night falls

“ quite a view, won’t you say? perfect for moon viewing. ”

sitting under the sakura blossoms with sake and a platter of dango in front of her staves off homesickness, in the times that she finds herself thinking of gensokyou; all that she had left was to find some person to talk to, or perhaps even bother, depending on who she may find out and about.

it might be called fate, finding the same person in almost the same location as before; this time, however, with more knowledge in her repertoire, it was allowable if she let herself be a bit more lax.

the shade her parasol provided her falls upon the dozing stranger’s face.

“ outdoors isn’t the best place for naps, young man. ” her voice, even in its light tone, had a tint of amusement in it. despite that, yukari folds her parasol and takes a seat beside him.

despite her sturdiness as a non-human, walking around all day eventually does take a toll.

seeing youkai in the cotes ward wasn’t anything out of the blue; most of the time, upon conversing with them, it quickly becomes apparent that they haven’t been outside this city at all. seeing large wings among the crowd no longer made her turn her head, but... this time, the telltale cape that fell from black wings was familiar.

the hell raven, with the gem glimmering upon her chest. it isn’t very easy to overlook this girl at all due to that, people seem to even stop and look at her for a moment before moving on. 

other than her flashy appearance with those wings of hers, she seems to be quite... preoccupied, in a staring contest with a stray cat, and is blocking a good portion of the road.

well, a small nudge might be for the benefit of everyone here.

the last time she has seen someone this excited was when chen found the catnip stash ran kept for bribery.

a young girl, hopping about as people were setting up decorations of roses and hearts, was hard to not notice. of course, while she meant well, she was starting to get in the way – it’s not like yukari had anything better to do, anyway, so she may as well intercede.

Virgilia’s face was a deep red.

“I… I apologize!!” She cries out, grabbing the strange goat by the arm. “This kind of furniture has the mind of a dog… I only forgot how dim witted they can be!”

A harsh insult. With that, the goat disappears into dust that blows away with the wind, and the vicious scent is gone.

“Training them is… Difficult. I’m an old woman, so I can’t help but spoil them, you know? A few table scraps won’t hurt!!”

yukari couldn’t help it. at the other’s flustered reaction, she chuckles... oh, truly, those burly things did react like a dog. at least it hasn’t asked to be pet, or anything of the like.

“ hmm. i suppose, but... shouldn’t it be, at the very least, carrot or stick? if they misbehave, that’s the time for punishment. ” speaking from experience, training shikigami took a fair bit of trial and error, in her earlier days.

—✕ █ ▌To his relief, he’s speaking to the RIGHT person and it is the RIGHT time. Nothing remiss or ill conceived, no tricks played by the Stars above. The once hesitant hovering, many respectable distances away, become a quickened close of the gap between them. A look left and then one to the right before he takes his STAND across from the youkai.

❝The way this city works, one could easily be MISTAKEN as a part of a dream or a piece on the gameboard that these Stars have chosen to set up. I assumed you weren’t a creation of theirs … ❞ Or whatever those kingdoms were meant to represent. His lips pull thinly. ❝But here you are, proving that my gut feelings are once again CORRECT.❞

At the mention of a HECTIC city, there’s something of an eye roll from him. ❝They trick you into thinking things will be normal - or at least try to, and then they punch you right in the face. I’m growing used to this routine by now.❞

“ ah, yes, i see what you mean. i thought i was home, for a moment, then i found myself back: it was as if nothing happened. ”

honestly... not being in the know has been making her restless. there’s always something of note that happens, then there’s always people that she feels like she should monitor. at least, over time, yukari has regained the use of her rifts; this has made going around easier, but it still wasn’t quite the same. her eyes don’t spread to everywhere, not just yet.

“Oh, there is also stuff like go, shogi, backgammon, even card games! Each game has its own rules, which requires different sorts of Pieces. How important each Piece is to the core of the game also changes, so I can’t answer your question in a simple manner, I’m afraid to say.”

Uhum. Just as he expected, Yukari is a good conversation partner. She allows him to elaborate on his life philosophy in a way that others tend not to incite. Or she goes even beyond, making him consider points that had never crossed his mind before. She is honestly someone he hopes to be able of calling a friend someday!

He crosses his arms behind his head, as he walks around with an amused gait. “Mind you, it’s not like I’m going all pro here, playing a game for my survival or something like that. How to put it… Are you familiar with videogames?”

quite a variety of games being mentioned there. how curious. she listens, ponders on his words. “ so, as of now, you recruit them as... say, something like stock pieces, for you to call on later, along the line? well, i suppose i understand the need of that. who knows, with the whims of these stars, hm...? ”

after all, there was a virtue in being prepared. being caught unaware was, while manageable, less than ideal; she severely misses her own raven shikigami due to this.

Genya watched in awe, unsure of what he expected to occur. This woman was clearly inhuman, as he could not think of any human being being able to do such a thing. Of course, his thinking was limited given his own experience, but his deduction was correct regardless (even if he was unaware of it).

When his wooden sword appeared, Genya continued to stare with mouth agape. Not only was he surprised by the woman’s abilities, he was even more shocked that whatever she did actually worked.

From his seat on the ground, Genya needed a moment until his brain was capable of forming words.

“Lady…”

“… Are you a demon?”

Wait, no, that couldn’t be right. Genya’s mouth moved faster than his thoughts. If this woman was a demon, then why would she help him, a Demon Slayer? There had to be another explanation. Unfortunately for Genya, he could not immediately think of one at this moment in time.

