Video | UN: hijikata | Irregular Quest: Keep a Man out of the Sun for a Day

[mayoninofukucho]

[It's after dinnertime on another rainy evening when a new video pops up on AOL. Hijikata has never posted anything on the network before (beyond responses to other people), so he's not exactly a familiar face... but those who do know him may be surprised by the changes to his outfit and the large black wings on his back. He looks a lot more composed than usual and gives the camera a slow blink before starting to speak.]

My name is Arashi. I am the familiar of Hijikata-san, whose body I am inhabiting by means of familiar fusion to bring you this message. I am afraid that I find myself in need of some assistance.

[He seems to be in a hotel room, and attentive listeners may be able to catch the occasional high-pitched little noise in the background, as if there were guinea pigs or other small pets running around. Arashi keeps a straight face.]

It has come to my attention that Hijikata-san has been struggling to reverse the impact of the wishes that were made about two months ago. I cannot maintain the familiar fusion state for very long, so I seek the support of anyone willing and able to keep him away from the sunlight for a day.

[What the reclusive crow tengu isn't telling the viewers: due to the heavy rains he decided to check on his bond partner, only to find his hotel room full of mayonnaise mascots. When the flooding began Hijikata had fetched them in a panic from the smallholding farm the owners of which had been letting him keep them in an enclosure, and their presence immediately made it clear to Arashi that he never fixed his messed-up magic. Hijikata had just finished preparing a familiar fusion essence in his room for later use in an emergency, and ultimately it was used much sooner as a result of the ensuing fight.]

Please come to Room 306 at the main inn if you are interested. I cannot offer gold, but I am able to train users of wind magic and help awaken it for novice users of elemental magic, or otherwise I can offer some rare items.

Just as a warning, there are some... creatures here.

[The mayonnaise mascots are harmless, but kind of creepy looking in his opinion. They are unnatural, wholly unnatural. The sooner they disappear the better.]


(OOC: This is open for anyone, no dibs (after all we've got time loops happening around here!). Villains and pranksters are also welcome (after all Arashi is such an absent familiar that he wouldn't be able to tell who Hijikata's friends are, or if he has any at all). If you'd like to plot anything specific out I have my CR meme post here!)

Comments

[corpsewarblade]

[Mukuro shook her head- no, no one had saved her. The 'What if?' that Hijikata had given her in the dream hadn't happened in reality, leaving only the cold, hard truth of her own demise.]

...next thing I know I got dumped in the bay- I was covered in blood, but the wounds were all healed up like this.

[She took a deep breath, moving her top back into place and adjusting her tie. Mukuro hated looking at the scars for too long, and still found herself flinching whenever she caught sight of them in the mirror.

There was something...off in Hijikata's voice when he spoke next, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was.]

...Huh? You've done this before?

[mayoninofukucho]

[That had to be one hell of an arrival for her... it's all the more impressive that she managed to bottle all that trauma up inside and appear so chipper and well-adjusted ever since he first met her. Sure, in hindsight Hijikata can see how her facade cracked from time to time, but who could blame her? Anyway, right now he's trying to give her some confidence for the future.]

Yeah. I got transported to a world called Prismatica, a little over a year ago... though it feels like it's been much longer. We off-worlders were pulled there by the dying world itself, apparently, because only we were able to create the special biological energy that could purity the planet. Most of it was uninhabitable, covered in crystals and poisonous fog and whatnot.

[He looks up at the frozen stars. Prismatica's sun is unlikely to be among the ones they can see from here, but who knows?]

Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that there were people like you there, people who arrived on Prismatica after dying in their own worlds. In the end, when we managed to restore the planet and find a way home, those people were allowed to stay. No one was forced to go back home. I hope that whenever we restore the flow of time here the same choice is given to everyone who's dead back home, or who doesn't want to return for any other reason.

[corpsewarblade]

Wait, so...they could just carry on living their lives in that world, even after the way home opened up?

[That was something she'd not considered at all. After the worlds were saved and time started flowing again...what would happen to her? Mukuro had been so focused on her mission that she'd never given much of a thought to her future.

Fenrir looked up at her pact-bound, whilst Mukuro stroked her back, seemingly losing herself in thought. And after a long while, she finally muttered: ]

...Yeah. I- can't go back, can I? I've known that for a while.

It's just so surreal, you know?

[mayoninofukucho]

It is.

[They've all been thrown for a massive loop by being brought here, for better or worse. But the dead people getting another chance at life is, by all means, an upside. He takes a deep drag of his cigarette.]

You know how people will sometimes be pulled back to their homeworlds at random, right? That happened on Prismatica too. They'd just get pulled back to the same time and place they were taken from, with no memories of the experience, like a damn alien abduction.

[Well, technically it probably qualifies as one, even if it wasn't the Prismals orchestrating it but rather their world.]

Once we got a proper way back home we could leave while retaining our memories, and they also gave us a means of returning to Prismatica.

[He pulls a crystal on a simple necklace out from under his shirt.]

It's useless right now, but I used it many times before to visit those who had to stay behind.

[His first love from back home, innocent and frail, whom he always put on a pedestal until it was too late, and the first woman he could accept because she was like him, a soldier with blood on her hands. He wants to see both of them again, and it's a huge motivator for him to work hard on restoring the flow of time - besides his own frozen homeworld and everyone he cares for there, of course.]

If things take a similar course here, then I promise I'll come back to visit you too.

