[BitPR²] Mortal World V

[Kuroimaken]

[On the phone]

"Would it kill you to show some respect to your elders? You come in late to the party and you expect the first slice of cake?" Hasunaga retorts. "Look, simply put, I was the one who flew away with the top half of the Moto corp. building a short while ago. I was attacked shortly thereafter. A Shinigami helped me out, and since I was a wreck at that point she offered me a quick getaway to a place where I could recover."

----------------------------

[Sanctuary]

"I don't know if she could've gotten to you as personally as she did to Katsuo-kun. But long story short, pretty much all of your friends went there to help. Wasn't supposed to take THIS long though... something must've happened."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Over the phone]

Tamaki barely resists the temptation to snark further. "That answers my question only as far as you go" , he says tensely. "Once more: what about Chuck? What about Katsuo?"

---

[In the sanctuary]

Torahiko blinks. "Who she? Oh, you mean Von Geister's kid? I wasn't talking about that. Her." Torahiko looks sullen for a moment. "I meant that turning to Hollow part. I think I said earlier, that without the Cross I could be in the same boat. If we only had had this discussion earlier... maybe we could've used it to help him, like it helped me." A mix of guilt, sadness and disappointment fill his mind. A chance to make a difference like he wanted, and he only got to know about it after it's already slipped through his fingers.

Torahiko sighs. " I suppose it's too late now. Unless you have a change of mind and agree to move the Cross to Soul Society, I suppose."

[Kuroimaken]

"Not sure. Haven't been able to keep in touch with them all that much. Shinji knows where I am, but we haven't spoken since - he didn't want to risk pursuers." More like "he knew calling Hasunaga after this would be a bad idea", but Tamaki doesn't know Shinji can see the future just yet.

====

"Even if I had the oomph to go over the Kuzunoha's head - as in their literal chief - I wouldn't know the first thing about getting this to Soul Society. No telling if it would react the same, either. I understand that was no common Hollowification." If there is such a thing as a "standard" for that stuff. "Might be worth talking to Doc Tobioka about it, though. Maybe between the two of you there could come up a solution.

It's not like you need the WHOLE Cross, right? Maybe it would be fine if you just used a small piece of it."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Over the phone]

"Fine. Thanks for the info. That's all" , Tamaki says and ends the call without further ado. He thinks for a moment, then looks up Torahiko's mother's number.

---

[In the sanctuary]

Torahiko is caught off-guard by the suggestion. "I don't know... Maybe? It's sort of counter-intuitive - it would imply I could contact the Cross through your blood, for example. Though to give its blood to Katsuo, a small piece would be enough, yes." Such as the small unworked fragment of the original meteor that was retrieved from Ikari Constructions & Renovations by Chuck, Margrave and Naito.

[Kuroimaken]

[At the Sanctuary]

"I guess there's no harm in suggesting it. But then, you'll need to contact the other guys for that."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Tamaki's house]

Tamaki gets out of his room. "... well that was less informative than it could've been."

The woman has taken to lounging on the couch like a lazy cat. "I agree, communication has never been your best quality" , she says with mock approval.

Tamaki looks at her coldly. "I didn't ask your opinion."

The woman rolls her eyes. After a moment of tense silence, she speaks. "You didn't catch Charles. "

Tamaki circles around the room untill he's face to face with her again. "Did you eavesdrop on my conversation?"

"No" , she says matter-of factly. "But I know it couldn't have been him."

"... how?"

"Doesn't matter. What are you going to do?"

Tamaki looks to the side. "Out. You're coming with me. I'm not leaving you alone with uncle."

The woman perks up. "Oh, we going to see that date of yours?"

Tamaki frowns. "No. And Glower-san is not my-"

That's when the doorbell rings again and Tamaki realizes Robin is indeed behind the door. He missed her approach due to focusing on the woman and his phone calls.

A devilish smile spreads on the woman's face and she's up from the coach before Tamaki can blink. "It's okay! I can let her in!"

---

Walking side to side with distraught Tachibana Moriko, Robin Glower silently wonders what she's gotten herself into. It was freaky enough when that platinum blonde woman in clothes identical to hers had opened Tamaki's door. It didn't help she made her self-conscious by making suggestive comments about her lipstick. (In retrospect, why did Robin pay so much attention to making her red lipstick impeccable when seeing Tamaki?)

