Nogitsune

Well, hello there. My name is Kohaku Hayashi, it's a pleasure to meet you. And yes, I am that Kohaku. You might know me better as The Nogitsune, of course. If you're here for an autograph, I'd be happy to do so. If this is about booking, though, I'm...

[farmsuggestion]

ive said it before and ill say it again

yehaw

[shslshamisenplayer]

i'm late

Kohaku's room is...sorta locked! You can ask them to get in and they'll probably let you.

[shsl-meridian]

Je joue sans toucher le beau {{ Matsu }} Ch 1 Motive Reaction (Closed for Kohaku)

[shslshamisenplayer]

shslreedmaker

“Bullshit!” Matsu snapped. “I was trying to leave, you were just standing there!” That obviously wasn’t true, but Matsu hadn’t exactly been paying much attention to their surroundings.

They sized up this person. They seemed familiar, slightly, but Matsu couldn’t place them (nor did they want to).

“… Stop looking at me like that!” The reedmaker clenched their hands into fists. “What gives you the right to talk down to me? God! All of you people are so arrogant and pretentious! Get out of the way.”

With that Matsu, tried to push on Kohaku’s arm to push them out of the way instead of just going around like a decent person.

They bristled at the tiny reed maker. Now that obviously wasn't true.

"What? Sorry for making eye contact, apparently. The hell is your problem?"

And then they tried to shove Kohaku. That kid tried to shove Kohaku. And called them arrogant, which of course was definitely false. They'd considered just leaving. But now? Fuck that.

"...No. You can walk around me if it's that big of a deal to you."

Said the person who couldn't get out of there fast enough just a minute ago.

[shsl-meridian]

Je joue sans toucher le beau {{ Matsu }} Ch 1 Motive Reaction (Closed for Kohaku)

There were many things that Matsu was at 7am: “in bed,” “asleep,” “wearing pajamas,” “avoiding human contact.”

The list of things that Matsu was not was much longer, but at the top of the list perched “ready to get woken up by an announcement and called to the town square by some self-righteous joke of a mayor.”

They rolled out of bed, grumbling, but took the time to pull on the same clothes that they usually did, pull their hair up into a messy bun, put on their usual scarf-gloves-mask ensemble… Important things. After all, the mayor could WAIT.

Matsu crossed their arms tightly as they joined the others in the town center and the mayor started spouting bullshit. His rules? Yeah yeah, fuck his rules. 

But as he went on, it was all they could do not to laugh.

Genuises who loved their talents? Some of these assholes were, but to assume that they all were? Shit. Matsu hated reeds, hated being known for that. So where was he goi-

Their body went rigid and their eyes widened as fear gripped their heart. 

“No.” They murmured, taking a small step backwards. Shit. Threatening everyones talents, their hopes and dreams? Shit, people would murder over this. Anyone sane would.  

“I guess you really will be useless after all, huh?”

Matsu pressed one hand to their mask, staring down at the floor, feeling their breath hitch in their throat.

The mayor left. They were all dismissed.

Swallowing, they took a step backwards and turned around… and slammed straight into some blue-haired kid with a gaudy fox mask on their head. Matsu flinched back at first, but then their eyes narrowed. 

“What the fuck do you want? Get out of my way, can’t you see I’m trying to walk here?” That’s it, use anger to pretend you aren’t worried, Matsu. That definitely will fool everyone.

[shslshamisenplayer]

Kohaku seriously considered not even bothering going to this whole gathering thing. The mayor was annoying and it was so early and ugh. The threats finally roused them from a half-sleep and they dragged themself off, wishing for a shower all the while long. They were barely presentable! This was unacceptable.

They put their hands to their hips, closing their eyes and making an exaggerated yawn as the mayor's speech went on (and on, and on an...d......)

...Useless, huh?

Ha.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha h a . . . .

They had to get out of here. They'd barely taken a few steps when someone slammed into them.

