( open ) 002

[harimaya]

Who ⬤ Hizen & you
What ⬤ Catchall for the underground and tdm (funeral) prompts
When ⬤ April
Where ⬤ See prompts.
Content Warnings ⬤ TBA

ABOVE GROUND

(The best way to stop people from getting in is to watch the entrance. He doesn't expect anyone to just waltz in through the obvious entrances and there are plenty of people keeping an eye out there. Instead, Hizen opts to watch a smaller, less obvious entrance that people can use to sneak in past whatever guards might be on duty.

He keeps his distance, preferring to watch from the shadows of an alley and enjoys how slow the job is for the time being… by enjoying a rice ball. It might be a job but he's still entitled to his snack breaks. Not even the government back home can take that away from him.

When he catches someone poking around, he finishes the last of his onigiri and begins to make his way towards his new target, )

It's closed.

(Some oni have thrown some boxes or something in front of to make it more difficult to get through but it's not impossible.)

Try somewhere else.

UNDERGROUND

(When it comes to closed, dark spaces, Hizen has always had an advantage. After all, wakizashi are convenient for assassinations and all wakizashi spirits seem to inherit a natural talent for sneaking around in dangerous places. Being the sword of an assassin only makes it easier for him.

He knows how to walk quietly, making sure he makes as little sound as possible in the tunnels. Let the sound of water below and the streets above drown out most of his sounds so he can sneak around. He keeps to the shadows and knows where to hide or how far back to stay to keep out of sight. There are no special abilities or powers at play here— it's all skill so anyone with a special talent or sharp senses will be able to sense him eventually but he's good at lying low in wait, stalking potential prey.

His eyes adjust to the darkness and he can make out who his allies and enemies easily. When he sees a fellow Shuten member, he makes a point to take a heavier step so he's heard but stays out of sight a moment longer before revealing himself. He's been shot once this month and he's not in the mood to get hurt again because of friendly fire fo all things,)

It's a dead end.

(The direction they're heading in right now.)

(If he sees someone who isn't a Shuten, he sticks to the shadows and just... keeps watching! Eventually, he might yawn and warn though,)

Keep going and you'll be in trouble.

UNDERGROUND: TAMAMO BULLYING EDITION

(You are a Tamamo and you have managed to make it underground. Somewhere along the way, you've called Hizen out for stalking you or just ran into him. Either way, with alliances established and so on, he doesn't look impressed when he realizes he's stumbled onto a Tamamo.

He tugs at the scarf over his face and let's out a short laugh,)

You guys really came? Thought you'd be worried about breaking a nail or something.

WILDCARD

❀ If you have another idea for a prompt or would like to plot anything out, let me know
❀ I'm open to the other TDM prompts if you'd like to use any of those
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Comments

After

[enterthe]

Your guess is as good as anybody elses. [Ydris is, likewise, very fed up over the whole Daitengu situation. They like the upgrade in outfits, everybody looks so shabby usually! Aside from that, a total waste of time, more questions than answers.]

Save the suit, though. I suspect there will be more funerals with how all these clans are conducting themselves.

[harimaya]

(He's loosened his tie and unbuttoned his suit so he can move more easily. Since everyone else is pulling out weapons at the funeral then I have decided Hizen can also have his sword but he will be a good boy and try to not jump too fast at drawing it. He is trying to be good?)

If they aren't important then I don't care.

(Blunt.)

Didn't even wanna come to this one.

[enterthe]

[The bluntness puts a small smile on Ydris' face because, equally as blunt]

I don't blame you. This one was an utter waste of time.

[Ydris is lowkey seething because they find all this Daitengu business infuriating, but like Hizen, they are gonna try and be good. No big outburst, what would that help...

Actually, what would it hurt? Could the Sutoku Alliance really look worse at this point?]

Maybe the next one won't be all this pomp and circumstance just to play at foolish games. We can hope.

[harimaya]

(Oh, no, that gets him to let out a short, dry laugh. )

Hah.

(Yes, he agrees. It was just a waste of everyone's time if the person they were attending for wasn't even going to stay dead? It's nice to meet someone who agrees with him for once!! He's tired of being the only normal one in this bar sometimes.

... Doesn't mean he likes this person, though. He's not that easy.)

Some game.

(He does not sound like he's having fun. In the background, someone picks up a table with food on it and flips it. There goes all of the food and Hizen just

sighs

Why is everyone fighting exactly?)

... Can you fight?

[enterthe]

[Ydris watches that man at the food table, since he really telegraphs what he's about to do and then does it. The dragon doesn't do anything to stop him, just watches him with a look of abject what the fuck, man? What they do do is reach out with an ethereal tentacles as the table gets thrown and neatly catch (1) cupcake.

Rescuing the singular treat from it's fate, they float it back to Hizen and just... casually offer it to him.]

I can, but why bother? This is a pointless tantrum to get involved in. [other people seem to be having a good time with their outbursts, though. Alas, don't you just wanna go apeshit??]

[harimaya]

(Hizen is staring and no, he isn't even going to try to be discrete about it. He's staring at the tentacle and the way they just effortlessly catch a cupcake in the air. What he doesn't expect is for it to be offered to him and he stares at that too before reaching out to take it with some hesitation. He's too normie for all of this.)

You aren't gonna do anything?

(They aren't worried about someone swinging a chair at them or something? There are quite a few people running around screaming just to get away, too and that makes him frown. Do good for the community or something, huh........)

