608/What Is It Worth To You

What Is It Worth To You
Date of Scene:	18 October 2023
Location:	The Book Nook
Synopsis:	Kyouka is asked to have a meeting with the Kiseru Lady for some troubling information about one of her students, the increase in youkai sightings, and the potential threat of a new God of Death. Also MewTwo.
Cast of Characters:	Kiseru, Kyouka Inai
Tinyplot:	Inner Conflict

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Kiseru has posed:
    The Kiseru Lady kept Kyouka Inai's card. She also has the counselor's phone number saved as well, of course. So getting in touch isn't difficult at all, nor is arranging a meet-up at the shop. Front-facing this time around, not that they'll be staying there. As the store's owner, she is privy to some benefits... Like shortcuts.

    She is as pretty as ever, as young-looking as ever, with her kiseru in hand, though unlit. She is also wearing a bit of a different outfit than her usual however.

    She's wearing a red and black, horizontally striped shirt that is perhaps a bit too small for her, and a pair of jeans. Her hair is down, like it is when she goes out, and she even has some catchy pop songs playing on the store's stereo system.

    She is also playing Pokemon Blue, the special version released in Japan, on an old Game Boy. There is already a pile of used batteries lying on the counter, and another package open for fast replacement. Those things were not energy efficient.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    The door chimes as Kyouka enters the shop. She is dressed casually, rather than the more formal outfits she tends to wear to work at the school- a black and white long-sleeved shirt beneath her leather jacket, distressed black jeans, and thick-soled boots- and her omnipresent sunglasses, of course. She's smoking a cigarette (without the benefit of a kiseru), but doesn't bother to put it out before coming in, since obviously when your name is 'The Kiseru Lady' you're not going to outlaw smoking in your shop.

    She quirks a brow atop said sunglasses as she hears the pop music and sees the Kiseru Lady in more casual attire and playing a gameboy. "I thought this was going to be somethin' serious." She says, with a lopsided grin as she approaches, gesturing vaguely with the cigarette-holding hand, "But the mood in here seems downright cheerful this evening."

Kiseru has posed:
    The Kiseru Lady raises an eyebrow at Kyouka's arrival. "Representative. Welcome. Thank you for responding promptly. How serious this is will depend on you. To me, video games are a very serious matter." She looks up and flashes a smile as the sound of a Pokemon Center's music begins to play. "Let us get the droll stuff out of the way first. You are aware that some of your students were here a couple weeks ago to see a renowned mangaka, who was in turn afflicted with some sort of Dark Energy possession focused on his hands? According to the recordings, he attempted to strangle one of the girls. The immediate problem was resolved, but the causation was a mystery at the time."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka walks right up to the counter and leans an elbow on the other side of it. She quirks a brow as she raises her smoke to take a drag, politely exhaling the smoke in the other direction. "I may have heard something to that effect. I wasn't too clear on the details. Believe it or not there are enough incidents occurring on a day-to-day basis that I have neither the time nor the capacity to get the full story on all of them, but I do remember hearing that one mentioned."

    She gives a skeptical look to the other woman. "You'll forgive me if I just assumed it was some unfortunate side-effect of your business. Dark Energy possession and all- Dark Energy isn't exactly in short supply around here." Another vague gesture, meaning the shop in general. She adds, "Not that I'm accusing you of anything. Mistakes happen. But you're saying the cause was actually a mystery? 'At the time', anyway, meaning you now have an explanation? I'm all ears."

Kiseru has posed:
    Kiseru looks up blandly as a tone signifies her team of pokemon are being healed in their pokeballs. "Of course you don't have the time or means. That's why I keep track of everything. Also, Dark Energy is just one of my tools. It isn't the only one. I also take quite a bit of care not to trouble others with my business. And that..." She looks back to her handheld game, as she saves her progress. "...Is rather the point. You see, I do not just lie back and take a ramming from those who cause trouble in my domain. It is a matter of respect. When someone causes trouble for me, it endangers my customers, my clients, my reputation, and thus my business. And that. Is not. Acceptable!" This last word is accompanied by the sound of the plastic clicking on the counter as her game is shut off and put down, and a tight little smile.