"The f--"

There wasn't even anyone ar-- wait. They looked down. Oh.

"Your way? You were in my way."

...Never mind that this wasn't even their city, and they didn't have to snap, but...fuck it, they were mad. This kid started it, they didn't have to be so rude.

[shsl-meridian]

Prometheus [Firebringer] (Kohaku, Morgan, RE: Event)

Well, that sure was something. Honestly, Kohaku’s attention was less on the arrival of the mayor and rather on his majestic steed. Where had he gotten a bird that big? What kind of giant bird was it? A ziz? A roc? A thunderbird? A garuda? There were so many possibilities!

Then there was the whole “kill people” thing, but Kohaku wasn’t worried about that. Nobody would kill someone just because some asshole with a ridiculous accent told them to, so why fuss over this? They were going to find out how to tame that bird, and then they’d ride off into the sunset and show the world their fantastic new discovery and get even more rich and famous! Or something. They had the whole ending planned out in their head! It was just a matter of getting there now.

…And they had to figure out those missing steps as soon as possible, so off to their thinking cap it was.

(Translator’s note: thinking cap means going outside.)

Up the ladder they went (after kicking off their geta) and off to the picnic area. They sat cross-legged on one of the benches, staring off into the horizon. They weighed their options for a while, before a brilliant idea crossed their mind.

Surely you could say a creature like the one they saw, an absolute biological impossibility, was some kind of divinity– or at least the representative of some spiritual power. Maybe its heart could be swayed with a fervent enough prayer! They clasped their hands together and bowed their head.

“O mighty spirit of the air, hear my words. Surely something as noble as you deserves better than serving someone as base as the mayor, who commands innocent people to kill each other. If you allow me to ask a favor of you, I’ll grant you whatever your heart desires. Material goods, my undying loyalty, anything at all. Our lives are in your……talons? I guess.”

They paused. No dramatic peals of thunder. No clouds abruptly darkening the sky. Nothing that particularly seemed like a divine message. They sighed and rubbed the back of their head. Birds were usually represented as heroic figures in myths, so they’d assumed this one was too…but what if they had this all wrong? Maybe birds just got nice stories told about them because humans liked birds. Maybe the mayor had summoned this one by promising a blood sacrifice, or something of that nature. They hadn’t even considered this could be a violent creature. Then what kind of being could they call on to help them…?

Well, typically serpents were portrayed in opposition to birds, but riding off on a giant snake just didn’t seem as cool. Maybe they’d have to make due–

They turned around slowly. They were not alone. Oh.

“Hey, uh…”

(…They hadn’t met this kid yet, or at least they were reasonably sure of that.)

“So how much did you see?”

Great way to introduce yourself.

[shsl-meridian]

Hell's Kitchen (Kohaku, Tohru) [Game Start!]

[shslshamisenplayer]

moltenaspirations

…What the hell was that wink even? He forced a confused smile at the offer, but doubted he’d ever take them up on the offer for a live demonstration–at least any time soon, though it was probably rude to say so.

“Uh, sssure, I’d be down to give a CD a listen, though I dunno if there’s somewhere I could play it? I didn’t really bring something that could read one.”

He wondered if this facility had one, though his cursory glance of the map didn’t make it seem like it would.

Truth be told, he was a bit curious. Maybe not curious enough to sit down and experience it live, but he struggled to imagine what it was that his classmate had managed to land enrollment over. He figured that one sit down with a track or two from the CD could probably fill in the blanks even if it didn’t sound all too enticing from the use of words such as “intense.” Funny enough, listening to someone screaming didn’t sound fun.

“It’s kinda different for sculpting, I guess. Like I get a lot of commissions for things like it, but it’s not like people expect me to produce the same exact piece over and over.”

His mouth opened as if he was about to say something else, but then he paused. A funny look grew on his face.

“I hear that sucks too, though. Like auntie is kinda on that boat right now–that kinda situation where your art just becomes something industrial.”

