( open ) the fleeting butterfly on the brink of disappearing

[worsening]

Who ⬤ yang & you
What ⬤ catch-all with open & closed prompts
When ⬤ july - august
Where ⬤ various
Content Warnings ⬤ likely incidents and descriptions of violence, blood and alcohol. mentions of drug use. anything else is tba.

open to wildcards for any portion of this event. contact me via pm or over discord if you'd like a custom starter or want to plot.

substories & mingle / mini-event / event

Comments

substories & mingle, open.

[worsening]

Slow and Steady ( Substory #2 )

[ About fifteen minutes prioir, a busy Tamamo street hosting a wide array of adult entertainment stores and strip clubs had been thrown into chaos by the most flagrant display of public nudity yet. Yang was spared the sight of the lunatic in the act. However, his status as a Lost Soul has made it so the local youkai business owner, standing point in front of his velvet-lined display advertising a selection of sex toys, complete with a couple mannequins, eagerly dragged him and another lucky soul to the fray, making it all their business.

If Yang wasn’t interested, he would have simply walked away… but there is something appealing about this. A sense of thrill that’s been mostly missing since he’s arrived here. ]

Put simply, a pervert is on the loose. [ He summarizes for the youkai, a touch sly, amber gaze cutting to whomever his partner happens to be. ] Isn’t this police work?

[ Maybe, just maybe… he speaks to a member of the Enma. In which case, have a raised eyebrow to bring the point home. ]

Cut to the Chase ( Substory #2 )

[ The pursuit for the pervert is well underway. Yang ascends a staircase that the half-nude man ran up as fast as he can, before entering the rooftop. He leaves the door ajar for the person who is similarly chasing the target, looking all kinds of miserable in his tighty-whities.

Punctuating the otherwise drab concrete landscape is four massive air-conditioning units, spaced equal parts away from each other in a grid, filling the shared atmosphere with a permanent hum. The mechanical noise throws Yang’s senses off. ]

Where’d the bastard go? [ He hisses, brow furrowing, lips stitched in disapproval. ]

Stardust Wars ( Substory #4 )

[ Yang is not a kind person. Anything remotely related to a competition for a questionable, profitable substance brings out the sly-eyed vulture, waiting to sink his talons into his chosen prey. Since this began, the criminal began working tirelessly to track down the location of these Stardust piles.

Now, it’s time to collect. As always, he approaches with a smooth confidence, but now there is a shift: a prickling, stinging sensation of the thin edge of the knife. His right hand slides into the pocket of his trousers, and he can see the untouched pile of Stardust, right in the middle of a playground nestled to the side of a small park. ]

a. ( SUTOKU ) [ If accompanied by a fellow member of the Sutoku Alliance, they’ll see a couple of youkai affiliated with the Tamamo clan come up from behind them. Yang catches sight of them from the corner of his eye. He bends over to pick up one of the Stardust rocks, running the particle between his finger.

His voice comes out slowly, edged in a laugh. ] They don’t seem like that big of a threat.

b. ( SHUTEN / TAMAMO / ENMA ) [ For the purpose of conflict, let’s say that Yang is later on the uptake than his competition from the Lost Souls. A fact that needles him, mighty gatherer of Stardust. But this doesn’t dissuade his predatory advance, nor insistence of making the ordeal intrinsically territorial. ] That’s mine. [ A beat, before a mocking note weaves into his voice. ] And unfortunately, there’s not a single thing of mine I wish to hand over to you.

Itadakimasu (Mingle)

[ Having moved so hand-to-hand with Sutoku business since his arrival, Yang would hate to miss the festivities. And so, he’s in a good mood, downing a shot of shōchū at one of the standing tables. In the middle, there’s a paper plate with a stick of dango. Yang picks it up and eats the pink one on the very end.

Sweets aren’t his favorite type of food, but he’s forced to admit — ] Not bad. [ Caught in an unusually generous spirit, Yang holds out the dango stick to the other person in a way that suggests that they can just eat it like this: with him essentially feeding them. ] Here. Have one.

[ Someone can try to take the stick from him and eat it normally, but his hold on the stick is unusually firm. An opportunity to play tug-o-war with a dango stick, I suppose… ]

slow and steady!

[lemoncandy]

( Shealtiel, a member of the Enma, was in a uniform! A police uniform, at that. However... )

Don't look at me like that. My only job is to give people directions when they get lost.

( Literally the gruntiest grunt work of the police force. He can't even give tickets or something. They thought he'd mess it up. So, here he is, crossing his arms and looking between the youkai and the not-so-stranger. This guy again. )

I don't mind helping if it means I can get some more credit for it, though. So if it's too much trouble for you, then go ahead and stay out of it.

( Huffy, but he's not actually going to refuse help. He faces the youkai. )

So, you want him dead?

( CALM DOWN? )

[worsening]

[ That one raised eyebrow now slants down into a furrow of disbelief. He hadn’t thought much of the lack of restriction imposed by the Sutoku Alliance, but Yang feels something akin to gratitude upon hearing Shealtiel say that. ]

What? Is that all they’re giving you? That’s nothing.

[ Per usual, Shealtiel’s hackles are raised. No doubt spurned by the inherently needling, annoying nature of Yang’s verbiage, but at least it provides consistent entertainment. And that desire to goad spurns him to say this — ] I’m bored. So, I also don’t mind.

[ In response to Shealtiel’s blunt line of questioning, the Kyuubi shakes his head. As is expected for a multi-tailed fox, his words are polite, but as cutting as the blade of a dagger — “There is no need. Simply ensure that he doesn’t dare make another repeat performance.”

Yang looks from the owner to the blonde man. ]

We might as well kill him now.

[lemoncandy]

( So, he's getting a partner. Shealtiel doesn't comment on the first part. He's very used to being given grunt work, and in his own eyes, it's what he deserves. He hasn't proven his own worth in any situation. He still doesn't have his spear back, either, which is completely annoying.

But, he glances between the youkai and Yang again, blinking in thought. )

We could... Or we could torture him into submission. ( Why does he sound so eager about that one... ) This shop keeper doesn't sound like he wants death on his word, and it would do better for our reputation to be intimidating if we let him go.

Where are we supposed to find him, though?

[worsening]

I’m joking. [ Kind of. He doubts that a streaker will be able to put up a meaningful fight, and from Shealtiel’s perspective, it’s better if they leave room for plausible deniability. Not that the justice found here is kind. ] Bring the bastard in alive, and the Enma might just give you a better assignment.

[ Shealtiel knows exactly what they need to do. Amber eyes blinks back to the Kyuubi, who does seem a touch dismayed, but not offended. No doubt he’s also dealt with a variety of different characters in Jigokucho, yokai or otherwise. Yang glances back at the blonde. ]

Did you manage to get a look at him?

[lemoncandy]

( With this, the youkai decides to leave them to their work, and Shealtiel places a hand on his hip. )

I saw some kind of weirdo running away from the shop right as I entered. It must have been him, right? I saw way more skin than I would have liked.

( So, it fits the description of a perverted weirdo, at least. Shealtiel glances out towards the street, pointing helpfully down one direction. )

He was heading that way, but he was pretty fast... I wonder if he might be trying somewhere else? If we try to focus on reactions of the crowds of people, that might work.