1754/Goodbye, Ojiisan!

Goodbye, Ojiisan!
Date of Scene:	14 July 2024
Location:	Nounamu Sweets
Synopsis:	Chiyo heads over to Nounamu Sweets to check on Ojiisan and say her goodbyes before heading to Paris. Unexpectedly she runs into the Backstreet Slasher helping to fix the shop up. His identity as Taro is revealed, and she admits to what's going on while asking him to keep an eye on Ojiisan for her. Help to escape Obsidian is offered as well.
Cast of Characters:	Taro Yamada, Chiyo Sakai
Tinyplot:	Dark Kingdom Finale

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Taro Yamada has posed:
Chiyo wasn't at the sweets store when Taro arrived. Grandpa was, though, looking at the broken windows, the twisted awning, the kanji of the sign warped under what had to be the weight of vines. Looking through the windows proved that most of the insides were intact, protected by the sturdy brickwork, but there was still shards of glass and metal littering the shop inside and out.

It wasn't the most unusual sight; he'd seen the pictures of his mother's hometown in the weeks after it was bombed, the way that buildings had been flattened and melted, the way that plantlife returning in the months that followed was considered a miracle.

It was a miracle that there weren't more deaths yesterday, too. It was a thought that made his insides curdle and crunch up like bad milk.

But Chiyo was out for the afternoon, and the old man was facing cleaning the shop alone, and it wasn't - wasn't right. No doubt clean up crews would take weeks to months to get everywhere, with the scope of the damage.

"Oyaji, can I help you clean?"

"Oyaji, can I do something a little strange to help you clean?"

And that is why, when Chiyo returns home, the inside and outside of the shop have been swept clean, and all six and change feet of the Back Street Slasher are front of the shop, helping Chiyo's grandfather take down the broken awning by bearing the weight of it.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
There was always something a little strange about this city. A little magical, just beneath the surface. While Ojiisan had not really known magic himself, he'd caught glimpses here and there. And forgotten. Deep down he knew there was something more going on though. Some reasons why he had to occasionally allow Chiyo to run off for awhile without saying where she was going, why they would on occasion host an injured boy in the middle of the night, and why he had been really sick after tending his garden for several weeks only to miraculously recover the day after lightning struck near the garden. He wasn't a fool. He was just old, perhaps too old, to not take things as they came by now.

Which is why the offer of help doesn't go unaccepted. Why he doesn't ask abou the strange overly large 'teen' that was helping him fix things up. There was a part-timer that could help as well but this wasn't HIS shop. It wasn't HIS place to fix up things when they couldn't do the main work.

It's still a surprise when Chiyo arrives a bit out of breath from running to find that there's a very large stranger helping Ojiisan with the awning. She'd run here, much as she could, and pauses to stare at the sight with mouth slightly agape as a look of worry creeps over her.

Slowly approaching she greets, "Ojiisan! I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner..." And a nod is given to the Ripper in quiet thanks even if she looks more than a little suspicious of him.

Taro Yamada has posed:
It's been surprisingly easy to work. He doesn't know how much the old man will remember, if he'll only remember Taro helping or if it will get muddled -

Actually, he doesn't care, because everyone forgets him anyway, and it'd be better if Chiyo doesn't know about all this stupid, stupid stuff, because he's a weak moron whose only strength is his strength. Might as well do something useful with it.

"We got most of the glass cleaned up, but be careful anyway," he says as the awning comes off the wall; he takes it's weight and hefts it down carefully, but more for how awkwardly large it is than for the weight. "Oyaji, do you want this with the trash or on the side so a repairman can see it?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Ojiisan pauses from the top of the ladder to examine the bolt holes on the face of the wall, then to the mangled awning considering it with a keen, skilled gaze. A small grunt of apparent decision comes and he waves a hand toward the pile of trash. "It's warped and bent. Better to sell the scrap metal and get a new one." For a moment he stares off into space clearly lost in thought. "Overdue for a new one," he adds after that thought. Only then does he start down the ladder remarking, "You're okay, Chiyo? Good. I'll be inside. Most of it is cleaned by now."

It leaves Chiyo out there with the Ripper regarding him and the damage with her hands clutched up to her chest. The grip of one hand over her wrist is squeezed tightly reminding her to move. To think. "I don't know who you are, but thank you for helping Ojiisan," she offers to the Slasher with a weary sigh.

Taro Yamada has posed:
The Slasher sets the awning down next to the triple-bagged bags and boxes full of shrapnel, then dusts his hands off. Small scrapes on his hand scab over and heal in an instant.

(The Slasher's hooded cloak wrapped around his waist, for once, and his slicked back hair is sticking to his scalp with sweat. The stiff fabric of the straightjacket is rolled up to his elbows in deferance to the heat.)

