divinetree | big dumb nerds I MEAN VALENTINES DAY SHIPPY POST

I'm alright, Reigen-sho.

[Mob finally interrupts, though his expression is more dour than it was before - even to the point of being noticeable on Shigeo's expression more properly. Reigen turns to frown at his student, and the two understand at a glance - they're both wary about this turning into another Mogami situation. Even so, Shigeo continues.]

We'll still exorcise the spirits from our city. That is fair... they shouldn't be around here. Joshua-san... is a spirit named Mogami around here?

[There is a long, long pause before Joshua turns his attention to Mob, and for the first time, his expression is a little more serious rather than continuing to play coy.]

... I don't know, and that's what I want to check: one of the spirits mentioned that name, unsure if they had been truly exorcised from your city, or that they may have snuck in under the cover of the other spirits that migrated here. And if there's anyone that I don't want in my city, it's that one.

[Because even Joshua doesn't like rumors he's heard about that particular one. To think that people thought we were bad sometimes...

He then turns his attention back to Reigen as the teenager then gestures to the Scramble Crossing.]

The Underground is our name for the plane of existence that separates the dead from the Real Ground, or the living if you prefer. The only real difference between the two is that the dead can't be seen by the living, but otherwise, it's appearance is exactly the same. That traffic crossing isn't any different than it is to you, and only a very powerful spirit or Noise could change the appearance of the Real Ground from their place in the Underground.

... As for the second part of what you said, you are only half right. I'm not "possessing" the human body of another.

[And here, he smiles again, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

This is very much what I looked like the day I left the living for the Underground, Reigen-san.

Edited 2018-02-16 10:43 (UTC)

[The two of them are tense, and quiet, for a moment - though Reigen's looking to Mob, more worried about his friend than himself. "Mob, it's alright to run away," he gently reminds, but Shigeo nods to acknowledge it. He's quietly warring with himself, his aura belying his turmoil more than his face.

After nearly a full minute, Shigeo speaks, softly and shakily.]

I don't want to see Mogami again. But if he's here, I will try to deal with him. Anything less than Mogami... I'm not afraid of it.

Edited 2018-02-16 17:45 (UTC)

[So there is definitely a story to whatever had happened with Mogami when this boy had gone against them. For now, though, Joshua won't pry too deeply yet.]

Very well. If it brings you any solace, I don't plan on leaving such a burden entirely on your shoulders, as I will also be doing what I can to assist should they be here. [A pause.] And even if I don't agree with Reigen-san about the idea of running away, he's not wrong necessarily... but then, I'm not exactly the right person to get an opinion from on that, am I?

[He even laughs a little to himself at that, as if what he said just now wasn't a tad disturbing in hindsight, given what he had said about himself just a moment ago...]

Anyway, let's be on our way then, shall we?

[When they reach the Scramble Crossing, it's just as Joshua had said: by all appearances, it's a normal intersection for people to meet in that's surrounded by various mall stores and restaurants, with 104 looming overhead. There are people coming and going that seem to be entirely minding their own business or just chilling a ways by the statue of Hachiko several feet from them.

Except, there is a pair of seemingly normal-looking teenagers. However, while everyone else around them seems to pay them no mind, Mob may be able to immediately pick up on them having the aura of a spirit rather than a living person, as they talk to themselves in hushed whispers and appear to be looking at something on their hands with a worried look...

... Too distracted by whatever's on their hands, in fact, to notice something peculiar beginning to spawn behind them...]

[A frog-shaped spirit would be far from the most surreal thing he's seen. Even so, grabbing the thing with his psychic powers and floating it up, and towards him... it reminds him a little of floating frogs for Tsubomi's attention. The creature seems to not have expected to be so easily lifted up.

"Go ahead and melt it, Mob," Reigen encourages, and Mob nods.]

It's not that strong.

[It's not Mogami. Mob draws his fingers into a fist, and his powers tear the frog to pieces, dissipating it.]

That was one, right?

[He probably should have checked first.]

In a sense. That particular noise is rather common in Shibuya, however...

[Joshua pauses though, as those kids from before notice them now, and one elbows the other.

"Geez, pay attention--if it wasn't for that guy, we could have gotten erased by Noise just now!"

"Oh, relax, like we'd really fall that easily to those ones. Besides, who cares about that, you should be more worried about the timer--those creatures are not what we need to worry about--"

And then their partner gasps and points to something, and a look between the two causes them to suddenly take several steps back in fear, to which Joshua sort of casually looks over his shoulder here to see what it was they were looking at... ah.]

... That one coming toward us, on the other hand, is not.

