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Kim Kitsuragi ([personal profile] aceslow) wrote in [community profile] jigokulogs2022-05-08 02:03 am

[ OPEN ] scaring at the sky

Who⬤ Kim & YOU
What ⬤ Kim takes on shifts at the local 7-11, fields an attempted robbery at aforementioned 7-11, visits a gay bar, finds a skeleton woman's bones (substory 2), contemplates haunted dolls (substory 4), and goes about his daily life.
When ⬤ Throughout May (and probably into June as a catch-all!)
Where ⬤ Throughout Jigokucho
Content Warnings ⬤ None anticipated; will edit as needed



a. 7-11 shifts.

i. a normal day in hell.


[ A lifelong policeman, Kim had quickly come to realize both that his skills as a detective aren’t exactly transferable here, and that the paltry salary that their clan leaders have given them is not enough to live off of. The only solution to that is to get a job and, much to Kim’s chagrin, the most convenient place to pick up a paycheck happened to be one of Jigokucho’s many convenience stores. A temporary position, Kim had told himself, but a position nonetheless.

Which is why Kim finds himself here, perched behind the counter of a 7-11 in some awful polyester uniform, sporadically working day and night shifts alike and feeling bored out of his skull. Is your character here to pick up their daily slushie? Have they been living off of convenience store foods for the past week? Or do they want a chat as they’re picking up lottery tickets and cigarettes? Whatever the case, Kim is here, seeing exactly what everyone’s daily routine looks like.

When he’s not restocking shelves or tidying up or looking terribly bored, he can be found reading a book underneath the counter or scribbling away in that omnipresent blue notebook of his. But feel free to interrupt him – that’s his job, after all. ]


ii. a normal day in hell: robbery edition!

[ Though late one evening, Kim’s stupor is interrupted by a young humanoid yokai slamming down his haul - slushies, saran wrapped pastries, ice cream and candy; somebody’s got a sweet tooth! - and jabbing the stubbiest looking switchblade Kim has ever seen in his direction. ]

This is a robbery! Give me everything in your register, now!

[ If you’re particularly good at reading expressions, Kim looks almost… glad for the excitement? He raises his brows at the young man, reaching underneath the counter. ]

You’re... robbing me? With that?

[ Do you want to intervene in the world’s most pathetic robbery? Or did you see that there could be more dangerous accomplices around the corner? Or maybe you just feel like watching the show? Take your pick! ]

b. the homo-sexual underground (it’s a gay bar).

[ With how busy his job kept him back home it’s not as though Kim had the time or energy to frequent gay bars, but with more time on his hands and a lack of community at his disposal, he’s slowly come to realize precisely what it is that he’s missing: a tether to the homo-sexual underground or, as it may be here, the homo-sexual overground. For how little he’d frequented the bars back home in the past few years, it’s a place that’s always welcomed him and a place he always knew he could go back to. He’d cut his teeth in those dingy, secretive bars even before he had been old enough to drink after all, and he decides it’s about time he gets acquainted with what Jigukocho has to offer.

With that in mind, Kim dons appropriate attire - a black leather jacket, white undershirt, dark wash trousers and some good, solid boots; there’s no point in messing with the classics - and heads to the Tamamo District to scope out the scene. It’s less a matter of asking around, and more of being able to spot his own. Once he sees exactly who is streaming into one of the bars, he slips in himself, looking comfortable and at ease, though in truth, he’s trying to get a lay of the land. He’s only ever been in the gay scene in one city, and to acquaint himself with another’s language seems like quite the task.

He winds up sitting at the bar, waiting for the bartender to finish chatting with another customer to place his order and looking far more approachable than he usually does. He’s in no hurry to get his drink, though – whether you’re here on purpose or stumbled into the gay bar by accident, why not say hello? ]


c. substory 2: vend me a dream.

[ If Kim had known just how long this satellite investigation was going to go, he wouldn’t have signed up for it in the first place, he thinks. But now that he’s invested, he’s come face to face with someone that he would probably feel obligated to help regardless of what comes at the end of this whole jaunt: skeleton clad in a beautiful, intricate dress, pooling on the filthy streets of Jigokucho. If you happen to listen in, you may hear Kim say, perplexed: ] You say they… took your bones, Madam?

My bones! They stole my bones! [ The woman’s jaw crackles and pops as she speaks, the entire effect a rather eerie one, though Kim tries his damnedest to keep a straight face. ] How will I get anywhere without my legs?

And who were these miscreants, exactly?

A dog.

A dog, ma'am?

A dog, a dog!

A dog took both of your legs?

[ The skeleton woman shrugs. Her bones crackle. ] A dog took one of my legs.

I see. [ Kim very carefully does not sigh. The absence of a sigh is somehow even louder than if he had. He turns to anyone nearby - that’s you! - and says, ] Pardon me. I don’t suppose you’ve seen a dog with a bone around here, have you? It would be a very large bone.

d. substory 4: haniwhat?

