It's a terrible life

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Re: It's a terrible life

Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:43 pm

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

Right in that very moment, Hanako could have kissed Elyss, simply for the woman she was. No 'Are you okay' or 'Calm down, everything will be alright' or anything else to that effect. Elyss didn't say anything, didn't offer empty phrases, she reacted, came outside so Hanako could speak freely.

When they moved away from the...whatever it was called, Hanako realised that she must have looked awfully distraught. She took a few deep breaths to regain her composure, at least some of it, before she began her tale.

"It started with my first patrol mission, shortly after I joined the First Division. I set out with a partner, to Outer Rukongai. We had heard of some disappearances out there, so we went to investigate. In a forest near the place we were suddenly attacked. It surprised me and I couldn't get a good look...I was still a deep shade of green then.

Anyway, from that point onwards it became strange. My partner was suddenly gone. And when I chased the thing that had attacked me before, I followed it to a burning village. I saw multiple Hollows there, I even managed to defeat one. But suddenly he was back again, as well as dozens of others. Out of thin air. They...mhm..they began to tear me to pieces. At least I could have sworn it."

At this point she stopped for a moment. It was clear that the memory pained her. And it angered her.

"It was like all the training at the academy, all my private training...all useless. I was defenseless. And it hurt. It hurt like nothing I have ever felt. Only that nothing happened. After a few moments it just stopped. The Hollows were gone, the pain was gone, the wounds were gone. The strangest thing was that the fire was also gone. And the village.
Well, not really gone, but destroyed. And not recently. The village did burn down, but at least some years ago. It was deserted for a long time."

She stopped one more time, now calm again.

"I began to doubt my own sanity. In fact I have still doubts today. But there are...clues. one is this piece of paper I found in the middle of the former village square. It was the only thing new there. There are six names on it: Barghest, Teke, Gashadokura, Ningen, Draugr and Alp. And this."

She held it up so that Elyss could see the 華.

"The kanji for flower...Hana. Like a few people use as a nickname for me. But almost nobody knows that.
And then there's the intel I got from a Hollow I met on earth. He knew about the one called Teke, about a Torso that chops children in Soul Society in half. He knew about that without me telling him the story. And one of the Hollows I saw that day looked exactly like that, a torso that walked on it's hands."

She waved her hand to signal that her story was finally coming to an end.

"I know it is hard to believe. I am not really sure if I believe it myself. But...but if there are Hollows, living here in Soul Society, in hiding, this close to us...we have to find out. I have to find out. And I could use your help."

She looked at Elyss and felt somewhat exhausted. She rarely spoke so much in one go. And she feared what the other woman might say. Would she believe her? Or would she take her to a shrink right away?

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

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Re: It's a terrible life

Thu Dec 17, 2020 6:44 pm

ポストを開始

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Again, Elyss’ response is nothing but lackluster. However, that is all Hanako needs to hear to understand the redhead’s standing about the situation. Whether she understood or not about Hanako’s dilemma mattered little in her decision. The woman laid bare her heart, and it is Elyss’ desire to accept the words given to her in their totality. If this all ends up as nothing more than a wild goose chase, wouldn’t giving Hanako’s mind some peace make it all worthwhile? Well, it’s that simple for Elyss anyway. The details of it all are lost to her. She doesn’t really get it. An old destroyed village suddenly seems better with Hollows swarming everywhere, but suddenly, it all returns to an old destroyed village with no traces of Hollow activity whatsoever.

She’ll leave the technicalities to Hanako. If anything, she is just the support that provides what is asked when it is asked for. Her eyes would trail over to Hanako’s, catching sight of the woman’s blue gaze. There’s little on her face at first, but Elyss would flash a simple small smirk towards Hanako, but it only lasted a second before her face fell back to normalcy, her gaze forward once more.

“We’re heading to the village?”

エンドポスト~

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Re: It's a terrible life

Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:13 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

She's done it again and astounded Hanako to the point of speechlessness. No grand gestures, no questions, only a 'Okay. Let's go!'. What a wonderful woman! When their eyes met and Hana saw, just for a second, that smirk on Elyss's face, her heart jumped and a wave of gratitude eased her fears.
She returned the smirk before both women turned and started to walk, towards the Rukongai.

“Yes, we’re heading to the village.” Hanako confirmed Elyss’s assumption. And a few seconds later:
“Thank you.”

With those two words, everything was said that needed saying at that moment.

In silence they left the Seireitei and started making their way through the densely populated inner districts of the Rukongai. Here Shinigami were a pretty common sight and most of the populace ignored them. Without thinking about it Hanako moved through the crowded streets in a fast and secure way. It was as if she was raised in the Rukongai, knew how to navigate it by instinct. To Hanako it was completely unconscious. To her knowledge she had no connection to the Rukongai whatsoever. Her memories, her life, began in the hospital inside the Seireitei.