The side of his hand raised to his mouth and wiped at his persisting smile.

“So uh, here’s to selling out in the right way. I mean, at least it landed us in HPA. We gotta be screwing up royally if we’re one hit wonders after that, right?”

…Right? Hopefully, yeah.

....Hm. Maybe they'd gone a little too far. It'd been worth a try, at least.

"Hey, that's no problem. There's gotta be sound equipment somewhere. I mean, with me around it'd be a tragedy not to have any. They've got to cater to their students, right?"

Considering they dumped you in the middle of a desert, you might want to reconsider that notion.

"Huh. Guess it must be a mixed bag. I mean, I get tired having to play the same songs, but having something to be familiar with is nice. You don't have to think when you're on stage, just focus on the crowd."

(And now that they were thinking about it, they missed performing a little. More the people than anything else, but still.)

"But hey, that sounds good to me. Can't complain about being independently wealthy."

They fished out a cup from one of the cupboards, raising it in a mock toast.

"To selling out in the right way."

...You could have at least filled it with something.

[ozzys]

Eluveitie - A Rose For Epona

[shsl-meridian]

In the Sniper's Sights (Kohaku, Haruka) [Prologue]

[shslshamisenplayer]

shslseed

A once in a lifetime chance, huh? Riiiight. This stranger sounded almost like some kind of scouting agent for HPA itself! Wasn’t that the hidden implication, after all? Everyone accepted was assured success in life; to turn down an offer was idiotic at best - at least, that’s what people said.

“It’s a once in a lifetime oppurtunity!”

It all sounded like a bunch of balogna to Haruka, but that was neither here or there. Unless this person really was an HPA scout, and thus would maybe have some information about how they all got to where they were currently were, none of that particularly mattered.

Besides, they were asking her for a duel, even emphasising the use of guns with their fake finger pistols.

Oh boy.

Haruka stayed silent for the moment, leaning to look around them and get a better look at the laser tag area. She couldn’t actually see into the arena, or even the entrance area really, so there was no way to judge how legitimate the play area was. Like, she wasn’t about to go play in a tiny room where the two sides were seperated by a fence or something. That would be suuuuper boring and not worth anybody’s time.

Plus, she was on a mission of her own!

And yet… it was a good oppurtunity to check out this particular area, wasn’t it? And, okay, laser tag was sounding pretty good after the mess of that morning! A nice, normal sort of thing to do could probably do her some good right about then.

“I guuuuuess I can put my plans on hold for a round of laser tag? Sure, yeah, why not!”

Taking a few steps into the entrance area itself, she began scoping out the room before turning to her opponent once more.

“Oh, but like, before I smoke you, I should prooooobably learn your name. It might be kind of embarrassing for you to get beat by a total stranger, in which case - I’m Haruka Oshiro, prepare to get your butt kicked!”

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. They were expecting to have to do more wheedling-- but they weren't complaining.

"Challenge accepted, then."

They gave a confident smirk, putting a hand on their hips.

"Ooh, you're sure confident. Already talking about winning before the game starts. Ever heard of not putting the cart before the horse? Buuuuut! You're right. It's only fair for you to know who you're up against."

They ran a hand through their hair, winking. Thanks a lot.

"Kohaku, the Nogitsune of Hyakki Yagyo."

Many words that mean nothing to 90% of people. They followed after her, laughing softly.

"And I don't accept a challenge I can't win. Prepare yourself!"

You haven't even stepped foot inside the maze. Calm down.

[shsl-meridian]

Hell's Kitchen (Kohaku, Tohru) [Game Start!]

[shslshamisenplayer]

moltenaspirations

God, what did he really listen to that could summarize his tastes?

“Um, I guess it’s better to clarify that I don’t really listen to a lot of music–old or new.”

Thoroughly indepth on that explanation there, Tohru. But it was hard to muster any real explanation on his taste in music when he didn’t put much thought into it. He lightly scratched the back of his head in thought.

