Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Propping her chin up with one hand, HMS Shannon looked out the window of the bus she was on with the other sailshipgirls summoned when Halifax was. Outside, she could see the city of Saint John, New Brunswick as it went by. Turning her head at the sound of mutters though, she smiled slightly. Just two seats ahead, and across the aisle, Sir John was frowning as she looked over some paper on a portable desk that was in her lap. A glance to the side showed Crown reading a book slowly, her lips moving along with the words silently. Something that Shannon found rather cute. Not that she would say as much.

After all, Crown might punch her for such a thing for all that it would do.

Instead, Shannon hummed some as she looked at said book in interest. "How goes your reading, Crown? The book is interesting enough, I would hope?"

Glancing up at her, Crown nodded some. "My reading is going fine, Shannon. As to the book? It is fairly interesting enough." With a smile, she closed it enough for the Shipgirl next to her to be able to read the cover. "It is called 'The Hachet'."

Eyebrow raised, the RN sailshipgirl frowned some as she took on the picture on the cover. "The Hatchet, you say?"

There was a smile on Crown's face as she opened it again. "It's an adventure story of a young lad not much older then some of my crew. He's stranded in the northern woods and has to survive on his own. In fact, one of his only tools is a hatchet, as in the title." Head tilted to the side, she gave a small nod. "One of the Sea Cadets recommended it to me and gave it to me after stating that perhaps I might like it."

Shannon gave a small nod as she hummed. "It certainly does sound interesting. Like the tales that some of my own crew have read. Or that some of my Officers read to their children." Thoughtful, she looked back at the book. "And it seems to have caught your attention."

If anything, the smaller shipgirl's smile grew at that. "That is has, Shannon." She then tilted her head some and furrowed her eyebrows. "Though I am still amazed at how well I can read now. Most of my crew could barely read the Bible!"

Both of them heard the sound of someone moving in the seat before a head popped up showing one of the male Sea Cadets there. "I'm not, Miss Crown. That's sort of normal for shipgirls after all."

Now interested, Shannon hummed. "Oh? Any idea why that would be?"

With a blink, the teen flushed a bit. "Well... they call it 'Shipgirl Associated Spiritual Skill Dissemination'. From what I read, shipgirls have the skills of their crew as part of their self or something, combined."

Lost, Crown frowned and pointed at herself. "Shipgirls have... their crews' skills?"

Nodding, he continued. "Yeah, for example... if those who served on a ship who became a shipgirl knew how to fight? So does the shipgirl. But they need to practice those skills." Shrugging, the teen shook his head. "That's what I heard anyways. So you being able to read well just fits. I mean, you went from barely able to read to being able to read pretty well since you were summoned, right?"

Finger on her chin, the small Privateer thought it over before blinking. "Huh, so I have. I went from those children's' books to... this."

At that, Shannon leaned forward. "This existence of ours, it would seem, still has surprises for us." Then she gave a smile to the teen who blushed. "Thank you, Jeffery."

Rubbing the back of his neck, the now named boy nodded with a slight chuckle. "You're welcome, Miss Shannon." Jeffery then turned to Crown and smiled some before pointing at the book in question. "Um, anyways, they're coming out with a movie based on The Hatchet."

Surprised, the Privateer perked up some. "Really? Well, I shall need to go see it when it comes out. Any idea if it will be any good?"

With a shrug, Jeffery shook his head. "Don't know to be honest, it didn't have a huge budget since not much was needed for it. But from what I heard it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival and got good reviews. Personally, I can't wait for it to come out and, if its any good and does well, see if they'll make sequels based on the other books."

Her eyes widening, Crown gave a smile as she looked at the book. "There are others?" At his nod, her smile grew. "Then I shall have to find them and read them."

One finger raised, the teen shook his head. "Do Brian's Winter first, followed by The River. Brian's Return was okay, but..." Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it finished the series in a way that was satisfactory, but sort of left you wanting more, you know?"

As the two continued to chat, Shannon shook her head as she looked out the window. That was until, a couple of minutes later they were within sight of harbour when one of the Sea Cadets pointed out the window. "Hey! Is that the HMCS Kingsmill out there?"

Rolla got up in her seat and turned her gaze out onto the water where a Submarine was making it's way along. "One of those odd ships that go underwater, correct Alanna?"

Said teenaged girl nodded some. "Yeah, Miss Rolla. My Dad is actually serving on her and I can't believe that I'm actually getting to see her! So awesome!"

The various Privateers chuckled before Liverpool smiled at the slightly embarrassed girl. "Then he must have nerves of steel to do so. Though I am not familiar with the Submarine in question..." Frowning, she looked around. "Have any of you seen her before?"

Now it was time for the others to frown in thought before they shook their heads, with Alanna grinned. "Well, that's because she's going to get commissioned soon into the Navy. She's a German Type 216 that they built for us with some modifications." Turning, she looked at the RCN Lieutenant at the front with her grin widening. "Do you think that they might let us onboard or get a closer look?"

In reply, the Lieutenant only chuckled and shook his head. "We will just have to see if they do or not. But we're here for the launching of the newest warship for the RCN tomorrow." With a nod towards a blinking Shannon, he smiled a bit. "With Miss Shannon being a guest of honour."

For several moments, the Sailshipgirl blinked in befuddlement before furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at the other shipgirls. "I am to be the guest of honour for a launching? That is..."

Eyebrow raised, Crown looked at her with a snort. "Come now, Shannon. While it could be funny..." Trailing off, her eyes widened with glee. "Do not tell me that you forgot why we are here!?"

At the looks being given her, Shannon winced a bit and sunk down in her chair. "I... that is I have not quite forgotten as much as..." Sinking a bit more, she grinned sheepishly. "Perhaps I have not paid as much attention as I should have?"

Bream only pinched her nose and sighed while shaking her head. "Shannon, my good friend..."

Weakly chuckling, the other shipgirl scratched her cheek. "Well, I have been quite busy this last month or so. Between learning more about this world and how to be both ship as well as girl? I have not had much time to listen to the news as I should, I suppose. For the past two weeks I have been sailing in Mahone Bay, and Bras d'Or Lake before that getting my sea legs back as it were! One cannot help but miss things in such a situation, I would think."

Having pushed up into her seat, Rover shot a wink at the others. "Well then, far be it for us to spoil such a fortuitous surprise that has been revealed!"

The other Privateers raised their hands at that, with grins. "Here, here!"

It was now Shannon's turn to sigh as she shook her head. standing up some, she looked over the rows of seats to where the gate to the Saint John Shipyard now stood. "I suppose then that we are about to enter the dockyard? Though it has been some time since I was in the area!"

Leaning against the pole he was using, the Lieutenant nodded some with a smile. "Correct, and if things had gone different then you might not have been able to see the dockyards." At the looks, he shook his head. "Irving bought the shipyards and back in the 2000s were going to close it down. However, the government stepped in and forced them to keep it open due to all the work being done on the Navy and the missing ships. And when the Abyssals revealed themselves... it was a good thing as it gave us a shipyard capable of handling any vessel in the RCN."

