[open] i can't expect to change in one day

[kokuyoyo]

Who: Chikusa Kakimoto and others
What: For the second time, Chikusa has died. Also, he's kind of a giant bird. It's fine.
When: December 10th/11th
Where: Around the Far Shore, Li Tieugai's Temple

A - December 10th

Dying takes a lot out of someone. Perhaps that explains why Chikusa looks so distant and lost, sitting outside of Li Tieugai's temple staring at nothing in particular. There is a small congregation of two-tailed cats nearby, whispering to themselves. At the sight of someone approaching, a cat with bright green eyes perks up before linking over.

Have something to do? Just passing by? Too late. The cat blinks up patiently. "Our boy is broken," she explains patiently. "How doe one fix such a thing?"

"Answer the question, or we shall cast your shoes to the void of our gullets," Pookie hisses from the cat group.

B - December 10th still

If anyone has indulged the cats, it's hard to say if it's worked. Chikusa can be found shuffling through the Far Shore, Pookie with her back paws on her shoulder and her front ones on his head. She is kneading his beanie impatiently, and meowing out orders. Or directions. It's hard to tell with Pookie. Occasionally, Chikusa's only objection is to sigh out "How troublesome" even as he listens to her. He still seems sort of lost...

Of course, some of these directions mean cutting through a temple garden, or bumping shoulders where Chikusa doesn't care to apologize (although that's normal). Hopefully he's not intruding...

Or just stare at the cat-operated boy, that's fine too.

C - December 11th

It's taken conversation with Hakkai... but Chikusa is feeling a little better. Maybe. At the very least, he's stopped being guided around by a very demanding cat.

That only means, however.... that there is an enormous cloud gliding over the Far and Near Shores. At least, it seems like a cloud, or a bunch of smoke guided along by the wind, but closer inspection will find it... to not be that at all. While the cloud is almost the size of a plane, getting a bigger picture will find long spindly legs hidden away in it, and that is almost certainly a crane's head stretched out from it. Admittedly, the 'feathers' on it are still a strange pale shimmering blue that almost doesn't seem solid, and more of that strange smoky substance still flows and clings to certain parts of the head... but it's definitely a crane.

Occasionally, the enormous ethereal bird comes in for a landing. For the most part, he tries to limit it to natural places like thick enough gatherings of trees, or plains, but, well. Excuse the disruption if an enormous bird lands on your temple to check himself and his surroundings out.

...At least that doesn't seem to do any damage. Probably.

There is a simple black beanie with a small flag on it that is delicately pinched in his beak.

Comments

[closed to Hakkai]

[kokuyoyo]

Ever since the ablution, in all its failure, a cold disconnect has distorted the bond between god and shinki.

Bouts of disassociation aren't unusual with Chikusa, but they're usually more... lowkey than this. Hakkai should know that by now. There's only one occasion, in their whole partnership, that he's ever gone so badly. In that, it only needed a little bit of time. Certainly, Chikusa has been acting almost normal, partially helped by Pookie yelling at him in the way of all cats, and that's had him up and moving... But it's done nothing for the feeling, or lack of it. Sometimes, the disconnect fades for a moment, only to be struck with a sudden clench of fear, of all things... and sometimes an almost sickly sort of despair, different from the loss that came with losing Axel.

For the past while, him and Ken have been staying over at Nanako's temple, ever since the intrusion into their room... but Pookie has apparently decided such a thing is irrelevant. She's guided Chikusa back to Hakkai's temple, into the herb garden by the water, and leapt off. If she has any other plan, well, it's hard to say. There's just Chikusa sitting in the grass and staring dully into the water.

He came back. The knowledge weighs down against him as he watches light flick along the water. He died, and he came back, right there. He came back as something new. Chikusa blinks, slowly, barely registering the water as it is. He's heard about this, eavesdropping on older shinki at training sessions, or gatherings like the god meeting. Hafuri...

