jigokulogs | APRIL 2022 EVENT

APRIL 2022 EVENT

1. HANAMI

The week of the Night Parade is marked by the traditional symbols of Spring in Japan. Somehow, several city blocks have been turned into cherry blossom groves as a show of goodwill by the Sutoku Alliance. These cherry trees don't feel normal. They are more like spectral manifestations. Rumor has it they grew so quickly because they're planted on top of a graveyard. That's just a rumor, though. Don't pay it any mind! Don't listen to any whispers you might hear if you walk through the rows of trees alone and certainly don't dig under them for proof of their provenance.

Accompanying the hanami are copious amounts of food and drink. Such as dango, specialized bento, sake, and festive drinks. They are all available to purchase from stalls near the spectral grove. The refreshments may have a little something special added to them:
Ingredients that promote peace (calming any angry or upset feelings)
Ingredients that promote romance (gives soft, warm feelings towards the first person you see).
These effects are mild and only last as long as you're in the boundary of the grove. Eat, drink, and be merry with your fellow lost souls.

2. KANAMARA MATSURI (NSFW IMAGERY)

In addition to the simple joys of flower viewing and the cherry blossoms blooming, new festivals pop everywhere. They are inspired by various regional festivals from all over Japan. Some of these are benign and feature your normal festival fair. Others are a little more unusual, such as the Kanamara matsuri-inspired treats. You can thank the Tamamo Clan for this. Don't mind the giant phallus being carried down the street or the wooden phalluses you can ride on or the interesting mascots walking down the sidewalk, or the suggestive vegetable carvings.

Surprisingly, none of these foods are spiked, at least not more than the experimental recipes had been during the parade preparations. The spirit of the thing is more just the amusement of genital-based foods rather than anything meant to entice a sexy sort of good time. That will come as the parade rounds out onto the bath district...

3. HADAKA MATSURI

cw: nonsexual nudity

If that cheeky festival isn't your kind of fun, maybe the hadaka matsuri is more your speed. The Department of the Enma are probably the most stressed out faction in the entire city, so the Enma has allowed them to put on a festival to blow off some steam! It's a bit different from the traditional celebration: it's not contained to just men and it's not contained to a shrine.

This event is a mobile mob of nearly naked people and youkai running after a cart with a masked person throwing out small sticks. They represent good luck for the people who manage to nab them. There are far fewer sticks than there are people present and everyone will do a lot to get one of the coveted prizes. Try not to get in their way!

Or you can get caught up in it all and try to snag one yourself to see what your fortune holds. (No, the Enma isn't participating. Too dirty, for his tastes.)

4. FESTIVE FUN

A. SUMO
Some other festivities you might come across are miniature sumo tournaments put on by the Shuten Clan. Raised dirt circles with chalk rings on the outer perimeter pop up seemingly everywhere. Two people are allowed in the ring at one time and there are strict rules to be followed. If you disobey the rules, you may find yourself suddenly ejected from the ring with magical or physical means, and at the mercy of a Shuten enforcer.

Play by the rules to beat your opponent and victors will find themselves rewarded with a strong bottle of booze. The winners of each bout are handed out a commendation by Toraguma himself, which comes in the form of a commemorative sake gourd. This is probably the kind of prize you'd expect from an Oni at a festival like this.

B. FOOD RUNNERS WANTED
If you're in the mood to pad your pockets, maybe you want to help the Tamamo Clan out by running food delivery. This opportunity is available to anyone regardless of affiliation. Runners will be fitted with a contraption to carry the food orders on their person and may proceed either on foot or on a small motorbike. Be careful and make sure not to drop anything! Any ruined or undelivered orders will come directly out of your pay.

It's harder than it looks not to drop the food with all the excitement going on and your delivery recipient may be similarly hard to locate.

C. HOT BATHS (NSFW + cw: optional aphro)
The Tamamo Clan has set up a sanctioned orgy in one of their larger brothels. Rooms are available for whatever your heart desires, including one with exposed windows if you like being watched or if you want to watch in kind. Baths and pools are available for all your indulgent fantasies. Everything you could need is at your disposal: toys, restraints, costumes, lubricants, condoms, aphrodisiacs in many forms. It's a proper bacchanal celebration!

All that matters is your consent and enthusiasm.

