jigokulogs | May 2022 IC Mingle

May 2022 IC Mingle

1. WELCOMING COMMITTEE

The influx of fresh Lost Souls means the factions need to have a little welcoming party for them. The leaders realize things have been chaotic in the city. So some recreational activities are in order. All Lost Souls will receive a message from their respective faction leaders with orders to go have some fun.

The Shuten Clan are given an advance on their first paycheck and told to go to the Celestial Phoenix Casino. A big sign on the half boarded up door proudly proclaims UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. What happened to the old management? It doesn't matter and stop asking questions! The important part is that all games and machines are half-price and there are special prizes available in exchange for your chips and tokens. Games range from the traditional Western style (poker, roulette, slots) to Japanese favorites (cee-lo, koi koi, cho-han).

As for prizes, they have a selection of designer goods, including some particularly nice bracelets, necklaces, and watches!

The Tamamo Clan are given a considerable number of drink vouchers for Crimson Moon Karaoke, where they can sing their hearts out and while absolutely smashed. Private rooms are cheap to rent and they even offer a special discount for groups of two or more. The karaoke machines have any songs you could possibly want, which is a little suspicious, but don't question it! Just get drunk and have fun. By all means, extend your time as you wish and drink up to get in the proper mood. This is an important bonding opportunity.

Oh yeah, as an important note: the rooms are soundproof. You can get as loud as you like, be it with singing or... something else. Don’t do anything Tenko-hime wouldn’t do!

Members of The Sutoku Alliance are given tickets to Fiance of the Funeral Procession at the Pluto Theatre and Cafe. The tickets include free food at the cafe, including beer. Sure, the star may not be a Sutoku member but that doesn't matter too much: getting butts into seats at Sutoku-owned theaters is what’s important. The Daitengu rented the theater out for the day, so there is plenty of time to mill around both before and after the show.

Make a day, or night, of it!

A funeral-based romantic comedy melodrama as the viewing fare is probably a tasteless joke on the Daitengu's part. But hey, y'all aren't still mad that they crashed their own funeral and then took off laughing, right?

Right?

The Department of the Enma members are told that they're going to be doing a team-building exercise. What exactly does that mean? That's right, it's community cleanup time! You get to clean up cans and trash in the street! You get the honor of using a department-issued bike with an attached cart to wheel around the city and pick up trash! How exciting! Teamwork is encouraged, of course. Teams that collect enough garbage will get one (1) voucher for mini-golf.

Please be aware of the local homeless population as you work, they won’t be happy to see you. They normally collect the cans in the mornings as a meager source of income that you’ll be dipping into. They're probably just not happy with Enma officials in general though. Sorry!

2. IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING...

By the time you're done with your faction-sponsored fun, the sky has decided to open up. Hope you brought your umbrella! The rain is bad enough that walking home might not be an option right now. So take refuge in one of the many nearby nightlife spots.

Not in your faction's home territory? Doesn't matter! Make some friends outside your group or maybe get into a fight and cause some trouble. There's always the third option of ignoring everyone and drinking yourself silly instead! The rain has to let up eventually… right?

Hopefully you aren't caught near one of the cursed Haniwa figures that have been popping up around town. Their aura really dampens the mood and may even start to cause some dramatic and frightening hallucinations if you and your rain-stranded friends stay near them for too long. But remember! Do not break the figurine. Just try to move it somewhere else? And hopefully not get drenched in the process.

Welcome to the IC mingle!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Same here. And it really does feel like they're herding us around.

[Izuku sweatdrops.]

I've never heard of anything like getting sent to a spirit realm like this only to be welcomed in to work for other people. Not even in any sort of book I've read.

[This is weird even for fiction.]

But... Did they tell you about a contract?

Can't say I'm a fan, really. But I guess I get it. [That's his begrudging acceptance of the situation at hand, at least.]

As for the contract - yeah. Let's just say I'm not exactly sure how they're going to make good on what they offered me, but - [He puts his elbow on the table he's sitting at, propping it up as if to look out.] I guess the rules here work different enough that they feel confident enough to offer it in the first place. And I don't exactly have better options.

[He pockets the ticket. No sense keeping it out while they're talking.]

What about you, huh? How'd they rope a high schooler into all this nonsense?

[Wow. Izuku wishes he could accept it as well as the other does. It's hard for him to accept it even begrudgingly. But he's getting there. Since they don't really have another option right now.]

Ah... I see. Probably the same as everyone else, I had something to lose and something to gain?

[He looks down and probably looks way more tired than a sixteen-year-old should look.]

The contract makes me think about what I can do here, I won't lie about that. Even if all of this is crazy.

[Izuku and Cloud are in similar boats - Cloud would like nothing more than to head home. There's a lot riding on him and the others right now, but... well, it seems he's not the only one who's landed here.]

Seems like that's how they draw people in, if you ask me. But...

[Cloud's not going to lie - for a kid in what he presumes is high school, he's got a lot on his mind.]

What do you mean 'what you can do'?

Erm.

[He looks up at Cloud and feels a small fluster before he shrugs. Cloud seems like a good person at a first glance. It feels kind of nice to run unto someone who has the same sort of thoughts as he does about all of this.]