[To which Mob will see what looks like a much larger frog Noise... except, it's colors are wildly distorted, shape exaggerating and pulling in random directions every few seconds, surrounded by what seems like two conflicting auras at once. One of them though should have a familiar feel to what a spirit in Mob's city may have, and it's fluctuating wildly as if fighting against being assimilated with this thing it's attached to...]

Edited 2018-02-17 02:35 (UTC)

[Shigeo doesn't respond fearfully, just quickly - he can grab them, too. He vaguely recognizes that the spirit is being mixed with the other one... consumed, right? It's not too much to just tear the two apart and hold them in the air. Neither of them are strong enough to struggle against Shigeo.]

Is it alright to exorcise that one? I don't know which local spirits should be allowed to stay...

["H-hey, kid, you saved me, so let me go!! C'mon kid, we can get along, can't we?" says the squirming purple blob. It's not much more human, but it's trying to win sympathy despite its creepy, toothy grin and three red eyes. "Whaddya say, let me have a little of your power so I can survive getting to the next city over? I'm not about to get eaten by these things!"]

Why'd you leave Salt City...?

["Oh, kid, you don't know? Mogami's back in town, he'll eat spirits and human souls alike!"]

By all means: most of the ones that don't appear in a human shape are typically threats to both the living and the rest of the dead, as they take that form when consumed by too much negative energy from both the UG and the RG.

[As for the spirit in question, however, Joshua frowns now upon hearing what they have to say.]

Really now, because I've been hearing all kinds of different things than that... then again, you must truly be desperate, if you would risk passing through Shibuya's city of Reapers to try to avoid him...

[Shigeo will effortlessly destroy it, then, which has the spirit from his city shrieking and begging for mercy.]

Even if Mogami is still alive, he probably isn't strong enough after our exorcism... you should go back.

["Not a chance, kid, no spirit's gonna risk getting eaten by that guy. You should've finished him the first time!!"]

I should have.

My, is that what you say to someone when trying to appeal for mercy? That's rather rude, all things considered.

[Except, Joshua isn't quite smiling anymore, and his hands are now starting to glow. The light is warm and bright, but also a warning sign because, depending on how long this spirit has been in existence, they may or may not recognize it as honest to goodness heaven's light that's threatening to strike down.]

Kageyama-kun doesn't have to do anything, yet he does because he's a good person. If I were you, I'd be considerate that he even tried to oppose a spirit like Keiji Mogami, let alone risk his life doing so.

["Whoa, whoa, hey, hey, let's not be too hasty, I didn't realize there was an agent of the gods around here!" the spirit says quickly. "Come on, kid, let me go, I won't eat anybody, promise..."

Shigeo's still for a bit, but he'll let the spirit go, and before it can get snagged again it hastily disappears into the city as fast as it can go.]

He reminds me of Dimple.

["You shouldn't go easy on spirits just because you think they might be telling the truth, Mob," Reigen scolded, but it was halfhearted, and he pat his student's shoulder. "Come on. We've got a lot more to handle, and we're burning daylight."]

A friend of yours, I presume?

[Joshua puts his hands back in his pockets now once the spirit leaves, and before they go, those teenagers from before actually approach them, enthusiastic in thanking Mob for his help. They didn't hear what was being said to it, but they're very grateful that you were able to drive that spirit away.

Then one of them says something about how they've got things to do, and when they wave goodbye, Mob might see what it was that they were so concerned about when looking at their hands earlier--clear as day, a timer like you'd see on a digital alarm clock that's been etched into their hand, counting down to... what, exactly? They don't say as they instead take off to wherever it is they need to go now.]

[Shigeo looks at that, glancing at his hand just in case, then at Joshua's. He's lost in thought for a moment, trying to parse what he was just looking at.]

...Yeah.

["He's green, shaped pretty similarly to that last one. Normally you can't get rid of the guy."]

[Joshua doesn't have a timer on his hands, and thankfully, neither does Shigeo. ~~Just maybe don't get hit by a car and die if you'd like to keep it that way while you're here.~~]

I see. Perhaps he's paid a visit here too, if he hasn't been seen in your city for a little while.

[But otherwise, Joshua will cheerfully guide them around the city to spots where the spirits of Mob's city have been most frequently spotted. Some are still in one piece, but one or two have also appeared to have made the mistake of coming in contact with Noise like the one from earlier, forming other bizarre animal like shapes and colors.