Soon enough, they came to a stop and all of them exited the bus to find themselves close to a ship of the sorts that none could have imagined when they were still ships. It was massive, taking up an entire slipway and, as her eyes trailed down the hull lines, Sir John let out a low whistle and took her hat off. Holding it to her chest, she looked at the other Privateers and RN Sailshipgirls. "Well then, my friends, is that not impressive?"

HMS Halifax nodded at that with a slight smile on her face. "It is indeed, Sir John. Quite an impressive ship, I must say." Turning, she gave the Lieutenant, who was smiling, a grin. "One of those Aircraft Carriers, correct?"

With a nod, the RCN Officer chuckled. "Correct, the first non-Light Carrier that the Royal Canadian Navy will operate since Bonnie was a steel hull. More then that, she's also the first large Aircraft Carrier built here in Canada entirely."

A smile on his face as he took a picture, one of the Cadets looked over at him. "Its based on an American design, right?"

His smile widening, the Officer gave a slight bob of the head. "That's right, she's based on the original BAE plans for a conventionally powered Carrier which lost out to what became the Queen Elizabeth class the British are now building. When ships started to disappear, the RCN looked into getting a Light Carrier, which is how we have the Prince class based on the America class. But when Blood Week happened, the higher ups came to believe that we needed a bigger Carrier so we took those plans and updated them with new technology. And now, six years later, we have..." He glanced at one shipgirl in particular before continuing. "The HMCS Shannon, first of four Shannon class Carriers."

Needless to say, Shannon's head whipped around so fast that more then one sailshipgirl winced from the creaking of timbers that came from her. Jaw working, nothing came from her mouth for almost a minute before she spoke in a small voice. One tinged with many emotions as tears came to her eyes. "She... she is named after me?"

Walking over, the Lieutenant nodded as he rested his hand on her shoulder. "Yes, she is named after you, Shannon. In a way, it was our way of honouring you..."

One of the Cadets then shouted out a bit. "Not to mention, launching her two hundred years after the War of 1812 and naming her after you is sure to tweak the Americans' collective nose!"

Just chuckling, Shannon wiped her eyes a bit before sighing. "Thank you." Looking at the ship, she chewed her lip some. "Would it be possible do you think, to board her?"

Eyebrow raising, the Lieutenant only nodded some. "Of course, that is one of the things that was to be offered to you." With another nod, he motioned to her. "Please, follow me."

Several hours later, after the tour was completed, Shannon was standing at a doorway looking out onto the Aircraft Carrier's flight deck. Walking out, she came to a stop and closed her eyes before breathing deeply. At the door, the others watched as she stood there and her lips moved. What she said though, and to whom, none of them could tell. Then, the sailship opened her eyes with a teary look in them and nodded as she looked down the flight deck where, soon, planes would be thundering down.

After a few more minutes of silently standing there, she turned and made her way back to where the others were. Upon reaching the door though, she cleared her throat and looked at the Captain of the Carrier. "Sir, if you would please step forward?"

Doing so, the Captain saluted her. "Yes, Ma'am?" Then he relaxed at ease with a slight smile. "I hope that our ship meets your standards?"

Lightly laughing, Shannon only shook her head. "As if there was any doubt. But no, there is something that I wish for you to have and place somewhere safe." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a silver coin and dropped it into the Captain's hand, with him looking at it curiously. However, his head snapped up at her words as Shannon closed his hand around it. "That coin there once sat at the bottom of my main mast for good luck. And now, I shall pass it to my namesake and hope that it brings as much luck to her as it has to me."

Unable to do anything, the Captain swallowed and saluted her, with Shannon returning it. When they returned to the bus, she looked over her shoulder at the Carrier and saluted, a transparent young woman on the flight deck saluting back with a smile. Then, Shannon turned to the bus for a trip to the hotel they were staying at.

She wanted to get as good a sleep as possible for the next day after all.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

So, funny story. When I posted the last snippet in this series, I cut off the intended final line by accident. Thus, I decided it would be expedient to make that line the first sentence in the first paragraph you know, here you go.
Contact

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Finally, Benio broke the silence. "Yeah, I can't lie," she said, "that was awesome." The nodachi-wielding stumbled, and Tatsuya looked at her in silent commiseration. Yet another dramatic moment had been sacrificed to Benio's twisted sense of humor.

The girl paused, before striding forward in righteous anger. "If you didn't hear me the first time," she growled, "I said—" Before she could continue, Tatsuya pointed at Todoh, lying under the blade of the looming Honjo Masamune, with an angry sweep of his arm.

"Todoh's over there, don't know about the other guy, stop shouting," he rattled off.

The other girl looked slightly crestfallen, and from the hall, there came the sound of laughter. She stepped forward, and—

"Mine," Honjo snapped out, sparing her a fiery glance. Nodachi girl froze in mid step, then took a step back, stumbling slightly and raising a hand in surrender.

Another girl stepped through the door. Tonbo, glancing back, paled and began to try to punch the window open. The new girl looked around the room at every one present. "Well," she said with grim humor, shuffling between Miyuki and Benio, "quite the little party you've got here. Is that the guy, Honjo?"

"He escaped. Portkey," the Masamune replied in terse voice. "I'm finding out if he knows where."

The girl's lip twitched downward. "Wonderful," she spat, before walking to stand over Todoh beside her. "So, think we could borrow this guy?" She pouted, widened her eyes, and gave the Masamune a pleading look. "Pretty please? We—"

"He's mine, Akutoku," Honjo growled. The girl's eyes widened and she leaned back.

"O-okay, look," she managed. "We've got Kago with us. Leave him in a room with her five minutes, we'll find out everything he knows. Quicker, easier—"

"Tonbo, stop breaking the window!" Tatsuya shouted. The Muramasa gave him a distressed look, but subsided.

"—and we don't have to spend a month cleaning the bits and pieces out of the floor." Honjo frowned, considering this.

"I get him back when you're done," she said, turning away and sheathing herself. Akutoku nodded like a dashboard bobble-head, then breathed an audible sigh of relief.

"Shit," she whispered to herself, turning aside, "There goes the Pissed-O-Meter…"

"Akutoku," the first girl called, kneeling beside the girl that Honjo had carried in. Akutoku turned to look, and Tatsuya noticed that she was clutching a sword that was wrapped in the blanket with her—going by how he had two swords working with him this time around, maybe she was one too? The girl blinked owlishly at her observers.

"Oh my…" Whatever oath Akutoku was about to utter died on her tongue. "She's—"

Positioned as she was, Tatsuya couldn't see her face. What he could see was how her shoulders went slack with shock and horror, and how her hands shook before one wrapped around the hilt of the katana at her waist with an iron grip. Looking up, Akutoku faced her compatriot. "Find. Kago."