His chest squeezes in on itself again, as if he's suffocating, and his breath stutters. Hafuri. He's a hafuri vessel, but he's not- it's not with-

Before him, his legs jerk sharply before slowing down, drawing up tight to his chest where his arms can wrap around them and his fingers can dig in tight.

[reformedsinner]

Losing Ayumu that way -- not truly to her own guilt and despair, but because it had had to be done, to save the rest of them from the rage of a badly blighted Seiten Taisei -- had been difficult. Losing Chikusa to Hakkai's own hesitation had been worse. Getting Chikusa back?

Perhaps one of the old gods would be proud to have a shinki demonstrate such devotion. Yukine had certainly been proud of his status as a hafuri. Chikusa, on the other hand, has been radiating an aching numbness through their bond since it happened, jolted with occasional spikes of pain. It's hard to sort out his feelings from Ken's and Gojyo's, and, for that matter, from Hakkai's own. He's found himself spending more time than usual in his garden, tending almost mechanically to the herbs that go into his remedies, and, sometimes, just watching the water.

He hasn't decided how to feel about it yet. His heart has its own ideas: fear and fury are among them, and a sick helplessness he hasn't been able to shake since seeing Chikusa fall.

He is not, he reflects, leadership material.

The tug of a shinki nearby, out in his garden, catches his attention with a sharp, suffocating pang that afternoon. It's unusual; Gojyo doesn't go there much, and Ken and Chikusa have been staying with their other god since Hakkai went into their room.

(And perhaps that's for the best, he thinks. It's just that he can't understand why, when they don't want to stay with him, Chikusa would die for him.)

He sets aside his gardening shears, and stands, working his way around and between bushes planted to create the illusion of privacy until he spots the figure balled up on the banks of the pond.

"Chikusa?"

[kokuyoyo]

His name. Chikusa stirs, head nudging the bare minimum so that he can look past his hair. Hakkai. Of course it's Hakkai. This is his temple, a fact which somehow seems newly realized despite the fact that Chikusa has been living in it off and on for months now. He shouldn't be surprised, really... so why is his chest still twisting in uncertainty?

It hasn't occurred to him that he shouldn't be here. It's hard for him to remember a lot of things right now. He just stares at Hakkai, waiting a moment for.... what? He's not entirely sure. Only after a few seconds of silence does it occur to him to speak. Or, at least, does his automatic reaction kicks in.

"...Here."

...Nailed it.

[reformedsinner]

"Are you, really?"

Hakkai's question is lightly spoken; he steps over the stream, where it trickles down tiered flagstones into the pond, and circles around to Chikusa's place on the grass. The basket in his hand, full of freshly cut herbs, redolent of bitter greens, he sets between them, and sits down on its other side.

A pair of tails flick and disappear into the underbrush. Hakkai watches the rippling leaves fall still.

"Why are you here?"

B

[blizzardrock]

...Chikusa.

[On top of being stared at, Chikusa will get his arm grabbed. Whether that'll get Fubuki punched, well...]

[kokuyoyo]

['Punched' would probably be the preferable option, honestly. As it is, suddenly being grabbed, accompanied by Pookie's warning yowls, has Chikusa twisting suddenly and violently. One leg goes out to sweep at Fubuki's feet, and his free hand snaps out to try and draw a borderline.]

[If it's an overreaction, he doesn't seem to care much.]

[blizzardrock]

[Welp.]

Guess I deserved that...

[He remembers what he did that day in the forest, after all, even if he can't quite give a proper explanation for himself other than "I was a little stressed out."]

[...Doesn't hurt any less, though. Ow.]

Are you possessed? [Because, there's a cat, and...]

[kokuyoyo]

No.

[It might be hard to tell, considering Chikusa's natural way of talking is complete monotone, but this seems to have progressed beyond that. Advanced Monotoning.]

[From atop his head, Pookie leans forward with her ears flattened backwards.]

Our human soul is broken, so we are in the process of fixing him, and perhaps improving upon his deplorable habits of hiding the tuna.