Not even gonna beat it?

(Or are they just going to stick around and enjoy the show?)

[enterthe]

Best if I keep an eye out for anything too rowdy. I am a god of Order, but such outbursts of chaos have a... [they do a vague gesture with the tentacle, waiting for the word to come to them]

... therapeutic quality to them. A break from monotony, if you will.

[they'll step in if they see a human getting hurt, for now it seems mostly like yokai clawing at yokai. Ydris doesn't really give a fuck about that]

[harimaya]

... What?

(A delayed reaction. He loves over at them. God of... order sounds.... pretty fancy to the sword of a killer like Hizen. Honestly he kidn of wonders if... he should be afraid? What does that even mean????)

[enterthe]

What-? [Ydris answers much quicker than the initial question came out, quirking their head Hizen's way.

Someone is probably picking up that table and throwing it into an oni behind the dragon, but they are comically unphased by the brawl going on. Provided it isn't getting into their personal space, it's fine.]

The god part? I am a dragon, the dragons of the world I originate from are all deities. [a pause, as if they've finally processed what Hizen is actually confused over, sure] I know I don't look like one.

[harimaya]

(And now they're a dragon but you know what... Hizen is a straight man in a crazy world and he has come to terms with this.)

... Right.

(Because you know what!! He has definitely seen and heard of stranger things in hell, probably. He's just going to eat his cupcake. Thanks for the cupcake. At least he got a cupcake out of all of this.)

Even a dragon can get dragged into hell, huh...

[enterthe]

[Hizen was at the Daitengu's funeral and all he got was this lousy cupcake! Actually, no, the cupcake is probably pretty good.]

It seems that all sorts can be. [a quick up down glance of Hizen himself, before inquiring for themself]

Are you human?

[harimaya]

(It's a little sweet but that's what makes it a treat.

But you know what! Hizen can appreciate Ydris for being direct and to the point with what they want to know. It's frustrating getting mistaken for a human sometimes. Not always... but sometimes... like when people decide to treat him like a kid (because he sure isn't).)

No. (And yet, he doesn't really offer any explanation,) Just look like one.

[enterthe]

How curious. You'd fool me well enough, if you'd said yes. My sense of such is weakened here, I used to simply know, inherently. [being the god charged with looking after humans will do that, but here they're suddenly unsure. They mostly just gauge it by sight... and by directly asking, if that is ambiguous to them.]

Will you share what you actually are, then?

[harimaya]

... Kami.

(Which he's since learned is either an unfamiliar or unclear term to most so he elaborates just slightly. If Ydris has picked up on some of the local terms in their stay here though, they might recognize that this at least means Hizen is some how affiliated with the type of spirits and youkai one might fine around Jigoku-cho.)

"Spirit" for some of you. The type doesn't matter.

(He'll admit he's a spirit but he's more careful about admitting what he really is. Knowing he's a tsukumogami-- especially that of a sword-- reveals one of his greatest weaknesses, after all.)

[enterthe]

Doesn't it-? [Ydris kind of groans this out, but not for the reasons Hizen might imagine. Their tone sounds like they're complaining, which doesn't quite match their words, but Ydris can have a difficult time with matching that up correctly]

Where I'm from, spirits can be human. Human spirits are still often in my domain of protection.

[harimaya]

(... Yes, Hizen can see how that might work. It makes sense to him even if he considers what is essentially a ghost to still be... not human.)

If you're looking for someone to protect then save it.

(As blunt as ever, to the point of being rude. The only thing that helps Hizen's case is that he says it so flatly, so unenthusiastically, there's no real bite to his words to sound like he's trying to pick a fight or anything.)

I'm not human. Never was. This is just convenient.

(This form.)

[enterthe]

Save it.... I shall, then.

[that's fine by Ydris, they don't take offense. Actually, they likewise appreciate the frankness. They don't need more people to be looking after.

What does ping them is the talk of convenience over taking a human form. A ghostly limb does a little gesture pointing back and forth between them like oh! Yeah, same hat!!]

I understand that fully. I believe the term is... Oh, mood. [they're spending a lot of time on their phone as of recent, they kind of know things!]

[harimaya]

(He looks at the limb. It's normal! Or, well, it isn't normal but truthfully, he's seen so many strange things here, this is hardly the strangest. Another bite of cupcake (one that finishes the whole thing off) and he tilts his head to one side. Is that what they say? He's never heard of it before.

"Mood?" Hm. He'll save this little piece of information for now.)

Still a pain in the ass. (As convenient as it is to be human, there are still... issues. Well, it isn't important right now.) Whatever.

Y'know, there are humans here.

(Isn't Ydris going to do something about that...)

[enterthe]

[Ydris actually bothers to look out through the chaos erupting around them, comically avoiding them in a way, as if a narratively convenient forcefield was around the two.

Really, it was just Ydris shoving brawlers out of their space with ghostly limbs so they wouldn't be disturbed during their chat. Ydris sighs out some smoke to see, indeed, some humans in distress trying to flee. They do need to do something about that, huh?]

Indeed. I should be off. A pleasure meeting you... I am Ydris. [what a time to introduce oneself, someone is probably getting a chair smashed over their head like five feet away]

[harimaya]

(Oh, so they were serious about protecting humans. Interesting... but he nods, understanding.)

... Hizen.

(He won't say it was a pleasure or anything. He feels like pretty miserable company (he's self-aware).)