Her friend turned to face her, almost protesting at first, but after a moment's hesitation nodded firmly and stood, turning to leave. Standing herself, Akutoku faced Honjo. "When we're done," she ground out, "he's all yours." Honjo grunted, presumably affirmative.

Akutoku heaved a sigh, turning to face Tatsuya. "So, who are you guys anyways?" Tatsuya stared back at her for a moment, before Benio walked over and shoved a sword into his arms.

"I'm Benio, he's Tatsuya, she's Miyuki," she sounded off, pointing at each in turn, "and Tonbo is over there hiding behind the desk." A stifled shriek and a low thump came from the desk, and Akutoku's head snapped around, grabbing ahold of some thought that she'd just let go off.
-----

Tonbo clutched her head, curling up as small as she could and praying that Akutoku didn't come her way. Damn it, what was Benio thinking outing her like that?

Okay, so maybe she'd never actually discussed any of her family with them, but that was personal reasons! She couldn't call them her family again, not after she'd laid Chisuheri open like that! She didn't deserve to call them family don't come any closer! I left like I had to! You can't, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong!

Footsteps circled around, and Tonbo screwed her eyes shut and grit her teeth. One second ticked by, two, and she opened them and looked at the feet there in front of her. Looking upward, up the body, to the familiar unreadable face, and Tonbo flinched back again.

Akutoku dropped down to her knees, a frown on her face. Tonbo bit back a whimper, and looked up to meet her gaze again.

"You scared the shit out of us running off like that," Akutoku said abruptly, "so don't ever do that again! Understand?" Her expression fell apart, giving way to something more worried, more frustrated. "I mean it! With what happened after the war, we didn't know if you were dead or worse! And I mean worse! Seriously, just call sometimes!" Her tirade spent, she looked at her sister sadly. "We thought we'd lost you," she says, almost staring at Tonbo.

What?

Tonbo could feel the lump forming in her throat, and her vision was growing blurry. Akutoku's face began to disappear into a colorful blob. She wasn't entirely certain what happened next, whether she fell over funny, or threw herself forward, but the next moment Tonbo's face was buried in Akutoku's lap, her arms around her waist, crying "I'm sorry" over and over again.

A hand gently landed on her head. "Hey now, it's okay," Akutoku said, and Tonbo could hear something gentle in her voice that, if she were calmer, she would have admitted she'd have never expected from her. Akutoku's hand slipped down to her back, where she began to rub circles. "This family, God damn," she groaned, an amused lilt beginning to leak into her voice, "always with the melodrama."

Tonbo just kept crying.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Hands on the plane's shaking control wheel, the pilot of the US-2 glanced over at the displays and nodded. "A bit of rough weather it would seem."

With a hum, his co-pilot looked at the same displays and shrugged as the plane shook some. "It's only a little bit of turbulence, nothing to get worked over. We're about an hour out from our destination."

In the back, one of the plane's crew looked over at the two and then at his display before turning back to them. "Aren't you the least worried about that thunderstorm right behind us?"

Glancing at each other, the pilot and co-pilot shrugged. "Nothing that we have not done before, kid. Just relax and enjoy the ride."

Eyebrow twitching, the youngest member of the crew just stared at them. "You have had a thunderstorm practically chasing you at almost two hundred and sixty knots at twenty thousand feet... One that is practically climbing up our asses."

Once more, the pilot shared a look with his co-pilot. "We've seen some shit in our day. And ever since shipgirls and Abyssals came onto the scene? It takes a lot to surprise us. This? Its oddly normal for a nice change."

Completely unflappable, the co-pilot glanced at the map and made some corrections. "Yeah, you get used to shit after a while to be honest and learn not to be too bothered by the whole thing. Besides which? It's Small Lady in the back that's causing it, probably worried sick about that daughter we were told about."

The plane bounced around a bit as the pilot gave a small laugh. "Small Lady? Are we making Sailor Moon references now?"

All the Co-pilot did though was shrug. "Yes, and? She's a small girl, and is seemingly always going to be so. So... Small Lady." He then jerked his thumb towards the back of the plane. "Besides, she's showing concern for her daughter. That makes her a good mother in my book."

Shaking his head in complete befuddlement, the younger member turned to one of the other crewmembers who held up his hands and shook his head. As if to say 'What can you really do?' Rather then comment on that though, the younger one cleared his throat. "So, how are we going to land now?"

With a small hum, the pilot glanced at the map and nodded. "There seems to be a shingle beach on the southwestern portion of the island. We're going to land there and have the shipgirls offload us just off shore from it. Small Lady is just going to jump out and head to the island directly."

Just snickering, the only female in the crew shot another a smirk. "Guess that you're not going to be able to woo any of them today then."

Said man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Their loss, I suppose. They won't know what they're missing..."

Meanwhile, the youngest there only shook his head and turned back to his station. 'Please tell me that I am not going to become like them, Kami. Please tell me that I'm not...'

Not long after landing, the thunderstorm continued to brew overhead while, on shore, Tenryuu held a hand to her brow and gave a low whistle as she looked at the broiling clouds. "Well, it seems that Hoppou-Chan is certainly agitated."

Arms crossed, Verniy only nodded as she looked up at the darkened sky as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. "Da." Then she stepped out onto the water as well as rest of DesDiv6. Even before they reached the plane, the door was flung wide open and Hoppou came flying, quite literally due to how high she was in the air, from inside. When she landed, the white haired Destroyer pointed. "There is a pathway there, Hoppou-Chan. Just follow it and it will take you to a castle."

With a nod, Hoppou blurred, stopping only to hug each of them before taking off with a wave. "Hoppou thanks you! Now Hoppou goes to see to Renita!"

The six shipgirls only nodded and turned to their task of getting cargo off the plane to hand off to Abyssals waiting onshore while Hoppou reached the shoreline and ran up it. Trees, brush, and the ruins of the place all flashed by as she ran, faster then one would expect given her small legs.

But the Abyssal knew that she was racing against the clock.

Reaching the castle, Hoppou came to a stop and looked up at Ruadri who was waiting there. "Mother!"

All Hoppou did was look around and blink. "Where is Renita? Hoppou needs to get there right now!"

Not replying right away, Ruadri grabbed her and began to run with the small Abyssal under one arm. "She is in Regalia's bedroom right now, Mother. And... she is in worse condition then we thought. I..." Sniffling, she shook her head. "We thought that we were going to lose her before you got here."

Hoppou reached up and patted her arm with one mitten clad hand. "Then it is a good thing that Hoppou is here right now." As they turned a corner and the Ru-Class slowed down though, the Installation blinked at what looked like a dead Abyssal Destroyer there, with one side burst open. Eyes widening, she looked up at Ruadri. "Is that Puppy who was with Renita?! What happened to her?!"

Setting her mother down, the Battleship smiled slightly though it was strained some. "Well, her name is Fluffy and... that's her old body, I guess?" At the look from Hoppou, she flushed some. "Regalia saw her burst out as a Princess. I think it's like what happened with Blackie Smokie though she sort of looks like a small Re-Class, I think."