Before long the Inner Rukongai was behind the two and a more rural landscape opened up before them. In this part it was mainly hills with high grass and forests. Here and there a few houses and farms could be seen in the distance. This special sector they were in was less and less populated.

All in all it was a long walk, slowed by more and more pathless forests they had to cross. Finally, after some hours of walking, Hanako stopped. Wind rustled in the trees above their heads. Other than that it was dead silent.

“There.” Hanako said and pointed forward. In about one hundred meters a clearing could be seen. Without a word Hanako drew her sword before she went on.

On the clearing were several ruins of wooden huts. Burned, black, petrified wood, like tooth stumps, mostly overgrown with vegetation. It was clear that it had indeed been years since anyone had ever been here. Only in the middle of the village square, set between the biggest ruins in the center of the village, was some grass that had been trampled a relatively short while ago. Hanako crouched and inspected the footprints.

“That was me.” she said and stood up again. When she looked around the knuckles on her right hand went white because of her gripping the hilt of her sword so hard.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

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Re: It's a terrible life

Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:20 am

ポストを開始

Their walk is a quiet one. Neither are the best at striking up a conversation and neither seemed to feel inclined to do so. There’s a strange weight in the air. Despite them walking through the crowded streets of The Rukongai, it felt as if only they existed in a small bubble. That’s the power of secrets. No one around them knows and will never know the situation that has their feet moving further and further away from society. Though, Hanako showed an expertise of these winding streets that Elyss did not expect to witness from the large woman. Her curiosity piqued, the redhead would store her invasive thoughts for another time. They’ve finally left The Rukongai, and that means that she must direct her focus onto their mission.

She’s been this far from The Rukongai before. In fact, she had grown fond of a particular grassy hill that isn’t too far from here actually. This isn’t the time to stroll down memory lane however. The grassy hills are quick to transform into a thick forest which made their walk more hazardous, but it was nothing too complicated for either of them to traverse. If there was anything to complain about, it would be the distance and time it took to get this far. But, it would have been strange for something that is apparently warping one’s perception of reality to have been near The Gotei.

Eventually, thankfully, they would stop. Hanako would unsheathe her Zanpakuto, but Elyss’ attention is on the charred remains before her. So, the village does exist. She didn’t doubt that, but she does wonder about how Hanako had thought it built her first time here. Obviously, there was foul play about. All her stoney eyes could pick out from all around was an old burned down village that no one bothered to clean up. The wild will soon take it in its entirety if nothing intervenes. Maybe that is for the best. However, they are not here to simply sight see. Stopping within the center, Elyss would turn her gaze to Hanako’s foot prints, telling her that Hanako had visited before asking for her assistance in the matter.

The woman is clearly letting her emotions get the best of her, even if she is trying her best to keep them concealed. Well, this feels all too familiar. Elyss would sigh though and near Hanako’s side, reaching with her left to place her hand on the other’s shoulder. She’d gaze up at Hanako, her eyes narrowed and hardened as if reprimanding a child. As with everything, that gaze persists for only a few moments before Elyss turned her eyes out towards the remains of the village again, her eyes searching for anything too out of the ordinary.

“Calm down, Hanako. Focus on the task at hand. Do you know what we’re looking for here? You had mentioned something about a group of Hollows, one of them having the shape of a torso.”

エンドポスト~

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Re: It's a terrible life

Sat Dec 19, 2020 5:57 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

For a second Hana closed her eyes, took one more deep breath and then looked at Elyss.

“You’re right, sorry.” she said.

She took one more glance around before she slowly resheathed her weapon. It was stupid, she should have been able to feel before, that there was nothing here right now. But the desire to cut down these beasts was almost overwhelming. She needed to focus.

“We...we are looking for anything out of the ordinary. I don’t know. But this was where I met them and where I found the piece of paper, so it seems logical to begin here.”

She started turning slowly, scanning every millimeter of the ruins with her eyes. There had to be something here. Hollows were just souls like she and Elyss. They were no gods, they had to leave traces.

“Mhm, yeah, a torso. It was walking on it’s hands, had grey skin and scythe-like blades on it’s arms. The Hollow I met on earth recognised that one as Teke. It seemed to be somewhat of a legend to some Hollows, that this Teke and others live in Soul Society.”

Suddenly Hanako stimbled and had to hold on to Elyss’s shoulder for a second.

“Sorry, must have tripped.” she mumbled and then yawned.

“But this Teke wasn’ ‘lone. There was one dog-like Hollow with’im. Big, black, mask lika dog’s skull, pretty quick.”