“Like I have a few albums I’ll sometimes pull out again, but otherwise the radio tends to just be white noise for the car or studio. I could maybe hum something for you that I liked from one of the stations?”

Was it still cool to like Utada Hikaru? He was so out of the loop when it came to mainstream, recognizable sounds that he wasn’t entirely sure if it was worth mentioning.

It was kind of nerve wracking trying to hold a discussion with someone obviously invested in music enough to hold a title related to it; being judged over that stuff would have been annoying and maybe a tad bit embarrassing. Not to mention that he got enough of that brand of shit from his friends, and he didn’t wanna have it bleed into here as well.

“And yeah, no idea about any of that kinda stuff, sorry. Don’t live anywhere near Kyoto, and I don’t turn the television on enough to know anything bout the show.”

Admittedly, the title of it was at least familiar. Enough of his classmates liked it, so a bell faintly resonated at the mention of the show’s name. From the way his class always discussed it, the series sounded too corny and embarrassing to invest time into watching. That didn’t seem like something he should mention to someone associated with the show though.

“But I think that’s probably just my deal,” he said with a short, weightless laugh followed after. “My friends have long given up on trying to get me into any kinda show or band or whatever. ”

He took another sip from his cup.

“Again though, I feel you on feeling mixed over what made you famous if it’s any consolation. Like I dunno, I don’t hate what did it for me, but I guess it kinda sucks when your name is tacked onto something that made you famous instead of the other way around.”

They let out a soft laugh.

“Oh, don’t worry, that’s not necessary. I listen to a lot. But, you know, if you ever want to broaden your horizons…”

They winked.

“…I don’t mind giving personal performances.”

A pause, and then they decided to backtrack a bit. Perhaps for the best.

“Also, I brought most of our CDs with me, and a couple of things I personally like. Though, uh, it might be best to start with some songs from my personal collection. A lot of our earlier discography is…”

They made some odd hand gestures that didn’t particularly indicate anything.

“…Intense? Yeah, that’s a good word. Very intense."

There were a couple other words to describe it, but they were much more lengthy, such as "The first time I tried to seriously do vocals I nearly blew out my vocal cords once because I didn't scream from my diaphragm like I was supposed to."

"I mean, obviously we ended up toning things down later, we probably wouldn't have gotten scouted if we didn't, but there's something still fun about the whole garage band end of the spectrum I kind of miss. Plus, uh, it's easier to compose for in some regards."

They rubbed the back of their neck.

"It's that and...ugh. It's like the only song anyone knows. We get asked to play it all the time, and I mean, it's an alright composition, kind of, but playing it gets old, especially when there's better songs."

Famous kid complains about fame, film at eleven.

"I guess it'd be nicer to be known for something I had more of a hand in. Dunno how things are on your end, but that's my problem. Guess there's no complaining about the money, at least."

[shsl-meridian]

The Siren's Song, the Banshee's Scream (Kohaku, Shion) [Prologue]

[shslshamisenplayer]

ethericvirtuoso

Shion was full aware of Kohaku’s attempt to take advantage of their height difference, small though it was (at least while she was wearing shoes…) and responded in kind, straightening her posture in an attempt to get every last possible inch out of her height. She still didn’t succeed in out-heighting them, but it was… surely it must have had something of an affect.

“I believe that is the case, yes. And I shall be there on the hour. Keeping to schedules is yet another one of my thousands of skills, after all.”

Apparently, Shion didn’t see anything off about that either. If the thereminist had any thoughts on this matter, they revolved her kicking herself for not challenging Kohaku to a duel first, if only because then she could have used the fact that she was wearing gloves to her advantage and thrown down the gauntlet, as it were. As it was, that opening had passed her by, alas alack.