That bit of information made Hoppou blink and she filed away some questions for later as to what could have caused such a transformation. As they passed the old husk though, with Ruadri telling her what the newly born Princess had done for her daughter, she placed a hand on the carapace and had several images go through her mind and she hummed. Despite the questioning look from her daughter in all but blood though, Hoppou only walked into the room and froze at the sight of the badly injured Renita on the bed.

It was... bad.

Really, really bad. To the point where Hoppou wondered how she even managed to survive as long as she had. But at the same time, her heart ached at the sight of her daughter in such a condition even as tears sprang to her eyes. "Renita..."

A voice spoke up then and attracted her attention. "Who... who are you? And how do you know Flagship?" When Hoppou turned to where Fluffy sat at Renita's bedside, the other Princess flinched and had to swallow down her fear even as she realized that she was in front of an Installation type, one of the most powerful form of Abyssals there were. 'I...' Then she paled some as Hoppou walked close, though she jumped some as said Installation hugged her. "Eep!"

Meanwhile, Hoppou sniffled a bit. "Hoppou... Hoppou thanks you for taking good care of her Renita. You are a good Abyssal."

If Fluffy had been unsure before, hearing that name made her freeze up. No one had told her that Flagship's fleet was headed by her! Every Abyssal in the North Pacific knew of the Northern Ocean Princess and how powerful she was. The fact that she had survived the attack they heard rumours of made the Destroyer even more frightened of making any hostile moves. "Y-you're welcome? T-t-though Flagship was good, so... I did what I thought I should."

Hoppou stared into her eyes for a few moments, seemingly searching for something. Then the small Abyssal smiled and patted her on the head. "That makes Hoppou happier that Renita had you." While she was confused, Fluffy just nodded at that and Hoppou pulled away. Slowly, she walked up to the bed and took Renita's hand in hers, gently stroking it as she looked down at the cracked and slightly bleeding skin. When she spoke though, it was in a different tone then usual.

It was in the tone of the Northern Ocean Princess, not Hoppou.

Tear slowly making its way down her cheek, Hoppou closed her eyes. "I am so sorry, Renita. So, so sorry... I failed you, and failed you badly" Sniffling, she wiped away the tear with her free hand. Unnoticed by her, the Re-Class' eye cracked open some. "For all that I am good at repairing and engineering... For all that I am good at being a mother... I failed you. You were hurting so much and I never noticed, I was blind to." Leaning forward until her forehead touched the cool hand, Hoppou let out a sob. "And when you needed me most, I was not there. I was not there to comfort you, to do my best to heal your hurts... Please... please forgive this failure, Renita..."

Suddenly, Renita's hand weakly grasped the one that was holding it and Hoppou's head snapped up as the Re-Class spoke up. "M-mommy...? Why... why are you crying, Mommy?"

Mouth moving, the Northern Ocean Princess stared at her before slowly bringing her free hand up to cup Renita's cheek. "Renita..." A sniffle escaped from the Re-class as she tried to move, but was too weak to do so. Hoppou just shook her head. "Don't strain yourself, Renita."

Over her cheeks, tears made tracks as Renita softly sobbed. "M-mommy? Is that really you?"

For a few moments, Hoppou could only nod as there was a lump in her throat before she was able to speak. "Yes, Renita. Mommy is here now."

Unable to hold them back, more tears streaked down both their cheeks as the Re-Class rapidly blinked away the wetness in her eyes that blurred her vision. This... she did not want to lose sight of this. Not now. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I am so sorry for running away... please... please don't hate me."

Gently, Hoppou patted her cheek as she shook her head. "Shhhh. Shhhh... It is okay, Renita."

A sob though tore from Renita's throat. "I don't... I don't want you to hate me, Mommy. Please, I don't want you or the others to hate me... the Demon... it wanted to hurt you... and I ran away..." Coughing a bit, which Hoppou noted was flacked with blood and oil, she shook her head. "And... and I was not there when you needed me, Mommy. I wasn't there until..."

Moving her hand from her daughter's cheek, the smaller Abyssal shook her head and stroked Renita's hair. "There is nothing to be sorry about, Renita. You loved us and we still love you. You did nothing wrong, my little one. And we would never hate you." Getting up some, she hugged the Renita, careful not to harm her as the Re-Class cried unabashedly. "We could never hate you, because you are my daughter, and their sister. We are family, and true family never hates one another. There is only love. And we love Renita like she loves us."

That only made Renita cry all the more as her body shook some from sobs. "M-M-Mommy!" Her eyes staring into Hoppou's, she could only see pure love and care there. "Does... does that mean that I'm... that I'm a good girl?"

With a watery smile, Hoppou moved some of her bangs aside and kissed her brow. "Yes, to me you are a very good girl." From her hands, a number of her Imps came out and entered the hull of her daughter. "I will take care of you now, Renita. I will help you..."

Relaxing back into the bed, Renita only nodded with a hum as tears continued to well up and drip down her face. Voice weak, she took a breath. "O-okay, Mommy..."

Continuing to stroke her hair as her imps went through Renita and checked for damage, the Northern Ocean Princess froze when they reported back about the boiler room. All the boilers there were heavily damaged, so much so that it was a wonder that none had detonated and ended the fragile life before her, and perhaps injured others around her. Each one of them shut down... Except for one in the forward boiler room, which looked brand new.

One very familiar looking boiler that was working hard as possible to keep the Re-Class alive.

It was at this point that Regalia regained consciousness and looked around only to stop when she noticed Hoppou staring at her. Said Princess looked at her face and then down at the makeshift bandages around her middle before meeting her eyes once more. Many, many emotions went through those eyes. Fright, worry, anger, shock... and gratitude were all apparent in those eyes as, unknown to Regalia, Hoppou received report of what happened. Swallowing, the young Re-Class shifted some. "Um, Grandma..."

With a deep breath, Hoppou let it out. "I just want you to know that I am unsure what to feel right now, Regalia. But for right now, I will thank you for saving Renita and what you did." However, the Re-Class winced a bit at her next words. "But rest assured, we shall be having a talk later along with your Mother."

Just nodding, Regalia wanted to curl up a bit. "Yes, Grandma."

Turning back, the small Abyssal prepared herself as she gave an order to her Imps to prepare Renita. Said Re-Class felt herself falling back asleep in the arms of her mother who was looking down at her with care. "I am going to have you fall asleep now, Renita. So that you won't be in any pain while I work on you and heal you. And I will be here when you awake."

Vision dimming, Renita sighed. "Y-yes, Mommy... Mommy?" Feeling her mother's eyes on her, she swallowed best that she could. "Am... am I going to be punished? For running away?"

Hoppou blinked away the tears in her eyes and shook her head. "No, Renita is not going to be punished because you did it to protect us and out of love. I would never punish you. Now sleep and know that you are a very good girl, Renita, Mommy will take care of you."