    "As a result, in exchange for information, I would like to trade for your services, and those of any 'sub-contractors' let us call them who you might 'recruit'. Shall we?" She gets up from her stool and gestures with a crook of her finger over her shoulder as she heads for the door into the back room. She grabs it by the door frame, flips it sideways to reverse where the doorknob is located, and then opens it, apparently changing where it leads.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Fair enough." Kyouka says, with a bland smile, as she straightens up and leans a hip on the counter, her eyes studying the woman on the other side of it. "I was not accusing you of anything- merely saying without further information I had assumed the most obvious explanation. If you say there is something else going on here, then I believe you. And I certainly believe you when you say you with to keep your business..." A glance around the shop, "equitable."

    She heaves a little sigh as she pushes away from the counter and makes to follow the Kiseru Lady. "I need to be clear with you. I am not a businesswoman. I don't hire out my services, because my services consist of training and educating. I'm retired from the active gig. Nor do I have the authority to recruit or order anyone to do anything. The best I can tell you is that, if I find your issue to be important, I can bring it to the attention of people who may have an interest in resolving it, and tell them I think it is important. And I will certainly do that, if it is indeed important."

    She glances at the door, but seems unphased. "I just want you to know before you go giving out information in trade that while I can suggest, point, and nudge, I can't force anyone to do anything if they don't want to. Neither they nor I are mercenaries for hire."

Kiseru has posed:
    The black-haired, gray-eyed woman, turns and gives a slowly-widening smile over her shoulder at Kyouka at the refutation and statement of both their relationship and Kyouka's role in all this. "Well, let's see what we can do about that too." Mysterious!

    "Mundane photography and recordings typically fail to capture the paranormal. Or if they manage it, it is distorted, or, rarely, actually shows the truth, but a truth so bizarre and beyond the pale that those who see it assume it to be error. In a city like this, with a trade like mine, it is thus a necessity to have more reliable security in place." she explains as she walks through a completely dark passageway, only the white linoleum floor beneath their feet -- and their own selves -- visible. Which might imply there actually isn't anything else off to the sides and maybe don't test that theory.

    When she gets to her equivalent of a 'security room', there are lanterns, ofuda, wards, dream catchers, rune-lined computer screens, and all manner of other methods of sensing and recording on display. She folds her arms across her chest as she leans against a... Tree. Yes, there's a tall tree of some kind that grows up far higher than the ceiling. Sure. Why not.

    "On the computer. Video footage of the incident, as well as at least one of your students transforming in my store into a magically powered form. The only other copy has that part edited out. The original is yours to do with as you please."

    The footage is of the entire series of events from that fateful day when Shin Hayazaki came by for a handshake event and book signing, on October 1st. On the footage... Is Usagi Tsukino becoming Sailor Moon. Also there are a pair of hands made of Dark Energy visibly overlaying Shin's while he strangles Usagi pre-henshin, and many other little blobs of magical matter scattered about, indistinctly. "Those blotches are partially formed youkai. The native spirits and monsters of this country, rather than the invaders and demons that are colloquially known as 'youma', 'akuma', and so on. There is a difference, though they may, metaphysically speaking, be cousins. But their origins are different. Youkai belong here. They're just... Few and far between in the current climate."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka wanders down the passageway, showing no sign of discomfort at the apparent nothingness, though perhaps a mild degree of interest. Still, she knows better than to attempt to step off the tiles and makes no move to do so.

    "Handy." She comments on the notion of a recording setup that can actually pierce the Veil- although whether a mundane viewing the footage would be able to see anything significant on it is another matter entirely. Either way, not relevant to the current situation. She quirks a brow as she watches the recording. "I'll ask you to erase the part with Tsukino-san's transformation, if you'd be so kind. No sense leaving that sort of information laying about. But that's incidental, I take it."

    "Youkai, youma... I'd say monsters are monsters, and I think for most purposes I'd be right, but I sense that you feel there is some significance to the fact that these youkai are present for this incident. Care to enlighten me?"