[ While his aren't as bad as some, Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi is no stranger to nightmares, especially at times of unrest. When he bolts awake in the morning with a shout - perhaps audible to other residents of Sutoku housing - he expects that it's nothing more than an overactive subconscious up until the point he sees an eerie looking doll staring back at him from across the room, perched precariously on the chair he habitually hangs his jacket on. Voice croaky from sleep, he rasps, ] What the fuck?

[ He doesn't do more than get himself looking baseline presentable before taking action, grabbing a pair of tongs from the kitchen to transfer the strange figurine from a chair to an old grocery bag. He carries it out of his apartment and sets it down as gently he can out on the sidewalk, using the tongs again to unwrap it from the bag and peer suspiciously at it, more than a little spooked. Usually he wouldn't want to be seen like this, in a loose tank top and sweatpants, hair mussed instead of being slicked back with a prodigious amount of hair gel and face unshaven, but he feels inclined to get to the bottom of this. Experimentally, he pokes it. ]

If you're alive, [ he tells it sternly, ] You should say so. And you certainly shouldn't be breaking into people's homes.

[ It stares emptily back at him, silent as the grave. Perhaps you've seen one of these too and can enlighten him as to what's going on -- or where to dispose of it. ]

e. daily life.

[ Otherwise, you can find Kim going about his regular business. If you live in Sutoku housing, you may have him for a neighbour and run into him as he takes out the trash, or perhaps figure out his schedule by the fact that he stands out on the communal porch of Sutoku's building for his daily cigarette, breathing chestnut-scented smoke into the light-saturated nighttime of the city of the dead that never sleeps. He's largely a polite, conscientious neighbour, though he sticks to himself and never appears to welcome any visitors.

Otherwise, he can be found doing his weekly grocery shopping, hitting up thrift stores for clothing and household goods, peering into the windows of Sutoku's many arcades (he seems particularly interested in those racing games), eating at one of Jigokucho's many cheap dining establishments, or even studying the advertisement in the window of a gym. Wherever you can reasonably expect someone to visit while going about their day, you can find Kim! ]


f. wildcard!

[ hit me with a wildcard – or if you’d like to plot/would like me to write you a custom starter, I’m more than happy to do so! Comment to me on the cr meme or on plurk and we can work something out! ]

holeful: (Honestly when I'm walking down)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-05-22 01:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[Officer Fukuda... what a wild thing to hear. He takes Kim's hand and shakes it. He's got big hands (though pretty much on par for his size) but his grip isn't especially firm, not dead fish limp, just sort of passively gentle.]

I see! Then it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Kitsuragi. And I mean, I figure demons are going to have different ideas about how policing should work than us humans, but they brought us in here, so maybe that's the point? Since what they're doing now isn't working, I guess.

[He's just going to police however he wants, essentially, unless told otherwise.]
So I don't think your advice wouldn't be valueable at all.
holeful: (Later; I was given some mescaline)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-05-24 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Wow!!! Advice from a real police detective!! He's excited!! But first it does feel only fair for him to answer Kim's question even though he really doesn't want to. It's his instinct to dodge, but he imagines a detective is going to notice evasion, and this is something he can't easily give an excuse for being evasive about.]

Ah... Well, not much. For the past couple of years it's been difficult for me to hold down a job, because of my condition. Before that, I just did office work. That's why I was a little surprised that Mr Enma picked me.
[But only a little, because he can see the logic, it's just a bit sideways and also involves aspects he's not currently willing to explain to people here.]
holeful: (But once you write it)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-05-31 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[I can hear the fucking "your condition" in Kim's strained deadpan he uses whenever Harry is saying some wack shit. Luckily for Kim, while the hole is hardly the only thing that is wrong with Fukuda, it is, in this case, what he's referring to.]

Oh, no, it doesn't hurt! People just didn't like looking at it. But I figure with this being hell, full of demons and all, it stands out a little bit less.
[Not that there are any demons around with holes in their heads but it's like... people have other stuff to worry about and things like this can get written off more easily.]

I want to at least try my hand at the footwork before I ask for something like this. If I'm not good at it, then maybe.
holeful: (or do I just need to go to sleep?")

[personal profile] holeful 2022-06-04 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm, I figured it would be different, I just only have what I've read in books and seen on tv to go on, I guess!
[There is after all plenty of media about police work. It's why he was sort of excited to get to try it himself. Sure, it's dangerous, but this is hell, and it's not like he has that much to lose as far as he can figure.]

I mean, the hole helps me think so of course it works in my favor. I wouldn't be able to do a good job as a police officer without it.
[He wasn't going to bring this up but Kim seems a bit concerned and gave him a goid lead-in for it so! Time to say some crazy shit.]

holeful: (Sawbones Episode 1: Trepanation) (that gave the expanded consciousness")

[personal profile] holeful 2022-06-08 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[Me opening my inbox to like 6 Kim notifs like hello??? Incredible thank you for the show.

Anyway if Fukuda is fazed by Kim's obvious tired skepticism, he doesn't show it. That said, he does sense it enough to choose not to correct it being an accident.]