Tamaki himself had been... incredibly distracted, is the best way she can put it. He'd said a lost kid had potentially returned to town and he had arranged a meeting to tell his mother. Apparently related to all the... spirit stuff... they'd talked about during the past two days. Kinda worrying. But okay.

So they went to see Moriko. Tamaki gave her an abbreviated version of the truth, from the sound of it. Robin couldn't follow everything, especially not with that woman asking awkward questions about her relationship to Tamaki. Then Moriko told someone had sent a letter to her son. She wanted to know who the senders were. Tamaki pulled the odd woman aside. They argued. Robin was left with Moriko. She didn't know what to say.

Now, they're on their way to see someone called Doctor Tobioka. Tamaki insisted on Robin going with Moriko, to support the older woman in case she'd start feeling faint. Also told her to tell this Tobioka that Tamaki sent them. Tamaki said he'd follow them from a distance. Robin would've questioned why (it made no sense, she doesn't know these people!) but the look on Tamaki's face had made the question die in her mouth. She'd realized he wanted to keep an eye on the woman. And, maybe, to keep the woman away from them.

She didn't want to think about why.

Soon, they'd be at the treshold of something Tamaki called "Kuzunoha compound". Apparently, there is an underground complex under the city. Robin had not quite understood how they are supposed to find their way there, other than follow the directions Tamaki gave. Seemingly they're taking them towards some kind of shrine? Robin wonders what a doctor would do in a shrine. Too much information for what's barely been an hour.

She just hopes they won't be turned away without an explanation. That would be embarrassing.

---

A city block behind Robin and Moriko, the blonde woman saunters forth, hands in her pockets. A fully transformed Tamaki walks behind her, one of his Plasma Vulcans trained at her back.

"Is this truly necessary, Tamaki? When have we actually harmed you or your friends? It will be awkward if people see us. "

Tamaki doesn't bother explaining his suit's new stealth abilities to her. "Funny you should ask" he responds without trace of humour in his voice. "One thing I have learned as of late that it doesn't matter if you honestly have only my best interests in mind by your standards. It doesn't mean I have any reason to agree with your evaluations."

"An interesting epiphany" , the woman says with a nod. "Though I have to wonder what made you conclude so."

"Just keep walking" , Tamaki says emotionlessly, even as he's scanning the streets so they won't accidentally bump into anyone unaware.

The woman shrugs. "You know, I do wonder" , she begins after a while of silence, "when you said you'd stay behind to watch me, were you merely concerned for their safety?" She nods forward, to where Robin and Moriko are walking, just out of sight. "Or did you just need an excuse to avoid going yourself."

Tamaki says nothing, his visor obscuring any emotion on his face.

"That Robin's really out of her depth, you know. Does she even understand Japanese all that well? She's from United States, isn't she?" , the woman continues. "She doesn't know Torahiko, she doesn't know your friends, she doesn't know these Onmyoji. Without you to act as a mediator, they might just turn her and Moriko away after feeding them a bunch of white lies."

"... keep walking." In his mind, Tamaki is not sure what he'll do once they get close to the sanctuary. He'd decided he'd think of how to cross that bridge when he gets there. But no plan has formed during their walk. Theoretically, the woman could not be any threat inside the sanctuary, but Tamaki isn't sure if he wants to go back inside himself. He feels like he's trying to juggle too many balls at once. Any moment now he'll drop one. Maybe he already dropped one. How did this get so complex? He only wanted to reunify a mother with her lost son. Good grief...

---

[Inside the sanctuary]

Unaware of what's going outside, Torahiko keeps conversing with Margrave. He tilts his head, bemused. "Surely, you have a method of contacting them? If Shinji is head of their clan, it would be downright irresponsible for him to leave without someone being able to... call him." A tinge of guilt. He still has made no attempt of calling his mother. " I mean, I'm at your mercy on this, aren't I? I can only send a message to them if you allow it. " An image of Alice suffering on the floor comes back to haunt him again. She said basically the same thing, didn't she? And look where it got her...

[Kuroimaken]

[Inside the Sanctuary]

Oh, she said quite a bit more, to be fair.