5. NIGHT PARADE

One of the primary highlights of the Night Parade are the fantastical floats depicting scenes of legendary events. Keen-eyed observers may note that the humans are portrayed as the bad guys in most of them. While a few of these are mounted on motorized vehicles, most of them are carried by people. That means you'll probably be called on to help carry one along the parade route. It's a fun job, if exhausting.

If you're not the type to wear yourself out carrying a float, ride on one instead! There's plenty of things to toss out into the crowd along the street; candies and trinkets. Dress up in a fitting costume and walk around the float. Have fun scaring bystanders or just have fun hamming it up and celebrate the peaceful night.

5. FIREWORKS

The parade's central stop is the festival square in the heart of the city, just under the shadow of the Kaigo no Bou Tower. There is a stage set up here where the four faction leaders and their personal entourages have assembled. All of them are giving pretty typical speeches. The Enma has declined to give one, having no patience for unnecessary oration. Tenkohime gives praise to the unifying factors of love in the city, while Toraguma rallies the crowd like a sports hero; encouraging them to get stronger and do better in the coming year.

The Daitengu is the last to speak and they also seem to have the largest entourage. The entourage is quite conspicuous: White Wolf Tengu, each standing well-taller than the Daitengu themselves. They are carrying massive broadswords strapped to their backs and hunting about the area for anything suspicious with keen eyes that seem to see right through the crowd and the heat of night.

The Daitengu's speech is also pretty typical, although much more humble than their fellows. Mostly, they just wants to hurry up and get to the fireworks. Just as they finish speaking, the sky lights up.
There are a few peaceful moments beneath this spectacle as the crowd enjoys the display of unity and phantasmal wonder that this unique and strange world has created.

But the explosions aren't just in the sky. One particularly loud boom seems to rattle the very earth beneath the crowd. That is the only warning anyone gets before...

6. A NIGHT PARADE TO REMEMBER

Every manhole cover on the street bursts open, injuring anyone that was standing nearby. Far worse is the deluge of steam that rushes out from the underground. Pillars of hot, blinding steam spill into the air, quickly filling the streets. The luminescence of the festival lamps and city lights are diffused and blurred into singular blobs of color, obscuring all vision and making it impossible to see what's going on. The panicked cries of the crowd also make it impossible to hear. Everything happens so suddenly, so violently, that ascertaining what's going on takes time.

Too much time.

In the chaos, gunshots are heard. They seem to come from several directions. Fighting is breaking out. It's difficult to tell from where and who is in the brawl. Previously unseen figures in full-body black coverings appear from nowhere, rushing the stage. They zoom past any Lost Souls nearby, ignoring their presence. They are focused on a singular goal. The barking of the White Wolf Tengu further indicates the goal of the attack.

Struggle in the steam, help others get to safety, get caught up in fighting the other factions, try to protect the Faction leaders, or try to keep up with the black-suited youkai rushing the stage; do as much as you can.

When the steam finally begins to clear, however, there will at least be one thing that is certain: the Daitengu has been killed.

Welcome to the April event!

If you have any questions about event content, please ask them here!
We also have OOC top levels for Shuten Sumo Results, Tamamo Partner Cards, and Hadaka Luck Draws!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Another puff of exhausted laughter escapes Matoba, head turned down and away. He was smiling, but very unpleasantly, a different kind of unpleasant from his usual attempts to affect cheeriness.] That makes two of us, so I suppose I can't talk.

[They have plenty of time (or so they think) to regret it now, in the aftermath, the streets still wet with steam and strewn with the remnants of the chaotic festival- decorations, bits of food, bits of clothing left behind as the uninvolved desperately sought to escape. And still, the bustle around them of civilians in shock.]

[Matoba's fist clenches. The puddles in the alleyway and the remaining steam had done well to hide any drips of blood that had fallen from it already, but an exorcist trailing precious blood around frenzied ayakashi was begging to be feasted on.]

It's nothing, [Matoba replies evenly, and locks his eye with Kim's in a stubborn stare-down of wills, one purely out of pride. He's exhausted. He refuses to admit that he is exhausted.] I'll take care of it.