This time, Shion didn’t do quite as good of a job concealing that Kohaku’s words had rubbed her the wrong way - she was trying to remain cool and detached, but one of her eyebrows was visibly twitching, and her posture had tensed somewhat. But no, as much as she wanted to blow up at Kohaku then and there, she would not. It wouldn’t be high-class of her, after all.

“Someone of my remarkable spirit is completely incapable of stretching themselves too thin. And I am not one to make claims I cannot live up to - I would have disgraced my noble family indeed were that to be the case.”

The thereminist was attempting to sound as detached and neutral as she had been beforehand, but a careful listener would have detected something of an edge to her voice as she spoke.

“I look forward to showing you true divine brilliance, the sort I doubt your spiritual guidance stand up against the intensity of. But who knows? Perhaps I’ll be surprised.”

That was doubtful, Shion thought as she shot Kohaku a confident smirk before turning on her heel and walking off into the night like (she imagined) a confident badass. But it’d only polite to give your opponents false hope, correct?

If they were finally getting under Shion's skin, Kohaku hadn't noticed. Not the most observant person on the planet, especially when they were busy admiring how well they were doing with regards to wordcraft. No wonder they were famous.

The fact she was trying to out-tall them didn't go unnoticed though. Bro, does she even (wear) lifts.

"Good! This is a fated meeting, then. The heavens will surely remember this battle."

....Sure. Why not. Sadly, Shion's glove-throwing would have gone unrecognized by Kohaku as a traditional challenge, so perhaps that was for the best.

"Be careful-- foxes are known for being full of surprises. If anyone can surprise you, I'm sure it's me."

And then they walked off, waving and laughing, making sure they were loud enough to be heard. Thanks a lot.

[architect-of-light-deactivated2]

Favorite bands [4/10] (updated)  → LEAVES’ EYES

The wind sings the eternal notes A saga to tell

[shsl-meridian]

The Siren's Song, the Banshee's Scream (Kohaku, Shion) [Prologue]

[shslshamisenplayer]

ethericvirtuoso

Kohaku was right - Shion was envious of their ability to do such an impressive hairflip. (This was it. This was the only time she would ever regret cutting her hair short.) But gods, she was not going to give them the pleasure of knowing she was envious of anything about them, no matter how small. Nor was she going to give them the pleasure of knowing that their using her attempt at making them feel irrelevant to bolster their posturing had gotten under her skin. No one who wasn’t her sister was allowed to feel superior to her for any reason, and she certainly wasn’t going to help them along.

Thus, Shion did her best to look as unimpressed as she possibly could as the Kohkau spoke. (Oh, sure, the slight twitching of the corner of her mouth or tightening of one of her fists might have given her true feelings on the matter away, but small details…) Did she believe their claims about being possessed by a fox spirit? Well, yes. Fox spirits existed, and they could possess people if they wanted to. Shion saw no reason to debate this fact. Was she at all intimidated by this fact? Of course not. Why would she be? She was Shion Tsuzuki, after all. If anyone could outplay a spirit, it was her.

“Oh, is that so? To be possessed and assisted by a spirit in one’s endeavors… have to say, that is quite an intriguing detail. Almost as impressive as my own connection to the gods.”

This claim was followed up by Shion donning one of the smuggest smiles possible, because of course she was going to.

“It’s only natural for one such as myself to be favored by the heavens of course. Why else would I possess such immense reserves of natural talent? Why else would my soul shine with such brilliance? Because the gods have chosen my esteemed self as the target of their favor. It’s common sense.”

Shion felt a small surge of annoyance welling up within her at ‘maybe we’re not that different’. Because yes, yes she and Kohaku were. She was superior to them. She was superior to everyone here. And it sounded like Kohaku was asking for her to prove her natural superiority to them.

Good. Shion was always spoiling for a fight, especially against fellow musicians, and especially against fellow musicians who thought themselves above her level.

“I’ll gladly take you on, if that’s what it takes to prove the superiority of my inner sound. And believe you me, I don’t intend to back down from such a challenge. I never back down.”