Barely a whisper, her voice passed her lips as her eyes closed. "Okay... Mommy.... I love... you and take... care of Fluffy..."

A small smile on her face, Hoppou leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I will and want you to know that you are very brave." With that, the donated boiler shut off completely and Renita's chest stopped rising. Shoving the fact that she might have just seen her daughter die, and at her hand, into the back of her mind, Hoppou glanced at a frightened Fluffy. "I turned off Renita's boiler so that I could work on her without killing her or causing her pain. She is still here..." Glancing at the still form of her daughter, she thought back to what she "Saw" when she touched the empty carapace outside before turning back to the young Princess. "I have only one more thing to ask you. It has to do with protecting Renita, and if you will protect her to the best you could one final time while I work on her body for as long as it takes."

Seeing the extremely serious expression, the Destroyer stood up and straightened her back. "I, I will! I will protect Flagship, my Flagship! No matter what and no matter how long!"

With a small nod, the Northern Ocean Princess gestured her forward. "Please, kneel at the side of the bed."

Once she had done so, Hoppou took a deep breath and then took the mitten off one hand. Regalia's and Fluffy's eyes widened to comical proportions as they saw it blaze with power and negative light, as if it was sucking in the color. Part of Regalia realized that she was about to see what had happened to her when her hull was rebuilt. The rest of her was just filled with pure awe at what she was seeing.

As for Fluffy? She was frozen with a combination of awe and terror. Both coming from the sheer power that she could feel coming from the small being in front of her. Power that her instincts screamed at her could end her entire existence at a moment's notice as if with an afterthought. A choking sound though came from her as Hoppou plunged said hand into Renita's chest, sinking in with the flesh acting like water around it. For several moments, the small Abyssal stood like that as Renita glowed, the light slowly receding from the Re-Class' extremities, while brightening as it concentrated more and more in her chest. Finally, it seemed like there was a star there, burning bright, before Hoppou gave a tug, and it vanished.

Moments later, Hoppou withdrew her hand, a crystal sphere there, glowing from within. All of those there could feel that it was alive with the Northern Ocean Princess examining it, her eyes dimming a bit at the cracks that seemed to run through it, though it was still strong. Turning, she held the small orb and hugged Fluffy best that she could. "This... this is Renita. She needs an anchor to stay in this world as I work on her, and you are far more connected with her right now then the rest. Renita... she helped you, like you helped her. Please... I need you to protect her."

Eyes wide, Fluffy only nodded and held out her hands. She was proud that they were not trembling with pure terror, and not just due to what just happened. "I-I will. I promise." When the orb was placed in her cupped hands, Fluffy brought to close to her chest and held it there as she sat back. Memories flashed through her mind and she blinked away a tear even as her odd, animal rigging took up position. "I'll protect you, Flagship."

Simply nodding. Hoppou turned and picked up the now completely lifeless Re-Class. "I will go with Renita's hull and work on her." Pausing, she turned to Fluffy and an unasked question passed through them, which made said new Princess blink before she rapidly nodded. Then, with a nod of her own, Hoppou walked out with Renita's body while Regalia stayed behind with Fluffy.

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

"…You understand what you did was wrong. That it was dangerous, that it could have killed you."

"…yes."

"And you will never attempt a stunt like this again, regardless of what is at stake."

"I…" Regalia began to retort, but rapidly withered under the cold gaze of the Northern Water Princess. "…yes, Mother."

For what felt like an eternity, the Princess wordlessly glared at the demure Re-class, leaving her to fidget and squirm. Regalia didn't regret her actions whatsoever—she'd bought her aunt the precious time she needed for Hoppou to arrive and save her. That did not, however, mean she didn't feel immensely guilty about terrifying literally everyone, including her own mother. The look on her mother's face when she came in, laid eyes on her… her absolute fear for her child's life… she didn't want to see it ever again, if possible.

Finally, Tanith let out a heavy sigh. Leaning forward, she wrapped her daughter in a hug. "To endure such pain so willingly, to put the survival of a loved one over your own… you are so brave, Regalia. But you have a very large family that loves you… and would be devastated by your loss. If you had died in your attempt to save Renita…" she blinked away tears. "I don't know what I would do."

"I-I'm sorry, Mom…" Regalia said quietly as she returned the hug. "I… I didn't WANT to scare everyone… but Aunt Renita…"

"I understand." Tanith pulled away from her daughter, briefly eyeing her bandages. "Even so… I need you to truly understand that this was in no way acceptable. You cannot go unpunished for this. Do you understand?"

Regalia rested a hand over her stomach, whimpering as her wound throbbed painfully. "Isn't the pain I inflicted on myself punishment enough?"

Tanith shook her head. "The pain will serve to discourage you from repeating this, yes… but you must actually reflect on it." Standing up, she offered a hand to Regalia. "Come. Mother will decide your final punishment."

Despite the feeling of her heart sinking at what was to come, Regalia obediently gripped her mother's arm and carefully pulled herself to her feet. As they walked to the throne room, Regalia leaning against her mother as she limped along, she pondered her mother's words. "So… why, exactly, are we talking to Grandma? Isn't punishing a child the parent's job?"

Oddly, Tanith went a bit sheepish at the question. "Well… technically, yes. But as far as I can remember… I've never actually had to punish you for something before. I don't really know what constitutes a proper punishment under these circumstances. Mother has more experience with such things."

"Oh… okay."

Eventually, the two arrived in the throne room. Much to Regalia's surprise, there was quite a crowd already there; as she watched, an unfamiliar wardrobe-like thing off to the side opened up to reveal a somewhat-disoriented Rivet. "Man, that felt weird…" she grunted as she stumbled out.

"Vanishing Cabinet," Tanith explained as Regalia looked to her in confusion. "It's a way for everyone to travel between here and Japan quickly." Continuing on, the pair waded through the group, to the corner of the room. There, laid out in a pit carved into the floor, was Renita… or rather, what used to be her.

And sitting in front of the makeshift drydock… was Hoppou.

"Mother…" Tanith began, presenting Regalia in front of herself. "I've brought Regalia."

The Re-class briefly looked back in confusion and worry to her retreating mother, who gave her a look that warned her to remain where she was. Her grandmother seemed to be completely engrossed in her task, for all that she was just sitting there while her rigging did the work; Regalia wondered if she would even listen. "Um… Grandma…?" she said quietly, hesitantly.

For a moment, silence. And then…

"Regalia. I cannot thank you enough, for saving Renita."

Regalia could feel something different in Hoppou's voice—a sense of raw power and authority that she could never hope to challenge, even if she wanted. This girl was speaking not as her Grandma… but as the Northern Ocean Princess. "Were it not for your selfless act… it's likely that my child's light would have flickered out long before I could make it to her."

"…yes, Princess," she replied meekly.

"However." The Princess didn't turn away from her work as she spoke. "Your reckless endangerment of your own life cannot, and will not, be overlooked."

