Tama Mizumori (
fuckdogramagra) wrote in
jigokulogs2022-09-17 01:51 am
[OPEN] Hell in Bottles
Who ⬤
frogmarched / Kawase and
fuckdogramagra / Tamamori
What ⬤ September Substories time baybee!!!! (also a general bookstore prompt, and some closed headers...)
When ⬤ All throughout September
Where ⬤ Literally anywhere in Jigoku-cho, Tama had gone mad over EMBER Go!
Content Warnings ⬤ Will add if they come up!
EMBER GO!: Substory #1
EMBER Go! may well have taken Jigoku-cho by storm- the amount of active users had jumped about as fast as the Enma Department’s sudden spike in "breaking and entering" calls. Not that, uh, Tamamori would know anything about that latter data point…because he’d not been caught yet, thank you very much! You can find him hunting for shiny Little Lost Souls all over Jigoku-cho, especially those of his close CR…what might be more surprising is that he’s roped Kawase along with him, who was decidedly not trying to hunt down little souls on his phone, but still seemed to look perpetually annoyed as Tamamori dragged him (literally sometimes) around the city.
DRIFTER GRIFTER: Substory #3
It’s been more than a week since the mysterious ’Drifter in Black’’s first con, and almost all businesses in Jigoku-cho are on high alert for suspicious individuals. la sonnerie is no different, except…well, the twin owners of the cafe have their non-existent eyes on the theoretical prize, more than anything. While Melody dreams of the social media boom that catching a crook would bring, and Harmony wonders if this would allow them to meet one of the faction leaders in person for helping out, Tama is stuck helping his bosses’ plans by keeping his eye on suspicious customers and disheveled wanderers while waiting tables. The only thing keeping him from losing the plot and suspecting random people is the presence of his much more level-headedboyfri best friend Kawase, who has a much better head for noticing suspicious individuals, as well as unraveling mysteries. Between the two of them, surely they’ll be able to catch the grifter- but feel free to distract them as much as you want. Tama’s still on the clock, after all, and it feels like Kawase’s been sitting at the same table with a view of the front door for hours.
IN PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE: General prompt
Dog Ears has become the favorite book store of the Aizu trio for a number of reasons. The impressive stock is certainly near the top of the list, and he’d come here to buy countless books for his projects, but Tama had never imagined he would be taking advantage of that selection to look at…children’s books. A "junior reader" corner had been set up to promote the Jigoku-cho READING IS FUN! program for young yokai, and that was exactly where a little two-foot tall frog was holed up, with a cozy-looking sweater on, and squeaky-sounding galoshes that were a bit too big for him. Every time the frog spotted a book that made his overly-round eyes (literally) sparkle, he would inevitably spot another and rush off to check it out. Honestly? Tama joked about being a father, but at times like this…he did sort of feel like one.
(On the other hand, Kawase seemed far less interested in fatherhood, and was more inclined to not read everything in the children’s section. Most of the time he ends up drifting off to the romance and classics sections, before returning to the father/son pair.)
[ Please let us know if you want only Tamamori or only Kawase; otherwise we’ll default to both! Frog Man/Kerosan also available upon request. ]
What ⬤ September Substories time baybee!!!! (also a general bookstore prompt, and some closed headers...)
When ⬤ All throughout September
Where ⬤ Literally anywhere in Jigoku-cho, Tama had gone mad over EMBER Go!
Content Warnings ⬤ Will add if they come up!
EMBER GO!: Substory #1
EMBER Go! may well have taken Jigoku-cho by storm- the amount of active users had jumped about as fast as the Enma Department’s sudden spike in "breaking and entering" calls. Not that, uh, Tamamori would know anything about that latter data point…because he’d not been caught yet, thank you very much! You can find him hunting for shiny Little Lost Souls all over Jigoku-cho, especially those of his close CR…what might be more surprising is that he’s roped Kawase along with him, who was decidedly not trying to hunt down little souls on his phone, but still seemed to look perpetually annoyed as Tamamori dragged him (literally sometimes) around the city.
