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Post by Itsuki Hasegawa on Jan 29, 2023 20:53:43 GMT -5
Simple silence marked the stemming of the silvery river's flow upon the monk's cheeks. Away fell the sympathetic hand as minds and words turned to observe the crossing of the threshold. Idle chatter had turned to a solemn and earnest business regarding the passage of the dead not guided by his own hand.
Subtle whispers of wood upon wood slid out into the room, a modestly sized pocketbook peering over the edge of the table as Itsuki scrawled minutes with half of a well-worn pencil.
Any remarks about the fantastical nature of the alleged artifact were kept locked tight within mournful quiet.
"I'm sorry to hear about your mother." Was the next thing the host said, gentle regret for tragedy blurring the edges of his voice finally steadying out. Another cold stone dropped into place atop the burial mound behind reddened eyes. Tragedies such as this were a perfect reason to avoid killing kin, kine and otherwise.
"If I hear anything, you'll be the first to know. I promise. Is there anything you can tell me about it, perhaps a physical description or that of the spiritual sensation it carries?" A wincing squint of sore eyes coincided with a prying thought.
"In fact, do you happen to know if anyone already has a piece? It sounds like something our acquaintences in the spirit police might want to lock away or use for themselves."
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GAME MASTER
Wandenreich - Soldat
Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken...
Hibano
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Post by Hibano on Jan 31, 2023 9:09:29 GMT -5
Hibano Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive Itsuki expressed his condolences for the fate of his mother, in response to which Hibano slightly nodded in silence. He appreciated the compassion, but he did not want to spend too much time talking about his mother, so he simply accepted it and stayed silent. It was, as the monk would have been able to tell, a tragic moment for him, so he did not want to dwell upon it. Instead, Hibano drew his attention to Itsuki's questions. He asked whether the swordsman knew what a Hogyoku looks like, and whether anyone was already collecting the pieces - both were reasonable to ask. " I don't know if anyone else is hunting after the pieces of the Hogyoku - though, if more people know about its power, I would assume that they would start searching for them, too. But, on what it looks like, I recall being told..." Or, rather, he just had this memory implanted in his mind ever since he woke up, not exactly sure from where. Someone likely told it to him before the loss of his memory, though. " ...that it appears like a glowing blue crystal. The Reiatsu it gives off is intense, and is almost otherworldly, in a way - it's distinct from any other race." Briefly flashing a smile, Hibano nodded. " I'm glad for your interest - but don't get yourself too worked up on this, though. If you find any information about the Hogyoku, that's great, but I will still want to... finish this journey all by myself. I don't want someone tagging along with me to end up in danger because of my personal mission." |
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Post by Itsuki Hasegawa on Feb 1, 2023 22:00:07 GMT -5
The monk's pencil stilled. Some distant, unseen memory caught his gaze, expression withering beneath it. Momentary pause fled his pencil, scribblingg continuing as he took notes and patiently awaited Hibano's full details of the hogyoku divulged.
"There are those who would consider what you're doing a form of ultimate sin. To trespass unto the realm of souls and kami, to pluck one already dead free of the webs of fate and restore them to life, I can't say what kind of hells must await you. Only that they certainly do."
Tip-tap went the flaking wood of the pencil upon paper.
"Perverting the rules of the divine, their one concrete rule for us mere mortals will draw others who would want to beat you to the chase and to punish you. I can guarantee it. I have to admit if I can't find someone I'm looking for on the other side after I confront that bear-faced hollow, I may just have to request you allow me to use it once you're done with it."
Some darkened feeling had settled in his chest, twisting his heart hard enough to send his guts spasming with unease. Bitter ran the taste of seeking revenge before his beloved. This almighty fence of blasphemy was one he had imagined himself upon and found himself able to pull and peel away the skin of his soul by virtue of impossibility, an idle fantasy entertained in the blackest hours that distilled pain-wrought seconds to a miserable crawl.
Amber eyes, shiningly fresh from the slew of tears once more caught the dull light in the room.
Itsuki inhaled the warm, damp air. It smelled like sandalwood and varnish and only ever so faintly of the tea he'd brewed. It was all so very nostalgic, if only for a moment or two.
By the time that breath his the air again he was wearing a grin tempered with the determination of commitment.