They all seem to have something to say about Mogami, though one of the more ballsier of them (kind of literally though like damn look at that chin) at one point remarks "Buddy, I came here because if a freak like that was knocked down a peg by a kid like you, I don't stand a chance. You're more dangerous than even he is--"]

[Shigeo had been a mix of either exorcising the spirits or letting them go when they begged - it all depended on whether they seemed malicious or not. This spirit was pretty reasonable, and normally Shigeo would have released it - but he destroys it, too. The spirit's right... he is dangerous.]

...I wouldn't have exorcised them as long as they don't hurt people.

[He says it in a small voice, looking at the ground. Reigen pats his shoulder again.]

I don't sense as many spirits, Joshua-san. Are there any more you're worried about?

[Joshua is quiet for a moment, eyes closed as if he's listening for something in the silence around them. It's something he's been doing a few times during this ghost hunt, before he then opens his eyes.]

The disturbance that was affecting the city's music seems to have died down some. [Whatever that means.] I think it would be safe to call it a day.

[There's a pause as he checks the time on his flip phone here before he turns his attention back to Shigeo and Reigen.]

Are you two in the mood to eat? I'd be happy to treat you to some of Shibuya's most famous ramen dishes if you'd like... ah, in addition to what I'm already going to be paying you for your services today, of course.

Oh... that sounds nice.

[Reigen tries not to look too interested, but he's into it.]

I'm sorry our job exorcising Mogami caused so much trouble, Joshua-san...

Oh no, you don't have to apologize for something like that. If anything, I'm happy that it's given me the opportunity to meet people like you and Reigen-san.

[And that's not entirely false, either: after the game with Kitaniji, Joshua has had to replace his entire staff with new Reapers that he has to trust won't try to overthrow the Composer. And he certainly hasn't spoken to Neku or the other players from that game since then either... it's mostly just Mr. H he accepts calls from, and even that's a landmine of issues going on there.

He's also not supposed to be getting too sociable with the living, but then again, Joshua has never cared for that particular standard.]

It's been nice meeting you, too...

[Well, they can quietly walk to the restaurant or stand and settle for ramen... once paid, Reigen's pretty reasonably settled down - even if he's casting a curious, wary glance Joshua's way the rest of the day. Shigeo looks a bit too emotionally drained to worry about any of that.]

I'm surprised people can see you, if you really are a spirit...

[Ah, he was expecting this question coming at some point. Joshua stirs his (rather salty even for shoyu) ramen with his chopsticks before he speaks.]

I suppose you could say that I'm a special case: I can use a great deal of energy to project myself from the UG to the RG so that the living can see me. Unfortunately, it comes at the cost of being weaker in this form, should I come in contact with other spirits.

That said, however... [He pauses as he then points to something behind Mob's head with his chopsticks] If you look there, you may see what looks like a symbol. Reigen-san will likely see a blank wall, but you on the other hand...

[Will see this, a decal that appears to been placed onto the wall by the door. It might be a bit fuzzy-looking to Mob though in comparison to the way Joshua sees it, but once the other boy's eye catches it, Joshua will explain.]

That symbol means that this is a building that spirits with benevolent auras can enter and mingle with the living, if they are able to appear human. So I don't need to expend as much energy for Reigen-san to be able to see me while we're in buildings like this one, at least.

[Reigen just slurps his ramen thoughtfully at that, though he is trying to slyly catch a glance at the symbol. He... can't see it, no.

Shigeo stares at it for a little bit, before looking down. It seems for a moment like he has no comment, but eventually he does actually speak up.]

I'm sorry you died. You seem like you're nice.

[There's... not much else one could say, really, is there?]

[That... actually catches Joshua off guard, chopsticks frozen momentarily from where they had been about to pick up more noodles to eat here.

And then he laughs softly.]

Thank you, though I'm certainly not as nice as you are. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that about me before.

[And not just the calling him "nice" part either--not one person has ever said that they were sorry that he died, save for maybe his parents, but he had avoided them like the plague since the very moment he had crossed over. Not even Hanekoma; it was treated with a "congrats on becoming practically the god of a city", rather than either of them really acknowledging the sad fact that a fifteen year old boy decided that being dead would give him greater purpose and meaning than living would.]

I don't know why. It's never good when people die...

[It's always painful, and since there's an afterlife, that means it can get lonely and... well, for some people, it means they don't even get to escape what they were running from.]

I'm glad that you have friends.

[ahahaHAHAHAHA THIS IS FINE--]

Indeed! It'd be rather boring otherwise, frankly.

Of course, I'd also like to be friends with you too, if you'd allow me the honor of being one. It's not often that I get to converse with another esper, after all.

Oh... really?

["Don't act so surprised by that, Mob," Reigen chastises through a mouthful of ramen.]

Ah, sorry... I'll do my best.

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tw: suicide implication

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