(catch-all) bitch, don't kill my vibe

[invinciblemikey]

Who ⬤ manjiro sano, aka mikey, and you? ah, and a closed for toman!
What ⬤ substories and a lil' sleeping beauty prompt, as well as dealing with the elephant in the room (kazutora) for the tokyo manji. i will most likely update this log as time goes!
When ⬤ september!
Where ⬤ all them places and an abandoned shop
Content Warnings ⬤ well. extreme violence, language, dissociation, mental health issues, psychosis, delusion, and the sad reminder that mikey, kazutora, and baji are 15 years old while this is all happening.

Comments

can't download a clue

[invinciblemikey]

(mikey was far from wealthy before he winded up here. the dojo his grandfather owned, and where he lived, wasn't crowded or insanely popular, nothing but regular and common. he was comfortable, and money and education had never really been big in his mind. his routine had been simple till then - wake up at lunch time, but only because draken would force him out of bed, and he'd eat at school, where all classes were lullabies to recharge his energies to. afternoons and nights were reserved for tokyo manji business, bike riding, hanging out, and alone time. screw grades, really - it wasn't really like he needed a degree to do what he truly set his mind into doing. the manji had always been mikey's priority, and the new era he wanted to create for them required care, attention, focus. as it grew and grew, it was harder to pay attention to anything else, and that includes himself.

here, however, it's a different story. the manji shrunk, founding members and takemichi now became his world once again, and the last meeting he held was a relief. they're still his, after all. it's common toman knowledge that having mikey made them untouchable, and invincible, as the name mikey has earned in the streets. "tokyo manji belongs to me, and anyone who's behind me will never lose", it's what he's promised again and again. he has to take care of them, lead them, provide for them.

here, however, the financial responsibility hits him harder. some of them are older than he remembers, but none of that matters. his position remains, and thus, it's only fair that he busts his ass to be able to get them a level of comfort and stability.

... but did it have to be so boring? he's here, bodyguarding the shop, toman jacket draped over his shoulders as it has always been, even if he is adhering to that stupid dress code that shuten enforces. that already is a warning, but fuck, it's tedious work. his hand drags across his face as he looks around for any shady individuals who might be lurking, waiting for him to move his post, and his lifeless eyes roll as he sits on the floor, a lollipop swirling in his mouth as he sighs.

please, something, dear lord.)

can't download a clue

[saintclaire]

[That something is neither shady nor lurking. Kim is a familiar (though not necessarily welcome) face, wrapped in a coat, her purse over one shoulder. The Enma pin glints on her lapel. She stops at the door, and when her gaze falls on him, her expression grows serious. Calm, but serious.]

What are you doing here?

[invinciblemikey]

Oh. It's you. Of course, you'd be Enma.

(unsurprisingly so. he didn't even have to think too much about that one, kim smells like a narc from a continent away. the posture, the words, the way she carries herself.)

Technically working. If you're here to deal with the thieves, you should tell me what should I wear to your funeral while you can.

(or not, but you know. he's still kinda mad at her.)

[saintclaire]

[Kim nods, stepping around him to get inside. What a world this is, with a guard who couldn't possibly be out of his teens.]

I'm just here to pick up something for my husband. If the thieves show up, you can kick them in the head or something.

[Petty.]

[invinciblemikey]

Wow, you have a husband? Who wins the marital discussions?

(reads: this poor man.)

[saintclaire]

[The only thing that keeps Kim from rolling her eyes is the absurdity of having an ongoing conflict with a teenager. It doesn't spare her from barbs getting under her skin, but dignity makes her feel better.]

Is this what you do with your time? Sit around, picking fights?

[She moves to step around him.]

[invinciblemikey]

Usually, the fights come to me. In your case, you started it. You could definitely have fucking kept it down, you know. Inconsiderate. Ain't you a lawyer?

(not that he knows for sure, but look at her. the way she spoke to the owners of that poor cat shop. doesn't take a genius.)

[saintclaire]

I raised my voice.

[A thing that feels embarrassing in hindsight, but not exactly regrettable; the enormity of the situation, and of being here alone, hasn't quite faded yet. The correction feels important.]

That's not a fight. That makes inconsiderate relative, in my books.

[invinciblemikey]

You came to my table. You know, if I was crazy, I could have really hurt you, you know.

(which is, well, still true. he would have if she was a thug, most likely. but no, this is just a normal woman, normal as they come, isn't she?)

Anyway. You didn't correct me. Lawyer? Your husband too?

[nightcalled]

[ It's his first couple weeks here. He figures he should... do something that isn't just sitting around and exploring. Apparently there's someone having trouble with a new internet cafe and it's pretty close to Sutoku territory. So, Kou decides to take some initiative and go poking around. Just to see what it is that's going on. So he might actually be one of those suspicious lurking types.