[ Kim sighs. Of course. He's too proud to fess up when he's hurt. It's the sort of young machismo he was hoping Matoba was too sensible to show, but no such luck, he supposes. He gives Matoba a flat look, then says, ] Arm injuries are notoriously difficult to treat by yourself. Pride won't do that arm much good if you want it to heal right.

[ Whatever the injury is -- if it's a break or sprain, it will risk healing incorrectly. If he got some sort of flesh wound, there's the worry that it will become infected, or not be closed properly, to heal ragged and raw, apt to cause him more pain over the years. He stares Matoba down, as certain and as steady as he ever is. ]

And I just so happen to be trained in first-aid.

[Unfortunately for Kim, Matoba was prideful and foolish in his own ways (and reckless in spades to boot); perhaps it was only when the chips were down that it really shone, forcing him out of his comfort zone and into action.]

[A lot of times, that action was throwing his life on the line. Such was the life of an exorcist.]

[The young man's frown deepens stubbornly in turn with Kim's, as if they could have some mental match of wills through their glares alone. But logically, he knows the other man is correct; what would he do if he could never shoot a bow again?]

[That thought is what flinches his willpower, but outwardly, he'll blame it on Kim putting forth the useful out- first aid, from human hands. The hesitation hits his face, and his eye narrows, then flicks to the side with a sigh of defeat.]

Well then, Kim-san, it seems I have no choice but to relinquish myself to your capable hands.

[Shifting his glance around them, he tries to make it seem like caution and not something weaker, like anxiety.] ...But it is best done somewhere more private. We should make a retreat back to Sutoku territory before things worsen here. I suppose there is no telling what will become of a leaderless clan now, is there?

[ Selfishly, Kim considers that this entire thing has interrupted his daily cigarette. He has a rule about only smoking one, but... surely if he only got to have half a stick of nicotine, he was allowed to have another half later this evening?

And then he shrugs it off, because there's work to do, and there's more to deal with than his desire to continue feeding an unwise addiction. ]

All right, then. We'll go to your apartment. I'll drop by mine on the way over. Lucky for you, a first-aid kit is the first thing I purchased when I arrived here.

[ He nods, taking a step forward. ]

Please, lead the way.

[Treat yourself, Kim. You're already in hell; what's a little self-destruction going to do?]

[Matoba, cagey rather than his usual graceful ease, watches Kim for a second and then nods, turning to lead the man away from the panicked streets and back towards their own territory. He sniffs; a trickle of blood escapes his nose, and he wipes it away quickly. No doubt, given the night's events, Sutoku's streets were sure to be just as unnerved, but at least the mess and the white noise that had been buzzing annoyingly in his brain for the last hour or so would be less. It already felt like his head was stuffed with cotton, after the stupid stunt he had pulled earlier.] Very well.

[As they travel, Matoba is unable to shake the worry that they may be followed. Normally it is something he would expect, and it wouldn't put him anymore on guard than his usual, relaxed state of readiness- but considering their circumstances, he has to be more paranoid than usual. In some blocks where the line between the downtown area and Sutoku's territory becomes blurred, he glances back towards Kim, voice lowered.]

Kim-san, have you heard of any reactions from the other clans?

No, nothing yet. Granted, I haven't looked. My focus has been damage control.

[ Crowd control had been his first priority - something that he's at least used to dealing with - but he had later been roped into first-aid duty by Aerith. It's never his first instinct, being that he's a cop and not a nurse, but it wound up being that many people had gotten hurt, and Kim had some of the most extensive training of the population here. Kim is no lazareth, but having practice dealing with gunshot wounds and stab wounds made him an invaluable resource in a place rife with people getting stabbed and shot.

He rubs at his forehead, succeeding not in easing his headache, but in spreading the grime on his gloves further around his face. ]

Have you? Is there anything I should be aware of?

I see.

[Matoba mulls over all he's witnessed in the frenzy of the battle, over the last few hours. The last glimpses he'd gotten of the other clanheads, neither of them looked pleased, but having an attack break out at your big political show of brotherhood was likely to do that.]

[By the time the Daitengu was killed, both of them had evacuated, he thinks.]

[And as for the reactions of the other clans..... Matoba's eye catches on an oni as they pass, standing tall and gruff and arms crossed in front of the entrance to an alleyway.] I have not heard anything official or from the lips of clanmembers, but it seems the Shuten may have taken matters into their own hands... With regards to "security".