"Alright, I'm at your beck and call over this. My health may be failing me but wether I go up to the spirit police or down to the dark depths, I promise to help you find the Hogyoku. Naturally, I'd like your help with the bear-faced hollow too but I get the feeling that creatures like it will be plentiful along the way. Ties that bind, threads of fate and all that." Itsuki flipped the page and prepared the pencil again.
"Now, what can you tell me about the shape, size and colour of it?"
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GAME MASTER
Wandenreich - Soldat
Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken...
Hibano
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Post by Hibano on Feb 4, 2023 7:33:55 GMT -5
Hibano Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive " I am not trying to bring my mother back to life. She is dead, but she can't pass into Soul Society - I want to let her rest where she needs to rest," Hibano explained, slightly taken aback by Itsuki's unexpected warnings - he even told that there were hells awaiting him for what he was planning to do. That can't be right. Not that even a hypothetical hell was going to stop Hibano from finishing his journey, of course. " You'd imagine that someone who killed my mother and trapped her inside of my body would be more deserving of such a fate..." Yet again, the monk invoked the "bear-faced Hollow" that he was searching for, and even requested to be able to use the Hogyoku once Hibano has used it to save his mother. After giving it a few seconds of thought, the teen answered: " If the Hogyoku can be used more than once, that is fine by me." While he could not make any certain promises, should he be in a position where he can help a friend with the collected artifact, he would definitely not say no. " There's not much more I can tell about the Hogyoku that I haven't already mentioned, I'm sorry," Hibano then answered Itsuki's next request on the artifact's shape and size. " From what I recall, it is small enough that you can hold it in your hand. It's blue and it's a crystal, as I mentioned - so it should be a crystal shape." By now, however, Hibano had a question of his own - this... thing was evoked enough times that it must be something really important to Itsuki. " What is... the bear-faced Hollow? Why do you seek to find it?" |
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Post by Itsuki Hasegawa on Feb 14, 2023 6:18:30 GMT -5
Agape mouth and a slight sound of some half-formed thought perishing halfway out of his mouth preceded a blazing blush, dusted pink embarrassment painting Itsuki's cheeks and bridging his nose.
A small spat of reserved, nervous laughter marked an acceptance of his own misunderstanding of the situation. The monk inclined his head respectfully, regretfully.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume. It seems I may have let slip some of my own wildest dreams there." Blinking free the mirth in his eyes, the man mentally marked that he'd even written down Hibano's purpose as the first thing in his notes. Ridiculous. Pink turned to scarlet as the shameful tension squeezed around the lead weight of the guest's closing question, a dry-throated half-cough free into the back of his hand. Bright red escaped down his neck, the blush disappearing down under his robes.
Away went the notebook, furnished with new details of the hogyoku. "I would be failing utterly in my duty if I didn't help such a soul cross the boundary. My aid is still yours." Flowed the drama studded sentence from his lips.
Tea, did he have tea? Tea would be good. Haphazardly sloshing a volume of that steaming green, Itsuki hid his face behind a prolonged, slow draining of the cup.
Somewhere between the final gulp and satisfied, misty-breathed sigh of satisfaction his expression flinched away from embarrassment.
Eyes flicked briefly downcast, his gaze sliding along the table before rising back up.
A new smile practically creaked into place, a half-grown sapling of an expression stunted by a winter storm within. Itsuki's bittersweet expression was matched with a slow tone, riddled with nostalgia and fondness beleaguered by pain.
"Some time ago I met someone who was more precious to me than family, friends or my religion. She was unlike anyone I'd ever met. The bear-faced hollow as best I can remember..." Amber eyes squinted through the haze of fog lining memories. "...Struck me first. When I came to it was already too late." Swelling misery at the recollection had swollen his throat, a threatening glistening streak scoring his cheek. A firm clearing of his throat and a harsh drag of a pale palm, fingers curled inwards across the path of what could have been a river instead of a stream seemed to do for now.
"I'm sorry, I feel like I must seem so unstable. To speak plainly, I want to find them and make things even."
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GAME MASTER
Wandenreich - Soldat
Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken...