A

[myblueskies]

Romeo had seen lots of strange things since arriving in the heavens so a talking cat, whilst weird was not too strange as to be scary. Romeo blinked back at the cat and then to the boy who was broken and then back to the cat.

At the threat he hurried to answer the question. Crouching down so he could speak to them. He had no idea what the void of a gullet was but it didn't sound good and he liked his shoes!

"You need to help him keep his spirits up of course!" He guessed that's what they mean, the boy doesn't look like he's actually broken, all his arms and legs are still there so he thinks they mean he's really sad.

"If his spirits are down you have to find a way to make it better!"

[kokuyoyo]

It's perhaps best to ignore Pookie's threats, it's true. The green eyed cat is much more patient while she waits for Romeo to lean down, and considers the suggestion carefully with her tail lazily swaying from side to side.

"And how would one do that for a human spirit?" she asks. "You are all very strange."

[myblueskies]

"We're not that strange!" Though the boy did look big and adults were a bit more complicated. It was harder to know how to help them keep their spirits up. He had learned that with Nia.

"But to keep your spirits up you just got to remember nice things or think about friends that make you happy. Sometimes looking at pretty things helps too or eating food. What's his best thing to do?"

The cat was clearly in need of help. It seemed only right, after all Romeo would need help to cheer a cat up so of course a cat needed help to cheer a human up!

[kokuyoyo]

Something about the cat's coolly half-lidded stare says that humans are most definitely strange, but, then again, that's perhaps just the default state of cats in general. At least his question serves as a welcome distraction, and the green eyed cat looks back to the rest of the group. Whispers are all hastily exchanged before a sphynx cat pokes his head up.

"Writing?"

"Books!"

"Being with dogs."

...Well, the sphynx and a few others.

c

[spes_phthisica]

It doesn't cause any damage that can be seen, but it does certainly cause a disruption, especially among the hundreds of pastel-colored geese that also inhabit this temple garden. After screeching, honking and flapping away from the enormous bird, they waddle back cautiously yet curiously. A couple of them lower their heads and hiss sharply at this impertinent invader.

"Now now, is that any way to behave?" Souji appears undaunted, gently shooing the agitated birds away from the huge, ethereal shape. Then he shields his eyes a bit in order to look up at it, smiling brightly. "You don't look like an ayakashi. Can I help you?"

[kokuyoyo]

That's geese for you. Even when faced with something a hundred times their size, they'll still be huge assholes. Amazing. Chikusa watches them impassively with a pair of enormous and pale lavender eyes. It's no worry to him, after all.

What's a bit more relevant is when an actual person comes out, and he turns his head to slowly blink down at him. Oh, right, this is someone's actual temple inhabited by real people and not just birds. With neither cranes nor clouds being capable of speech (although Chikusa has to admit he hasn't really tried), he sort of just... flutters his wings very briefly to the side.

It's kind of like a shrug. Right?

[spes_phthisica]

Geese indeed know no fear, nor any reason why not to treat anything they don't approve of with utter disdain. They have this in common with Saizou, the tiny pig who suddenly explodes from a building as if fired from a pistol, charging straight at the bird. It's all Souji can do to catch him mid-leap and sweep him up in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I think they're just trying to protect me. I'm pretty sure most of the geese still think I'm their mom." He beams at the crane, because he's honestly so used to just prattling to the animals around him that it doesn't bother him if he doesn't get much of a response. "Usually I offer guests some tea and mochi, but... well, I don't think cranes eat those, right?" Especially cranes made of smoke, maybe?

[kokuyoyo]

Oh... A temple that has just about as many animals as Hakkai's seems to. Funny how that happens. Another slow blink at the sight of the big, but that's not important.

Food is what's important. It's what's always important.

Regardless if it's actually possible to eat in this form or not, Chikusa starts to stretch his long neck further down. While this may make him a bit easier to be attacked by geese or angry pigs, considering how big a target his head is now, he doesn't really care. He... honestly can't remember if he's been eating properly the last couple of days, although he's sure that Ken has tried to make him.

A!