DRIFTER GRIFTER: Substory #3
It’s been more than a week since the mysterious ’Drifter in Black’’s first con, and almost all businesses in Jigoku-cho are on high alert for suspicious individuals. la sonnerie is no different, except…well, the twin owners of the cafe have their non-existent eyes on the theoretical prize, more than anything. While Melody dreams of the social media boom that catching a crook would bring, and Harmony wonders if this would allow them to meet one of the faction leaders in person for helping out, Tama is stuck helping his bosses’ plans by keeping his eye on suspicious customers and disheveled wanderers while waiting tables. The only thing keeping him from losing the plot and suspecting random people is the presence of his much more level-headed
IN PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE: General prompt
Dog Ears has become the favorite book store of the Aizu trio for a number of reasons. The impressive stock is certainly near the top of the list, and he’d come here to buy countless books for his projects, but Tama had never imagined he would be taking advantage of that selection to look at…children’s books. A "junior reader" corner had been set up to promote the Jigoku-cho READING IS FUN! program for young yokai, and that was exactly where a little two-foot tall frog was holed up, with a cozy-looking sweater on, and squeaky-sounding galoshes that were a bit too big for him. Every time the frog spotted a book that made his overly-round eyes (literally) sparkle, he would inevitably spot another and rush off to check it out. Honestly? Tama joked about being a father, but at times like this…he did sort of feel like one.
(On the other hand, Kawase seemed far less interested in fatherhood, and was more inclined to not read everything in the children’s section. Most of the time he ends up drifting off to the romance and classics sections, before returning to the father/son pair.)

CLOSED TO MINAKAMI
CLOSED TO MATOBA
substory 1
He rarely feels the need to thank gods for anything ,but still, thank the gods that Jarlaxle isn't here or he'd totally fall for it.In a tucked-away back-alley part of Sutoku territory, Kimmuriel is preparing to test his newest drug, a concoction intended to induce paralysis. He has a few incriminating vials, each meticulously labeled, and is in the middle of coating his knife with one, and then he pauses and looks up.
"What is it."
He doesn't look pleased exactly but he doesn't look particularly aggressive, either, despite holding a very sharp knife he's coating with a mystery substance. Mostly he just looks surprised.
b o o k s ; both are fine
...The stack is currently as tall as she is, smattering from every genre imaginable. She even has some of the beginner readers' books, though she only picked one or two for a sampling, and left the rest for the actual children. Otherwise, her most popular choice is romance, but she's picking from every genre and has no problem taking books someone was reaching for to browse through. Sorry, broseph.]
🐸
Though, this rushing around just won't do. Before the frog can grab their next book, Megumi takes it away. ]
You haven't finished reading that last one, have you?
something...mysterious happened here dreamwidth...
[ Tama wasn't far away, exactly, but he was sitting in one of the bean-bags designated for the kids...unfortunately, or fortunately depending, he could still fit on it relatively comfortably. Being short sometimes had perks. He didn't seem to be paying attention, though, as he was reading one of the books off the top of the stack he had in his lap. The air around him was starting to blotch in to illusory cyan and magenta tones as his imagination bled out of his mind, but he was too absorbed in to whatever he was reading to notice that, either. It was only when Kerosan turned to look at him... ]
O-oh, Tamamori-san...!!
Eh? [ ...that he finally looked up from the book, glasses askew. The fake lenses kind of got in the way of his reading more times than not. ] Did you pick out your- oh, Megumi-san.
Ember Go! time with Tama: The great stab incident
This would be a warning for most people, but Cain was not most people. Besides his frame and large sword usually deterred most people from taking advantage of them. Tamamori said there was something special inside this warehouse, so he's now inspecting the gate on how to get in.]
You're right, this does look abandoned. I don't think anyone's been here for years. And one of those 'shinies' is inside there?
somehow blame it on cloudflare
He's just indecisive. [He says, without looking up from his own book.] He gets that from his creator, I'm sure.
