[1 / open] you snuck into a club for the first time 'cause you wanted to feel free

[bratherine]

Who ⬤ Kate & maybe your character?
What ⬤ Substories and part time gigs!
When ⬤ Now? Throughout May?
Where ⬤ Various locations
Content Warnings ⬤ None for now, probably.

— mochi-lly.

prompt reference

On May 16th the gyokuto returns for the moon viewing. This time she is testing medicinal mochi! It goes about as terribly as one might expect, given her proclivities.
[...]
Some mochi hits you with a chill so deep it can only be relieved by the warmth of another body, compelling you to shove yourself right against the nearest person regardless of who it is.

( She's not much for sweets, really. Never has been. But the Gyokuto promises they're not sweet, they're herby, they're medicinal. They're something for all tastes, so try this blue one!

Kate ends up staring at it for a long time after she's escaped the sales pitch of the woman, carrying this single blue mochi in the palm of her hand like she's not entirely sure whether she'll drop dead if she takes a bite. Thankfully — well, thankfully for RPers who like shenanigans — she sees someone else down a blue mochi and live, which is all the encouragement needed for Kate to take a bite of her own. )

... What the fuck?

( The chill hits her so suddenly and forcefully that her teeth feel like they've been dunked in ice. Or like she's just drank ice cold water after brushing her teeth. It's so immediate a sensation that she looks for the nearest bit of cover, as though expecting an arctic blast of wind to come next.

... The fact that the nearest bit of cover is a person who has body heat is just coincidence, okay? )

Shut up. It's cold.

— mr. vendman, vend me a man.

prompt reference

A local shirime wants a particular item from a particular vending machine. Which one, you might ask? Who knows!

The only thing that the shirime will tell you is the button combination: A5. A nosy kejourou can be bribed to tell you which machine, but first you have to provide them a photograph of a certain popular host from one of the clubs. To obtain this picture, you must first bring food from a preferred street vendor to one of the hitobashira who live under the bridge. This vendor will normally only take payments in barter or trade...

This continues throughout the city, a seemingly endless chain of trades and barters, until you finally encounter someone with an easy request to move forward with. Then, at last, you might find out which vending machine you need.

Turns out, it's one that vends porno magazines in a backlot. The item in question is a rare printing of a magazine called “Juicy Peaches”. You can probably figure out the content based on the name alone – no wonder that spicy shirime wanted it!

( The story so far...

She gets to this vendor the hitobashira are so fond of and he asks her to get the ingredients for this dish, which is annoying but fine. She's already ended up on this trail, so she may as well. This better fuckin' be worth it though. If this guy is just trying to get a drink of water she'll dunk his fucking head in a river for the trouble.

Now, back to the list. Noodles, check, prawns, check, squid, check... )

Konjac? Isn't that booze?

( That's cognac, Kate. Someone may want to direct her to the actual Konjac before she ends up trying to talk someone into giving her spirits. )

— michelin star service.

( It's pretty obvious that a job is essential. The flat she's been assigned is a dump, and while she's not exactly looking to live the mansion life, it'd be nice to not live somewhere that has water dripping from upstairs 24/7. Not to mention the paper the building calls walls.

She already knows way too much about her neighbours for comfort, thanks.

So... Jobs. A lot of the Tamamao district is— well, to put it bluntly: incredibly horny. Which is whatever, but she's grown up knowing and expecting rules about that kind of stuff, and when it comes down to it, she'd rather just try to pretend she's at all suited to work in one of the fancy restaurants than lie about her age and get found out.

Which is how she comes to be stood at the door of a restaurant where one dish would probably cost more than the rent on the place she's been given, wearing smart trousers, and waistcoat and a shirt, her hair scraped back into a neat ponytail. It's a trial period for a shit job, but it's money, and so when someone arrives to be seated, she asks an incredibly polite; )

What d'you wan— ( And catches herself before she completes that sentence. Shit. ) I mean, uh. Do you have a reservation?

— wildcard.

( hit me with something else? message me at exits / exits#8071 if you wanna talk about stuff or just write your own starter! )

Comments

[metafictions]

[The honest answer is not much-- a lot of reliance on convenience-- but there's only so much to do in Jigoku-cho after work, so he's been trying as of late.]

Nothing this involved, usually...

[But, ok, the lack of answer is in itself an answer. Don't worry, Kitkat. He'll handle it.

