的場静司 | Matoba Seiji (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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jigokulogs2022-05-18 10:18 pm
worldbent) wrote in jigokulogs2022-05-18 10:18 pm
OPEN ➸ May Catchall
Who ⬤ Matoba and you!
What ⬤ Curses. So very many curses- eye attack, haniwa, and... the arcade?
When ⬤ Throughout May
Where ⬤ Around the city, but mostly Sutoku territory
Content Warnings ⬤ Possible light violence from the attack prompt?
1 ➸ Fight Fire With Fire (Substory 4/May Eyeakashi Attack)
[ooc; please read this info/permissions post before replying to this prompt (and feel free to ping me with questions!)]
[A]
[Whatever you happen to be doing when the low, rumbling groan begins to sound from the sky overhead of you, the crowds around you uneasily stop and glance around. Its source is unclear, and others on the street seem equally puzzled-- all but one, a man, who withdraws the paper parasol tucked into his obi and opens it with a smile. Matoba bends over, and deposits something on the ground from a bundle he is carrying- if your eye is sharp, you'll see that they're those haniwa that have been popping up around the city, the ones the Enma specifically said not to mess with. His parasol is left to shade them, like a little house.]
[Are you going to ask what he's up to?]
--
[B]
[If not, he begins to walk away from his little dioarama- directly towards you, it so happens.]
[A mass of black sludge suddenly rockets out of the sky and smashes into the sidewalk moments later, leaving a small crater where the man had been; instead of him, the haniwa are devoured in an instant, absorbing a seismic flash of cursed energy that anyone with spiritual senses is sure to feel. The parasol is left crunching into its formless, toothy mouth before it realizes it has been tricked, and stares into the crowd- directly at Matoba.]
[And you.] OooouuGGGHHhhhhh.... EYE..
2 ➸ Cursoid (Substory 4)
[The trouble with cursed objects was that they seemed innocuous to those that needed to avoid them the most. As more and more of the little haniwa figurines began to appear throughout the city, Matoba had reluctantly taken it upon himself to do what he could to seal and remove them from public spaces, either delivering them to Department of Enma stations or whisking them away to less populated spaces. Those in Enma may find themselves tasked with a sudden delivery, wrapped in strange paper spells as Matoba gives you a skeptical once-over.] ...Are you sure you can handle this?
--
[Those outside the Enma- those who can't leave well enough alone on the streets- get even less benefit of the doubt.]
I'd appreciate if you could avoid touching that. [His tone is more exhausted than sharp, at this point; you might get the sense that he's tired of repeating himself, but with people kidnapping them to dress them in cutesy little costumes and all manner of other absurdities, he's really over it. Maybe he should just let you all get cursed.]
3 ➸ SHMUP is just fun to say (arcade)
[Some time ago, Matoba made the Daitengu a promise. For a while there, it seemed as if that promise would be a fruitless endeavor... After all, why compete against a dead body? Fortunately, news of the Daitengu's demise was highly exaggerated, and so Matoba can be found in the arcades from time to time, his single uncovered eye narrowed in focus.]
[...He is, as Daitengu said, 'in the zone'.]
[Bright lights and colors flash across the screen as explosions and bullets fly across the screen, Matoba's movements precise and automatic. It was pretty different from the old 90's games he'd played growing up in the rural arcades back home- flashier, extra mechanics- but the basic idea was the same, right?]
[Alas, after a tough late-stage boss battle, his ship explodes. Matoba lets out a soft 'tch', finally detaching from the machine to reach into his coinpurse for more yen... When he finally notices you hovering nearby with a slow blink. Forgive his strained eye, it needs to refocus.]
...My apologies, were you waiting for this machine?
----
[Hit me at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
kitsoru or via PM for plotting or questions!]
What ⬤ Curses. So very many curses- eye attack, haniwa, and... the arcade?
When ⬤ Throughout May
Where ⬤ Around the city, but mostly Sutoku territory
Content Warnings ⬤ Possible light violence from the attack prompt?
1 ➸ Fight Fire With Fire (Substory 4/May Eyeakashi Attack)
[ooc; please read this info/permissions post before replying to this prompt (and feel free to ping me with questions!)]