Dog Ears (give me both boyes)
But well, Frog Man is an unusual sight, and he might be caught peeking around the corner at Tama and his amphibious child, though he won't say anything. He's just observing. At other times, he might be making a mess in a corner of the bookstore, rifling through the selection and making Piles of books that he WAS going to put back but maybe someone interrupts him in the middle of his weird process.]
sorry im late to my own entry with starbucks...
So, while he's the one who's been insistent they come this way, it's not like he isn't fiddling with his phone nervously as he looks up at the building. An old sake distillery building...it makes sense, he guesses. ] It's the little shiny Minakami, supposedly...I can't not get that one, and I'm sure you'd be interested too. [ Maybe if it was any other one, he'd consider just slipping inside on his own time, but. Well, they're both here right? Might as well make the most of it! ] I don't know if he's told you, but Minakami's family brews sake as a trade. I do have to wonder why this place might be abandoned, though...surely yokai have as much of a love for sake as humans.
just realized you went prose, bless you ruka from the bottom of my heart
Kerosan squeaks more than anything, abruptly shrinking down and falling haphazardly off Tama's shoulder like a doll made of rubber...thus causing Tama's phone to fall on his head, and slide off with a noisy jingling. Somewhere, a crow (or maybe a magpie mimicking a crow? or a crow mimicking a magpie mimicking a crow,) calls out, and then finally Tama's own brain catches up and he puffs up indignantly.
"W-what are you even doing with a knife like that in an alley!!!!" It's honestly impressive Tama didn't immediately fling himself behind Kawase in his initial surprise okay.
Please praise him Kawase.you can brackets if you want, i just finished this tag finally and went "...fuck, im not fixing it"
"Harmony-san- the older sister? -she was using me for my 'squidgey, warm hands' for a bunch of the test-runs." Tama rudely points at Matoba's cake slice with his own spoon, which at least hasn't been used yet. "Something about dough and butter and...whatever else behaving different when kneaded by hand versus...however it is those two pick things up." He'd never put much thought to it before the baking session; the sisters usually wore gloves around the cafe, but they were just kinda floating in the air rather than attached to anything. It felt rude to ask if it was magic or levitation or something, so he hadn't. "She tried to show me how to pipe the whipped cream dollops too, but said I have the strength of overcooked ramen."
...this wasn't really why he'd called Matoba here. Obviously so, since they were so isolated- but droning on like this was an important pretense of normalcy, at least for Tama. He always oreferred having a barrier around these kinds of discussions.
switches back for the hahas
He will not.Well, at least one of them wasn't trying to do any trespassing for the sake of collecting little pixel things of people he already knew-- and he was also the only one of the three of them that wasn't freaking out at the sight of Kimmuriel with a knife that was clearly drenched in something nefarious. He just sort of stared dryly, a lit cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
Okay.
"Getting ready to jump some poor sap wandering around looking at his phone, hopefully."
no subject
"I am working," is what actually comes out of his mouth. "These require testing, and I have some would-be bounty hunters to discourage."
He finishes coating his knife and examines it from all angles, apparently satisfied with his work. He tucks the vials away in some hidden pocket in his yukata.
"Though the people wandering around looking at their phones do make for good targets," Kimmuriel adds dryly, "so perhaps you may want to do less of that."
no subject
I'm going to lose my...oh! [ Tama is at least getting better at looking around when Kerosan drags him back in to reality, quickly spotting Fukuda purely because he is just so tall, and then waving his arm (and book) excitedly at him. ] Fu~ku~da! Are you buying books too...??
[ The poor inugami who owns Dog Ears probably gave up on trying to shush Tama being loud long ago. ]
no subject
Oi-- [He reels his hand back immediately-- frankly it was 50/50 on if he was more mad about the book, or almost touching her hand.] If you want to cause an accident, try the library. The shelves are more flimsy over there.
no subject
...Stop being so loud in a bookstore.