I do not know where the beasts have gone. Probably into hiding. [His eye slides back to face forward. Typical of foxes- to hide in their dens while the danger blows over.]

I doubt we'll be hearing anything from our clan anytime soon, considering the recent vacuum in leadership, [ Kim says, though even considering it makes him tired. He dislikes politics. They've done nothing but disappoint him, and he has come to the conclusion that he will only deal with what is in front of him, when it is in front of him. To be put into a position where speculation is mandatory to achieve any stability in this strange place, especially without intimate knowledge of how this world's politics are even structured, already has him exhausted. But Matoba has the right of it; if they don't begin speculating now, they're only putting off the inevitable. ]

I suppose someone had to be proactive here, though I'm surprised it wasn't Enma. That is the police's job, after all. [ The Shuten clan is awfully gung ho about anything to do with their fists, though. This is right up their alley. ]

What beasts are you talking about?

[ The Kappa? The assassins? The bodyguards? To Kim, it seems that all of them are beasts, though from the parade's display, it appears that humans are considered to be the real beasts here. There's something comforting about that otherness. At least it's familiar. ]

Surely the Daitengu had seconds-in-command, [Matoba scoffs, but it's true that even if the next-in-line leadership had taken any action in the last few hours, news was likely to travel slowly while everyone was in a disarray. He was impatient, though; were this a shakeup in his own clan, he knows Nanase would have had shiki sent out to anyone of importance within the hour. It was the competence he expected of his people.]

[And in that sense, putting himself in the Daitengu's shoes, he can't help but already be seeing the web of political aftershock this will send throughout the city. Each and every movement was a message.] Yes... One has to wonder what their orders were.......

[--Ah. Perhaps they were securing another location. Matoba begins to wonder about the panicked kappa for a moment before mentally pausing at Kim's question.]

--The Tamamo clan, that is, [He corrects himself] who seem to largely be an alliance of animal ayakashi... foxes, tanuki, bakeneko and the like. We refer to these sorts of ayakashi as beasts. Consider it something of a casual shorthand in the profession. [A different sort of classification from the water-dwelling and reptilian sorts of creatures that were associated with the mountain clans that made up the Sutoku Alliance- creatures already born as spirits, who were never mere animals. ~~Although technically inugami and tenko are also beasts, but don't get him lecturing--~~]

They don't seem like the sort who will act prematurely, when no one has information on what has transpired, yet. [Which he says disparagingly, but he'll give Tenko-hime this; it was perhaps a more cunning and wise stance to take than Toraguma's overeagerness.]

I see. I'm not sure that they would appreciate being called that, [ Kim says thoughtfully, though he doesn't appear to be judging Matoba on the matter -- helped in part by the fact that he had no reservations in calling ayakishi as a whole beasts. It will take him some time to get used to walking among the ayakishi, and his first month here being marred by violence and chaos hasn't helped matters much.

He sighs. ] Anything that's going to happen tonight will be happening behind closed doors. We haven't been here long enough to have any reliable informants who would know what's happening with the top brass, and none of us who just arrived will be entrusted with anything that they don't want getting out.

[ He's noticed already that clans don't matter as much, not yet, not when everyone is still so new. They likely will never matter on a personal level for Kim. He'll abide by their rules for the sake of self-preservation but he sees no reason to trust the likes of the people he's met from other clans any less than he trusts his fellow Sutoku members. ]

There's little we can do about it now, though. It's what happens tomorrow that I'm worried about.

No, I'm sure they wouldn't, [He agrees with a low chuckle that would surely have been more cheerful if he wasn't currently barely biting back the pain of a gunshot.] ...Perhaps we may not have informants on our own clan's movements, but I wonder if our fellow Lost Souls will be able to tell us the mood of their own.

[Speaking of Tamamos. It was something he'd like to get to finding out as soon as possible, but-- well, he was bleeding quite a lot, and had a feeling Kim wasn't going to let up on him that easily. His right hand has been clutching over his other arm to try and staunch it through the fabric of his clothes, and was now red with it, too.]

[Matoba stops and stares up with a sigh at the Sutoku tenement that so many Lost Souls had found themselves at, and gestures towards Kim with a nod of his head. (Help, he can't open the door)] Shall we?