[A]
[Whatever you happen to be doing when the low, rumbling groan begins to sound from the sky overhead of you, the crowds around you uneasily stop and glance around. Its source is unclear, and others on the street seem equally puzzled-- all but one, a man, who withdraws the paper parasol tucked into his obi and opens it with a smile. Matoba bends over, and deposits something on the ground from a bundle he is carrying- if your eye is sharp, you'll see that they're those haniwa that have been popping up around the city, the ones the Enma specifically said not to mess with. His parasol is left to shade them, like a little house.]
[Are you going to ask what he's up to?]
--
[B]
[If not, he begins to walk away from his little dioarama- directly towards you, it so happens.]
[A mass of black sludge suddenly rockets out of the sky and smashes into the sidewalk moments later, leaving a small crater where the man had been; instead of him, the haniwa are devoured in an instant, absorbing a seismic flash of cursed energy that anyone with spiritual senses is sure to feel. The parasol is left crunching into its formless, toothy mouth before it realizes it has been tricked, and stares into the crowd- directly at Matoba.]
[And you.] OooouuGGGHHhhhhh.... EYE..
2 ➸ Cursoid (Substory 4)
[The trouble with cursed objects was that they seemed innocuous to those that needed to avoid them the most. As more and more of the little haniwa figurines began to appear throughout the city, Matoba had reluctantly taken it upon himself to do what he could to seal and remove them from public spaces, either delivering them to Department of Enma stations or whisking them away to less populated spaces. Those in Enma may find themselves tasked with a sudden delivery, wrapped in strange paper spells as Matoba gives you a skeptical once-over.] ...Are you sure you can handle this?
--
[Those outside the Enma- those who can't leave well enough alone on the streets- get even less benefit of the doubt.]
I'd appreciate if you could avoid touching that. [His tone is more exhausted than sharp, at this point; you might get the sense that he's tired of repeating himself, but with people kidnapping them to dress them in cutesy little costumes and all manner of other absurdities, he's really over it. Maybe he should just let you all get cursed.]
3 ➸ SHMUP is just fun to say (arcade)
[Some time ago, Matoba made the Daitengu a promise. For a while there, it seemed as if that promise would be a fruitless endeavor... After all, why compete against a dead body? Fortunately, news of the Daitengu's demise was highly exaggerated, and so Matoba can be found in the arcades from time to time, his single uncovered eye narrowed in focus.]
[...He is, as Daitengu said, 'in the zone'.]
[Bright lights and colors flash across the screen as explosions and bullets fly across the screen, Matoba's movements precise and automatic. It was pretty different from the old 90's games he'd played growing up in the rural arcades back home- flashier, extra mechanics- but the basic idea was the same, right?]
[Alas, after a tough late-stage boss battle, his ship explodes. Matoba lets out a soft 'tch', finally detaching from the machine to reach into his coinpurse for more yen... When he finally notices you hovering nearby with a slow blink. Forgive his strained eye, it needs to refocus.]
...My apologies, were you waiting for this machine?
----
[Hit me at
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Or maybe it was just something weird, like fans of the parrot. Natsume had told him that he kept expecting the parrot to be an ayakashi, after all; there could be plenty of audience members who would expect and prefer that sort of reading of the movie. In any case, he can tell that Matoba is just going to drag it out, so he shakes his head to himself and lets them into the building.
It's not Matoba's first time here, so Natori doesn't bother making a show of the apartment; he just unlocks the door and pushes it open wide enough for Matoba to follow in after him. The first thing he does after kicking his shoes off and setting Natsume's bag down by the entrance is eye the soaked edges of Matoba's kimono; he purses his lips before grabbing a towel from the bathroom and offering it out to Matoba.] Here. You might as well dry off.
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[As they enter the apartment, Matoba purses his lips. Something makes him stop in the entryway and glance back at the door as it closes behind them, and for a moment he just stands there, eye narrowing and umbrella pointed down towards the floor as it drips water. But Natori's return with the towel pulls his attention away again, and he blinks slowly as it's held out to him before apprehensively reaching to take it in one hand.]
...Thank you. [For the second time, tonight, it takes him a moment to process the thoughtless nature of Natori's offer.]
[He settles for leaning the battered parasol in the corner of the entryway; it probably wouldn't be much good anymore, but he would take it with him when he left so as to bring it as an example for a new one. He slips off his zori, though his tabi were soaked through regardless, and picks his way further into the apartment with the towel dabbing at the edges of his hair, the sleeves of his kimono, looking like a cautious cat in unfamiliar territory.]