Kiseru has posed:
    Kiseru shrugs and grins as she closes her eyes and looks aside. "As I said, the only other copy is edited. The original is yours. You can burn it if you want. I don't remember seeing anyone transform. That sounds like private business between you and that person." She refolds her arms and smiles lopsidedly. "I have limits. In order for my clients to trust me, they must know I will not reveal their identities or personal information to others. As a result, I have a personal policy of not retaining or sharing any such information. Bad for business. So, moving on, since I absolutely have no such recording and no interest in having one..."

    The Kiseru Lady tap-taps her kiseru against the tree she's leaning against, and a prayer rope appears around it where it was previously invisible. "The difference matters. Youma subsist on magic. Youkai are more spiritually attuned, like kami. They are sustained by nature, places of spiritual significance, and the prayers, wishes, and beliefs of humans. A long time ago, there was enough sustenance from humans that they could exist and even wield many of their powers without the level of background mana radiation we are experiencing in our current era. But as belief died out, and faith weakened... Well, it became much more difficult for them to survive, let alone manifest or interact with the physical world. That is why there may be a report of a ghost or an encounter with a monster that isn't repeated or is never solved, and is thus dismissed. It's too much effort for most youkai to do anything, and what they try to do is mainly an attempt to stir up interest and belief in their existence."

    Kiseru puts her pipe in her mouth and lights it, a lavendar-scented, purple smoke rising up in a thin stream as she puffs at it a few times, and then blows it off to the side. "As I imagine you know, humans remember negative things more easily than positive. It's how their brains have evolved, as a survival mechanism. If you survive getting poisoned by something you ate, you remember to avoid eating that in the future. Same principle applies to the paranormal in many cases." She breathes in again, drawing from her ornate pipe, and then breathes out a smoke ring at the cloud she formed before. The cloud now has a 'frame' to it from the ring, and becomes a sort of illusory 'viewing portal'.

    "So, that is why the violent and frightening youkai are the ones that are most readily able to manifest or affect our world. Either they feed on or are birthed by a disaster or tragedy, or in the worse case, they initiate such tragedies in order to perpetuate their own story. Magic itself isn't enough for them to be showing up." Images of a yuurei, a little goblin-looking humanoid with a distorted belly, and then a giant skeleton as tall as a four-story building are displayed. "Spirits, whether they are ghosts, gaki, or a gashadokuro, innately exist in a symbiotic relationship with humans, straddling the boundary between life and death, mortal and divine. Briefly, what that means..."

    Kiseru turns to look seriously at Kyouka as the computer cuts off the video, spits out a usb drive, and erases itself. "...Is that in this era when belief and faith are at an all-time low in Japan, there is something else supplying what youkai need to make a return in force. Death... Or the Divine. Neither of those is going to be healthy for mundane people, or for the students you prepare to face more straightforward magical foes." She takes another drag of her pipe, and holds it as she looks at the illusory window. Then she blows out a stream of smoke to erase it just as it is showing an image of something that looks like the girl from The Ring, or maybe The Grudge.

    "I mentioned things seemed 'askew' here lately. I believe it is tied to this. Something is dragging Tokyo closer to another world, where humans don't belong. With Midnight Tokyo also underway... We may very quickly find ourselves between a rock and a hard place."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka listens to the whole speech about youkai, only to hold up a hand when Kiseru is just about finished. "I'm not some newbie, I know what youkai are." She complains in a mildly irritated tone, although she probably picked up at least a couple new tidbits during that whole explanation. Her knowledge is purely experience-based. She isn't the type to research or look deeply into things without a compelling reason. "The point you're trying to make is that something is making the city more attractive to youkai, more so than it's been in a long time. And yes, I get why that's not ideal for humanity."

    She quirks a brow, as she leans against a convenient countertop again, glancing at the USB drive without taking it, her eyes moving back to Kiseru. "But you think this is being caused by something other than Midnight Tokyo? As in, there's more than one force causing the barriers between worlds to weaken? What makes you say that? Just the fact that these are youkai and not youma?"

    "And I have to follow that up with another question- what do you want me to do about it? Even if this is true, do you know what's causing it? We've enough mysteries without answers on our hands already. Adding another one we have no practical way of solving doesn't seem likely to produce results."