[welcome_home]

[ Nanako had felt it happen. For a moment, she'd been confused, hit with a rush of jumbled emotions and things she couldn't even begin to understand. Then there had been... blackness. Nothing. She'd frozen, terrified, thinking he was gone, but that.... that wasn't quite right. She could still feel her link with him, could feel her Name still etched on his being. Somewhere.

And then he was back, but things were no less confused and jumbled. In fact, she could feel a coldness there in the link that did not feel at all like the Chikusa she knew. Worried, she dropped what she was doing and starts winging towards Hakkai's temple to find him.

It's the cats that greet her and she bends to greet them when one speaks to her, glancing from between the two-tailed cat to where Chikusa sits. The hissed question has a puzzled look crossing Nanako's face and she glances over at Pookie at the hissed threat, not taking it personally. She does reach out to pet them as she passes, though. ]

I don't know. But let's try to help, okay? [ She offers them a small, encouraging smile, before proceeding over to where her shinki sits on the steps, staring at nothing. Stopping in front of him, she peers up into his face with a concerned look. ]

....Chikusa?

[kokuyoyo]

[Petting is almost always a guaranteed way to cool a bunch of dumb cats, and they bear it well enough, even as they trail after her towards Chikusa.]

[As for Chikusa himself? It takes him a belated second to look up at her, blinking slowly, as if not entirely there. Well... that's not a wrong thing to say, either.]

...Yeah.

[welcome_home]

[ She watches him a moment before moving to sink down on the step beside him, reaching out to carefully lay a hand on his knee as she searches his face. ]

What's wrong?

[kokuyoyo]

[No reaction to the hand on his knee. He just continues to stare at her, eyes more than a little distant. Chikusa is always a bit blank, a surface level of what seems like unbudging calm, but this is a bit... further than that.]

...Something's wrong...

[He knows that. He knows that there's a lot that's wrong with the current situation, from Ayumu to his own status. Yet it's strange, to hear it coming from someone else's mouth. The longer he stares at her, however, the more things seem strange... and it takes him a moment to recall why.]

Ah.... You... named me too.

B

[birdstheword]

[After Chikuasa walked through her temple grounds and ignore her loud hellos and whats ups, she's decided to tail along with him. She jogs along side him, moving from his left side to his right side. The cat on his head is super cute too.]

Hellooo anyone home? Hey, hey. Are you a zombie?

[kokuyoyo]

...Dumb question...

[So at least there is an actual answer, now that Hajime is close enough. Chikusa heaves out a long sigh, although he doesn't stop walking. That's possibly because of the cat still kneading at his beanie.]

[That cat which looks down to Hajime and speaks up.]

We are in the process of fixing.

C

[unlucky7]

It's a good day to do nothing. Ginia is not the kind of person who handles doing nothing well, but after her admittedly ill-advised day of training, even she's willing to scale back. The large trees of Caster's temple are perfect for lounging around in. Ginia is nesting in a large root system with a book, cellphone, and one of Caster's hounds when she notices the low cloud hanging over the temple building.

The low, crane-shaped cloud.

.....Huh.

[kokuyoyo]

Funny the kinds of shapes that clouds can take... just seeming to envelop the top of the temple... and how one long part in particular seems to almost turn and...

Oh. Welp. There is sure an eye in there, just slowly blinking. Definitely not a trick of the eyes, either, because there it goes, blinking again.

This isn't how Chikusa meant to drop by, but it's the way he's doing it regardless.

[unlucky7]

Ginia moves closer as the cloud envelops the temple, assuming the worst as it swirls around the temple. Her hand is already on her phone, Caster's dial at the ready. It can't be an ayakashi, but maybe an attack from another god? The cult?

But then the cloud looks at her, blinks once, twice. She stops as she notices the shape of a beak, the beanie pinched in it. There are only two people she knows that wear beanies. One with any reason to be around.

Ginia moves closer, still staring at the amorphous form surrounding the roof.

"Chikusa?" she asks through her phone, not sure whether she wants to be right or wrong.