Margrave frowns. "You make it sound like I'm keeping you on a leash, Torahiko-kun. I don't have the means on me because that requires actual spells and that's not my specialty." The old-but-not-looking-like-it Quincy replies. "I understand that in Kuzunoha Shiki's absence, the other Masters of the Sanctuary are in charge. Doctor Tobioka should be able to help you with that. He might even have some insight on your idea." The man was, after all, trying to help combat whatever was ailing poor Katsuo.

__________

[Outside the Kuzunoha compound]

It's kind of worth noting that although it hasn't been brought up much, there are actual people who oversee who gets to go down the path to the Sanctuary. It's generally not been brought up in the narrative because most of the time people either snuck past them or were okay to enter simply because they were known to the doorsmen.

If Tamaki really is using a stealth suit, that means the women accompanying him are neither. So they have a little explaining to do.

[Frozen_Feet]

Tamaki knows that - he is expecting the Kuzunohas to take a hold of Robin and Moriko. Someone to ask and explain their situation would in fact be more than welcome to the women as they get closer to their destination.

[Kuroimaken]

A tired but still smiling member of the Kuzunohas greets them at the bookstore that makes up one of the entrances to the compound. "Good afternoon! Are you looking for anything in particular?"

[Frozen_Feet]

Moriko immediately latches on to this person. "Good afternoon to you as well. I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but I am looking for my son, Torahiko. I was told to come to Doctor Tobioka. Please, if you know where to find him, it would be most helpfull."

Robin follows around somewhat sheepishly. Is this something that's supposed to happen? She sure hopes so. It would be awkward to get stuck speaking with a person who ultimately has no part in any of this.

---

[Inside the sanctuary]

Torahiko blinks. "Well obviously you, personally, don't have me on a leash. I meant the collective you, your side, this place..." He shrugs. "But yeah, going to this Doctor sounds like a good start. So is he around?"

[Kuroimaken]

"Ah, the books on medicine are this way." The man says, pointing behind the counter where the books on medicine obviously would not be for a regular customer. "Allow me to show you the way."

----

[Meanwhile, underground]

"Unless he left on some errand, he should be in the infirmary. If you don't know the way, I can take you there." Margrave notes, hopping off the desk he was sitting at.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Outside]

Moriko bows deep. "Thank you so much!" She follows the man's gestures and steps past the counter. Robin, unsure what to say, decides to just keep quiet and go along.

---

[Inside the Sanctuary]

Torahiko has nothing against stretching his legs a bit. "Sure. Lead the way."

---

[Outside, further away]

Tamaki slows down to a crawl as his HUD tells him one of the Kuzunohas has approached Robin and Moriko. Mentally, he sighs from relief. Now he just has to figure out what to do with...

"You're hesitating."

Tamaki's thought cuts short at the remark. The blonde woman has turned around to look at him, hands on her hips.

"What about it?" , Tamaki answers deadpan.

"Just wondering why you're so averse to going yourself. Was your break up with them that bad?"

Even if Tamaki's face was not covered by his visor, it would still betray no emotion. "Still none of your business."

The woman shakes her head. "Suuuure. None of my business. You're just pushing me there at gunpoint. A day like any."

A bunch of ordinary people on their ordinary errands walk by. They pay no attention to either Tamaki or the woman. The woman notices this and rises an eyebrow at their lack of reaction. Then it dawns on her. "Oh, I see. You've made your armor transparent to the unaware. They just see you in your normal clothes. Clever."

Not really, Tamaki himself thinks. Afterall, his armor is a product of his spiritual power and imagination. It never had to be visible to the unaware, he just... made it so. Because it was part of the superhero schtick.

"A point for guessing" , he says, monotone. A moment of silence ensues as both he and the woman wait for the normal people to get out of earshot. Every second feels excruciatingly slow.

[Kuroimaken]

Because fate has a funny sense of timing, it turns out that Torahiko reaches the infirmary at the same time Moriko and Robin do, but from the opposite end of the hallway. Isn't it funny how life works out?

"He should be just over by that door."
"He should be just over by that door."

"Huh?"
"Huh?"

[Frozen_Feet]

At the sight of her son, Moriko rushes past her escort to hug her son. Torahiko is just dumbstruck by the sudden development. "M-mom?" , he manages to squeak after her arms wrap around him.

Robin shuffles her feet nervously. Plan "happy family reunion" looks like a success, so her job is... done, isn't it? She casts quick looks over her shoulders towards the exit.