[After a moment, frowning, he just walks straight into the bathroom and pulls up the hems and sleeves of his haori, and starts wringing them out into the tub.] ...It really is coming down, isn't it? [He complains, miffed. His feet were soaked.... Walking back to Sutoku territory was going to be a pain, even with this break....]
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Hmm, what was it you'd said... you really didn't know it was going to rain this hard? [he asks teasingly, running his fingers through his own hair to tousle it dry-- much more manageable both because of how much shorter it is and because Matoba saved him from having to run for it out in the open. But he turns his head to look through the small door to the balcony, judging the strength of the storm.] Mm, it doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon... I have an umbrella you can borrow, but I don't know if it'll be much help on its own.
[In which case it doesn't make much sense for Matoba to take the time to dry off-- the rain is coming down too hard to avoid getting his kimono soaked again. After another moment of watching Matoba struggle with his haori, he finds himself saying] You might as well let it dry and wait for the rain to let up.
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[He could take that a variety of ways, if he wanted to. Luckily, he knows the avoidant Natori. He lets the scrunched-up and wet hem of his clothing drop, and then sighs to himself in a puff. Indeed, he was soaked, and there was not much helping it.]
[He can feel and hear the hesitation in Natori's silence, which is why when he finally finds the way to word what he wants to say, Matoba allows himself a small, private smile into the wall of the shower.]
...My. Is that an invitation? [Matoba turns to smile at him, teasing. Before he can recoil,] Then at least allow me to thank you for your hospitality. Have you eaten?
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And so Matoba gives Natori something to respond to beyond agreeing that yes, it's an invitation, and so Natori can take the topic as closed and move on.] Not much. We were at a karaoke bar.
[He says it with a raise of his eyebrows, the rest not needing to be stated: a bunch of drunk ayakashi and party food, and Natori sneaking a few snacks throughout the night. He knows better than to think Matoba means for either of them to start cooking, so he doesn't have to specify that there's nothing suitable in the kitchen.]
What goes best with seasonal strawberry daifuku? [don't worry is joke, he's not eating your precious sweets.]
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[He sets to peeling off his tabi, pinching them in his fingertips and then dropping them next to him on the floor, and shrugging out of his soggy wet haori. At least his inner kimono was mostly dry...]
Tea, [He repeats himself as earlier, another sarcastic reply that he immediately preempts the reply to,] I hear the Tamamo clan has many excellent kaiseki restaurants. Shall I treat you? [He fishes from his inner kimono his phone, and then frowns at it as he sets to prodding around for a food app. He knows someone showed him how to do this....]
[After a moment of his prodding around, he looks up at Natori, and gestures next to him.] Karaoke, hm? I suppose you just sat, then. [He knows how you are at karaoke, fufu...]
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[With that, he sits on the floor near Matoba to watch him fumble around with the delivery app.] Generous of you. No, I didn't grace any of my clanmates with my singing voice. Not that they would have given up the microphones if I'd tried. If I never hear a bunch of ayakashi crooning enka ballads...
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[Natori busies himself with pulling out some little drying rack, and Matoba can only raise an eyebrow. Ah, so he had this sort of domestic thing laying around......... How like him.
Matoba, of course, has his laundry done at a full-service laundromat.]That's fine. [He picks up and flings one of his tabi at the rack- it ...misses.] Ah. [Hold on, hold on. Give him another shot...! He picks up the other and tosses. Satisfyingly, it lands half-on the edge of the rack. Matoba smiles to himself.] Well, one for one isn't bad. Here.
[He pulls his haori off; the painted charm on the inside lining of the Matoba clan's black haori was like a wide spellcircle, enveloping their backs from sneak attacks. He folds it in half delicately, and then holds it up towards Natori. He isn't getting up. He is ordering food.] Natori-san, you like yellowtail, right?
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the fact that Unloved is canon nowthe reminder, rubbing a hand against his forehead as Matoba starts playing target practice with his wet socks. He is already regretting this burst of altruism.]I'm not your shiki, Matoba-san. [He knows how you (ab)use blob-tans!! he says, as if Hiiragi and co don't also keep his laundry moving.] Hang it up yourself or let it stay damp, it's all the same to me.
[It absolutely is not and they both know it.]
Yellowtail is fine. I'm taking your word for this that this is your treat.
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[With only a little bit of navigational trouble, he manages to put an order in for them. Surely, they'll find their way to the Tamamo housing, right...?]
I would not have offered otherwise. [--Since he's feeding you, you aren't kicking him out--] Do not worry, Natori-san. I won't be adding to your 'tab', this time.