Yes. Go make yourself comfortable in your apartment -- I'll be right back with the first-aid kit.

[ Kim does, at least, escort Matoba to his own apartment to open and close the door for him before he heads back to his own to pick up the necessary medical supplies. He pauses at the tweezers - surely Matoba wasn't shot; surely he doesn't need to dig a bullet out of him - but winds up shoving them into the kit with the rest of the materials.

With that, he hurries back, letting himself into Matoba's apartment, locking the door, and hurrying over to wherever Matoba's made himself as comfortable as possible. ]

All right. I'm back. Let me see how bad the damage is.

[Matoba doesn't seem exactly pleased to be so inept at the moment, but better allow himself to be assisted than smear blood all over the doors of the Sutoku apartments. As Kim leaves to get his supplies, Matoba starts by stripping to the waist, letting the festival haori drop in a pile by the doorway and the upper half of his yukata hang over the obi at his waist. Trudging over to his bathroom, he passes the mirror, and lets out a shuddering breath.]

[...Well, it wasn't the worst wound or the most blood he's seen from himself in a mirror, before.]

[Moving his injured arm was too difficult and painful, but he manages to splash at least some of the blood off by sticking his good arm under the shower faucet, at least to the point that he won't be trailing blood all over his apartment too much. By the time Kim comes back, he's sitting in the middle of his floor in the living area, swathed in the couple towels he owned to sop the bleeding that was ongoing.]

I suppose one doesn't enter into either of our professions by being squeamish, [Matoba comments dryly, shifting the towels away from his arm. Well, Kim wouldn't be having to dig any bullets out today.... because the bullet went through, in and out, leaving a bored gash through his upper arm. The other good news was that it probably hadn't gotten deep enough to hit bone, but it was definitely more than a mere graze.]

I can handle stitches. Just get me fixed up.

Edited (sorry to your inbox) 2022-04-24 17:22 (UTC)

Merde. And you weren't going to get this looked at? You were shot!

[ This is no glancing knife wound. The clean line it carved into the flesh of his arm, skin singed around the wound and large wound it left behind is a clear indication of that much. This isn't the first person he's run into this evening with a gunshot wound they didn't care to get professionally looked at, and it leaves Kim in a state of disbelief; there's that macho sense of being too prideful to get proper medical care, and then there's this. And Matoba hadn't previously struck Kim as the type - too sensible by half, he had thought, and not prone to picking unnecessary fights - but now he's reassessing his opinion of the man.

No -- kid. He's still young and stupid, even if he acts older than he is. His lips thin in disapproval as he takes it in. ]

I can stitch you up, but you really should have let me do that before coming all this way. There were first-aid kits on-site, you know.

[ He'd be impressed at Matoba's compsure if it didn't make him so furious. The last thing he wants is to see Matoba labouring with an infected wound, or grappling with the dire effects of blood loss. He grits his teeth and lets his frustration out in a long, slow sigh. ]

Okay. Let's get started. First off, take these.

[ He pops a couple of painkillers from out of the bottle and hands them to Matoba. If he were smart (he's not, Kim thinks), he would have taken some painkillers already, but these are OTC drugs; two more won't kill him. With that done, he soaks a rag in antiseptic and moves in to clean the room with a sternly worded warning: ] This will hurt. Stay still.

Yes, as I've noticed. I am getting it looked at right now, aren't I?

[Matoba looks Kim dead in the eye with equal exhaustion and a bit of stubborn sulkiness, and now, his exhaustion makes probably ten times as much sense; he's definitely suffering from bloodloss. Matoba also isn't a spirit; he has a lot less of a leg to stand on when it came to wandering around with blood pouring out of him.]

[Alas, his true form now revealed to Kim as a reckless, stubborn idiot child who refused to get help unless he had absolutely no choice- perhaps Kim can understand the frustrations of both Natori and Nanase-san, who surely at least 3 times a day cursed her idiotic boss-slash-sorta-nephew.]

You didn't ask, [Matoba replies cooly, sulking at the chewing-out.] ...If this seems bad to you, you don't want to see me after an attack.

