Toshizou Hijikata ♦ 土方 歳三 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
koukai_kirai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thenearshore2018-06-30 09:53 am
koukai_kirai) wrote in thenearshore2018-06-30 09:53 am
I watch the ripples change their size [OPEN + prompt for Kairi]
Who: Hijikata and Kairi; Hijikata and YOU
When: Backdated to the end of November for Kairi; backdated to any time in the first week of December for anyone else
Where: Hachiman's shrine, and a department store in Tokyo
What: Sword lessons (both for Kairi and open); Hijikata isn't sure what a Christmas is but they make electric kotatsu now and that's pretty rad; quiet tea time because the future is Tiring.
A - Hijikata's dojo - especially for Kairi, but open in other threads to others
[It's only natural for a patron god of warriors to have a training space in his shrine complex, but Hijikata does still have moments of appreciating the convenience and privacy of the large training hall just a few meters past his living quarters.]
[He remembers being a child and watching others who had the luxury of getting proper lessons with envy, and spending whatever money he could scrounge up on lessons from a dozen different schools that he was never really a part of, and sneaking off to hidden groves far from his village to train on his own every morning as a young man, painfully embarrassed of the imperfection of an unfinished product. It's nice, being able to just walk down the covered walkway extending from the veranda and have a big, clean, well-kept space all to himself for training. The tatami mats still have a fresh scent to them, bright and grassy against the faint scent of frost in the air.]
[Still, it's a bit lonely from time to time. At the Shieikan and back in Kyoto, there were always people around, training and joking around and going about their lives together, and some of the people he's trained here are gone already. It can feel strange, sliding the door open to see the big room so echoingly empty.]
[Today might be one of those days, but thankfully, going through his training exercises has always been good for calming his mind. He keeps busy while he keeps an eye out for Kairi or any other prospective students who might have seen his offer and decided to stop by, running through some of his old drills with a heavily weighted training sword in hand, one familiar step after another.]
B - The Near Shore - A popular Tokyo department store
[Just when he thought he was getting used to all of the foreign influences on the Japan of the future, he steps into a department store and finds all this.]
[Oh, there are a few advertisements for New Years decorations and holiday foods, but they're almost hard to find under all of the red and green and gold tinsel, the cartoons of some old white man in a red suit, the entire trees crammed indoors and festooned with the gaudiest possible things. He stands in the middle of the store's main lobby, a flyer held limply in one hand, just staring in bafflement from one thing to another, briefly overwhelmed by all of the unfamiliarity.]
[At least the Near Shore people can't see the tall, sharply-dressed man staring at a Christmas tree like it's an alien spaceship, but he might not be lucky enough to escape notice entirely.]
"Merry..."?
C - The same department store, later
[After some effor, Hijikata has finally managed to escape the area dominated by seasonal goods and get some shopping done. He's got a few bags in his hands already -- winter outerwear, mostly -- but something in the furniture section has caught his eye now.]
[He picks up the price tag on the display model of a moderately sized kotatsu, humming thoughtfully.]
...And it runs on electricity?
[Alright, future, you win this round, he's moderately impressed.]
D - the Far Shore, Hachiman's Shrine, morning
[The Near Shore is fine and all, but honestly, sometimes it really is a bit much. Hijikata might be relatively quick to adapt, but he's somewhat traditional in his taste for the simple comforts in life, and it's those that he finds himself seeking out when FutureEdo Tokyo gets to be a little too overwhelming.]
[He's at the entrance to his shrine today as he takes his tea, sitting at the foot of the big wooden torii gate, a dark haori over his usual kimono as a grudging concession to the recent onset of winter weather and cradling a large, lovingly handmade teacup from some secondhand shop on the Near Shore in his broad, sword-calloused hands. A bit of steam is rising from the cup as the morning mist rises from the hills around the shrine, and oh, that's good, maybe he could work that into a poem...]
[Ah, but he left his notebook inside. Oh, well. He's not about to let his tea get cold -- though he'll be here a while if he's going to have to drink it all himself.]
When: Backdated to the end of November for Kairi; backdated to any time in the first week of December for anyone else
Where: Hachiman's shrine, and a department store in Tokyo
What: Sword lessons (both for Kairi and open); Hijikata isn't sure what a Christmas is but they make electric kotatsu now and that's pretty rad; quiet tea time because the future is Tiring.
A - Hijikata's dojo - especially for Kairi, but open in other threads to others
[It's only natural for a patron god of warriors to have a training space in his shrine complex, but Hijikata does still have moments of appreciating the convenience and privacy of the large training hall just a few meters past his living quarters.]
[He remembers being a child and watching others who had the luxury of getting proper lessons with envy, and spending whatever money he could scrounge up on lessons from a dozen different schools that he was never really a part of, and sneaking off to hidden groves far from his village to train on his own every morning as a young man, painfully embarrassed of the imperfection of an unfinished product. It's nice, being able to just walk down the covered walkway extending from the veranda and have a big, clean, well-kept space all to himself for training. The tatami mats still have a fresh scent to them, bright and grassy against the faint scent of frost in the air.]
[Still, it's a bit lonely from time to time. At the Shieikan and back in Kyoto, there were always people around, training and joking around and going about their lives together, and some of the people he's trained here are gone already. It can feel strange, sliding the door open to see the big room so echoingly empty.]