Shion crossed her arms across her chest as she coolly regarded her fellow musician and continued on, in what she imagined was an awesomely badass and intimidating-sounding tone of voice.

“Winning duels is one of my thousands of skills. I won’t lose.”

Someone please pull these melodramatic children away from one another.

So she was going to claim some divine right as well? Fine, that just made things more interesting. If she was chosen by some kind of divine power, the greater the victory and the greater the story to tell.

"The gods, you say? My, that is something. But the nogitsune are beholden to no god."

They held their head high, taking full advantage of the (admittedly not that serious) height difference but they were going to take any edge they could get.

"Well! It's a duel, then. Shall we begin at noon? I believe that's the traditional way to do things."

...That'd be if you're using guns, Kohaku.

"Well, let's hope having all of those thousands of skills doesn't make you a jack of all trades and master of none, right?"

And they winked, like an asshole. Obviously they were very proud of that comeback.

"We'll see how whatever inspiratoin the gods bestowed on you fares against the centuries of experience granted to me by the spirit!"

But alas, without any intervention, the melodrama continued.

[shsl-meridian]

Hell's Kitchen (Kohaku, Tohru) [Game Start!]

[shslshamisenplayer]

moltenaspirations

“Another artist.”

Tohru had perked up at those words–although he wasn’t smiling anywhere as extra as Kohaku–but then he deflated just as quickly once he learned that they had meant it in another sense. Oh well. Musician was cool too, he guessed. The name of the band they mentioned went completely over Tohru’s head, though. Oops.

“Oh uh, I don’t really… listen to a lot of new music, sorry.”

It wasn’t a lie. He liked what he liked and rarely ever branched out. The only time he even listened to a new radio station was when someone else was choosing the frequency.

“I feel you though on the break through thing, at least.”

Tohru tossed a quick glance towards Kohaku before turning back to the cupboards his right arm was tightly clutching for balance. He had begun to descend the makeshift steps with careful steps backwards, and he was determined to not fall like a chump as well.

“Like I dunno how hard it is to break through in the visual arts stuff but it was sort of luck? I guess in the sense that I didn’t expect it to happen as it did, but what can you do?”

He would have shrugged, but he was too busy making that final step off of the boxes. Whew. Now that he was safe, he took the cup that he totally left on the counter before that the mun forgot to mention him doing and held it beneath the faucet while turning it on.

“Sounds rougher for musicians to make it though. Or maybe that’s just ‘cause I didn’t have to ever worry about that shit, and a couple thousand glass artists would be slapping me for saying that.”

At this point he was just rambling and didn’t really know what else to say. He turned the faucet off, and then finally took a test sip from the cup. The face he made wasn’t the most attractive as he test tasted the water, but whatever. It was edible. He then chased it with a few larger gulps. Ahhhh, he could feel his throat calming already.

“But uh, have you done anything I might know you by? Like I don’t really pay attention to the charts or anything, but maybe I might know it from something in particular.”

Well, they'd be lying if they said they weren't at least a little let down, though at least one person had recognized them so far. Of course, considering they'd worked on the same set, but still. One out of three wasn't bad! But still...

"You...don't? What do you usually listen to, then?"

It was more genuine curiosity than anything else (but perish the thought of someone not listening to music period, that sounded like an absolutely unbearable existence to them!)

"Well, that depends on the genre and what you want to call a breakthrough. It's an uphill battle for anyone in certain genres to make it, either from oversaturation or just lack of accessibility because of the genre's content, but market trends are hard to predict, and there's the whole...crossover appeal thing some bands can do, if that's what you want to call it. I mean, for us it helped we were doing something where we didn't have much competition so failing all else people could at least see us as being memorable-- which is what I was going for when I was composing the music."

...They had help but nobody needed to know that. More importantly, there was an opportunity for them to be recognized!