"I know…" Regalia said, "I know what I did was bad, but I—"

"I am not done."

The Princess's words, despite the calmness in their delivery, were like a slap in the face to Regalia. Immediately she curled in on herself, terrified by the weight pressing down on her. "If you had slipped even the slightest amount while extracting your own boiler—without anesthetics, I might add—it is very likely I would have had to choose between saving you or Renita right now." As she spoke, one of the cranes pulling apart the shattered husk of what was once her daughter rotated away from the drydock, carrying with it Regalia's donated machinery. "Regardless of my decision, I could never have lived with myself for letting the other die." She glanced back, further cowing the Re-class with her steely gaze. "And you? Could you willingly pass on to the next world, knowing it would break your mother's heart?"

Regalia found herself unable to respond. The Princess's words were even more painful to her than her wound… because she knew they were completely right.

In her rush to do something, ANYTHING, to save her aunt's life, to save her family from having to lose another of their own, she'd blinded herself to the very real possibility that she would just end up dying in her place. And for all that Renita was dear to her family… they were her family, as well. Her mother, her aunts, Uncle Harry… they would ALL grieve her death. To put them all through that…

"…n-no…" she finally answered. "I can't… I can't do that to Mom… to everyone." she hung her head in shame. "I expected everyone to be mad at me for what I did, yeah… b-but I never wanted to scare everyone like that, honest! I-it happened so quickly, one moment she was okay, the next thing I know, my imps contact me saying that she was beginning to undergo a cascading failure, that she only had minutes left to live and there was no time to think of a safer solution AND implement it before she died and I thought of how much she's been through to find us but she was going to end up dying before she ever got to see you again and it just wasn't right an-and- if I had j-just sat there a-and watched her die I coul- I could never forgive myse—"

Unable to continue her tangent any longer, Regalia doubled over gasping and coughing, intermittently whimpering in pain from her agitated wound. For a time, the throne was silent… Regalia's struggle to catch her breath and the sounds of little machinery at work on Renita's body the only things to be heard. "I… I just w-wanted to help her…" Regalia wheezed weakly. "I n-never wanted anyone to die… not Aunt Renita, not myself… I d-didn't want to make anyone grieve for anyone. Please… you have to believe me."

Finally… the Princess sighed. "Regalia. What you did today… was reckless. Poorly-planned. A fluke. I'm sure this has been made abundantly clear to you at this point—and I am glad to see that you feel genuine remorse for your actions, as well-intentioned as they were." She shook her head. "I cannot, in good conscience, refute your behavior outright; in the end, it saved Renita. You are a wonderfully kind-hearted and brave girl… just like your mother, like all my children. But more than any of them, you seem driven to live for the sake of others—so much so, that you threaten to disregard your own safety in the process. I cannot simply change the kind of person you are, and it would be wrong of me to try…

"So instead, you will be trained."

Regalia looked up from the floor, briefly glancing at the Princess in confusion. "…what?"

"I am going to personally teach you my craft. You will learn the ins and outs of every type of Abyssal there is—their composition, their structure, how they work, common issues and their remedies. You will work alongside humans and shipgirls, learn to look at your work from both sides of the ship/girl divide. You will study safe repair procedures and techniques, practicing them as many times as is necessary to burn them into your memory." The Princess's eyes narrowed. "I will make a proper medical ship out of you, so that if—or when—something like this ever happens in the future… I can take comfort knowing you won't risk your life in such a manner, again."

Regalia could feel the blood draining from her face. "Train… as a medic? M-me? But I'm a—"

"A Re-class?" The Princess cut her off. "I have faith in your capabilities, Regalia. You are more than just a Re-class—you are your own being. That you cultivated a farm to feed your family in their exile, in spite of being a (albeit defective) war machine, is proof that you are not restrained by your identity as an Abyssal."

"But… but my farm—"

"Will be cared for." Tanith stepped forward. "Several of our sisters are going to take up farming like you, so we can produce enough crops to feed everyone. If you are unwilling to give up your duty as a farmer, that is fine—but this training is going to happen, one way or another. You will be giving up any and all free time you may have, if you choose to do both at once."

"And be aware that I will not accept exhaustion or nerves as an excuse for poor results," the Princess added. "When it comes to repairs and reconstructions, the slightest mistake can have disastrous consequences; it can make the difference between life and death. It will be my job to ensure you never make such a mistake—not just for the sake of those you help, but for your own peace of mind, as well. Have I made myself clear?"

Regalia was silent. "Have. I. Made. Myself. Clear?" the Princess repeated, louder.

Regalia shrunk further into herself, submitting completely before her family's matriarch. "…yes, Princess."

The Princess sighed softly. "…this may seem cruel, or excessive, to you. I know that… and I'm sorry. But I refuse to accept any more of my loved ones attempting to make martyrs of themselves. If teaching you everything I know will prevent you from doing something like this again, then so be it." Her gaze softened ever so slightly. "I arrived here today, knowing I might lose Renita forever... but I could not bear the thought that I might lose a granddaughter at the same time. Please understand—I'm doing not this out of anger, but fear and love."

Regalia simply nodded numbly, tears building in her eyes.

For several seconds the Princess continued to gaze at her, before finally nodding and turning away. "You may go."

As Tanith kneeled to help Regalia to her feet, the Re-class snapped out, latching on to her mother for safety and comfort. "M-mama…" she whimpered, trembling. "I'm so sorry, Mama… I just… I couldn't live with myself if I just… sat there and watched Aunt Renita die. Not after she'd finally found her way home…"

With a soft sigh, Tanith rubbed her daughter's head. "It's alright, Regalia. What's done is done—all that matters now, is that both you and Renita will live. You don't need to apologize anymore."

Letting out a sniffle, Regalia nuzzled up against her mother a little more. "Can… can you help me back to my room?" She eventually asked in a soft voice. "So I can sleep?"

Tanith looked to her mother questioningly. Glancing back to Regalia one last time, the Princess simply nodded. "She's had a long and eventful day, as it stands… she's earned some rest."

Tanith returned the gesture, before gently lifting the Re-class up to her feet. The other Abyssals politely made a path for the two, leaving them to their own devices as she walked Regalia back to her room.

As they walked, Tanith spoke. "For what it's worth, Regalia… setting aside the fear, the anger, the stress this day has brought us all… I am truly proud of you." she squeezed her daughter lightly. "And while I know the goal Mother has set before you seems daunting… I'm certain that she wouldn't have decided on this, if she didn't think you were capable of meeting her standards. In taking you under her wing, she is saying that you have the potential to do a lot of good in the world—you simply need to be taught how."

"…you really think so?" Regalia asked quietly.

"Yes. This isn't merely a punishment. It's a learning experience. A chance to grow as a person. And… if you ask me… it's Mother's way of thanking you for saving Renita. Giving you the knowledge, the means to help others, so you won't be forced to resist or ignore something that's simply in your nature." Tanith looked to her daughter. "But, should you ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed by it all… just remember that your family is here to support you. We believe in you."