There's something really hard I need to finish back home. And if I could get my contract fulfilled here, it might make things a lot safer for me and the people important to me. That's all...

[But like Cloud said, that must be how they rope all these people in.]

So, it makes me want to work hard here. Use my skills the best I can for the Sutoku Alliance even if I feel guilty about it at the same time.

...Huh.

[Cloud ponders that for a moment, turning it over in his head. In many ways it's not unlike Cloud's own agreement - work hard and he can put a lot of problems to rest back home. All of them? Hard to say, but.]

...It's a good goal. They might be taking advantage of us, but it's not the worst thing to put your back into it, even if you know that.

[It's strangely poignant coming from the somewhat aloof blonde-haired man. But Izuku's kind of tugging at some hidden heartstrings, here.]

You sound like you've been through a lot. Not a lot of kids I know would talk like that.

[He can't help but tuck his chin downwards a little at the last comment. For a second it probably does look like he's a kid with a little too much burdening his shoulders. But he looks thoughtful and a little serious anyway.]

Maybe... I might be young but I still want to get stronger.

[He rubs the back of his head.]

So no one has to worry about me. [He nods.] Putting work into this... isn't the worst thing.

[Cloud gives a small nod as Izuku works through it. Self-sufficiency? That he can get behind.]

...Cloud. Cloud Strife.

[After a beat.] If we're going to be seeing each other a lot, might as well know each other. Figure if we're both trying to work on making sure other people don't worry about us, we can work on it together.

Edited 2022-05-31 01:20 (UTC)

[Somehow it feels a bit like a relief to make an acquaintance like this. Cloud seems like someone who's trustworthy. And he is grateful to meet someone who's thinking the same way as he is. A part of him wonders if that's why they're in the same alliance too.

So he bows his head and looks back up in return.]

Right. I'd... appreciate that...! Thank you, Cloud-san. I'm Izuku Midoriya. I hope we can work together!

That's the plan, at any rate.

[...Honestly, something about Izuku is drawing out the better parts of Cloud - he wants to be self-sufficient, he's apparently got a lot on his plate, too - he's a little younger than Cloud, but...]

So, what's your story, then, Izuku? May as well learn what's got you trying to be so self-sufficient. And you're a little young to be a mercenary, no offense.

Edited 2022-06-02 07:32 (UTC)

[That's a pretty loaded question and Izuku barely knows where to start but he supposes he certainly looks the part.]

No. I'm not a mercenary. In my world, I'm considered a hero. Erm- a hero in training. I'm a student.

[There's that same little sparkle of his dreams in his eyes to reach that status of pro-hero someday. But the battles he's had to fight and the ones he still has to fight are heavy on his shoulders already.]

But there's something like a war happening between the heroes and villains and I'm ...

[Gosh, how does he even explain it all.]

I need to do my best to stop it.

A hero-in-training, huh? And a war- that I can understand. [ He doesn't really entirely get the whole 'heroes and villains' thing, but it's clear Izuku has his own struggles. And Cloud gets some of it. ]

I get it. There's a guy I need to stop, too - except, well, he showed up here, too. No surprise, I guess. Would be too easy if I was here, and he wasn't.

[ He's not going to get too much into Sephiroth because, well, that's not a first conversation sort of thing. ]

Well, if we're all here, we can help each other get back sooner rather than later, yeah?

Eh?! There's a guy here you need to stop that's here too?! Who?! Are you okay...?

[And just like that Izuku seems to perk up with shock as if he just got a lead on a villain himself. What is Cloud dealing with here?]

But- Yeah. You're right. If you ever need help with anything, I want to help.

[Like with the guy Cloud needs to stop...??]

[ He's taken aback that Izuku wants to get involved. Cloud... doesn't think that's a good idea, but he also doesn't want to shut Izuku out, either. ]

His name's Sephiroth. Back home, he's a force to be reckoned with. Here, he's with the Shuten. He's... [ Cloud pauses, a moment. ] He's not interested in much, at least - me and a friend of mine, so far. So don't interject yourself in whatever he's doing unless you have to. He's dangerous.

[Izuku frowns but he does nod. He wants to respect Cloud's boundaries and his word but also puts the name away for later. Villians can be unpredictable.]

I'll be careful. I haven't met a lot of people in Shuten yet, now that I think about it. But if you ever need help, just ask too, Cloud-san.

I'm sure they're not all that bad. But I haven't gotten a chance to interact with many of the others there yet.

[ Only a matter of time, there. Really. They can't all be like Sephiroth, and for that Cloud counts his blessings. ]

...You too. No sense not repaying the good-will. [ The way he says it sounds like a transaction, but there's a hidden element to it - if Izuku is gonna put himself out there for Cloud, Cloud wants to do the same. ]

[Izuku nods. As far as he knows the Shuten are all very hot-headed people. But that can't be the case for all of them. Katsuki isn't there. Just from that fact alone, he knows it's probably a mix just like the rest of the clans are. But he'll still be careful of this Sephiroth person.]

Thanks. I appreciate that a lot. [He bows his head.] I should get going for now, I said I'd meet up with one of my classmates here too. Please take care, Cloud-san!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

May 2022 IC Mingle

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going to wrap this one up! 🎀