"Well...if you live in Kyoto, you might've seen us around. We usually played in masks, that was pretty hard to miss. Other than that, uh, we did the theme song for the show Wolves of Mibu."

They rubbed the back of their head.

"Honestly I don't like that song too much, and everyone wants us to play it, but I guess we'd probably still be playing at dive bars without it."

That didn't mean they couldn't hold a grudge, though.

[kmk-nrt-blog]

SEMESTER OF DESOLATION 2 : START

…okay, so i’m a little past start date for this, but hey. shush. they’re still alive and they’re still happy, so it’s all good.

for the record i plan on keeping track of who dies through th—

[shsl-meridian]

In the Sniper's Sights (Kohaku, Haruka) [Prologue]

[shslshamisenplayer]

shslseed

Absolutely nothing about this entire experience was exciting for Haruka. Sure, the city was actually preeeetty cool, about as cool as you could imagine a cliffside desert city being at least, but there was nothing there! One glance at the maps she dug up on the weird rectangle proved that, as far as places of interest went, there were like, none.

But, really, that wasn’t even her biggest complaint. Like it or not she’d findsomething to keep her busy in the limited space they were given - what concerned her was the lack of people. They were supposed to be here for school, right? Shouldn’t there be like, teachers? Adults? Not that she reallywanted them there at all, but their absense was… well, it was weird was all! The whole thing was weird. Everything was super weird and she wasn’t putting that thought to bed until someone could tell her what was going on.

Everything being whack as hell wasn’t any good reason to sit around and do nothing though. In fact, it was kind of a good reason to not sit around and freak out? There were places to search, rooms to dig through, corners and doorways and spaces she couldn’t even crawl through to investigate. If she was going to be here for a while with zero answers, she wanted to know the city as well as her neighborhood back home. No room could go unturned.

The storage, of course, seemed like a good place to start. Such a vague title, right? Like, what was it storing? A load of junk? A load of treasure? There was only one way to find out, and so with a determined air she started her journey-

Only to hear someone yelling. Of course. Her braids whipped the side of her face as she snapped her head around, looking for whoever was calling out. There wasn’t necessarily anyone else around, so chances are they were aiming to get her attention. Catching sight of someone waving to her from the laser tag entrance, she took a second before actually moving to get closer to them, heaving a sigh along the way. She had wanted to go to the storage place, but seeing what they wanted couldn’t hurt.

Probably.

Planting herself squarely in front of them, her arms folded tight, she was glad they were at least quick to say whatever they wanted… sorta. Some kind of offer?

“…I’m listening. What’s this like, offer you’ve got for me? It had better be something good because I was like, kiiiiind of in the middle of something here.”

Yeesh, tough customer. But hey, they could....usually....win people over with enough time!

"Well, I'm sure I can trouble you for a bit of your time. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

....Kohaku, please, it's just laser tag.

"So, what would you say to a duel?"

They reached for an imaginary holster and made finger guns. Stop, or they'll shoot you with their hands.

"I mean, the setting's perfect, isn't it? Don't all of these western movies have a duel at high noon? That's, like, iconic imagery. It'll be great!"

And then they finally bothered to point behind them.

"Also, there's a laser tag arena over that way and i want to try it out."

Why didn't you say that in the first place?

[shsl-meridian]

Hell's Kitchen (Kohaku, Tohru) [Game Start!]

[shslshamisenplayer]

moltenaspirations

Kohaku? No family name? Or was Kohaku some kind of pen name or something? Well, whatever. If they weren’t gonna give a family name, then Tohru didn’t have to use it, right?

“Oh, I’m here as the SHSL Glass Blower.”

It felt cringey actually saying it, to be honest. It especially felt cringey because he was regretting using·“the” to refer to his title. Like yeah dude, I’m the Glass Blower around here, don’t you know? All those other contenders could suck it.·

Ugh.

“The titles kinda straightforward about why I was recruited, I’d hope. I blow into molten glass and then sculpt it.”