[Kuroimaken]

Margrave moves past the happy family reunion and raises a hand up to Robin. "That must be Torahiko-kun's mother. And you are?"

[Frozen_Feet]

And just when Robin was about to sigh from relief at her part being done here. "Um. Hi. I'm Gower. Robin. Nice to meet you!" She gives an awkward bow to Margrave. She's not sure who this kid is or what he's doing here. "I was just escorting Moriko-san here on behalf of a friend. That's all."

[Kuroimaken]

"If you say so. Care for a cup of tea before you go? You look like you could use one, like you don't even know why you're here.

Point of fact, I think you could all probably use a sit-down to get some stuff explained."

[Frozen_Feet]

Robin really doesn't feel like she needs anything explained. She'd be happy to just get back out. But at the same time, there's a sense of morbid curiosity nagging at the back of her head. "Um. Sure. Tea. Tea sounds nice. Let's all have some tea and relax, right?" She lets out a small giggle which is supposed to lighten the mood, but probably just makes it even more apparent how nervous she is.

For his part, Torahiko is just sort of frozen. He made a promise to apologize to his mother. Wrote it on his to-do list even. But he intended to do it in private, and this place is not private. What is he supposed to say? He's sure he had a plan for that, but now it's all just sort of gone. "Yes. Tea sounds fine" , he finally manages to mumble, mouth dry, from the embrace of his mother.

[Kuroimaken]

Life is sort of jumbled up like that. "Excellent! The best laid plans never survive contact with the enemy, but tea sure does."

What an odd thing to say.

Doc Tobioka asks the attendant to go make some.

[Frozen_Feet]

Robin just waits for the preparations to complete, unsure of where to go. Torahiko is doing his best to dodge his mom's questions of where he's been and why he hasn't called.

[Kuroimaken]

"Well then." He looks at Torahiko's mom and smiles. "Tachibana-san, it seems Torahiko-kun is a little tongue-tied at the moment. What kinds of questions do you have?"

[Frozen_Feet]

Moriko lets go of her son and turns to look st Margrave. The joy of seeing her son just fine wiped away her concerns for a moment, but when asked, when directly made to think of it, one thing becomes obvious. "Why did none of you call me? Why did you not let me know my son was this close to home?"

[Kuroimaken]

"We had left it to his own discretion to call home." Margrave points out. "I'd cut him a little slack. As you may have surmised from the facilities here, the situation he found himself involved in is quite unusual."

"Surmised". What kind of bleepin' 10-year-old says that?

[Frozen_Feet]

Torahiko blushes. "It was mostly my fault. I didn't think to call when I had a chance, and when I did think, I no longer had it. I lost my phone... on the way... sorry..."

Moriko looks at her son in silent admonishment. It's Robin who breaks the silence. She raises a hand. "Um. What do you mean 'mostly'?" She looks at Margrave. "And who are you, exactly? My friend told me this complex belongs to a clan of Onmyoji. But you look nothing of the sort. Are you even Japanese?"

It may be a stupid question after seeing Tamaki, but something about this kid seems off to Robin.

[Kuroimaken]

"You're right, I'm technically only half Japanese. My name is Margrave Anderson. My nephew Charles is a friend of the Kuzunohas, and they've had a lot of troubles lately. So I came here to back him up."

Ah, the tea arrived.

"Torahiko-kun here has been through a lot himself. He also had a lot to think about, which is why I'm sure contacting his home slipped his mind. It is difficult to explain events concerning the spiritually awakened to others who are not, after all."

This is pretty much the last chance Torahiko has of starting to explain the events in his own terms. If his mother or Robin ask, he'll be forced to explain what the Himmel are, or were. And his view of things isn't pretty.

[Frozen_Feet]

Robin is about to ask about the troubles, but then remembers what Tamaki said.

These don't have to be her troubles.

So she bites back on her curiosity and tries to steer the discussion to safer waters. "Only half? So, sorry for being blunt, but what' the other half? Anderson sounds like an European surname."

Meanwhile, Torahiko is still unsure where to go. His mom looks at him. "Where was 'on the way', honey?"

Torahiko looks down to the ground and shuffles his feet. "Could I tell you later, mom? When we came here, we were, uh, in the middle of something..." He focuses and looks at Margrave. "A friend... from school... is sick. I was talking with Margrave-san about shipping him a cure. I think that's more... urgent." He looks back down. "Sorry."