With her mother's words, the newfound weight in Regalia's heart felt just a little bit lighter. Closing her eyes, she leaned into her mother's side.

"…thanks, Mom."

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

A.N./ After the muse ran free and checking with NotHimAgain ......


"Hold him against the wall," is Kagotsuruhe's frigidly detached instruction.

With a strength that bellies her frame, Norimune moves to comply, the nodachi easily ignoring the struggles of the prisoner she manhandles against the wall of the small windowless room they have appropriated. Already their breaths are fogging in the increasingly frosty air, as manacles of ice formed to encircle Todoh's wrists, and hold him against the rapidly verglas-coated surface.

To the side, Akutoku shivers as she hastily uses a sharpie to ink complicated seals onto the walls. "J-Jeez, watch the aura Kago. It's already c-colder than a yuki-onna's tits in here."

The Sword of Hopelessness says nothing, gaze fixated on the wizard as a third, forth and fifth set of frozen shackles form, circling his ankles and neck with further fetters, after a few more seconds of fruitless struggling against Norimune's efforts.

"Do you honestly expect me to talk?" he sneers.

Kagotsuruhe allows a subtle lift of an intrigued eyebrow. "I take it you do not know who I am?"

The man gives a deriding snort. "I can identify enough. You're Muramasas. The Masamunes are superior to you, which makes it all the more intriguing that you are working together."

The nodachi shoots him a glare and looks ready to throw a punch, but is halted by a unnervingly graceful gesture from the blade in the center of the room. "In all honesty, we care little for you. It is your elderly friend who our ire lies with, and about whom we seek answers. Though, upon finding that you are one who indulges in a cooperative with such scum..... while what I must do isn't our end goal, this.... does put a smile on my face."

Todoh looks at her in confusion. "What?"

Kagotsuruhe turns to Norimune and Akutoku, her eyes now empty pits of frigid blue, absent of all emotion and mercy.

"Leave us. And seal the outside walls for extra measure."

The nodachi looks at her uncertainly. "You don't want us to help?"

The katana's response is colder than the most deathly of winters. "Leave."

Something flickers within her eyes, that even though still reigned in, causes the nodachi to immediately straighten up nervously. "Y-You got it. Come on Akutoku. Let's let these two to get to know each other."

Todoh stares down at the Sword of Hopelessness imperiously. "Do you think your flashy shackles are supposed to intimidate me? That your seals will hold me?"

"No," offers Kagotsuruhe, voice almost a whisper. Slowly she begins to take off her gloves. "The shackles are to protect you. The seals are for me."

Before he can think of a response, Akutoku gives a maniacal giggle, as she finishes drawing the last of her seals on the inside face of the door. Peering through the gap with a merciless grin as she closes it, cruel mirth fills her smile. "Okay love birds, enjoy your seven minutes in heaven! Or should that be hell?" With a final cackle, the Sword of Corruption slams the door shut.

Immediately, Todoh feels as if the temperature has dropped to below zero.

"Do your worst!" he challenges, as an unnatural chill sinks into his bones, and a mounting dread fills his veins that no amount of forced bravado seems able to hold off. Reflexively, he musters his mental defenses as best he can. "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you in whatever you wish to find."

"On the contrary," replies Kagtsuruhe. "I believe I shall find plenty."

A inhuman hunger begins to seep into her eyes.

"You display strength and boldness, but you cannot disguise what is within from me."

Closing her eyes, she then inhales deeply, seemingly reveling in the air that passes over her tongue. That enters into her mouth with a growing death rattle.

"I can taste your fear."

Abruptly Todoh finds something shoved into one of his imprisoned hands.

It is the hilt of the katana, as the sword spirit closes the distance between them with lightning speed, and even with her eyes closed, somehow manages to wraps his hand around around the ancient tsuka of the ancient blade. Her grip is like iron as she then keeps it in place with one of her own hands.

"W-What on earth are you doing?!" He asks with no small amount of trepidation and confused dread.

"Your dream has been to hold one of the great magical blades of Japan, is it not?" A feral, inhuman smile spreads the face of the Blade of Hopelessness, as the area around her closed eyes begins to waver. Sublimating into a dark haze, like unravelling black cloth. Adjusting the grip of her other hand on the saya, her thumb touches the guard of her blade, ready to flick the sheath open with the subtlest movement. A sheath that upon such uncomfortably close inspection, Todoh realizes is covered with far more intricate and indepth versions of the seals hapazardly inked onto the walls, floor and roof of the now frost-lined room.

"No- Wait!"

"You should be careful what you wish for," she says, in a voice that now reverberates and grates at the nerve-endings in his finger tips, and stabs into the back of his brain with every syllable. "It just might come true."

Suddenly her eyes open-

Open to reveal-

Nothing as her face begins to unwind like streamers of black cloth, exposing.... exposing...

Terror grips him with such intensity, it takes his breath before he can even scream.

A hand unraveling into streamers grabs his face and forces him to maintain 'eye' contact, while the other unwinding limb bares even more of the unholy black steel previously hidden within the scabbard.


"Do not look away Todoh Byakuya. F͘or I hav̶e̴ ͟s̕u͡ch ̸sigh̸t҉s ṯ͓̦o̪͐ ̰̬̲͓̙̓s̳̣͈̘̠ͥ͗͑ͥ̽̑́ͅh̺͛õ̱̹̬͚̠͍̳͛̌͌̂̏w̰̝̫̘̒̍ͥ̏̒ͅ ̪̖͕̫̹ͯ̓ͭ̍̾͗̀y̜̙̼͆ͧ̂ǒͣ̅̅̈̍u."
-----------------------------------------------------------

Uncertainly, Norimune awkwardly kicked at the floor, nervously glancing at Honjo every few seconds.

"So.... how's the kohai?"

Seeing the look the Masamune gives her, the nodachi cringes. Obviously she hasn't entirely been forgiven for the thing with the kyu gunto yet.

Uncertainly, she then glances at the kids the other sword spirit was apparently working with.

"Well.... seeing as the only ones of you I know are Honjo and Tonbo, how about some quick introductions?" pausing for a moment, Norimune then glances at her watch. "Better make it quick though. Kago's normally pretty snappy."

In the distance, a muted cry of utter nightmarish terror echoes through the walls of the building.

 

[darthcourt10]

Weaver

Saturday, 7th September 2013

Saturday night found Dan sat at the computer in the corner of his family's living room.

The visit to his mother at Hartlepool had gone more or less as he'd expected. No one was remotely used to the shipgirl thing yet, including his mum, but she was still happy about it and in the end that was the most important thing. She'd told them that while she still was still getting used to things like having a crew she'd mostly got used to controlling her weight and had been doing a lot of exercises to get used to her strength. Inevitably that lead to requests from a demonstration from all of the family members present, which after a detour to the area that had been set up for the purpose of getting shipgirls used to their strength was provided in the form of her bending a two foot length of old railway track in half like it was made of of plasticine, complete with leaving finger impressions. Everyone had been very impressed, although there had been a few jokes about opening jam jars.