He even did a few vague hand gestures that in no way qualified for a visual aid to his description. Great, great.·

“But I’ll stop showing off these rad, educational hand flaps now and actually check the shelves for you.”

And up he went. The boxes weren’t showing any hint of beginning to bend beneath his weight, and he took that as a green light to check through the shelves.

“What about you though? I’m assuming it’s something more… uh… traditional? Going by your clothing, I mean–unless I’m just completely off or something with that assumption.”

Maybe their mom made the entire damn outfit and Tohru was just a judging Jessie.

“It looks mostly like bigger plates ‘n stuff from what I can tell, by the way. Not much to really risk falling off for unless you want a big as-… big salad, I mean.”

Well, that was interesting. Another person who was in an artistic field-- granted, not really a performer, but still. Their smile got a little broader.

"Oh my, another artist, then."

While he probably wasn't going to be winning any games of charades anytime soon, it was a simple enough title.

"Traditional...well, you could say that. But I don't like to think of it that way. Well, sort of. I guess the answer is 'yes but no.' Anyway, I play shamisen. Not in a typical setting-- I mean, most people who play either work in traditional theater or things like that. I'm in a band. Hyakki Yagyo. Maybe you've heard of us..?"

They barely waited a moment before going right on about music.

"We had our break pretty recently, but I mean, that was mostly luck-- it usually is in music though, talent takes a while to get recognized. You usually need a label and all that, but it's gotten easier with the Internet. Not that it happened with us, but..."

...Oh yeah. They were supposed to be looking for food.

"Oh, right, don't worry about that then. Not quite what I was looking for. Probably."

[shsl-meridian]

Rhapsode | Cam | Prologue | Attn: Kohaku

[shslshamisenplayer]

shsllightshow.tumblr.com

Whoa, they didn’t expect to get a response that quickly. Aside from the unbearable hear, maybe this was their lucky day! They grinned right back down at their classmate.

“Hey-o!”

And they were even offering to help, too? Nice!

“Thanks, thanks~! I need help setting up all these light fixtures somewhere dark…maybe the laser tag maze? I wanna throw a rave.”

Do you maybe want to explain that a little further, Cam? No? Okay.

They grabbed a few boxes and stacked them on top of each other. They’d need more than one trip, even with help, so it would be much faster if they carried as many boxes as possible all at once. The boxes blocked their face, but they leaned off to the side to continue talking.

“I’m Cam Licht, Super High School Level Glover, if you were wondering! If you help me out, I’ll give you a light show later, free of charge!” They wiggled their gloved fingers, which lit up in response to the movement. The boxes started to tip precariously and they quickly readjusted their hands to a safer position. “Just Cam is fine, by the way. Being all formal and stuff is kind of a bother, y’know? We’re probably classmates anyway, so nice to meetcha!”

If Cam wasn’t holding boxes, they most definitely would have flashed a peace sign. Please stop them.

A rave. A rave. Their eyes lit up. Okay, so it wasn't their usual type of music played, but it was still music, and they'd always wanted to go to one. They played at the odd nightclub but then it was all business and...well, the kind of music that Hyakki Yagyo played wasn't exactly the kind of music you were intended to dance to. Unless mosh pits counted.

"Well, I'd be glad to help. I've never officially done stage crew stuff-- uh, not on the books at least-- actually, you probably shouldn't tell people this, but the point is I have a good idea how to do that."

They leaned against the doorway frame, a smirk on their face.

"Well, how could I say no to that offer? I'm sure I can do something in turn too. I'm also a performer."

....Thanks?

"Anyway, I agree completely! I don't really care much for formalities, anyway, so just Kohaku is fine. You don't have to bother with honorifics. And it's a pleasure to meet you."

They offered their hands. Well, hopefully these weren't too heavy.

"Here. That looks like it's going to fall over. We wouldn't want glass everywhere after we just got here, right?"