Kiseru has posed:
    Looking very unimpressed, the Kiseru Lady says, "I was attempting to be considerate of you by not overestimating your knowledge, as it seems you so frequently warn me against. Also, you asked. But the point is this: This is not an era welcoming to Large Gods, like Amaterasu. And, as far as I am aware, there haven't been mass murders, riots, and vicious wars taking place here on our shores that could create death on the scale needed for something from Yomi to start crawling its way up to us." She puffs her kiseru a few more times while she gathers her thoughts, though this entire speech was likely planned well in advance.

    "Izanami-no-Mikoto's throne in Yomi has been vacant ever since her resurrection. This wouldn't be the first time someone or soemthing has attempted to claim it. But very few have gotten this close. Midnight Tokyo may kill us all. But if that happens, there will be an influx of souls to Yomi... And whomever is sitting on that throne when that happens will become stronger than you can imagine. It is important to stop Midnight Tokyo, but please keep an eye out for necromancers, ancestor worshipping cults, and ancient ghosts. Disposing of them now, while all of this is in its infancy, will prevent many more problems down the line."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "'God' is just a fancy name for some asshole who became more powerful than all her buddies and decided to proclaim divinity as an excuse for doing whatever they want." Kyouka grouses. "We don't need them in any era, if you ask me. But you're probably right in that we don't need any invasions from the land of the dead to add to our troubles. I'd say if Midnight Tokyo kills us all then its no longer our problem, but if we're actually talking about the land of the dead then I guess that's not strictly true."

    She sighs. "I'll be honest with you, I feel like our plates are too full already to devote serious time to a problem that might become serious later. We have too many that are serious right now and not enough answers or means to deal with them. But I suppose I'd rather be aware than unaware."

    She looks vaguely thoughtful at the mention of 'ancient ghosts'. "I may be able to turn a few heads the right direction. Is that all you want? For people to take a particular interest in getting rid of death-aligned malefactors?"

Kiseru has posed:
    The shop proprietess just tilts her head towards Kyouka wihout looking at the proclaimation regarding gods. Probably not a fan of them either. She wants to say something like, 'If we all die and go to the land of the dead, do you really want a death god dictating what happens to your soul? If you think dealing with me is tedious, imagine trying to bargain for your life back with an entity that already has everything you could offer, because it has your entire being right under its thumb.' But she doesn't belabor the point. Neither of the women here likes being told what to do.

    "One other thing." She looks seriously at Kyouka. "I have something to show you, next time you're available. The 'fun' part of our meeting that we have run short on time for. If it works..." She smiles as her eyes drift back to where the smoke viewing portal once was. "...It's possible that you won't have to stay on the sidelines anymore."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka raises a brow skeptically at this. "Forgive me if I don't leap for joy. You know that your.. methods and sources are not generally compatible with my personal ethical limits." She means she won't use Dark Energy as a means to recapturing lost glory, no matter how tempting that possibility may seem. "I'm subject to oaths and contracts you have little information on. And no, that isn't me belittling your information-gathering. You're the best in the city which is why I continue to use your services. It's simply the truth."

    She shrugs her shoulders, and gives a lopsided smile. "But I suppose I am interested enough to at least hear you out. Just don't expect me to leap for joy, considering I fully expect to not qualify for whatever loophole you think you've found."

Kiseru has posed:
    The casually-dressed woman just says, "The tyranny of rules and regulations, despite me working in a business reliant upon both." She moves away from the tree, the prayer rope around it disappearing in the process. "If you don't want the footage, I'll destroy it. I am out of pocket for everything I have told you today. Not having to give away yet more is fine with me." Her smile brightens up as she says, "Well, shall we? I have a MewTwo to catch."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Please destroy it." Kyouka confirms, with a nod of her head. "And I will see what I can do to spread your warning around. At the very least, I can keep my eyes open. I appreciate the heads-up.. especially on a pro bono basis." She smirks. "Although if this ends up working out for you, I suppose you'll get your payment after the fact, in the form of not being enslaved to a god of the dead, or something."

    She turns to go. "Thanks. I'll be in touch. About this and the other thing." And she heads for the door.