[Bleachitp:Reborn] Mortal World IV

[CMOTDibbler]

Originally Posted by Kuroimaken

"My agents will contact you, don't worry. I'll properly introduce you to them later." Reiji noted unworriedly. "With any luck they won't accidentally spook you. Some of them do that recreationally..." He sounded as if he'd had headaches about it before.

Spooking blind men for fun? These agents sound like a charming group of people. Higure says with a little sarcasm. No matter, though. I suppose I'll go back to my lab and see what I can figure out. Higure bows slightly. Until next time, then, Reiji-san?

[Kuroimaken]

Reiji bows back.

Wait. Wouldn't he have had to notice the gesture somehow...?

"Until next time, Higure-san. I look forward to working with you."

[CMOTDibbler]

Higure takes a few steps towards the door, then stops. There's no way he heard me bow. He had to have seen me. He spins on a heel to face Reiji again. I believe your politeness reveals something you've been hiding, Reiji-san. You can see me, can't you?

[Kuroimaken]

"Not through normal means. I'm still clinically blind. The irony of it is, I can see better than when my eyes were healthy now. Keep it between us, will you?"

[CMOTDibbler]

Higure nods. Of course, Reiji-san. We both have things we'd rather the public not know.

[Kuroimaken]

"It also gives me a significant advantage when people think I'm not looking. Or better yet, CAN'T look. Of course, I get a lot of 'blind justice' jokes."

[CMOTDibbler]

Higure chuckles a little. I know how that is. Having... hidden talents, as it were, can be a great advantage.

[Steilos]

Henry's Place

It was two hours later.

Henry sat with his head in his hands.

Henry lay on the table, a charred smoking leg.

One Henry looked at another and breathed a deep sigh of consternation and confusion. Suffice to say, he no longer knew what the hell to do. Someone had to know, and he had to find them, but where to start? He had no body, and honestly he didn't even know how he would have gotten back in it anyway. To make matters worse, he was now glowing faintly in a thick and stony grey, a colour which somehow seemed correct in a wierd sort of way.

So he was a glowy ghost with a medieval blunt death implement and the mother of all migraines. Clearly there was something amiss with this, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what. Maybe if he found the afterlife he could get an answer. Yeah, that was it. He wasn't sure whose afterlife he was going to though... Heaven? Valhalla? Waking up suddenly as a cat? Only one way to find out...

The lone figure set off into the night with nothing more than his own existence and a glorified club CLUB!? to keep him company.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Apartments near graveyard

Silva locks her door behind her with a satisfying click. She drops her suitcase right there, walks to her couch, and falls face first onto it.

Aw, come on. You can't be that tired. I did all the fighting.

Silva's response is muffled by the cushion. Doesn't mean I'm nor mentally exhausted.

She lays there for a while, thinking about the day's events. And about finding Sora

[Kuroimaken]

Originally Posted by CMOTDibbler

Higure chuckles a little. I know how that is. Having... hidden talents, as it were, can be a great advantage.

"Believe me when I say this talent of mine has limited use compared to your analysis. I can tell a liar from across the room better than anyone. But I can't simply call him on it. That's not the way the justice system works."

[CMOTDibbler]

Originally Posted by Kuroimaken

"Believe me when I say this talent of mine has limited use compared to your analysis. I can tell a liar from across the room better than anyone. But I can't simply call him on it. That's not the way the justice system works."

I suppose that's true. My talent in chemical analysis is far from secret, though.

[Kuroimaken]

"Credibility is a far more powerful weapon in court. It's no use holding all the evidence if people just don't plain believe you. Conversely, if the defendant is more convincing than you, it's impossible to convict."

[CMOTDibbler]

Very true, Reiji-san. Having science on your side certainly makes you more convincing.

[Kuroimaken]

"Whatever the case, I trust you to be discreet on the matter. Some of our supposedly trustworthy forensic analysts have proven... less than deserving of their paygrade lately. I think someone is trying to sabotage this city's process at the chain of evidence rather than witness testimony. Evidence never lies, after all."

[CMOTDibbler]

Well, you can trust me, Reiji-san. So I might be a target then?

[Kuroimaken]

"For bribery, yes. It's important we identify those responsible."

[Steilos]

The Graveyard

If Henry were a more jovial person, he might take humour in the fact that there was literally nothing left of him to bury, apart from the leg hidden in his coat. And if he were completely insane, he would have buried himself with full honours then and there. Henry was neither, and as he stood in the graveyard he instead felt utterly lost. This was just another mystery, he told himself as he wandered around for a bit looking at the inscriptions on the stones, and if anyone could solve mysteries it was him right?