Hibano
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Post by Hibano on Feb 16, 2023 16:29:42 GMT -5
Hibano Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive Itsuki did not explain what happened with the bear faced hollow in any simple terms, cutting off his sentence and leaving things unsaid. It was clearly difficult for him to speak of the creature and what it caused, even now, recalling what happened caused him great struggle. Hibano could somewhat make out what happened from what the monk detailed, however. There was someone he loved, a woman, who ended up crossing the path of this Hollow and thus met her end. The monk was seeking revenge for what that creature had done to him. " You're good, I understand you. With an experience like this, you have all the reason to seek revenge," Hibano explained and nodded. " Since a Hollow is a tormented soul that has been turned into a ravenous monster because it could not find a way to soul Society, I imagine that deep within, that Hollow truly wants someone to free it - and so there's no reason for you to hold back." At least, that is as far as he understood how Hollows work. It had internal logic, at least. Hibano took another sip from his cup of tea. During the conversation, the drink within had started to get a little cold. " I... thankfully, haven't been in a situation such as yours. Seeking revenge for lost love... I'm not sure if my whole issue with my mother's soul is really comparable." |
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Post by Itsuki Hasegawa on Feb 20, 2023 6:45:05 GMT -5
Somehwere inside, the centre of that oppressive emotional weight holding his diaphragm in tight tension began to smoulder. The vindication of permission from another to seek revenge made his heart ache almost as much as the loss itself.
Flames of passionate hate born from the corpse of love evermore illuminated the dark cave of fleeting depression.
Righteous and justified, was it?
Everything about his own examination of this fateful cause, his faithless cause, haunted him. It was hardly some clandestine sin. Instead, it was an open one declared clean by those he had met. Putting the beast itself down was even deemed the right thing to do.
For some time his bedroom in that apartment had served as a 3 x 3 metre church to his pain, the altar to his dearly departed his own kami to serve.
I tsuki slowly closed his eyes and took a troubled breath. His expression creased with the stifled torment wracking his spirit.
Each bleeding beat of his ragged heart cried for violent, graceless redemption.
Perhaps that was why the flickering torch of revenge seemed to burn his mind so. Doubts and questioning of what to his modern eyes seemed so antiquated an approach, undue and indecent were not refuted, even by himself.
It simply seemed that each anguish-laden memory of what had been lost rang tintinnabulations to distract the doubts. In his mind's eye, the bell of a darker temple further down this path rang out a sacred clarion call drawing him ever closer down the avenue of this feverish madness.
Even now his hands burned for anything. A blade, a stick, a rock, any weapon to splinter that boney mask and look into the eyes of the ex-human that had laid this curse upon him.
The monk swallowed and rubbed his hands together anxiously.
"Kami forgive me..." He muttered. Almost mockingly his mind chimed a dramatic, invasive thought. And angels of wrath be with me.
Itsuki pushed up his wirey smile into place and shook his head. "Romantic partners, family, friends. Loss is loss. Thank you for your kind words, I can't pretend to know your pain either but I will help you in this life or the next. Again, I'll see to it that you're always welcome here." A reaffirming pat of the shoulder came.
As his pale hand fell away, another question levied itself. "Unfortunately I will be leaving my own family behind on this mortal coil soon. I'm sorry for whatever pain it might cause, but, is there anything you can think of that I might do to make things easier for them once I go?"
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GAME MASTER
Wandenreich - Soldat
Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken...
Hibano
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Post by Hibano on Feb 23, 2023 15:25:10 GMT -5
Hibano Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive It appeared as if the conversation was reaching its natural conclusion. Hibano explained the reason for why he wanders the world as a lone swordsman and what mission he was on, and Itsuki promised to aid him in whatever way he can; then Itsuki explained the reason why he was searching for the trail of a particular Hollow, and Hibano answered whether he had any information about its location. Both of them had lose someone dear to them not that long ago, and both of them were driven towards that quest to some way make up for that loss. Itsuki, then, dropped something new in the equation, that caught Hibano completely off-guard. Suddenly, he declared that he will be leaving his mortal coil and abandoning his family, and even went to ask the teen on what he could do to make this departure less painful for them. Hibano stopped, then slowly lowered his cup of tea. " What? What do you mean?" he immediately went to asking. Naturally, this isn't something he expected to get dropped on him out of nowhere, so he wasn't sure whether he even understood Itsuki correctly. Did he actually mean what Hibano thought he meant, or was this just some unfortunate wording. " You mean... you're dying, or something?" If he was, then he certainly did not show any sign of being ill. |
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Post by Itsuki Hasegawa on Feb 28, 2023 18:38:03 GMT -5
Itsuki's smiled stayed in place beneath his laboured breathing. He simply nodded against the assertion. The pale-skinned priest thumbed his chest with a meaty thump.