His face puckers with visible hurt as she says she doesn't know him, but he manages to still it - but not fast enough. He nods to her. "Someone gave me offerings from this shop. Like you take inarizushi to a shrine? So it'd be real bad form to let it stay all crushed up like this."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai hesitates at the look the Slasher gives her. A slow tip of her head comes, eyes narrowing, as she regards him again with a hard, thoughtful, stare. Her lips purse together trying to figure out...

He's already giving his excuse for helping. Someone gave him candy like an offering? That was weird. Very weird. It would make more sense if she'd perhaps met him at a shrine or even at night on a rooftop, but in this case it just didn't seem right. At all.

"... Sorry? *DO* I know you?" She's not so certain any more.

A breath is let out in a deep sigh as she looks toward the inside of the shop where Ojiisan was behind the counter double-checking that the electricity to the coolers was still functioning properly. Her hand lifts to rub at the back of her neck. "I have to let him know I'll be gone awhile. ... Maybe forever." That thought caused her chest to hurt. It was spoken aloud for the first time since they'd had the meeting earlier, and it pained her more than she was willing to admit.

Taro Yamada has posed:
No, of course not, I'm the monster - why would something like me know a girl like you -

He'd say it, but what she says next shocks him silent. What little color is in his face drains; for all that he has the face of a haggard man, his face is stricken with a child's open grief.

"You're going? Where are you going - what do you mean, you might not come back?!"

As he speaks, one pocket bulges; a small figure explodes from it, crawling up his body and arm as his body shifts: straightjacket to t shirt and jeans, one arm and one side of his face green and blue with massive bruising, his hair falling over his eyes but not enough to hide them.

Taro stares at her, human, devestated, while Dory sits on his shoulder and screeches, her kimono loose over the western suit, her mask pushed up to reveal her vampire face.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
The stricken expression that comes causes Chiyo to hesitate further. That deep down feeling of familiarity, of somehow knowing this person, only solidifies further. The Veil was trying so hard--And it comes crashing down as Dory climbs out of his pocket sparking recognition, and familiarity. Then he was there. Just Taro. Bruised, sore, but Taro along with the upset Dory.

Chiyo digs her fingers into the sides of her skirt as she watches the look of absolute hurt on his face. "Taro-kun, Dory... Dory?" She asks, head tilting curiously as she realizes suddenly the doll is ALIVE? Ish? One hand raises to brush fingertips over her forehead sighing heavily.

"Ah, I guess we should talk a bit." Another glance is cast toward Ojiisan with worry, hurt, and sadness. "... I'm Culinary Guardian Daifuku." It may not mean much to them. She can't recall ever running into the Slasher before after all, but names were definitely a way of saying 'I'm more than what I seem, too'.

"We--A bunch of us--Are going to Paris to hunt down Queen Beryl and the demon Metallia. Before they can recouperate and strike again after all of this." A gesture to indicate the overall destruction of the area as far as what she meant by 'this'.

"It's going to be dangerous. More than the usual dangerous. People--A *planet* died the last time they fought Metallia, but if we don't *try* then we'll die anyway so we have to." There's a little desperation in her voice as she explains it.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Dory - Dory, no, you can't - " But it is too late, the doll has already broken the henshin. Taro's stuck like this, Dory kicking him with her little feet as if to say get a move on, tell her!!

And it only takes a second for Taro to match the name to a fighter - "Oh, that girl that scary lady was giving romance quizzes when Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Guy got engaged! You hit me like a baseball with your hammer!" He remembers!

And. Uh. He wilts a little. "...sorry I didn't tell you before. Uh, the whole have to eat people to live thing isn't popular. I'm only just finding a solution that doesn't involve mugging people..." (Thank you Naru!)

"...Ah. I was there for the opening of that. I got all - this - trying to kill Thetis," and he waves at the massive bruising. "I'd offer to join in, but I think that'd be a hard sell - and I only know how to use my powers to hurt people, not monsters." He smiles wanly. "Do you know when - ," and his face screws up; it takes him a moment to continue. "If you fail, will the world immediately end? Or will we just not know for a long time?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"I... I remember now," Chiyo agrees as she glances down with a nod as she rubs the back of her neck. "I didn't recognize you at first with your cloak off. I mean. I should have, I'm just so worried my mind isn't..." Another sigh comes quietly as she risks looking up again.

Dory earns a small smile. "It's okay. It's not like I could tell you either at first, but right now it doesn't seem to matter so much in the long run." It was true enough after all. These were dangerous times.

"Tonight, at 5PM." That was maybe three hours off, if that. "I still need to visit one other person to say goodbye, but Ojiisan was first. He's my only family." Well. The only one that matters. "Other than my cousin, but she already knows."

When he mentions not coming along she nods in understanding. Really, she could. If he was already injured as well that didn't seem to be helpful for any of them. Instead she looks at him seriously. "... I don't know. I think, if we don't come back at all, that's the answer. Not the most helpful of one. I don't think it'll be right away but soon after that..." Her breath hitches.