Well, the wind flowing through the hole makes things clearer! It's as simple as that.
[Kim the man has brain damage.]
holeful: (Later; I was given some mescaline)

OK BUT I ALWAYS WANT KIM IN MY INBOX

[personal profile] holeful 2022-06-11 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Listen maybe Fukuda actually isn't human but a very humanoid alien species that do occasionally need to get their skulls aerated!!! Can you prove that isn't the case, Kim!!!]

Mm, well, I'm sure plenty of people don't need something like this. But you know, sometimes, people have a hard time thinking clearly. I used to have that problem but I don't anymore.

[Sometimes you are mentally ill and then you have a traumatic brain injury and you just become a different, but apparently more manageable flavor of mentally ill. Fukuda is still smiling, but a seasoned detective like Kim should be able to perceive a shift in his posture, a touch more cagey and defensive like he's ready to escape the conversation. In a way that tells you he's very much used to people telling him he's wrong, and responds to it by withdrawing. Kim's amendment at the end is clearly all that stopped him from detaching completely.]
holeful: (eating saltines for 28 years)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-06-15 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Time for Kim to go back to school to become a clinical psychologist since King Enma said he's not a detective anymore!!!

In any case, Fukuda hesitates, because he doesn't typically explain what he means, partly because he doesn't like talking about his mental illness and partly because people haven't really been asking him follow up questions when he talks about how the hole helped him. Mostly they react like they don't believe him or think he's crazy. But Kim's being very kind. Maybe he won't think less of Fukuda for being mentally ill? Maybe it's ok to tell him.]


... Mm, well... I was actually really good at memorizing, but only with numbers. But I had to count things, all the time, even if I didn't want to. Like...
[He looks around and notices a standing display of soda cans in a pyramid, and points at it.]
That, I'd have to count those, and I couldn't think about anything else until I did.

[He's still skittish, and doesn't look back at Kim after he's looked away.]
holeful: <user name=kinakkon1 site=twitter> (you should be able to add a third option)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-06-19 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
[It might seem like nothing much to other people. But Fukuda's been unlucky. He hasn't had people treating it as something normal, or rather something understandable. The way he lists off other things Fukuda can remember doing. Not "in a bad way" he says? But the icing on the cake is Kim actually agreeing with him (somewhat), that his injury could have and did fix his previous issue.

Tension visibly leaves his body, as he looks back at Kim finally, and honestly looks shocked at this attitude he's receiving.]


Right! Right! The wind going through the hole fixed that part of my brain!
[He's really set on the wind aspect for some reason. Maybe it's not completely fixed.]

The term I've been told was arithmomania, but it's like that... you don't think it's bad to have something like that?
holeful: pixiv ID #1856085 (People expect to see a 100 year old)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-06-21 02:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kim's assessment is very funny because he's both very right and also wrong depending on the context. Fukuda's certainly not an active threat to anyone besides himself now, but. Well, anyways. Kim's final point keeps Fukuda settled, since he's, well, it's probably reasonable to assume that he was one of the children in the third situation, with the burden of the blame for his behavior being levied at is hown inability to control it, based on how he's been behaving.]

I'm glad you understand. That's why I'm grateful for my hole, even if it's caused other problems. It was hard and most people didn't understand it the way you do. That's why I don't usually talk about it.
[Implicitly, further gratitude for Kim for making it clear that he was going to be the sort of person Fukuda could tell it to.]

The more I talk to you, the more I feel like it's a shame you weren't assigned to the Enma, Lieutenant!
[The world needs more police like this, probably.]
holeful: <user name=sakurahitoex site=twitter> (We gotta think of some weird slow)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-06-23 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[Man Kim would really enjoy some of the messages in the storytelling of id: invaded.

Anyway, Fukuda looks like this never occurred to him, but he seems to brighten up at the premise.]

Ah, you're saying that because I know what it's like, I could do a better job handling other people whose brains don't work correctly that get into trouble with the law?

[Yes!!! He wants to help other people like him!!!]
holeful: (I quit drinking because I used to drink)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-07-06 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[Okay but, maybe a hole in the head? Hole in head is actually very helpful in his experience. Anyway, he's nodding at this. He is very on board with the idea that he could serve a specific and unique purpose.]

Aah. I got arrested for loitering a few times when I was younger.
[Because he was lingering somewhere, counting.]

When I tried to explain to them what I was doing, they never really wanted to listen. I think probably a lot of people aren't doing crimes for bad reasons. Sometimes they're even trying to help.
[Not speaking from experience or anything.]
holeful: (John Mulaney) (Default)

[personal profile] holeful 2022-07-12 01:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[Fukuda looks a little thoughtful for a moment. Obviously Kim is speaking generally. He doesn't know what Fukuda has done. But it's only natural for him to consider how it might apply to himself. Kim seems very nice and understanding, but what would he say if he knew the whole truth?]

... Who decides? Whether someone's reason is good or not.

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