"Heart disease. Inherited and, most regrettably, not the most curable thing. A transplant is worth maybe 6 months with only about a 40% chance of taking properly without infection anyway. I must have been diagnosed, oh..." Itsuki made a small show of a pondering breath. Social reflexes had overtaken the eternal clock that had been ticking down, the mark on the calendar tattooed onto his awareness.
"...Five years ago. Really, it's alright." A soothing, smoothing sort of voice was passing his lips now. A pre-emptive calming of the visitor. "I hear priests have fair odds at a reasonable afterlife, between you and me." A playful wink drifted by, speech all decorated with mock-secrecy.
Strange, how comfortable it all felt. Maybe it was the honesty of opening up about it, perhaps he was getting some perverse thrill out of announcing his oncoming death like some morbid re-birthday without realising it fully. It definitely softened the blow to know the afterlife was as advertised, a life beyond this one.
"I'm not planning on singing my swan song before I've broken that bear skull. I'll still be around for a while." He said, a brief edge of seriousness penetrating the soft fabrics of his prior, reassuring tone.
A crafty smirk and a wagging finger preceded his next statement. "Don't make the mistake of thinking this means I'm backing down on helping you find your relic, either!"
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GAME MASTER
Wandenreich - Soldat
Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken...
Hibano
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Post by Hibano on Mar 4, 2023 3:03:04 GMT -5
Hibano Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive Once asked, Itsuki explained that he had very little left to live because of natural causes - apparently, he had a heart disease of some sort, inherited, which was going to eventually kill him and he had little ways how to stop it. Even a heart transplant was going to only temporarily set it back, apparently. Hibano listened to Itsuki's explanation with a somber expression. Once the monk declared that even his disease was not going to stop him from helping Hibano with his quest, the swordsman rebutted: " Well, I'm having second thoughts." He did not know how much time Itsuki meant by saying "soon", but it couldn't have been for several years, as far as he figured. With so little time on Earth, it was limited, and why would you waste something so limited? " I wouldn't want you to... waste your precious time, that you could spend avenging your love or with your family, by helping me and my mission. I can't stop you if you want to, of course... but I don't want to be a burden to you, or anyone else." Briefly, he let out a sigh. " Especially since, I assume, you need to save all the vitality you still have for that fight with the Hollow." |
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Post by Itsuki Hasegawa on Mar 7, 2023 9:28:14 GMT -5
The priest's smile spread wide into a toothy grin. A lone brow quirked high, an expression of open affectionate disbelief at the things this man who had only been a stranger some hours prior had been saying.
A naked shoulder rolled beneath torn white fabric with the awkwardness of stiffness from the deluge they'd mutually suffered.
"This life is not the end. We've both seen the truth, my friend." He said, voice all soft optimisms founded in undeniable truth. Itsuki's hand had raised to gently touch Hibano's back in more of that steady reassurance, the other clothed to the elbow in a sleeve hanging as ribbons of red and white rags waved in a vague motion to the wider world beyond their secluded recovery.
"Our planet and my sacred ancestors calls to me, sooner than I'd like. Thanks to the afterlife being a lot more amenable than any existing philosophy directly claims, I don't see this commitment being an issue if it takes longer." From there, his hand fell away.
For a few quiet moments, the bandage laden host poured out more measures of tea. Kettle set back upon the discreet warming plate, another stiff coaxing of his joint came. "You are not a burden to anyone, I promise. I only hope you will think of me in the same light."
"To be perfectly honest again, I don't expect to still be in this body month from now." His eyes had found the distance again, cup nestled in his hands. "It would be quite something, wouldn't it? Revenge and a trapped soul helped to cross before the end of the month. I think that would balance accounts nicely."
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GAME MASTER
Wandenreich - Soldat
Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken...