"If you're staying, could you ...?" Her gaze tears from Dory and Taro toward the shop again. Toward Ojiisan. "Could you stay with him? Just in case. I don't want him to be alone."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"No, it makes sense. I've been skipping school because I look like I got hit by a car, but I don't think I could get anything done even if I did show up," Taro sighs.

"I can hardly say hey, a water witch threw me at the wall so hard I left a dent, but I didn't go to the hospital and get a doctor's note because I heal magically fast." He will just. Skip mentioning that thing where he died. It's fiiiiine.

And as she tells him when sh'es leaving,and when to expect her to be gone, he nods. "I was about to offer. I can make wagashi and help with the repairs, and I'm... if the world ends, it won't end with him alone, and I like making wagashi more than I like going to school. If it doesn't end, I already called sick from work because a coworker wants to kill me, and I'm... maybe thinking about resigning," and it comes out all in a rush, the traitorous thought to give up his money and his scholarship and his place to live because he doesn't like the type of villainy he's associated with.

"Can you help me get it arranged with him? I don't know how the Veil does things, and I don't want him suddenly thinking I'm a stranger if I'm sticking around."

Dory, for her part, scrambles down Taro's arm and makes a flying leap for Chiyo, hugging her arm like a very bony toddler.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai lets out a slow breath, and tries to offer a smile when Taro agrees. She didn't know him that much but... Usually, outside of boys she was interested in, her judgement of character had been pretty good. He really seemed to love making wagashi as much as she did too.

"Of course, I'll talk to him. We have one part-timer but he's mostly for the customer service side--" The explanation is cut short when Dory launches at her to cling on. For a moment her expression crumples, and she reaches up to hug Dory with her cheek tucking down atop the doll's head.

"You take care of them too, okay?" She quietly murmers. "I'll do my best to come back. We all will. I'm pretty strong after all!" She boasts even though there's an unspoken 'But not as much as some of them' lingering in the back of her mind.

"... If you really do want to get away from them, I can help when I get back," she offers with a grin. "We can always use more help around here. Wagashi is a dying art and having someone that wants to do it? Ojiisan would love that."

Taro Yamada has posed:
The doll hugs her and hugs her, purring softly and nodding.

"...She doesn't know how to speak out loud yet, but she can write ok," Taro says softly. "She really liked your lollipop. She spent two weeks nibbling on it. I carved her to look way scarier than she likes but you were really complimentary anyway."

He's trying to not let his face crumple again. He's sort of suceeding. Not really "You're really strong. After all, you were swinging around the Back Street Slasher like he weighed nothing. I've heard he's a really scary monster," he says, trying to be encouraging.

"I... I got my scholarship and dorm through my boss at Obsideon, and I don't know if I can keep those if I leave. So that may get complicated. But that's a problem for later." He's uh. He's not sure what he'll do about that. But that's for AFTER the world ends.

"I can do amezaiku," molding molten candy into sculptures with his bare hands. "Hardly anyone makes it these days. I'd need help making the candy base... I've spent the last three months stress cooking mochi so I could do that in my sleep, though."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"It's okay. Words aren't always necessary," Chiyo assures as she allows the hugging to continue. It was odd, hugging a doll that hugged back, but also a bit comforting in it's way. She maybe needed a hug herself more than she knew.

"Ah, well, I always did like horror movies. Not much scares me, and I can see you put a lot of love into her," she adds with a soft chuckle that tapers away to a more serious look toward Taro.

"We can work on that. Radiant Heart has some staff there that used to be Mahou themselves. They still retain some of their power... somehow. But they help those of us who need it, too. We can ask them to help you also." Though she grins in amusement. "That, or pay up through the next year at least. They can't recind payment once it's made," she adds with a grin. She wasn't evil but she wasn't against sticking it to them either on occasion.

"I get that. Mochi is really a comfort food for me. It's just... You work out a lot of stress making it, then you get to enjoy the soft, chewy mochi as a reward. It's great." A quick blink or two follows as she speaks, trying to chase away the moisture that was rising up in them. Why was talking about MOCHI making her suddenly emotional? Because it was for her. This was her truth. She had a lot of emotions, and a lot of them unspoken, that she worked out when making mochi. The treat that her shop sold, that her grandparents had taught her to make, that she had grown up eating whenever upset or in need of a break.

"I don't know if we could sell that with health concerns as they are, but I bet people would still love to see it as a decorative display."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I've always loved horror too. I think that probably explains a lot about all this, huh? Let's watch a movie - when you get back." His voice skips.

When, not if. It will be when. Or they will all be too dead to matter.

"Good. That - like, I'm sure you've got a closet you could slide me into if you had to, but I do like having access to the dorm kitchens," Taro says, and his voice is getting a little wobbly again.