[He leans back on his hands, sitting leaned to one side with his legs sprawled as best they can within the kimono, which was still wet at the hems, but at leas the inner part had been left mostly dry under his haori. His ponytail hangs, still damp, over his shoulder.] ...So many promising new recruits tonight, hm? Ready to be lined up and sent into the tunnels.
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In any case, he folds one knee up towards his chest and rests his crossed arms on top as he watch Matoba successfully (?) place an order (evangelion omedetou.gif).] Mm. Did the Alliance get as many as we did? Somewhere around 15? [No more free strategy deets, Seij.] I'm curious... I imagine the clan leaders taking turns picking from the new arrivals like students picking sports teams.
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Yes, I would say around that number. [Psht yeah okay, we'll see,] I have always wondered that as well.... I seem to recall being told that our files are sent out to them from the Kaigou-no-bou in the first place, but not the selection process. Do you suppose they would tell us, if we asked?
[Were they picked before, or after their arrival? That would certainly tell a bit much in terms of the mystery of how they arrived, and perhaps the leaders would rather they didn't. Matoba discards this topic quickly and easily as if they were making smalltalk with the business at an exorcist's meeting.]
Natori-san, how many cats do you know?
[An unfortunately normal turn of conversation for Matoba Seiji.]
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[Once again, Natori does not roll his eyes; he feels that strange almost-fondness surface up again, and doesn't smile either.] Actual cats? None. But there are a couple cat ayakashi among the Lost Souls.
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...Although, perhaps it will just keep our place in line for when we return here past our actual deaths. What do you think?
[It's also way less interesting than cats. He raises a hand to his chin thoughtfully, resting his weight on the other.] I have met one or two. Nia-chan is in your clan, is she not? Tamamo draws so many of them, it seems. Beasts are drawn to beasts, I suppose.
...I suppose I haven't met the others, then. Oh well. I'll just have to keep an eye out. [He smiles cheerfully. Just what could he be planning... dohoho you'll just have to hear about it after the fact, Natori.] The bakeneko seem easily bought, so I'm sure I won't have much trouble.
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Speaking of, of course Matoba is calling a cat girl "chan".] There's Nehan as well, but you're probably less interested in him. He was very popular in the bathhouses during the parade. [And was part of their small fighting force in the underground afterwards, though Natori really means to stick to his guns and not give Matoba any new info on their strategy down in the tunnels. None of it-- the prize included-- is worth the hassle.] And I've seen another that called himself an "erune." If you'd like to win him over, I don't recommend the penis pops.
[Matoba can absolutely go make a fool of himself about cats if he wants to. It's fine. (Until Natori gets embarrassed by association and shouts him down.)]
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[Natori receives a withering look at the words "penis pops" coming out of Natori's mouth, and then leans forward again to pick up his phone and jab around at something.]
I'm sure you were paying plenty of attention to all of that business. [No, he doesn't want to know about your gross youkai brothel adventures, spare him.] But speaking of that night, being that our Boss has returned...
The Enma has been quite mum. [His eye is still on his phone, scrolling.]
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Not that that was anywhere near the most important thing that happened that day. Natori's silent for a moment, watching a bead of water collecting at the end of Matoba's ponytail as he thinks about the last time the two of them were sitting on the floor of one of their apartments together. Matoba had been shot. The Daitengu, or someone in their mask, had been shot. Toraguma and Tenkohime had rallied their troops to squabble over the stupid underground the moment the Enma had stopped investigating it. And then... Nothing.]
Mm. Well. They were certainly active enough when it came to shaking down kappa. [A legitimate attempt to investigate a crime that simply no longer mattered once it turned out that the victim was still alive? Or was there something else there?] Has the Daitengu said anything else beyond the implication at the funeral?
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[It was, sort of. Sutokus were curious creatures, and loved to solve a mystery on their own, to seek out the knowledge whether for the sake of their own satisfaction and use or driven by a desire for truth. It probably meant that they were easily led in a direction, but surely their own leader knew that if it was misdirection, it would be discovered.]
The kappa that were left alive don't know anything, it was all a distraction. As one might have expected. And the Enma were the first into the tunnels, the first to ensure that there were none left to speak.
...However, once the Enma released the underground, your clan and the Shuten were both ordered near-immediately to take that territory. Don't you wonder why that is?
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So what are you thinking? If they were after something specific, why release the underground at all? Unless they already have what they needed?