[And he isn't going to explain that one much further, because it's time to get down to business. Matoba glances to the pills and can't help feeling a bit of relief as he reaches with his good hand to take them, popping them into his mouth and swallowing them down. They couldn't kick in fast enough.... Especially when he sees the rag and, with a withering look, steels himself.]

........Alright. [He's ready. He can handle this. Just push it all down. Just suppress, suppress, suppress--]

--! [And suppress he does an intensely strangled sound in his throat when it makes contact, body wracked with a movement that was probably a jump and is equally clamped down. There's only so many moments of deep breathing through his nose he can handle before he starts muttering to himself- some sort of mantra, eye boring a hole into the wall across from him.]

[....He can handle this. Just give him some time to adjust to the pain.]

That you're used to worse is not the defense you think it is, [ Kim retorts -- of all the macho garbage, I'm used to worse is usually one of his least favourites. That Matoba has had worse, without medical care, does not come as an enormous surprise considering his profession and what Kim already knows of him, but it's not particularly reassuring either. ]

I am a homicide detective, Matoba. Before that, I worked in processing -- corpses that met violent ends, mainly. There are few injuries that I find truly surprising.

[ In short, he's no longer squeamish about dead bodies, nor is he particularly shocked by any injury he sees. What Revachol lacks in supernatural curiosity, it makes up for creativity in the violence of its people, eager to use the tools at their disposal to make their unhappiness - with each other, with themselves, with the world at large - known. ]

I have seen people die from wounds that should have been easily treated, [ he says, wiping down a needle, ] and I have seen people survive things that should have killed them. Forgive me if I choose to take something like this seriously.

[ But enough with the lectures. Now that the wound is cleaned up, which ought to be the worst of the pain, he exhales and nods. ]

There we go, [ he says, encouraging now that the lecture is over and pressing a clean strip of gauze against the wound, both to staunch the bleeding and to help diminish the pain with pressure. The mantra is unfamiliar, but a known technique for coping with pain, as far as Kim's concerned. ] You handled that well. Tell me when you're ready, and I'll begin stitching it up.

[Hey.... he had worse with medical care, thank you very much! He was handled preciously in his normal life by an entire clan network to support him, but he was also self-aware enough to realize he was a drop in the bucket in this place, and that no special care should be expected for him.]

[....To say that means he expected no special care would be afforded him at all, well. That might be a little too close to the truth.]

I don't think there is much to surprise you with, [He breathes out, voice ragged with suppressed struggling,] This is to be expected. Injuries incurred in the course of a largescale assault.

But I have priorities to consider of my own.

[Like getting himself and his open wounds out of the midst of hundreds of possible predators before addressing them, like ensuring that he had performed all he could in his main and most important function first: a cog in the wheel of the Alliance. He understood if others did not have so much allegiance to their roles within an organization such as this. But he would fulfill his duties as contracted.]

[Something he reaffirms to himself between chanted words, only pausing in his muttering after the pain in his arm has receded enough that he trusts his voice not to waver too much, even in his curt reply.] ...Go ahead.

[He turns his head to the right to get Kim's work out of the periphery of his vision, settling it on a point on his wall and frowning sternly to himself. Prone like this, he would have to start considering his options for self-protection. No bow, no magic, no wards; not even his senses to preserve him.]

[He swallows once, carefully suppressing any rush of adrenaline, and decides to distract himself.] Kim-san, if your death could be the salvation of your people, would you not go into it willingly?

Mm.

[ Kim busies himself with stitching Matoba up. His poor eyesight - legendary at his precinct even with the thick lenses resting on the bridge of his nose - means that most would think this is the most difficult part, but though he has to squint, he stitches Matoba up with skill, the stitches expertly tiny and even. He will have a scar, but not a large one.

But Matoba's next question is much more alarmingly phrased. In a different time, in a different place, he would call it out for the absurdity that it is: no person's death can be the salvation of a people and to entertain the idea is foolishness. But he doesn't understand this world of demons and men and can't claim that as easily as he used to. Or, at the very least, he knows better than to argue the primary argument as being impossible. ]

In my experience, those who die for the salvation of their people become martyrs. They leave a different sort of wreckage in their wake, even if it's not that which they thought they were saving their people from.