(He doesn't think he has the nerve to admit his situation before then, even now.)

"Right? You beat up the rice until it's nice, and then you can eat it. And it tastes good and you can eat it. And - I can make pretty things, I'm ok at woodworking so I could try making other candy that looks fancy - "

Oh. He's not gonna hold it together. He can feel it. "Can - can I hug you?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai doesn't really respond to the question of the hug. Not out loud at least, because as she said, sometimes words weren't needed. She steps forward to slip her arm around Taro in a quick hug that she holds, keeping Dory carefully between them so she doesn't get smooshed either.

"Yeah. When I get back I think I'd like seeing a movie," she agrees quietly with a quick nod. Her grip tightens just a bit around him. "I'll come back."

Taro Yamada has posed:
He hugs her back - tightly, at first, then loosening, as if afraid he might hurt her if he clings too tight. Dory slips back onto his shoulder as they hug, sitting casually between them.

"You better. Otherwise, I'm going to inherit the shop, and the only thing it's going to sell is horror themed sweets. Jason mask meranges. Halloween colored mochi. A chainsaw but it's entirely made of chocolate. That kind of thing," he says, voice in his throat. "So you've gotta come back."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Oh my god," Chiyo blurts out with a laugh at the very mental image that brings up. "Don't you dare!" At least she's laughing though. Hugging, and laughing, while trying hard not to cry herself. She was worried. She was *scared* and not the sort of tense-but-fun scared she got from horror movies. Scared for her friends, for her family, for her life. For the whole darn planet.

"You're going to make funeral flower designs aren't you?" She teases trying to lighten things up a bit more again before loosening her grip on the hug. "I won't be alone. A lot of us will be there, and they don't know we're coming so we'll be ahead of them on that." If she just keeps telling herself all these positive things it will be fine.

"Tuxedo Kamen is coming, too, and he's great at healing. I can heal too you know! Though you have to eat my candy," she says chuckling. "But it still helps."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I can do those! I made an engagement cake for Mamoru and Usagi that got smashed up so I have to make it again, I'd managed to get the strawberry slices to look like a rose and she sogged it to death!" and he's crying, but he's laughing, and the knot that's been in his chest for almost a week now is beginning to loosen. "Normal lilies and spider lilies - I can make them both!"

It's been so long since he's just - cried. He was starting to forget he could do that.

"Good. There's strength in numbers, and it's always a good time to use an ambush," he wheezes. "I almost got Thetis when her back was turned. I'm sure you can get someone for real for me. Give them hell!"

Dory chirrups along with him, the little noises almost sounding like 'from hell, from hell!'

"Good. Stay safe. I... Ok, I also have questions about healing candy, but when you get back," he says, rubbing his eyes. "I have to drink blood to live, but if there's a way I could just get life energy from candy instead... That'd be handy. Right?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Talk of the engagement basket being ruined? That actually earns a genuine wince of sympathy from Chiyo upon hearing that. "No! Oh no that must have taken awhile to make!" They did have the candied fruit here though so that would at least be something he could perhaps work on while here. "I haven't even had a chance to properly congratulate them yet, and she's my cousin," she admits.

"I'll have to make something too. A lot of somethings. I already knew Mamoru was family just--" Engaged was different. Taro seemed to get that. On a whim she turns her head to give his cheek a quick peck of a kiss before stepping back from the hug finally. A quick swipe to her cheek comes to get rid of her own tears, as she forces a smile instead. "There's a candy jar in the school nurse's office that I made, if you need. It's just. In case."

Another tight lipped smile comes. "I need to go talk to Ojiisan now. I'll ask him about you helping out. Since you have some experience it'll help. Mostly he just needs help preparing the mochi in the morning anymore, but if you can do more, that will help a ton too." Pausing, she adds, "Thank you, Taro-san. And you too Dory."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I spent two weeks testing out the fruit candying and getting the flavors of the cake right." His cake,,, He worked so hard on that cake! "I want to make a copy for them when everyone gets back. If I worked that hard, I want to get complimented on how good it was." There is so much bemoaning going on! "The only reason I knew is that I was there when the engagement happened, and I already was going to make something with the fruit basket, so."

So obviously he should bake a cake. This is a natural occurance. If you give a Mamoru a fruit basket, you have to give his girlfriends cake.

He flushes as she kisses him, but the look he gives her isn't one of the besotted glances she's gotten from the various boys she's dated. There's gratitude, and affection, and a sense of longing you'd have to waterboard out of him.

"Sounds good. I've worked food service jobs before; I'm better at food prep than waitering, but I can do both in a pinch." It's a plan. They have a plan. It will all be fine. It has to be.

"You're welcome. And thank you for - for welcoming us," he says, and his flush gets even redder. "We'll keep the shop safe until you get back."

Dory salutes, trilling her affirmation. The two of them will take care of everything!