She yawned again. Why was she so tired all of a sudden? She had slept enough, if not well, and the adrenaline flowing through her veins should keep her alert. She began to feel a bit dizzy as well.

“An’ there wassa third one...coun’t see’im...shrou’ed….oh”

She sighed. There was something very wrong her. She looked at Elyss. Was she affected as well? Damn, she couldn’t see her clearly anymore, her vision was blurred.

“Elyss…”

She sank to her knees. The need to sleep rolled over her like an avalanche, buried her, carried her thoughts away.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

8 a.m., time to start the day. Ameko Sato drew one last time on her cigarette before she threw it in the ashtray next to the door and went in.

“‘Morning Detective.”

“Detective Sato, good morning.”

“Hey, Sato, lookin’ good.”

“G’mornin’, you got that report from last week somewhere. Need to look something up.”

“Hey Sato, ever been mistaken for a man?”

Voices flew in her direction, surrounded her and stayed with her as she walked down the corridor in her small police station. She smiled, waved towards a few people, answered.

“Morning, Sergeant.”

“Good Morning, Captain.”

“Shut up, Yamazaki.”

“Where it should be, filed in the basement. Have fun searching.”

“No, have you, Ito?”

Finally she reached her office. It was small, cramped, with barely enough room for her desk, some chairs and shelves. The latter were all overflowing with folders, boxes, trinkets and stuff that could not be defined on first sight. It wasn’t pretty, but it was hers and it had a door she could close, if she so desired. And she desired it so.
She closed the door and collapsed in her chair behind the desk. She was tired. Her blue blouse was crumpled and the button that held it together over her breasts was only hanging on by a thread, literally. Her black blazer was in no better shape than her blouse and the black leather shoes were dusty and her dark-red hair only roughly combed and tied into a pony tail. Only her jeans didn’t show any sign of the long night yesterday. A missing persons case that turned out to be a wild goose chase when the “missing” boy turned up at his parent’s house again, explaining he had been at a friend’s, playing video games. Apparently the friend’s parents hadn’t payed their electricity bill and weren’t home. So they couldn’t be reached. The boys had been playing in the basement and didn’t even realise when the police had knocked on the door of a dark and seemingly empty house. Thanks to that she had been crawling through the forests for the better part of the night, slept for a few hours and was now back at work again. Detective Ameko Sato...it had sounded so good when she was promoted and looked so good on her door. If she had known how much overtime the job as detective in a small-town police station would bring with it, she’d have declined.

Ameko Sato was a big woman, well trained and perfectly capable of besting her male colleagues, be it on the shooting range or in the dojo. She had earned a lot of respect with that, but her humor, work ethics and the fact that her family had been in police service three generations back, worked for her as well.

The door opened and the Sergeant popped his head in.

“Please tell me you’ve come to bring me a coffee.” Sato said.

“I have.” he said, entered the room fully and placed a steaming cup on her table. She looked at it. The coffee was a deep black and she knew from experience that it was only just still a ‘liquid’, could dissolve metal and raise the dead. Exactly what she needed.

“...and I have work.” the Sergeant said and placed a folder right next to the cup. “Just came in.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry.” It sounded honest and he smiled apologetically when he left and closed the door behind him.

She really had hoped that it would be a slow day...

Reluctantly she opened the folder. Murder case...wonderful. She closed the folder again. It could wait until after her cup of coffee. The dead wouldn walk away.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

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Re: It's a terrible life

Sat Dec 19, 2020 10:16 am

ポストを開始

“Yo. He’s not moving anymore! Stop the fight! Stop the fight, dammit! Help, she’s killing him!”

“Ely!”

There’s a loud smack. With a startled yelp, a redheaded woman would jump up from her table, knocking her chair onto the floor as the back of her neck screeched in searing pain. Her hands would immediately move to the pain, covering it in hopes that that’d soothe the hot feeling that comes with someone wrapping their hand around your neck aggressively. She felt the tears coming, but they never fell. If anything, it just filled her with building anger; her stoney gaze focusing on her assaulter: a tall gentleman with black hair and cold blue eyes.

“What the fuck, man?!”

She’d call out angrily before she’d hear “Shhhhh” all around her. Oh yeah, they’re in a library for the college they’re attending. Huh? She doesn’t remember being in here. Though, the wet trail down her cheek quickly fills her in on why her memory is probably a bit shot. Damnit. The guy before her would only shake his head and start to walk off as he waves back at her. “I’m heading home. Just wanted to wake you up, Ely so you’re not here until closing time. Catch you in class tomorrow.”