With a sigh, he left the graveyard and headed towards the shrine. He was going to miss that car, he thought. It made getting around the place so much easier... His train of thought ended abruptly as he stared up at the shrine, wondering what to do next. He couldn't just walk up to it and go "Hi, I'm dead! Care to help me out?" could he? Well, as it stood he'd just have to wait till daybreak to find out.

It was going to be along, boring, lonely, loitering night.

[CMOTDibbler]

Originally Posted by Kuroimaken

"For bribery, yes. It's important we identify those responsible."

Well, I can certainly help with that.

[Kuroimaken]

"At any rate, I have some other suits to go through. I'll have my agent contact you tonight, Higure-san. Good day."

[CMOTDibbler]

Originally Posted by Kuroimaken

"At any rate, I have some other suits to go through. I'll have my agent contact you tonight, Higure-san. Good day."

Good day, Reiji-san. I look forward to it.

With that, Higure bows and leaves, heading back to his laboratory.

[Terry576]

Originally Posted by KerfuffleMach2

Apartments near graveyard

Silva locks her door behind her with a satisfying click. She drops her suitcase right there, walks to her couch, and falls face first onto it.

Aw, come on. You can't be that tired. I did all the fighting.

Silva's response is muffled by the cushion. Doesn't mean I'm nor mentally exhausted.

She lays there for a while, thinking about the day's events. And about finding Sora

Sora stood in front of an empty manor.
He was alone.
He stared dumbly at a note in his hand - the last remnant from a life that was far too short.
She was gone, just like all the others.
He chuckles, shaking his head, his red hair falling in front of his oh-so-useless eye.

"Heh... I thought it'd be harder than this. I didn't think I could just... let go so easily, Valeria-san. I thought you knew too much about me for me to just let go like that."

He stares at the note, so simple, so elegant. Three words. Three words was all it took for him to forgive her, for betraying him, for leaving him alone again, after all he had told her - all he had worked for - and instead replace that blame where it rightfully belonged.

Himself.

He was the center of every problem he had with the world. It was not the world's fault that he was so... so weak. So useless. So unhinged.

And three words was all it took for him to be where he needed to be. Three words.

He drops the piece of paper on the ground, and walks away slowly from it, putting his headphones in his ears. Ignoring that tiny, tiny fracture in his already shattered heart. Breaking it into pieces was already hard enough - why should he care - why should he goddamn care - if it broke a little more?

"I'm so sorry."

No you're not, Valeria-san. Please don't lie to me. People who are sorry don't leave, especially not after they know so much about me.

So don't lie. Enjoy your new life, but please don't lie.

"I'm so sorry."

To hell with your Kami-damned note. To hell with you, Valeria-san. To hell with your smile, your face, your eyes. To hell with everything about you. Just... just...

"I'm"

Please...

"So"

Why'd you... why did you...

"Sorry"

Leave...?

[InyutheBeatIs]

[Someone's House]

She opened her eyes, the ceiling once again becoming the first thing she saw in the morning. She didn't quite understand the need for sleep, but occasionally her gigai seems to need a period of rest. She finally managed to get used to being in this body, but it still felt wrong. The feeling of cloth against her skin was a constant annoyance that attempted to plague her. She burned her hands at least five times since she first received the gigai, a few of the blisters still hanging around, reminding her of their painful existence.

She got up and went about the process of taking a shower. The need for constant cleanliness of the human body was another nuisance, one she did not have to worry about in her true form. Still, she was not about to be considered anything less than immaculate in form, so this was a nuisance she would have to endure.

She went to get dressed. A plain blue dress suited her needs just fine, and the large black hooded cloak from the first time she received the gigai went over the top of that. Long-sleeved gloves covered by the longer sleeves of the dress helped cover the blisters on her hands.

Then she caught her image in the mirror. She slowly reached up towards her face. No, not her actual face. The face of the body she had to inhabit. She stared into the icy blue eyes, breaking away to scan the rounded cheeks, triangular chin, and pointed nose. The face was framed by short black hair that had since grown past the ear. From everything she had seen, the hair was at least in a style that was considered fashionable. Not that it mattered.

As she stared, she remembered just how much she wasn't used to this body. They felt at once foreign and like they belonged. They belonged to her...

In the space between that thought, she felt exposed. Suddenly she realized that if she could see this, so could everyone and everything else. Before another thought crossed her mind, she reached behind her and grabbed the hood of the cloak, practically yanking it over her face. The features disappeared under it. The cloak made her feel safe, secure, in control of the situation. No one could hurt what they couldn't see.

