[OPEN] retired old man... or is it?

[kikuichi]

Who ⬤ Norimune and you!
What ⬤ March catch-all with Substories. Contact me for custom starters!
When ⬤ Throughout March.
Where ⬤ Around Jigoku-cho.
Content Warnings ⬤ None that I can think of.

► Doms Wanted! (First 2 people tagged in only)
[When the club came calling for help, he decided why not? Earning favours, meeting people, it's all a potential start to new connections. Even if he never meet them again in the future, the experience and information may prove helpful. How is any of this related to training this club's doms?

Probably not much, but it might be fun. After their employer, the one responsible for the request, went off handle business. Which is for the best, as these doms in training look practically nervous. The only ones in this room is Norimune, the other person he's paired with for this task, and the doms they're supposed to help train.]

Well... Since your superior isn't watching, tell me what's the problem.

"Um, that is..."

[He waits for them to speak, but they still haven't gotten the words out. Oh dear. He snap his fan shut, the sound seemingly loud in this quiet room. Norimune gives them a smile, yet it's clear he's being serious.]

If you won't tell me, you can show me your techniques if that's easier. Then we might be able to help you.

[Norimune's tone is even, yet the implication is right there. Don't waste his time. These doms gulp, looking at each other and back at their "teachers". One of them look at the other person beside Norimune, hoping they'll be more... nicer?]

(OOC: The doms' personal failings are up to us. Feel free to add anything for the other dom in training if you want.)

► Look at this sweet jacket
[Norimune have been watching the poor man being attacked, who's yelling at the hashihime for it. It's apparently not this man's fault for wearing such a sweet jacket and they're just jealous! Which promptly get wet rocks thrown at him by the hashihime.]

Oh dear, whatever shall we do?

[He haven't even step in yet! Fine, he'll walk over to talk with the poor man.. Who is trying to avoid the rocks and anything the hashihime throws at him. Maybe one of them is an object that hit innocent passerby?]

Would you mind explaining what's going on? This racket might disturb someone's peaceful walk.

[He proceed to receive the young man's passionate rant about the INJUSTICE of it all, and how the hashihime are just being HATERS over his sweet jacket! Norimune listens to it all, and it seems like the poor man isn't going to stop anytime soon.

That won't stop the hashihime from trying to throw more things at the man. How many pebbles are there in the water??]

Oh dear, watch out for those.

"Ow! Hey!"

► Welcome to the Night Parade (Route Planning)
[The Night Parade. Such a grand and boisterous affair he heard of in stories. Unfortunately, he's stuck helping out with the preparations. Among other things, one of his tasks is to help with the route planning. With a map in hand, Norimune and his partner went off to check the locations and paths. Maybe by seeing the places in person, they can plot out a route to perfectly spread out the cheer and energy of the Night Parade.]

Hm, which way should it go after this point?

[Left? Right? Forward? Around them are others making their own preparations, setting up stalls and markers along the streets.]

► Wild Card
[Norimune is in the Department of the Enma, if anyone want to deal with that, such as fellow Enma people.

Got your own scenario? Bring it here. Plotting comment over here, or hit me up via PMs/Sonica. I'm open to custom starters, just let me know!]

Comments

[kikuichi]

Ohhh, so on a good day, I can feel young again!

[Even if Dazai turn out to be older than him, which is entirely possible in this land, it won't stop Norimune from acting like he always do.

The road itself is clear. It'd be hard to sabotage the road before hand. He could imagine people throwing things onto the road on the night. As for the hiding spots, Norimune glances upward for the buildings.]

Did anything catches your eye around here?

[diesuki]

Absolutely! Good company works wonders too, of course~

[Hence why Dazai is feeling so young, of course! And he's clearly great company, himself, so Norimune should feel young too~!
... Or at least not use old age as an excuse to not do anything, stop that.

More seriously, though: that question. Dazai stops being silly for the moment.]

To be blunt: with something as massive as a parade, going through a city like this, there's no way to keep it safe. Even apart from how easy it is to target a gathered crowd, it would only take one little thing to trigger a panic and cause people to trample all over each other.

[Bad enough in itself; worse (from a political point of view) because it would halt the parade prematurely. They really cannot prevent the former... but they can at least try to prevent the latter.]

We need to close off enough of the streets that we can set up a parallel route. Not fully, of course - but if we cordon off not at the road splits along the planned route but at the next road split, maybe we'll have enough room to redirect the parade and keep it going, as well as a bit more breathing space for spectators.

