" 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

Although... it did seem like he was at least trying to figure out the phone when he'd first seen him. Maybe that was enough to work with. Raiden drags a hand over his face as he mulls over how exactly to explain this.

"So... money is fake, you know."

Please let him guy understand that much.

"It's just a number of some arbitrary object, like coins or bills or whatever people agree has value. So now, in a lot of places, we just get rid of the objects. When I buy something from someone, we just agree that I have one less 'dust' and they have one more 'dust'. That's the only way anyone pays anyone here, no cash."

"It's worth either the metal it's been smithed from or the paper that was handmade. Bartering is just as valuable of a method, but--" he stopped himself. This was going to turn into a back and forth conversation of ideals and virtues if he continued.

"Until someone stops accepting my currency, I have to be able to use it, so," he narrowed his eyes at the screen. This man understood this modern technology way more than he cared to. Irritating fingers drummed against the metallic casing, which cause the occasional pop of electricity to buzz to life.

"Then I just show this device, say I have money, and they believe it?"

A pause.

"That's stupid," he huffed.

"That's really stupid."

Who came up with such an idea?

"Whatever."

Kashimo tapped the screen again and flicked through the contact list. A compilation of names that he didn't recognize moved down the screen as he swished through it.

❝ i think it varies from person to person, ❞ he thinks of simon. strong and brave and full of love. simon had joined expedition zero because he was that noble sort. that, and he was physically built for the task. a mountain of a man, an oddity among the people of lumiere. ❝ i've done my fair share of fighting, so ... i've seen a lot of people come with different things that they've fought for. ❞

somehow, he feels like that's not the real question. this guy's asking him what he fights for. verso doesn't know how to answer that. at least not honestly. ❝ i come from a place where every year, people die. it became more and more obvious as the years went on. see, there's a being called the paintress, and she's been counting down from 100 every year for the past 67 years- ❞

❝ and for a long time, expeditioners have been going out to see if they could stop her. they fight so that maybe there will be a better tomorrow for the people who are left behind. you know, for those who come after. ❞ the words flow easily enough, because they're true. ❝ before i came here, i was an expeditioner, too. we always told each other- when one falls, we continue. maybe a real warrior is someone who holds onto an ideal and fights for it, even when things seem hopeless. ❞ that's what maelle would say- something like that. maelle who fought so hard to ... no, he knows better than to think of that. maelle's not here. none of the others are here. and he's alive, whether he wants to be or not.

Why put your life on the line again and again unless there was a greater purpose behind it all?

" So you had a sense of comradery that pushed you, " Kashimo remarked.

" And hope to keep the fire burning in your spirit. "

This man was noble. He could tell.

" My purpose--

head presses further into the palm supporting it, a gaze that once held an excited spark now staring off distantly with impending disappointment. it was an agency assignment that even had him aware of this little scuffle he was witnessing; a call he readily agreed to take under the assumption there'd be more to gain from it.

instead, from his perched seat upon this fence, he watches the fight -- if one could even call it that -- dwindle into spat words and huffs. as if it had resolved itself before he could intervene. hawks can't chew him out for that one, can he?

before calling it a 'job well done' and shoving off, the warrior is made aware of another idling nearby. they'd not been there long, surely. dar would have heard them approach.

"oy, shows over! their slap fight ain't got much to offer, anyhow." ( aside from me gettin' paid to watch that shite... )

His lips crack into an amused smirk.

" You and I were considering the same-- it's exciting, isn't it? The invigorating rush of battle. Those two-- I wouldn't waste a punch on either of them, " Kashimo leaps down from the fire escape that he had been sitting on, landing several meters away from the man he was exchanging words with.

" I could go out searching for an opponent, " he begins to spin the staff held in his hand, static electricity crackling from his palm to the end of the simple weapon.

It's a little curious how the guy talks about being some kind of time traveler, presumably from the past. His appearance is hard to place in time, but he looks a bit more contemporary than not. Then again, Raiden knew better than to read too much into the logic of these things.

" You think I'm not capable of snatching a satchel of rice off of a stranger? " Insult to injury. Clearly, the sorcerer was dealing with a self-proclaimed comedian.

Blue strands of hair hang in his face, and Kashimo gets up onto his feet. He snatches the phone away from the man with a defiant huff.

" Fine. Tell me how to get the money off of it so that I don't have to use this accursed magic object. OR, you can point me towards a sorcerer capable of lifting the curse off of it so that my money is retrieved, because there is no possible way that coins and paper are inside of this. "

He waggles the phone with frustration to make his point.

He wasn't going to be much of a challenge, not with how limited his shadows were right now. At best he would play the defense, but if this person was brand new to the city, they were likely to be stripped down as much as anyone else in terms of abilities.

All of this was so stodgy.

Kashimo bites the inside of his cheek and frowns.

" Then you shouldn't bother lingering-- "

When he turns his head to the side to look at the sorcerer directly, Kashimo freezes. Finally, their sense of familiarity is shared.

" --! "

It couldn't be--

-- Could it?

" You are-- "

No. Ryomen Sukuna's presence was undeniable and palpable. Hajime Kashimo would had recognize it immediately. But that face-- he had stared it down in the heat of battle before--

Well, he's not sure if the other man has hurt himself, somehow, or if he was just being dramatic, but when both he and his phone drop to the ground, Raiden figures the time is right to intervene. He picks up the slightly scuffed device while he waits for the stranger to get up.

What a stomp to his pride.

" No. I do not. "

He wouldn't admit that he didn't even know it was called a phone.

" The first time I was sent through time, I dealt with confusing inventions, but I never had to use them myself, " Kashimo brings a hand to the back of his neck, slowly rubbing it. He presses a palm firmly to crack the bone, reinvigorated.

"Alright. But battling to the death holds no purpose. Take that as you will. I don't mind if you kill me, but that will bring you consequences later when I come knocking on your door again."

He tilts his head. His hair spikes do not budge an inch with the movement.

" And if that means you decide to haunt me after I take your life, then so be it. You will experience the same thing if you defeat me in battle. "

It made sense: whoever stands victorious will find out whether or not The Stars bless them with access to their abilities.

Or, perhaps, the caveat to all of this was returning from the grave as a stronger individual-- but ressurecting as a curse.

The risk was thrilling.

deeply in love with this trio

bonus (left to right):

"Huh! Now that's a face I didn't expect to see."

He keeps his posture loose when Kashimo approaches him. Hands in his pockets, shoulders rolled back, smile on his face - the perfect picture of easy-going among the faceless mass.

"What's happening is life - or something close enough to it. What the point is isn't something I've figured out yet."

He pulls a hand from his pocket to gesture out around them.

So what was this guy's deal?

" Then you're wasting time. Are you fine with wandering around waiting for answers to fall into your hands? " He huffs through his nostrils.

" Someone like you should knew better than that. "

Waiting wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but there were useful types of patience, and ignorant variants.

" You're the first sorcerer I've encountered here. If all of us were the same, our circumstances would make no sense. "

And if he rushed into a fight, he might lose out on savoring the feeling, especially if the pickings were slim.