[ That's how Dolorianism was founded. Kim had grown up with that religion, underneath the strangely imperious, nurturing gaze of Dolores Dei, gazing down at him from her stained glass perch, lungs gleaming, the greatest Innocence that the world has ever known. He wipes some of the blood away from where he's working to get a clearer perspective on Matoba's wound. ]

That is the history of Elysium. But would I? I suppose I would, yes. I'm a cop in Revachol. There is a good chance I will die in the line of duty. And I would hope that that death would be in the service of Revachol and not, oh... some drunk looking for a warm body to stab. [ A humourless smile glances across his expression. ]

That's a very black and white question, however. I certainly try not to die. It's my belief that I - and everyone else - can do more to help our people alive than dead. [ He glances back up at Matoba. He answered the question the only way he could: with honesty, albeit the sort that he hopes would encourage him to remain alive. ]

Is that a question you've been faced with, Matoba?

I am just one of many who have come before me.

[Which is not really answering the question, exactly, but it answers the intent. What does it mean to die for your people, when you will just as soon be replaced? He's been pondering that since the Daitengu's death was confirmed, even though he doesn't entirely believe it, still.]

[Turning over the events in his mind... Whether it was a betrayal or an attempt to destabilize the clan, it was probably an unnecessary death. It isn't the first time in recent memory that he's been forced out of the sort of reckless frame of mind he has, thinking that he was replaceable so long as he found some suitable power to take his place as the holder of the curse. It forces Matoba to think about what it should take for him to really be willing to go that far...]

What you're saying is that the many fools who are led by someone sensible will rush to waste their sacrifice at the earliest opportunity. ....You're probably right about that.

...I wonder if the Daitengu was so naive... Are there any such strong ones here, ready to replace them?

[Whatever. It was serving as a decent distraction for him from the pain of the stitches, the drugs having barely kicked in and barely holding back any of it. He's going to need to get his hands on some decent painkillers, soon; he's reluctant to bring himself to any of the clan-run medical centers in the territory, especially given the scrutiny they'll all be under post-attack. But...]

You don't seem like the sort of person who will be killed so wastefully, Kim-san, so I wouldn't worry about it. [...He believes in you! Is what he's saying.]

...I certainly do my best. Sometimes the sort of person we are has no bearing on whether or not we're killed. I've seen it happen to more capable officers than myself. But I appreciate the vote of confidence.

[ In truth, Kim knows that his death will likely be some sordid, meaningless affair. Most deaths are. Not everyone can die to protect something important, or in some incredible blaze of glory -- it's wrong place, wrong time, a failure to spot danger when it's before you, overconfidence fueling recklessness to the point of fatality. But it's not a pleasant road to go down and one that he has gone down too often these past weeks (if he is here, then where is Eyes?), so he shakes it off. ]

I can't speculate on what the Daitengu was thinking, or if they even expected this to happen. Perhaps they just had full confidence in their bodyguards. [ He finishes the final stitch and snips the thread with scissors, leaning a little further away to properly study his handiwork. Satisfied with what he sees, he gets to work unwinding some bandages to wrap it properly. ]

We had - and have - no say in who our leader is. As far as I know, we don't get a vote. [ Pity, that. Not that Kim would even know who to vote for. ] Nor does your clan. Do you have any siblings to share that burden? Or... cousins, perhaps?

[ He's not sure how these generational curses go. It could be that there's a whole gaggle of children that it had impacted, not just Matoba -- but he gets the impression that it's just him. ]

A stroke of bad luck happens to everyone. I suppose you'd be happier that way, hm, Kim-san? [He turns his head back a little, so that the corner of his visible eye, half-lidded and smothering whatever it was he'd been thinking, rests on him.] That I wished you a random and meaningless death, so that whatever it was, you wouldn't have to worry about becoming a lingering and resentful ghost. It'd be no good if I had to exorcise you.

[He's already made that promise to someone here, but he thinks Kim has more humanity inside of him to turn into something like that than the man he's thinking of.]

[Matoba doesn't necessarily disagree that the Daitengu had confidence in their bodyguards. He thinks they were in on it- whatever their plan was. He watches Kim finish off the stitches and tests a twitch of his left fingers, feeling the way the tendons pulled in his wrists and elbow, and then thinks better of any more before his arm has been bound up.] You're right about that.