((OOC: you can move the scene to when they are actually having tea. Instead of just standing in the corridor.))

[Kuroimaken]

((OOC: I thought I already did? I need to work on my transitions in these things.))

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but basically I'm adopted. I don't give it away easily, but I was raised in Australia." He answers to Robin.

"Torahiko-kun. It is terribly insensitive of you to brush your mother's concerns like that. As a parent, she is going to get worried whether or not you tell her everything. Is it not better to exercise honesty instead of apologizing constantly?"

_____________

[Outside, wherever Tamaki is]

"Why didn't you go in with them?"

The man who asks is dressed in an elegantly tailored suit, complete with a long overcoat. His gray hair betrays his age, but his soft features and the lack of discernible wrinkles makes that selfsame age very difficult to gauge. He's smiling a lot.

[Frozen_Feet]

[inside the Sanctuary]

Moriko turns to look at Margrave in confusion. She is dying to know what's been going on with her son, but at the same time, she's mildly perplexed why this apparent 10-year-old is being so invested in it. She looks back to her son, then at Margrave again. "... I suppose you're right, but was that part of an ill friend true? What were you about to do when we got there?"

Robin is just fading into the background, her attempt to keep the discussion away from heavy things having failed. Oh wait, there is one thing. "Um, isn't the tea ready soon? Shouldn't we sit down somewhere?"

---

[Outside the sanctuary]

The woman turns to look at the man while Tamaki just gives him a glance. His attention is still mostly on the woman. "Hate to be rude, but it's none of your business either. Private affair, just move along."

The woman smirks and holds up a hand to shut Tamaki up. "On the contrary! This guy must think it's all his business!" She looks the man up and down. "You're one of the Kuzunohas, aren't you? Came to check what's taking us so long?"

[Kuroimaken]

"Oh, right! I almost forgot we were headed to a nearby conference room." Margrave notes as he guides the group to a simple, otherwise nondescript room, with a regular table and plenty of seats.

"Yes, it is true. A boy by the name of Katsuo Yamada. It is a very complex infection I'm told, and Torahiko-kun here may have considered a possibility of a cure. We were just on our way to discuss it with Tobioka-sensei." Margrave turns to one of the attendants bringing tea. "Thank you. Oh, a floating leaf!" Lucky signs! "I understand my appearance may be confusing to you, Robin-san. Are you familiar with a disease called progeria, or perhaps the movie featuring that chap Benjamin Button?"

__________

[Outside]

The strangely aged man chuckled. "A Kuzunoha, you say? Well, perhaps at one time. Mostly I'm a busybody."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Inside]

Robin tilts her head. "Progeria...? Isn't that premature aging? Whatever does that have to do with you? You don't look aged."

Moriko Tachibana is profoundly confused by Margrave jumping from topic to topic. She does follow him to the conference room and sit down, but the attendant bringing in tea barely registers. "My apologies, but... should we be engaging in idle chatter? This Yamada-san's situation sounds severe. We were also told to look for Dr. Tobioka but... if there is a medical emergency, I wouldn't want to distract you..."

Torahiko just stares at his tea, feeling conflicted. Yeah, just moments ago he genuinely wished to help Katsuo. But right now, pushing that issue any more than he already has would feel like an excuse to get away from his mom. He's silently disappointed Margrave isn't pushing it for him... come to think of it, why isn't he?

Torahiko lifts his eyes from his tea and looks at Margrave. Torahiko was directed to him to get 'perspective', but what exactly were his priorities? What are they now? Torahiko suddenly feels like he has no idea what Margrave is thinking.

---

[Outside]

"..."

Tamaki keeps his Plasma Vulcans trained at the woman. He has nothing to add to this discussion. He doesn't want to have anything to add to this discussion. Maybe he should just leave while these two have their attention on each other.

The woman, meanwhile, ignores Tamaki and walks closer to the man, smiling in a way that mirrors him. "Mmm-hmmm. A busybody, you say?" , she drawls in a teasingly sweet voice, hands behind her back.

Then, all emotion vanishes from her face and voice and she looks the stranger with mechanically cold eyes. "So give me a list. Which of your former family's myriad screw-ups can I lay at the feet of your meddling?"