[Is what he helpfully contributes to the conversation, still standing off to the side with the book in his hands.]
no subject
The dry quasi-threat, ironically, is what finally makes Tama depuff from his anxious/confused state, pouting and...thus, puffing up in a different sense. "I'm not nearly as bad as Minakami, okay!!"
liar"Y-you just surprised me, is all!!"Kerosan, who was back to proper size and was dutifully collecting and dusting off Tama's phone, held it up to Tama, who grabbed it back without much thought. "I-I'm sorry, Tamamori-san wanted to show me how to catch the little people on his phone..."
The frog's apology at least had him deflating, sighing. "You don't need to apologize so much..."
its okay im half dead to the world
Tama was right too-the idea of a little shiny Minato was adorable. They're super rare! He hasn't even found one of the wizards yet.]
Oh, they do? That's really interesting. I'll have to ask him about that sometime....we'll have to show him later too!
[He's inspecting it, and well, turns out the gate was only held shut by a rusty chain that Cain easily broke with his gorilla like strength.]
It could really be that they found somewhere better, or it was a business that had to close down. Either way, we should watch our steps, the floor's probably all busted.
[He'd even hold the door open like a gentleman, but it was more important right now to be a Bodyguard. So he's going in first.]
mood
"Squidgey". Yes, I suppose as a human you would be much better equipped for such things. [Content to the safety of his cake, he scoops up another bite and shovels it into his mouth.] ... I'm not entirely certain of that one; oversteeped broth is sure to be strong, isn't it? Ah, but the noodles are so soft.......
[A corner of his mouth lifts, appraising Tama (or what was visible of him above the table) as if he even needed to look.] Yes, I see now. Does it really take so much work to apply cream? I never thought of it.
[Let him dally. They would get to business soon enough, and he was giving Matoba all of these openings.]
no subject
Oh...! Wasn't that the book you wanted to show to Tamamori-san?
[ ...it's hard, having a shared-delusion frog "son", who can also read your mind. ]
no subject
"Maybe you should take it as a lesson to not spend all your time catching things on the phone." He adds with a sigh in his tone, before looking at Kimmuriel, still holding the poor little frog. "Poison, then? Paralytics? Sedatives?"
i have canonized the group chat for good or for ill
That had been three months ago.
Being fair, there had been too much on his mind following that lazy conversation by the bonfire. Not for the first time, Minakami wishes he could forget; that the nightmare of June (and the irony of it doesn't escape him, the calendar rolling around again after the June they'd survived back home) could fade away with time. At least maybe then he could blame something other than his own cowardice.
He'd walked out of the Arena in a daze, feeling like his head was floating somewhere else, detached from his body.
At Tanabata, he'd made a wish for his friends' safety. Even after the shock at the end of the festival, he'd held onto that calm certainty that something (Hikoboshi, Orihime, her magpies -- maybe even the raven that someone said was the heart of the city) had listened. Swirling through that calm now is Kagerou's bounty, that had gone from ridiculous hypothetical to a dangerous competition, one they'd all been sucked into. His brief meeting with Shuten's leader only made that swirling unease all the more solid.
However this ends, he can protect Kawase. That's more than he's been able to do for their whole lives. He doesn't know anymore if either of them can protect Tamamori.
He taps out on his phone, to both of them:
Are you both home? I had a meeting with Toraguma.
It's nothing serious, I just need to ask you two about something.
no subject
"Paralytics," Kimmuriel confirms at Kawase's words, just sort of ignoring the comedy act that's going on with Kerosan right now. "I have already had success in sedatives, but paralytics are harder to find volunteers for."
He tilts his head slightly, looking at the other human. "Do you have a professional interest, or is it merely curiosity?"
this is a mistake (also im assuming this is after sutoku town hall for my own sanity)
I'm bringing home mochi kinchaku- and don't complain I'm eating oden early! If it's out at the konbini, it's the season for it!!! ♨.ヾ(〃ヘ〃)ツ.♨
...things have been strange, lately. Not bad, not uncomfortable, but...certainly strange. It was probably his doing, which was why he was going out of his way to get little things like konbini oden for a hopeful pick-me-up, but he also couldn't quite place what had caused it. Maybe it was the meeting from the other day sitting too squarely on his mind...yeah, that would certainly be on him.
shout out to not being blown up by bombs yet
I'm here putting some supplies together.