“ oh? that’s quite a rude question to ask someone that just helped you. ” despite her words, she sounds more amused than anything. she turns to him, a small smile upon her lips as she regards his expression.

a demon, an oni – possibly, he came from a world with a different view on such beings. comparing herself to the likes of the oni she knew was almost an insult, but she knows it to be unintentional. regardless, it seems that her little show of power instilled a little bit of fear or surprise in the poor young man.

it’s been a while since she got that kind of reaction, ever since she came to this city.

like for a starter of varying length. cap of 3, but castmates are exempt. these will be published throughout the week, depending on which ever free time my school gives me.

basically, this post serves as a little update! i’ve been on bernkastel a bit more recently and school has been making things hectic, so... i decided that it may be easier to possibly stay in contact with people, more, if i share my updated ooc contact information!

you can find me on twitter, but you can also ask me for my discord via pm or a non-anonymous ask.

“Really? You will?” Genya smiled; he hated to be indebted to others, but, that was a concern for later. “How–?”

He was cut off by the sudden appearance of– something. What was that? An eye, just floating there? Genya tensed, but scuttled backwards regardless. He was both curious and concerned about what he was about to witness.

This woman had appeared human, but was he wrong? This island was full of possibilities and dangerous individuals, which was part of the reason for his current predicament.

“Uhm…”

“What exactly are you going to do?”

“ well, worry not. it’s quite simple. ” after all, this is something that can be done in her sleep, at this point. picking her sleeve out of the way, she thrust an arm into the rift the moment she opened another one in the water itself.

even if the kappa has moved around within the water of where she estimated it would go, it would still be close enough. truly enough, with a swipe of her arms through the water, her hands met a slippery, slimy wrist. oh, how lucky.

of course, there was some resistance, but yukari’s reflexes were quick. as the kappa flinches away from her, her hands shift – she feels the wooden surface of the sword. “ aha, looks like i found it. ”

“ here we go. ” while the kappa was distracted, it’s simple to shift her grip to the sword, then yank.

It was a phone call to a possible prospector. One that refused the offer, not because of the name itself, but for other unrelated reasons that would be too complicated to explain and would add nothing to this story. It suffices to say that the refusal leaves Battler a bit disheartened, even if he understands it.

As soon as he ends the call, a woman appears a questions him about the concept. In fact, this person is familiar to him! …Although, judging by the fact that the way she is talking to him doesn’t contain any hallmark of familiarity, this is likely a different Yukari Yakumo from the one he met months ago.

At least he knows that he is up to an interesting conversation.

“Ihihi, I understand your point. And it’s not like that never happened. But it’s how it’s called back home, and I’d rather maintain a degree of familiarity with home stuff.” He smiles. “Besides, they don’t have to be just pawns. Bishops, knights, towers and even queens serve the king all the same. And we don’t even have to limit ourselves to chess either!”

“ hmm? oh, and what other games can you compare it to, then? commanding a fleet, each piece on the board important? ” that was a concern answered, but her curiosity remains.

upon this, it can be seen that the young man isn’t the wicked mastermind that one may have expected... then again, who knows? it may be too soon, just yet; even if you may appoint someone a high position, that doesn’t mean that they’d have any freedom at all.

@kathorizo​

“Oh, to think that I’d miss you so dearly… Come here…!”

Virgilia spoke with a fondness that made it sound like she was going to summon something adorable. That expectation may have been enough to draw someone near on it’s own, and if they did…

… They would be sorely disappointed.

Because instead of some cute animal, a demonic and disgusting goat butler was summoned instead. Ah, it even smelled foul.

Even though everything about the creature was so disgusting, Virgilia scratched it’s head and cooed at it all the same.

“Oh, now….! That isn’t your master…!! Come back, furnitureeeeeeeeeee…..!!”

Virgilia became disgruntled when the goat curiously approached a different girl, probably mistaking her for some authority.

a foul stench filled the air as a summoning was successful. curiosity, at first, to see what kind of show was about to be put on, then vague amusement.

youkai, yes, she may be used to, but beast youkai of this form just seemed comedic to her. however, much to her surprise... it seems to have seen her, then found something curious about her.

@kathorizo ♥️’d for a starter

—✕ █ ▌He has long since grown used to citizens coming and going from the island, learned that adventures ONE DAY would quickly become memories the next. A shame, to lose those he’s met. A shame, but he’s lost and lost and lost, to the point that casual acquaintances are swiftly set aside. Not forgotten, no, but placed, a RESPECTABLE DISTANCE. Eyes light up, though, at a familiar sight and that respectable distance feels so much closer. Eye contact initiated, and he knows now that not saying anything would be EXTRA strange. ❝So, you’re back, if you are who I think you are.❞ Only meeting before under the guise of different forms, he could only GUESS.

the weather outside is still cold. if she were to be honest, she’d rather be hibernating. alas, too much time has passed in a place unfamiliar... she had to go out once more, sooner or later, to not miss any event that may require her attention.

thus, her current situation: watching her own breath steam up in the winter air. staying awake appeals to her less and less, as time passes; however, making eye contact in the crowd swiftly took her out of her reverie. a blink, then two – for a long-lived youkai, familiar faces only met once can take a while to remember.

when he spoke, however, his voice rings clear to her mind, the memory of a lush forest welling up.