Hibano
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Post by Hibano on Mar 10, 2023 12:00:22 GMT -5
Hibano Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive A month. That's how long he predicted he had in this world, before his inevitable demise. It was a chilling thought, and it was equally chilling how accepting of his fate Itsuki was - almost as if he wished for his passing to come sooner. Certainly, he assured the teen that what he heard of Soul Society made him very encouraged to pass there one day. " Well, sure, this life is not the end... but once you do pass to Soul Society, there is no coming back," Hibano answered. " Any commitments or relationships you hold in this world will end, and you're not likely to rediscover them on the other side. And... well, some people would find that worrying, at least until they get their affairs in order. I can understand it if it doesn't concern you, though." A month to collect the Hogyoku... was that even possible? He's been travelling for several months with no success thus far, and he did not have much of a clue where to find the artifact, either. Yet, Itsuki was certain that he could not only help Hibano find it, he will be able to hunt down the Hollow he was after, too. There was no reason to voice his scepticism to a dying man. So, Hibano answered: " Then, if I manage to track down either of them before you pass away, I will make sure to give you a call." |
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Post by Itsuki Hasegawa on Mar 11, 2023 16:51:04 GMT -5
Grim weight clasped about Itsuki with those words. His expression faltered, halfway descended from his playful joviality as his mind tasted the sentiment. This was something he hadn't explicitly delved into with one Professor Alexander Cole, something he most definitely should have.
Open, the facuet of his mouth poured. This line of thinking was one he had no intention of hiding from a freshly minted ally in the supernatural struggle on the mortal coil.
"Well!" Opened his habitual exclamation, upbeat tone fleshing out his voice again and smile widening back out. "I can't pretend I'd understand why not. If it's a social thing, I don't mind sneaking around to get things done. If I didn't learn that sometimes a taboo is simply a taboo for silly reasons, I wouldn't have gotten very far. If it's a sacred rule thing, that should be fine too. Even if I get caught, I'm sure they can offer a priest- er, former priest by then, a little bit of leeway. Right?"
Pausing in his musings, the host of the occasion fished up another sweet from the box betwixt thumb and forefinger as the last consideration came to mind. "Besides, if it's down to some kind of... more literal rebirth? Well, you'll simply have to remind me. I can't exactly see myself letting an obligation go." A mouthful of pastry and a good chew later, a sugar coated finger tapped the worktop as he swallowed. "Anyway! My Professor came back into the human world to do his business. If things really have changed, I'll just have to finish it before the end of the month."
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GAME MASTER
Wandenreich - Soldat
Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken...
Hibano
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Post by Hibano on Mar 15, 2023 3:45:02 GMT -5
Hibano Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive It was rather odd to hear a priest talk about how rules were more guidelines than laws, and he would break them with no hesitation as long as he could get what he wants. Wasn't a holy man supposed to be a bit more... strict in how he follows what's established in his doctrine, and the orders from above. Granted, this was the first time Hibano recalled meeting a priest, so it was perhaps his perception that was inaccurate. " If you mean... sneaking out from the afterlife in order to return to the world of the living, well... I'm not sure if that's a good idea. The protectors of that realm, they can get a bit bloodthirsty when it comes to protecting what they see as the natural order." Someone had to do the job they did, as Hibano presumed, so he could not fault them too much. There wasn't a reason to believe otherwise. " Unless you become a member of their ranks - though that will come with duties of its own to distract you from your quest. And... I'm not sure if I recommend that route. I met one member of the Shinigami before, and it left a rather bad taste in my mouth. They're... not the most humble people." |
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Post by Itsuki Hasegawa on Mar 15, 2023 13:10:30 GMT -5
Failing to pick up on Hibano's unvoiced concerns, the priest who played fast and loose with the clash between a religion with generously wide interpretations and expressions against the facts of the afterlife mused upon their words. He chewed the inside of his cheek, lips scrunched up to a tiny aside as the ponderings rippled through his grey matter.
"The two I encountered, one was formerly a university professor and seemed to be pretty much his old, friendly self. The other..." Itsuki made his habitual squint into the distant past, itching at the edges of a bandage and release his inner cheek. "...You know, now you mention it, he was very eager. I took it as him simply being self-assured." Amber eyes drifted from the distance back to Hibano's own. Concern was forming again. "He did mention he was from an advanced combat divison. I certainly hope you didn't end up fighting one of those militarised police types?"
A brow quirked up in mild surprise at the potential and accessory to his questioning. Thinking about it, the way Hibano had handled the fundamental elemental elders of the world had been quite impressive. He'd even grasped the largest one with his bare damn hands.
"If it's alright to ask, what was your experience like?" Gently pried the monk.
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