[That no one had a choice, he means, and certainly not any of them. He's about to comment about his clan, but the rest of Kim's thought puts him dead silent in his tracks as Kim begins to wrap up his wound, until his chest and shoulders start to shake with barely-suppressed and silent laughter.]

I have siblings.

[He doesn't offer any more than that, and his unkind (and somewhat unhinged) smile suggests it's better not to ask.]

[ If ghosts are real in his own world - Kim harbours his own doubts - Kim doesn't think he would be one of them. Frankly, he doesn't hold enough animosity towards any one person to fuel him to that extent, with no friends or family close enough for him to feel as though he would leave someone behind. In short, he makes the ideal RCM officer: no next of kin to comfort, and no personal grudges that will fuel even the most by-the-book officer to stretch the rules and dabble in a little corruption. Still, his mouth twitches as Matoba makes his point and he nods, as though conceding the point.

The point about siblings was taken less kindly. Kim likes to think that he knows when to push, and when to hang back, and besides, he has a policy of not wanting to get too personal. So he nods, binding up Matoba's wound with a simple, ] I see.

[ Bad blood between them, he thinks. Or something else. Whatever it is, he won't push. Matoba's in a grim enough mood as it is, and Kim doesn't feel inclined to worsen it when Matoba's thoughts are already circling the drain of supposedly altruistic suidical thoughts. ]

I don't, [ he says instead, breaking the awkwardness with a rarely volunteered personal fact. ] I wouldn't know what it's like, or the complications that come of it. Regardless, my duties will die with me.

[ He rises to his feet, eyes flicking between Matoba's wound and his face. ]

I'm done. Be sure to keep on top of your painkillers -- there's no need to suffer for the sake of it. No getting it wet for at least 48 hours, and come to me if you suspect that it's not healing as it should. Though if it's all the same to you, I'd like to check on it periodically until it heals. I'm right next door, after all.

[Kim makes the wise decision not to ask, and Matoba relaxes a little when the moment passes without it. Not, he would decide in better frame of mind, that he would expect the man to push, anyway. Kim had better sense than to dig for sensitive information from someone as secretive as Matoba, and beyond that he had that thing Matoba was so dismissive of- tact.]

[He gets the impression from the little bits and pieces of Kim's world that his situation was not all that unique, which says a lot about the sort of place he comes from.]

[So they both choose to ignore all of that baggage and instead focus on the present, which is Matoba's arm now stitched and bound up in proper bandages. He turns and tilts his head to appreciate the work, which was neat and efficient, much like the man himself.] Hm. I'm going to need to buy some, [He realizes- now that he isn't distracted by talking or the determination to get back home in one piece- that he is still somewhat dazed by the bloodloss and the suppression of the pain. He's going to need liquids, too.]

[He tests moving his cradled arm up slightly, lets out a slight shuddered breath, and decides not to do that again. He's going to need to fashion a sling.] Some examination is better than nothing. If possible, once the wound has closed, I would like to test it little by little to ensure that nothing pulls when I extend it. [As he would, when supporting a longbow.]

[There's a moment of quiet, Matoba still looking at his arm with an impassive expression, before finally tearing it away to glance up at Kim.]

I'm in your debt, Kim-san. [His face is a little tight, as if he's struggled with himself a little bit to say it.]

You would be best off seeing an actual doctor for that part, but I'm not sure what the state of this world's health care is.

[ He hasn't had to check. He probably should. He can't imagine that Hell would have better health care than Revachol, but then again, it's pretty hard for its health care to be worse. Regardless, Matoba's a grown man. He'll be able to handle it from here and can indulge Kim in allowing him a visit every now and then to make sure things haven't worsened. It's a matter of convenience, too; he is next door, after all.

Any claims of Matoba being in his debt are quickly waved off, however, the flick of his wrist making it clear that he's dismissed the idea wholesale. It would be downright irresponsible of Kim not to provide assistance when he's capable of it and he doesn't even feel as though he's gone particularly out of his way. He'll save things like debts for the really important things, like helping someone move, or listening to them gripe about their relationship with their significant other. ]

Think nothing of it. I'm just glad we ran into each other. [ If they hadn't... no, he shudders to think of how Matoba would have seen fit to deal with it in his pain-fueled haze. ] It's been a very long day. Try to get some rest. We can deal with what comes next tomorrow. All right?

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