Well, at least if he didn't look like a dork with his jacket and t-shirt and baggy shorts. No, he just looks like a young guy checking out the cafe. Nothing all that unusual about him, aside from the little Sutoku pin he's attached to the front of his jacket.

They gave him a pin, he's going to wear it. It takes him a moment to place Mikey's face. ]

Oh! Mikey-kun!

[ As if he's realizing who it is. ]

I didn't know you'd be out here.

[invinciblemikey]

(kou has got to forgive mikey. his mind is often too cloudy to pin down information, his memory is selective, and he totally forgot what the nerdy boy who wanted to become a vampire for no apparent good reason looked like.

he easily remembers the context, but asking more of him would be too much. so, he's just slow blinking at the kid, taking the lollipop from his mouth to gesticulate.)

... No idea. Who are you?

[nightcalled]

[ Eh?

That's the sound Kou makes. He just kind of stares for a long moment. ]

You really don't remember me? We had that whole conversation on Ember.

[invinciblemikey]

... Which one?

(not helping, tiny.

give him a moment, two, three-- oh. OH.)

Oh, you're the one with questionable life decisions!

[nightcalled]

Right, that's me.

[ He takes it in good humor, apparently. ]

Yamori Kou. I didn't realize you'd be out here.

[invinciblemikey]

Yeah, yeah, I remember now.

(does him admitting it make it a first step into self-awareness?)

Yeah, working this BULLSHIT JOB.

(loud enough so the owner can hear inside.)

[nightcalled]

[ Kou is very self-aware. It just doesn't stop him from wanting to be a vampire. He glances toward the door as Mikey speaks up. ]

...is it really that bad? I heard he was having trouble. What's he have you doing? Just sitting out here?

[invinciblemikey]

More or less. I'm keeping guard, if they come, I'll just knock them to the ground. It's just buying time 'till he gets his shit together.

(is kou self-aware? does he need another really bad peptalk...)

[earnedmystripes]

[Bodyguard duty is, in fact, extremely boring. It is somehow more boring than when he was trying to stake out that bomber's next move and arrest him, even though that was a similar amount of sitting around doing Nothing -- perhaps because in this case, there's actually no guarantee anything will happen at all.

Kotetsu is himself flopped out on a bench in this shop, but he figures as The Adult in the room, he might as well do...! Something...!]

Hey, kid, what's your name? We should play a game, or something. Make the time go by faster.

[This is responsible not-parenting. Obviously.]

[invinciblemikey]

Manjiro Sano. Mikey's the preference, though.

(it's been a hot minute since he heard anyone under the age of forty calling him manjiro. either way, he could deny, for the sake of keeping attention to the mission at hand, but... anything's better than this.)

Two truths and a lie. Loser does 25 push-ups and asks an additional question.

[earnedmystripes]

[For what it's worth, he is very close to forty, now.]

Nice to meetcha, Mikey. I'm Kotetsu! Kotetsu Kaburagi.

[It is, frankly, very weird to introduce himself as such in this kind of situation, because it hasn't been that long since his civilian ID was outed, and he's still used to the notion of "Kotetsu" being some average unremarkable clerk, a cog in the larger machine of Sternbild. Wild Tiger is the one that usually does things like bodyguard work. Not that any of that matters here in Jigoku-chu, he supposes.]

Two truths and a lie, huh? Sounds like fun. You wanna go first?

[invinciblemikey]

Sure. I'm seventeen, the gang I lead had over 400 people at a point, and I'm naturally blond.

(good fucking luck.

at least two can feel detached. mikey is used to the sea of bows and oohs when he walks by. this ain't shit.)

[earnedmystripes]

[There is a beat. Kotetsu realizes on some level that the second one is far too highly specific a number to be a lie, and that kids being in gangs is a thing that was true even when he was in high school, but also. Sometimes a dad has gotta dad, and he is gonna pick the one he least wants to be true.]

....Second one.

[At least he has no problem doing pushups....]

[invinciblemikey]

Fucking wrong. I'm 15. Go, down.

(he's tapping the ground, chop chop, come on.)

... So the blond thing didn't throw you off at all, huh?

[earnedmystripes]

Bah, fiiiine.

[Down on the floor he goes, though he doesn't do any of the fancy showoff kinds of pushups. Last thing he needs is to throw out his back trying to be cool. Unfortunately.]

Figured it was one of those, honestly.

[Yes, he guessed wrong on purpose. The man is just Like This.]

[invinciblemikey]

(woes of being old. mikey will definitely show off when it's his turn. dojo family kid, at it for longer than he can really remember. this is his whole life.)

Nah. Naturally blonde, gang had over 400, fifteen. Go, tell me.