[Today might be one of those days, but thankfully, going through his training exercises has always been good for calming his mind. He keeps busy while he keeps an eye out for Kairi or any other prospective students who might have seen his offer and decided to stop by, running through some of his old drills with a heavily weighted training sword in hand, one familiar step after another.]
B - The Near Shore - A popular Tokyo department store
[Just when he thought he was getting used to all of the foreign influences on the Japan of the future, he steps into a department store and finds all this.]
[Oh, there are a few advertisements for New Years decorations and holiday foods, but they're almost hard to find under all of the red and green and gold tinsel, the cartoons of some old white man in a red suit, the entire trees crammed indoors and festooned with the gaudiest possible things. He stands in the middle of the store's main lobby, a flyer held limply in one hand, just staring in bafflement from one thing to another, briefly overwhelmed by all of the unfamiliarity.]
[At least the Near Shore people can't see the tall, sharply-dressed man staring at a Christmas tree like it's an alien spaceship, but he might not be lucky enough to escape notice entirely.]
"Merry..."?
C - The same department store, later
[After some effor, Hijikata has finally managed to escape the area dominated by seasonal goods and get some shopping done. He's got a few bags in his hands already -- winter outerwear, mostly -- but something in the furniture section has caught his eye now.]
[He picks up the price tag on the display model of a moderately sized kotatsu, humming thoughtfully.]
...And it runs on electricity?
[Alright, future, you win this round, he's moderately impressed.]
D - the Far Shore, Hachiman's Shrine, morning
[The Near Shore is fine and all, but honestly, sometimes it really is a bit much. Hijikata might be relatively quick to adapt, but he's somewhat traditional in his taste for the simple comforts in life, and it's those that he finds himself seeking out when Future
[He's at the entrance to his shrine today as he takes his tea, sitting at the foot of the big wooden torii gate, a dark haori over his usual kimono as a grudging concession to the recent onset of winter weather and cradling a large, lovingly handmade teacup from some secondhand shop on the Near Shore in his broad, sword-calloused hands. A bit of steam is rising from the cup as the morning mist rises from the hills around the shrine, and oh, that's good, maybe he could work that into a poem...]
[Ah, but he left his notebook inside. Oh, well. He's not about to let his tea get cold -- though he'll be here a while if he's going to have to drink it all himself.]
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Christmas.
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...The Hell is that?
btw, this is b, /totally forgot/
Holiday.
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[He flips the flyer over to the other side, squinting at it as if it might hold a clue.]
...Something to do with cake?
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[ Mikoto!]
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[Huh...]
He a god or something?
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[ He shakes his head. ]
Just some myth about an old geezer with reindeers. Delivers presents to kids on some list.
[ Mikoto! Don't ruin Santa for others!!! You don't know if he could be a true believer!!! ]
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And only the ones on the list? How do they get on it?
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[ How does he know this? He had to make one with Anna. Totsuka did find his address online and yes, they did need to buy postage for it and walk down to the post office it to hand deliver it. orz ]
They're good.
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[He does scoff a little at "Be Good Children" being the requirement, though, if only because most kids are just, like... so noisy and terrible.]
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B
Ah, I hadn't expected to run into you here. Are you all right? You look a bit lost...
[Hijikata is free to be confused about an apparent stranger addressing him in a seemingly familiar way, considering Komaeda never actually provided video of himself the couple times they've talked. All he'll see is a pale young man with hair that's a strangely dead white, emphasis on dead; it looks like the color and vitality have been leeched out of it, with only hints of color at the very ends of his hair. (It's also messy, but who's paying attention to things like that.) For all his relaxed, relatively cheerful demeanor and tone, he looks sickly.
(If Hijikata is particularly observant when looking over this stranger, he may notice that Komaeda's left hand bears no resemblance to his right hand - or even to the rest of his body. It's got a completely different bone structure and skin tone, and its seemingly feminine appearance is only emphasized by long red nails.)]
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[On the other, there are some really questionable details that stand out when he really gets the chance to look at the stranger(?), so his posture is still sort of... understatedly cautious, for the time being. Not overly defensive or skittish, certainly not aggressive, just careful.]
I'm not lost or anything... They've just done a bit of redecoration since the last time I was in.
the confusion between using English or Japanese name orders...
He shakes himself out of his thoughts to smile at Hijikata. He can tell the man is unsure, and it's easy enough to figure out at least one potential source of that.] But I suppose you don't recognize me. I'm Nagito Komaeda - or Averruncus, if you prefer. We spoke on the network about my looking for a gun...? And about your hair.
the eternal struggle
[He relaxes, nearly but not quite invisibly, the furrow of his brow softening and his broad shoulders lowering just slightly. As many concerns as he still has about the whole gun thing, the guy seemed basically decent, if a little strange.]
[At the very least, he trusts him enough to take his eyes off him, surveying the decorations once again.]
It’s... Some kind of Western thing?
[Most, though not all, weird things about Living In The Future are, so it’s a safe bet.]
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In my world, Japan does celebrate it more these days than it used to, but that's a fairly recent development - and it's more of a chance to have a celebration than it is anything religious. In fact, it's kind of taken on the tone of a romantic holiday! [He laughs lightly.] Mostly it's an excuse for people to decorate, exchange gifts, and do romantic winter activities.
A