[corpsewarblade]

It's so weird...the way this world just drags people in and sends them back like that. I assumed that everyone here were people who'd died but the guy I shared the caravan with said that wasn't the case.

[An alien abduction... she could practically imagine Hiro in the back of her mind ranting that it was all an alien conspiracy! All of it! And those aliens stole his lunch too!

Once he pulled the necklace out, her attention was drawn back to it, watching as it glimmered... before she returned to watching him. He'd come visit her? Even if this world was saved, and he went home again?

Mukuro found herself gripping onto his sleeve.]

If it's possible to do the same here- to go between here and there as much as you want- then...

I'm...I'm gonna hold you to that, okay??

[mayoninofukucho]

[This is where a less awkward person would give Mukuro a big proper hug. Hijikata only musters a reassuring smile, but that may just be good enough, given the emotional rollercoaster this evening has put them both through (and the night is still young!).]

You have my word.

[Of course there's no telling if everybody's eventual return home will really be a controlled process, if those who are dead back home will really be able to choose... but this one time Hijikata wants to have faith and be optimistic. His cigarette is already turning into a stub, and while the revelations of the last half-hour have been enough to make anyone reel he and Mukuro are also still on a mission - a mission he wants to turn into something that'll be nice for both of them now. He's still pretty damn mad at Arashi, but he doesn't want to make Mukuro's life any more difficult by keeping her worried about his state of affairs.]

How about we get ourselves a bunch of snacks and movies for an impromptu movie night?

[It's been a damn long time since he did anything like that. Back home he and Okita watch some TV series together (it's pretty much the only peaceful activity they do together), but he hasn't actively looked into the local entertainment media much since his arrival. If Mukuro has no obligations the next day they can stay up until way after midnight, and whenever she gets tired he'll see her off, close all his blinds, and sleep until noon. That'll leave him a few last hours to spend with his Mayorins until the sun sets again.]

[corpsewarblade]

[Physical affection wasn't something Mukuro was used to, so the warm smile certainly did its job. She...wanted to have hope. Just for a moment, maybe it would be okay if one of the Despair Sisters let herself indulge in Hope- just this once.]

Huh? ... Yeah, that sounds like fun, I'd like that.

[Night missions weren't foreign to Mukuro- she could get by staying up into the early hours, and after their talk, she trusted that Hijikata wouldn't break his word and mess up their mission at the eleventh hour.]

[mayoninofukucho]

Let's go, then.

[He extinguishes his cigarette stub in the ashtray next to the bench, then waits for Mukuro to join them as they walk back. He'll leave her his jacket for warmth and look up which rental shops are open nearby.]

What's your favourite genre?

[corpsewarblade]

Huh? Well action films are always good fun-

[She'll rush off to follow him, hoping that the evening would pass by without any other earthshattering revelations to follow them.

And, well, it would probably be the early hours of the morning when Mukuro finally started to doze off on watch.]

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata genuinely enjoys watching a couple of action-packed movies with Mukuro. They have fast food and soft drinks, and she's even kind enough to tolerate the Mayorins climbing onto their armchairs, what more could he really ask for?

Once she falls asleep just before dawn he turns off the TV and covers her with a blanket (if he carried her over to the bedroom she'd most likely wake up, he figures, even if the bed would be more comfortable). He himself can't sleep, knowing that it's his last night with his precious mayonnaise mascots, so he sits on the floor to keep playing with them, patting their onion-shaped heads and letting them hold his fingers with their tiny hands.

He has plenty of time for reflections now. He knows Arashi has been acting out of concern - if Hijikata allows his local magic to remain repressed it may well result in them both being sent back to Edo, yeah. He understands, really. But why does he have to give up something that makes him happy? Life just isn't fair sometimes.

He keeps the curtains closed, so no daylight will enter the room to wake up Mukuro as the day begins hours later, but eventually Hijikata also drifts off into sleep on the carpet. If she wakes up first, at whichever hour it may be, she'll find him covered in Mayorins, the whole dozen cuddled up against him. They don't sleep, but at least they closed they beady little eyes!]

[corpsewarblade]

[After a while, it wasn't too bad to grit her teeth and deal with the gremlins crawling all over them- they avoided dislodging her wig, and for now that was all she could ask for! Besides, she had fun snacking and watching the movies, getting her adrenaline going and taking her mind off the trauma from home.

When she did finally fall asleep in the armchair...Her dreams weren't entirely peaceful, expression twitching every now and then whilst she slept, but she seemed to curl up in the blanket when it was placed over her.

And soon enough morning came, and she found herself stirring awake. Waking up in a dim room made Mukuro momentarily wonder if she was still in her dorm at Hope's Peak- windows boarded up with sheet metal- but it didn't take her long to remember where she was. In her own room, at least, she didn't close the curtains at all unless she was changing, preferring to rise with the sun- but that would defeat the purpose of her intervention last night, wouldn't it?

Arashi...no sign of that obnoxious bird, either. Seriously, did that guy do anything himself?

After she'd taken a moment to make sure her wig and makeup weren't too awry from sleeping in them, she wandered over to Hijikata and crouched wherever she could find room amongst his Mayorin pile. Jeeze...he really was going to take this hard. Creepy as the things were, she couldn't help but feel bad for him.]

Hey...Hijikata? It's 11-ish now. You probably want to wake up.

[It struck her as she gave his shoulder a little nudge that maybe he'd rather carry on sleeping than watch them disappear before his eyes...well, too late to worry about that now.]