[Will they really be able to solve any problems so easily, though? Maybe not - but as long as the plan is there, and people are in place to direct the crowds, things can keep moving. The parade will just move one block around whatever panic or blockade may happen, before finding its original route again.]

[kikuichi]

[Oh, c'mon. He loves to dump work give opportunities to young people.

In any case, it's time to be serious for a moment. He walks over to Dazai, so he can show the map to him. There's neatly written notes on it, with some lines along the proposed parade path so far. Some of the notes mostly cover possible issues, as well as reasons why the parade shouldn't go down particular roads.

If Dazai wants to write something, there's the pen in Norimune's hand.]

I agree. The other thing I would want is assigning the right people for both crowd control and directing the parade in time. They would need to be both flexible and a quick thinker, no matter what happens. And good at dealing with crowds, too, in such a loud environment.

[They really need to cover all aspects of this. If they can minimise the potential damages and injuries as much as possible, it's the best they can hope for. The most ideal outcome is a perfect night with no trouble...

He points at the map, where Dazai proposed the next road split to be, and circle the blocks with his finger.]

If we follow your idea, we should get it approved as soon as possible. Then the people in those areas can get notified as soon as possible.

[diesuki]

[What do you know, "grandpa" does indeed have some good insights written down! Not that Dazai was presuming otherwise, but what he sees is still a bit more insightful than he was expecting.

He'll take that pen all the same, adding a handful of other locations that are better avoided in his opinion. They're mostly very specific stores to avoid because they may contain big crowds and/or flammable goods, or they have roofs that can be accessed without too much trouble by both overeager parade-goers and potential evil-doers. He's not adding much, really: Norimune had most things covered. On the bright side: Dazai doodles a little picture here and there instead of using his words, because why not? Then he gives it back without really acknowledging his additions.]

Mhm. We should really consider leaving crowd control to those of us who've helped to plan the route. There's not much time to clue our esteemed coworkers in, and at least we'll have studied the roads in detail.

[kikuichi]

[Aw, how cute. He accept the pen back and put it away.]

Does that mean I can count on seeing you on the road? I'm thinking of being among the crowds on the night.

[Both to have fun (who doesn't?), and he'll be in place in case of an emergency.]

[diesuki]

Possibly~! [How does he manage to say something so non-committal so easily? It's a special talent.] I haven't really finalized my plans just yet.

[Nah, he'll likely be there. It will be less out of a sense of duty and more out of a sense of morbid curiosity, but be there, he will.

Just, potentially after having some fun, himself.]

If only we were given enough authority and manpower, we could set up a proper safety net of undercover agents along the route.

But I suppose the Enma knows best where to focus his people...

[Just like the Enma knows best, letting new arrivals who barely know the city set up the parade route. If something happens along the way, Dazai will have some serious suspicions.]

[kikuichi]

If only we have more people and resources, but we have to make do. The Enma do seem to have a lot of faith in us.

[Letting them help with the parade route seems fine at a glance. But how much responsibility they're given, and how much resources they're working with... Sometimes, h Norimune wonders if that's how the Enma always work.

Overworked and understaffed, or there's something deeper.]

And I really want this to go well, I love a good, loud festival for everyone to enjoy.

[Say the old man who wants to dump work on the youngsters. He would be surprised if nothing happened, that would be nice sometimes.]

[diesuki]

[Maybe it really is just that hell is, well, hell to police. Maybe the Enma has other things on his mind than police work - or at least police work of the level the lost souls are made to do.

If there really are dozens upon dozens of levels of hell, though... maybe the Enma is really just legitimately trying his hardest to do a very hard job. Anything's possible, no matter how unlikely, and this world is still laregly a mystery, even if it seems familiar in many ways.]

It's a shame that it's giving us so much work, but I do think we can all use a distraction. We're all here for a purpose, which is more than can be said for life in general, but we still need some entertainment once in a while, don't we?

[He says, as if he hasn't been entertaining himself just fine.]

[kikuichi]

Uhahaha! Yes. If you're not having fun, life would be too boring. More so once you're as old as I am.

[Nothing much, just reach about a thousand years in age.

Although in Norimune's case, having a purpose should make him happy... But he have no human master to serve down here. Working for the Enma haven't grant him the same level of satisfaction. Yet? Who knows.

He give the map another lookover.]

Other than checking the rest of the route, we likely can wrap this up soon... [Unless something pop up before they finished up.] But I wouldn't be surprised if they give us another task to do, later.