Damn that prick, always showing off his superiority just because he has slightly better classes. Elyss doesn’t pay him any mind and starts to clean up the little mess she made. Ah, shit! Her shoulder would do a quick spasm before she noticed the light amount of bandages around her hands, mainly her knuckles. Oh yeah. Her mind is quick to remember last night in that alleyway where, once again, she was involved in another fist fight. She should really quit that fighting club. It’s illegal and her friend always tells her that she’ll end up getting seriously hurt. That’s probably why she had passed out during their study time and almost in class.

“...”

What a strange dream however. One second, she was walking through some burnt down town, and the next, she’s fighting in an alleyway before being rudely awoken. It all felt so real too. Well, of course the fighting part felt real. She does it in real life. She’s going to regret having to go to kickboxing practice today. Well, anyway, time to go face the music. Gathering her things, she’d head on out after being forced to apologize for the ruckus and is soon walking down the streets towards her house to get changed since she lives near the studio. While walking, she’d check her phone and notice the headline on the news section. Huh? A murder, on her street. She knows her parents are going to end up calling her to check on her. Luckily, she doesn’t live with them so they can’t force her to not go out at night, but…

With a sigh, she just kept on walking, her mind stuck in an infinite loop between thinking about what happened on her street, practice, school and her weird dream.

エンドポスト~

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Re: It's a terrible life

Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:27 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

When Sato got out of the car she looked up and down the street. It was quiet, which was good. She couldn't use any bystanders. No one could.
As she walked up to the closed off area of the street one of the technicians greeted her.

"Sato, nice to see you. The circles around your eyes are darker than my coffee was this morning."

He laughed and waved, completely ignoring how ridiculous he looked in his blue paper onesie. Sato didn't stop walking. She thought to just flip him off for a second, but then had a better idea.

"Oh Nakamura, please, stop the flattering. I can get only so wet."

The technician pulled a disgusted grimace.

"Why do you always have to be so vulgar, Sato?"

She grinned and said over her shoulder:
"Because then you stop talking to me."

She ducked under the yellow police line and looked at the scene. She let out a sigh, produced a cigarette pack from which she fumbled one of the sticks. She lighted it and drew one slow, long breath. She took the time to exhale, not without a certain satisfaction as the nicotine entered her bloodstream.

"Nakamura!"

She heard steps behind her.

"Yes, detective?"

No jokes this time. Something in the tone of her voice had told the technician that he better kept his tongue in check.

"The prelim said there were two victims. What is this?"

She gestured towards the three white plastic sheets, that were draped over ...things in the street.

"Well...ah, there are, detective."

She looked at him. His facial expression was dead serious.

"You're joking."

"Wish I was. But you better see for yourself."

With a cold feeling in her stomach pit, Sato stepped closer. She could see shapes that were clearly feet under one plastic sheet. She crouched next to the one right next to it and lifted the cover. She pulled a grimace and was suddenly glad that she hadn't eaten anything yet . Poor soul. It was a young man, early twenties at best, probably younger. No, definitely younger. His face was distorted, frozen in a mask of pure terror. Whatever he had seen in his last moments must have scared him almost to death. Almost. Because the cause of death was easy to determine. The boy ended at the height of his navel, and his legs were lying there, two feet away.

"Cleanly sliced into two."

It was Nakamura, standing a few feet away from her. His face was still serious. He might be a moron as a person, but he was a good technician. When he thought it important to mention something so obvious, it must be important.

"What do you mean?" Sato asked. The cigarette between her lips was already finished, so she took it out and flicked it away.

"Look at the wound, especially the edges."

"Just tell me what it is. I don't know what to look for."

He nodded.

"The wound is extremely clean. It almost looks like a tuna steak, sliced by a master chef. What I want to say is: it doesn't look like he was sawed in half or maybe chopped up with an axe. It looks like a single, clean cut with a horribly sharp bladed weapon. Of course we'll know more after a proper autopsy, but...I've never seen anything like this before. Neither has anyone of the other guys."

Sato grunted. Was there some vigilante running around, slicing people in half with a sword? She heard of such cases over in america, but not here. Especially not in a small town like this. She stood up slowly and began fishing in her pocket for the pack of cigarettes.

"What's with the second one? Is he too..."

"She, and no. This one looks like she's been attacked by some wild animal. The whole body…"

The technician broke off when he realised that detective Sato wasn't listening to him anymore. He frowned, bit didn't say anything.
Sato was looking down the street, a new cigarette between her lips, her hands with the lighter stopped halfway up. There was a girl coming up the street. The only civilian she'd seen here since she arrived. The red hair had caught her eye at once. She was still too far away to see her face, but something familiar was about her. Strange, Sato was sure she didn't know any redheads.

She finally lighted the new cigarette and continued to look in the red-headed girl's direction. Could she be a resident?

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]