Except W O W, way to sell out of your shiitake exactly when they need it?! Kamui frowns at the empty shelf and clicks his tongue disapprovingly. They better not get another lengthy errand out of this: in fact, he wants to circumvent that entirely, if he can. This isn't a video game anymore, in his case, they can go off the quest's rails.]

Let's just pay for what we found and go to another stall.

[bratherine]

( Well, it makes sense. This is a guy who's making food to sell to people. At least they know he does it fresh?

Still, this endless line of errands is ridiculous, and it better be for a good reason in the end. (Spoiler: lolno) )

...Aye. ( This is like, 90% of the stuff they need. Which means the last one's probably gonna be the bitch to find, isn't it? ) Bet we'll need to find and dry them ourselves.

( That's about how this day has been going so far! )

[metafictions]

That, or we’ll need to trade with an older kappa gentleman who grows and dries his own shiitake, but he’s looking for a specific hat…

[Sigh. Even for him, this is getting a little crazy.

At least the shopkeeper’s taken note. Waving them over to take Kate’s payment, he mentions another spot to get the mushrooms: an elderly kappa mushroom seller who grows and dries his own—]

Sorry. [Kamui raises a hand to interrupt.] Is there an easier way to do that?

[“Oh, just go check one of the other shops. There’s no shortage of shiitake or anything, we just ran out.” The shopkeeper shrugs.

Kamui gives Kate a quietly prideful little grin.]

I think we dodged that bullet.

[bratherine]

( crazy, but entirely on point with the way this whole series of quests has gone. She tsks under her breath when handing over the cash — the guy was at least nice enough to give her money for it but he seems to have counted out to the penny what this should cost. Which means she can't pocket any of this.

Which means they better hope none of the other shops are selling these at a more expensive price point.

Though, finding out there's shops nearby that sell them is, at least, a bit of a relief. )

... Nice.

( She'll give him that. Alone she would have definitely ended up on that whole quest detour. )

Too many ingredients. ( This bag is pretty hefty as is, but just one more left. So! Off they go to the nearest shop. Please let this one be a more successful outing. )

[metafictions]

A friend taught me that lesson once. [Okay, maybe not literally-- they're not slamming a cheat code into this quest, but.] If you don't keep a flexible head, you won't crack anything.

[In other words, work smarter, not harder!

Although the hitobashira haven't called out this next street vendor specifically... cheat code: what they don't know won't hurt 'em, especially when their prize was out of stock. Kamui starts searching for those mushrooms again, but takes the opportunity to turn to his young companion this time.]

I'm Kamui, by the way. Are you new to hell?

[bratherine]

... Could crack an egg.

( Is that her idea of a joke?

... Yeah. Yeah it is.

She's quite happy to search these shelves as well, squinting at more than a few things because she's not entirely sure what a lot of the ingredients here are. Her idea of cooking is grabbing a bag of vegetables and throwing them in an oven or wok, unfortunately. )

Are you?

( Why yes, she is avoiding answering that. )

[metafictions]

If you're hard-headed enough, sure.

[Wow. That WAS a joke. Look at him, he can talk to teenagers after all. Even if he's the one doing most of the talking, it's at least a start.]

It's been some weeks now. About two months, I would say. [He lifts up a bag of dried something, and... nope, that's a fungus, but not shiitake. Looking a little disappointed, he sets it back on the shelf.] If you're wondering, it's a lot of this, and from time to time a lot of grunt work, depending on where you've been assigned.

[He leaves the question hanging: he's not going to play the clan guessing game unless he can get a read for it. This girl could be assigned anywhere.]

[bratherine]

( Even grouchy teenagers have senses of humour! Somewhere under all that linefacing.

Shiitake, shiitake... Hold up. She's seeing... nope. Oyster mushrooms. Dammit.

Eyes roll at the explanation of what to expect. It seems weird, to say the least, to drag a bunch of people out of their worlds just to play gopher for you, but if they do hold up their end of the bargain, it's more than worth it.

She'll happily do errands to fulfil that wish, even if the rational part of her brain thinks its impossible. The rational part of her brain also thinks this whole place is impossible, so. )

Mm? What clan are you, anyway?

( He might be subtle about it, but Kate isn't. )

[metafictions]

Hang on. Under those oyster mushrooms. Could you show me that bag?

[Maybe he WASN'T imagining it in his eagerness to be done with this quest line already... as for the question, he replies mildly:]

I've been assigned to the Shuten clan.