She then straightened herself, assumed proper posture, and walked out of the door. It was another day, and another opportunity to learn. Now if only she could find the old man responsible for her situation here in the first place...

[Kuroimaken]

Lucky for her, the old man never actually made it a point to hide his Reiatsu. Though she was in a gigai, she could still feel it clearly.

But it didn't lead into the city. She may not have known - or perhaps she did not keep track of it - but this was a weekend, and as such, Hasunaga didn't have a job to do.

Her senses lead out into the woods, close to the mountains. Deep enough into them, in fact.

If she chooses to keep going, she'll find what looks like a small shrine to local gods. It's old and worn, but surprisingly well-cared for; like it has been tended to recently. Offerings placed before the shrine make the possibility even stronger.

The sound of running water reaches her ears. There must be a river of some kind nearby, possibly a waterfall...

[InyutheBeatIs]

Ah, there he was. Well, as precisely as she could tell. She wandered off into that direction, somehow managing to let out an air of authority in spite of being covered in a cloak that was most likely much too big for her.

After a while, she came across the shrine. She looked at it curiously, wondering what such a thing would be doing out here in the middle of seemingly nowhere.

Then she hears the sound of running water. She turns towards it, and starts heading for it. She parts a few branches carefully, attempting to get a better view of what's ahead.

[Kuroimaken]

She'll find Hasunaga standing underneath a waterfall, hands joined at his chest as if in prayer. He is... dressed, for lack of a better word, in a simple black male swimsuit. He's also in his more youthful form, no eyepatch.

It seems he's meditating.

[CMOTDibbler]

Higure sits in his lab, cleaning the machines.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Apartments

So, you're just gonna wait till he gets here?

Silva nods as she pulls some ground beef from the freezer. She was in the process of making spaghetti.

Yep. And if he decides to leave, I ain't gonna stop him.

And if he wants to stay?

Silva shrugs as she starts frying the meat. That's fine, too. I don't have a reason to kick him out. Plus, I kinda enjoy having company again.

You sap. Silva sighs. Shutup. Ass. Medric chuckles.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Near Houheiden Shrine]

Originally Posted by Steilos

With a sigh, he left the graveyard and headed towards the shrine. He was going to miss that car, he thought. It made getting around the place so much easier... His train of thought ended abruptly as he stared up at the shrine, wondering what to do next. He couldn't just walk up to it and go "Hi, I'm dead! Care to help me out?" could he? Well, as it stood he'd just have to wait till daybreak to find out.

It was going to be along, boring, lonely, loitering night.

A low but distinctly feminine voice echoes from the night, interrupting Henry's lonely musings. "Hello there. Having trouble finding your way around? No offense meant, you just look like it. I know the feeling, been there myself too."

If the police-officer-turned-nutjob-turned-detective-turned-woefully-undereducated-psychopomp bothers to turns around, he'll find the voice belongs to a tall, broad-shouldered woman sitting in a nearby tree. She has deep-blue eyes, shoulder-lenght greying hair with a faint hint of blue in it, and paper-thin skin with visible bloodveins giving it a purplish tinge.

Her feet are bare as she dangles them in the air, and it's a safe guess she isn't wearing much more than a tattered grey dress held up by a red sash. She looks like she might have been pretty, once, but now either old age or sickness is getting to her. It's hard to gauge how old she looks in mortal terms, but even a very generous appraisal wouldn't put her under fourty.

There's a large weapon floating in the air next to her, an old falx sword like Dacians might have used roughly two thousands years ago.

"You know, you look oddly familiar. It's like I've seen you in another life. May I ask your name?"

[Steilos]

Henry gives a start and turns around when the woman speaks, trying to get a handle on her rather odd appearance. There was also a small matter of trust as well, but eventually Henry manages a reply."Henry. Henry Rheims Coleby, to be precise, but I doubt that matters much now." He gets up and brushes his coat, looking rather awkwardly at the burning hospital. "I was hit by lightning or something, got rushed to hospital and... well, they should probably get the wiring checked in that hospital. I'm pretty sure that hospital beds are not supposed to explode."

[Frozen_Feet]

A glint of recognition flares up in the woman's eyes. It's pretty eerie and Henry gets the feeling this might not be an entirely good thing. But then it fades and she shakes her head. "Hmmm. I was wrong. Never even heard of you." She looks to the side.

"Well, it seems you have an acute and embarrassing case of death, my friend. I don't suppose you left a body behind?" Then she narrows her eyes and leans forward, something on Henry's person catching her attention.

"Hmmm... what's that in your hands?"