But it's definitely too early for oden.
...Well, thankfully he'd mostly healed up after his gamble with Leshy (and his black eye was gone by now), but it was still a good time to make sure nothing was opening up and healing properly, before the worrywart brigade got on his case about it.
no subject
We can't all have archery muscles. Or sword muscles, for that matter. [ Hmph. Minakami was really unfair sometimes!
why was he friends with so many jock-adjacent people...] I know I wondered at it before, but I would probably be terrible at archery. I don't have the 'clarity of sight' needed for it. [ Says the man with annoyingly-perfect vision to the man with an ofuda-covered eye. ] My strength's always going to be what I can imagine...for good or ill, I suppose.this is the thread version of sitting on a rowboat with a whale silhouette underneath
If that works, I wonder if they could provide omikuji...
So maybe he's still dithering. Not for the first time, he wishes this could be easy. There must be people for whom this is effortless, right? He's never met anyone like that, but they must exist.
I'm almost home, coming up now.
---
He lets himself in, shucking the uniform shoes as soon as he's able and intercepting Nana-chan before he can slip between his ankles and into the corridor. Even with everything, Minakami can't help but feel something loosen once he's in the flat. It's still more cramped than he'd like (he thinks wistfully about Madam's house and gardens, or the inn back home) but it's -- theirs. A place he's defined with the other two.
"Ah, this is what Toraguma called me in for." He scoops the cat up in one arm, with the other hand placing a slip of paper on the kitchen counter: a sub-lieutenant's paycheck. There's a hesitancy there that shouldn't accompany this kind of announcement, but then again, Minakami's never lost the quiet discomfort about his placement.
no subject
A common misconception is that striking a target is about sight.... It is not. Well, not sight. [He explains as Tama goes to replace his spoon, and swirls some whipped cream into the scoop of his cake.] And I think that you have the ability to focus that manner of Sight well enough. Your problem is not ability, it is control.
[He delivers the cake to his mouth contentedly.] Which is something that can be managed, with discipline. But you have to want it.
[He raises an eyebrow. This lazy wimp, learning self control? Hmm.]
no subject
[She. Pauses. And looks down at Kerosan. Nods to him, even.]
Tamamori?
[Someone you want to show a romance novel, hmm?]
no subject
O-Of course not! You know his taste his utter trash..! [He huffs to the little frog... though this was probably one of the only times in the world Eiichi had ever sounded something close to flustered. Certainly, the first time since they'd been sent to hell.
And, to Tsubaki:] It's none of your business...!!
no subject
Heh.
[She's smirking like she Knows. She is guessing, but she wants to see his reaction.]
we finally found the fabled JIGOKUCHO SPACE WHALE of myth
"Did you get a promotion?" He wants to sound excited, and he was to a point, but...it sort of made him worry, too. Tama wasn't exactly going to pretend that their division across faction lines didn't worry him at times like this.
soflty it's not a whale
"Aah?" He smiles with amusement at the sight of the paper, and Tamamori's no doubt correct conclusion. Though it wasn't surprise, because he couldn't really think of any other reason for Toraguma to want to speak with Minakami. "How impressive. So what did he do? Another round of drinks? A spat in the arena? Keep this up and you'll be as much of a mess as Nishitani-san was..."
...He was a lot more relaxed about it, though between the three of them, the faction divisions had probably mattered to him the least.
no subject
But to be helpful to the owner and other patrons, after a moment of reluctance he trots over to Tamamori so he has no excuse to yell.]
Aah, I was-
[However in his mild anxiety he momentarily forgets his Tail and it knocks one of his Stacks over, hopefully not onto Eiichi's foot??]
Oh no.