[He's accustomed to what will probably come next: you, in Shuten? Five foot something and lean, uterly unintimidating? It's a question he's been asking himself for months now, too.]

[bratherine]

( Under the oyster mushrooms? She blinks and does so, fishing out a bag of— Huh. He got it right.

Thank fuck.

But that brief victory aside, the comment is definitely coming. )

Y'don't seem th' type.

( At least she's kinda being diplomatic about it? )

[metafictions]

I get that a lot.

[Soft-spoken and polite rather than the brash meathead one might expect from one of Toraguma's crew. Even the oni keep forgetting he's not in Sutoku...]

Crime syndicates are all the same, though, no matter their outward appearance. The only thing that really differs between the clans is their modus operandi.

[bratherine]

( Yeah, brash meathead is the nice way of putting it. )

... Prolly right. ( There's a shrug as she agrees to that. They're all doing shitty things to get power. The question of why someone like this dude is in Shuten and why she's in Tamamo may feel important, but the ultimate truth is it doesn't matter who the boss is. )

All that matters is gettin' our contracts done, aye?

[metafictions]

Mm. And going home, of course.

[That’s all that can be said about it, really. Work is work here: even someone as young as Kate knows that.

He also knows better than to ask about her contract. That stuff’s personal.]

…And this set of errands. Are we all set?

[bratherine]

( And going home. Definitely going home, but all Kate does is hum in agreement to that comment before checking her list once more. )

Aye. That's th' last.

( Thank fuck. Maybe she can get this back to the guy and produce actual results. But...

Ah, shit. She has to thank this guy somehow, right? )

You want a drink?

( Things that are easier than actually saying thanks: buying stuff. )

[metafictions]

[He shrugs casually. All in a day's side questing work, right?]

We do have a vending machine to get back to. A cola might be nice.

[And if someone's arm of this long chain of errands is done, it's almost like his is done too... or something.]

Shall we?

[bratherine]

Sure.

( Welp, best get this to the vendor, and breathe a sigh of relief when he tells them the name of the street where they can find the vending machine before adding a little aside to Kamui — uh, might not want the kid around for it — that Kate just overhears on her way out. )

The hell's that meant to mean?

( Well, the answer is found a couple of streets down, when they actually get to the vending machine. Thankfully there is, indeed, a drinks vending machine there. But...

Hm. The actual content of the one the shirime's looking for... Kate groans, eyes rolling as she stares at racks of explicit magazines. )

[metafictions]

[The aside's a little confusing: it's just a vending machine, right? But when they get there, it all becomes very unfortunately clear.

Kamui stares blankly at the porn vending machine, looking thoroughly unimpressed.]

Ah.

[All of that... for this??? Are you serious. He sighs and glances over his shoulder at Kate:] Sorry. I'll... deal with it. [because he's not her guardian, or anything, but he is a responsible enough twenty-something to not want her around here too long.

A beat. He turns his eyes to the salvation of the drink vending machine.] I like mango, if they have it.

[bratherine]

( She's making the exact same face, honestly. )

... This guy can't buy his own wank material?

( Actually, scratch that... )

'E knows th' internet exists, aye?

( Who knew people paid for porn, let alone porn from a vending machine? Maybe he really does read it for the articles (yeah, right.) But she's happy to look at a vending machine of drinks instead. )

Fizzy or...?

[metafictions]

[A hapless shrug of the shoulder. He agrees: they're in the Future, you should be able to log in and do this shit yourself, horny Shirime...]

Maybe he's really into physical media.

[which, valid, but dude.

Kamui punches in the number for the nudie mag before replying.] Fizzy, please. [Mercifully, it pops out of the machine along with a thin, brown paper bag, which he gingerly stuffs the magazine into.]

I can't believe this is it.

[bratherine]

( Her lip curls. She's not touching that with a ten foot pole, thanks.

But she is handing him a bottle of fizzy mango pop, grabbing water for herself. )

It any good?

( Like, if they're going to go through all this, he better have chosen something good. )

[metafictions]

Thanks. [He takes the pop and cracks it open; he takes a sip, thankfully, before Kate asks her questions.]

The drink is great. The magazine is... terrible. But we got it.

[Like, godawful levels. A porno not even Travis Touchdown could love.]

I guess it's a job well done, or something?

[bratherine]

( Somehow that just makes this whole thing insulting. Or perhaps makes it make sense. Maybe the dude's ashamed to be seen buying this or whatever. )

It's done. ( That's as much praise as this misadventure deserves. ) Let's go.