hold back and go with the common ground and behave for the time being.

Being bitter at some mysterious person. ]

Even if you put something on that paper, he's not going to react to it. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he uses all of it as scraps, no matter what's on it.

[kokuyoyo]

[It's true- the library with all its valuable (if fucking impossible to organize) resources is the only true neutral area, at least if you're both an asshole but also a huge nerd. It's why Chikusa is just careful as he (mostly) straightens up and not aggravated. His gaze flicks from Judar back down to the crack under the door.]

...Spite doesn't need a reaction.

[Sometimes you just need to write rude words onto a paper and toss it into the void. Like the internet.]

[But that's not important. Chikusa's gaze returns to Judar.]

...What have you tried?

[kuroi_taiyo]

Yeah, true.

[ He's still getting the hang of the internet, but spite? Spite is something Judar easily understands. It's what got him to learn how to use a kind of magic that he wasn't actually suited for. Soon he'll have mastered borderlines enough to handle the length and strain of an ablution as well- as guided by his god, who personally knew what it took to handle one. ]

A few things. Magic, both using it on the door or to get inside, or writing some unique stuff down to slide under the door and get the person's curiosity. Harassing and calling stuff out- Whoever it is can hear us. Fire doesn't really catch onto the door or anything either.

[ He borrowed a lighter for that. ]

[closed to Futaba]

[kokuyoyo]

Chikusa is honestly pretty easy to find at the school, considering that he's put himself into the makeshift library right there on the first floor.... face down against a table, the pompom of his black and white striped beanie giving away his position. Listen... Sometimes you just have to do that. Lay face down. The exhaustion life chose him.

Set up before him is his own laptop. If this girl is like she says, then she probably has her own and far better equipment... but hey. It doesn't hurt to bring something else, just in case. Either way, he's there, waiting.

[all_seeing_eye]

[Futaba does indeed have her own laptop. It's a custom rig that she put together herself, adorned with various stickers of anime and sentai shows she's into at home. Sitting down across the table from Chikusa, she reaches over to poke at his hat.]

Hey.

[kokuyoyo]

[So also more stylish than his, duly noted. With a sigh that could almost be mistaken as reluctance, Chikusa pushes himself up to blink owlishly over at her.]

....Hey.

[And because why not just get right into it- ]

Want to hack into a cultist's Twitter...?

library, few days after the forest

[boneofsword]

[Archer has been in the library a few times, but this time he's not looking for books. Once he spots Chikusa he approaches him without hurry. As much as he wouldn't mind taking some time to browse the huge collection he's on a mission.]

Any luck?

[kokuyoyo]

[...Well. Pausing with his fingers resting against the spine of a book he's recently put back, Chikusa regards Archer. That was definitely pretty intent-filled, coming right to him...]

....I guess. [Sure something of an answer.] Did you want something...?

[boneofsword]

Exchange of gathered information. [Archer regards him calmly. He's as direct as usual.] I've had a small chat with on of the cultists in the forest, and I'm willing to share what I've learned in exchange for what you've found out.

November 17th

[unlucky7]

[Ginia has a stack of books in her arms as she passes by the mysterious door in the back. She stops to watch Chikusa slide paper under the door, shifting the books so she can take out her phone. She types up a message and plays it.]

Get a reply back yet?

[kokuyoyo]

...Mostly just yelling. If I harass him.

...He keeps stealing my paper. [As if Chikusa isn't purposefully experimenting to see if he gets anything new out of him.]

[unlucky7]

At least his actions are consistent.

[Ginia knocks on the door with the toe of her boot, an irate "GO. AWAY." sounding almost immediately from the other side. Huh. Anyway, moving on.]

Took some spell tags and a straw doll back and did a dissection. Want to see the pictures?