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[They mustn’t have, if the intel he’d heard was true. Even the Sutokus who investigated couldn’t. It was hard to know if anyone short of the kappa captains (who were dead) or the Daitengu’s inner circle even could.]
I think they couldn’t, and so they decided to let one of the others do it for them in the midst of the squabbling and takeover... Or simply decided that they didn’t care anymore, if they couldn’t get in.
There’s no real use to that place beside whatever the Alliance is hiding, and the kappa’s livelihoods.
[Which was a tenuous but important enough practical concern that the Alliance was going to do what it took to get it back regardless of who came out on top of the rest. If they had to sacrifice some things to get there...]
Awfully personal, don’t you think? Their little squabble. [Which seems to delight him.]
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Do you know what it is?
[Which is a different question from "will you tell me," but that's why he figures he has any shot of getting an answer at all.]
Don't let anyone else hear you say that. It's a touchy subject.
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Do you think that's something I'm going to just hand you, Natori?
[It's a good thing that it's just a casual aside, as curious as Matoba is to hear more gossip about Tenkohime's torrid lovelife; his phone rings soon after with the arrival of the food, and he hands it off to Natori to answer and fetch it for them.]
[He couldn't very well be seen, Matoba reasons, waltzing around picking up delivery in a Tamamo building.]
[By the time Natori returns, Matoba's pieces of clothing (and their contents- a tantou, a calligraphy brush, a sheaf of ofuda rain-damp and wrinkled) have sprawled out further around his apartment and he has moved on to rifling through his chest of drawers, carelessly rumpling things until he finds a pair of drawstring pants and a T-shirt. 'I'm borrowing these' he declares without space for debate, and sequesters himself in the bathroom to change momentarily.]
[When he returns he tosses his kimono carelessly over the drying rack and picks his way into the boxed dinners; one for each of them, packed to the brim with colorful vegetables and fish. Matoba plops himself back onto the floor cross-legged and digs in, proceeding to ramble on between bites about this and that sweets shop he's found around the city, about the the little tea shop where he'd directed Natori for the matcha; about the kimono shop in Tamamo's fashion quarter that was able to make him new sets.]
[The mood that settles in is comfortable and, even if he doesn't show it, familiar. It's been a long time since either of them had the time or circumstances to sit like this.]
[With his box empty, Matoba is already biting into one of his daifuku while Natori is finishing his food, just gazing off around his apartment in the comfortable silence.]
I suppose this rain is going to continue all night, [He finally sighs, lips pursed around the dumpling before popping the rest into his mouth. Not that his clothes had gotten much drier, in the last hour or so.]
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After a brief protest from Natori about being the one to get the food (ended as soon as Matoba points out that after all, only one of them is actually allowed to be in this building), he comes back to the hurricane that is Matoba Seiji scattering his clothes around the apartment and pawing through his stuff. When Matoba emerges from the bathroom to toss his kimono on the drying rack, he'll find that his haori and the spare sock also mysteriously hung themselves up while his back was turned. Perhaps they momentarily turned into ayakashi, moved themselves, and then were exorcised? Natori's certainly not saying anything about it, too busy picking through his boxed dinner.
(The shirt sits a little snugger on Matoba than it would on Natori. It's in the shoulders, Natori muses as he picks at his food and lets Matoba prattle on about his sweets shops. Must be those kyudo muscles. He watches the fit of the fabric around his biceps as Matoba eats. And the damp spot from where his ponytail touches the shirt.)]
Mm. [He looks through the balcony door again, judging the downpour.] And it's too humid for your clothes to really dry. [At least they had a chance hung up like that. It'd still be soaking wet if it'd stayed on Natori's floor.] ...I don't have a spare futon.
[He doesn't have a futon at all; the bed and floor are clearly Western-style.]
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Oh, really?
[He picks up the other and holds it in his mouth as he rolls up to gather the bento boxes and dump them on Natori's kitchen counter; that's cleaned-up enough, right? He'll let him sort the trash and recycling out in the morning.]
[Instead, he strides over to Natori's fluffy bed, and plops himself down to sit on the edge of it, biting into the rest of the daifuku.]
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Seriously?
[Of course seriously. He rolls his eyes and follows after-- if he doesn't assert himself on the bed now, Matoba's likely to take the entire thing over. He sits cross-legged in the center of the bed, stubbornly refusing to budge off his own furniture.]
You're eating on my bed too?
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