Knowing his mum as well as he did he'd been completely unsurprised to see that she'd already started mumming the other shipgirls, up to and including telling Plym to stop looking up things that upset her on the internet. The frigate had looked like she was going to argue but had backed down when confronted with the Mum Face.

However, a comment by his mum about her memories of her time as Patrol and how she kind of missed "her" destroyers had piqued his curiosity. Which was why he was currently on the computer.

He already knew that HMS Patrol had been in the Ninth Destroyer Flotilla so that's where he started his search. A few seconds Googling brought him to the Dreadnaught Project website and its article on the Ninth Destroyer Flotilla, which mainly consisted of its ship roster and changes to it. He read it, then went back to the beginning and went through it again counting. Since the Ninth had been merged with the Seventh in September 1915, he then moved on to the article for the Seventh Flotilla. That done he sat back and thought for a moment.

Even if you only counted the destroyers that had served in both flotillas there was a total of twenty-one ships, including the four that had been with Patrol during the World War One Bombardment of Hartlepool. If you counted all of them that number more or less doubled. He thought it over for a moment more before coming to a conclusion.

'Looks like I might be getting a lot of little sisters at some point.'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Frowning, Harry flipped a page in the notebook he had written in while Remus looked on with a slight smile on his face. Which the teenager noticed out of the corner of his eye. "Uncle Moony? What's with that smile?"

Remus' smile widened at the title that the boy had given him. "Well... I'm smiling mainly because you remind me of Lily right now." At the blink of confusion, he gestured at the notebook. "Lily had a notebook of her own and was always either reading her notes in it or writing information down into it. Granted, that was one of the reasons why she was so good at school."

That brought some warmness to Harry's heart at being compared favorably to his biological mother. It felt like it was just one more connection to her that he now had. Leaning against his fist, he tilted his head some. "So my birth Mum did the same thing?"

Arms crossed, the werewolf had an expression of fond remembrance on his face. "She did, it was something that James sometimes teased her for... Though after Sixth Year he was thankful for it. Especially when we needed to study as Lily took all sorts of notes that helped us out."

Both of them were silent for a few moments, one in fond remembrance of brighter, more innocent days while the other was thinking of two people he never really got the chance to meet. Eventually, Harry shook it off and looked down at his notes again, a small frown coming to his face. "So... An Patronus is a guardian of sorts created by one's magic? And it has a form suiting that person?"

Only nodding, Remus smiled some. "Correct."

He waited as Harry tapped his chin with his pen. "But the forms can change if something major occurs in their life? But what counts?"

Shifting a bit, the Professor hummed. "That varies from person to person, Cub. Usually the event in question is life changing in some manner. It can be as simple and light hearted as a marriage for instance. Or it can be as deeply troubling as a large amount of grief. However, it does not happen too often and is somewhat rare to be honest."

With a slight nod, the thirteen year old glanced back at his notes. "So the major things it can fight against are Dementors and Lethifolds? Anything else?"

Eyes closing as he went through his own mind, Remus opened then and frowned. "Nothing confirmed to be honest. Supposedly, they can have an effect on beings similar to Dementors and Lethifolds. Windigos in Northern Canada, or their spirits for example. But usually it is so rare that no one is completely positive. But they don't need to only be used for defense..."

Nodding, Harry smiled with a thoughtful look. "You mentioned that already, it can be used as a way to communicate, right?"

Lips curling, the werewolf just gave him a slight tilt of the head in acknowledgment. "Correct, Harry. Though it is really only a one way message, but still useful for long distance or in the middle of a firefight as there's not really any spells that can damage or dispel them, as it were. It just works for corporal Patronuses though. So you would need to be able to do that first before you would be able to use that particular aspect."

A small frown, Harry glanced at one note in particular which made him wince. "So, um... is there any truth as to why it said in the book you gave me that an evil person cannot produce a Patronus? Or what happens to them if they even try?"

Grimacing as he knew exactly what Harry meant, he scratched his head. "That... there are a few who have managed it. While it is written down that a Dark Witch or Wizard can't use a Patronus, that's not exactly true, just common belief. However, it takes a truly twisted mind to be able to exact enough joy from causing pain and suffering in order to create a Patronus from said thoughts and memories. Otherwise, well... at best they fail. At worst? Assuming that the story is true? They get devoured from the inside out by maggots as happened to the Dark Lord Raczidan. Sort of bringing the spiritual rot into reality, one could say."

That made Harry turn a bit green at the image that was put into his head. "That would probably explain why a lot of the more evil wizards and witches don't even try." Rather then think on that more, he tapped on his chin in thought. "So basically, a Patronus is an inner Kami of a sort? That makes a bit of sense, I guess..."

Bemused, Remus only shook his head. "I'm not quite sure that is right, but... I will leave it rest as I am not quite sure what Kami are, even after the explanation you gave me." Giving him a look, the werewolf raised an eyebrow. "Much like your explanation on Poi."

All the black haired teen did was shrug. "Poi." Ignoring the snort from his teacher, Harry frowned more. "It has to do with what Catallus Spangle said about Patroni in 'Charms of Defense and Deterrence'. According to him, the Patronus is the secret self, something deep inside that when one is confronted by inhuman evil can be brought forth into the light as a defense." A chuckle escaped him as he shook his head. "It almost sounds like he's saying that a Patronus is a, well, a Persona from Persona games."

Lost, his teacher had an expression of complete befuddlement on his face. "Games? Persona?" One eyebrow raised, he chuckled. "I don't think that you mean how an actor might portray a character..."

On Harry's face was a light blush as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, sorry about that. They're a series of games in back home in Japan." Part of Remus was thankful that he could hide the wince at the idea the young teen in front of him considered Japan more a home then Britain, where he was born and his parents had lived. However, he didn't say anything on the matter as Harry continued explaining. "... So in the games a Persona is described as the person's 'True self' and such."

Even though he understood more about what Harry meant, Remus was still somewhat lost. 'Though that may be due to it being Japanese, not British, non-magical culture. And Lily was always the one dragging us to either sports games or movies...' Shaking off the old memories, the werewolf smiled some. "So you like games and such then?"

Grinning, Harry leaned back. "Yeah, I used to play them all the time alongside Iku-Chan and the others. Final Fantasy is one of my favorite game series, though Metal Gear Solid is pretty neat as well." With a shrug, he chuckled. "Same with anime, even cosplayed at times which was fun."

Intrigued, the older man raised an eyebrow. "Cosplay? You mean when you dress up as a character?" At the slightly surprised look, he gave a small smile. "I... work at a school for young weres. One of them there likes going on the internet and made noises about it."

Simply nodding at that, Harry tilted his head in thought. "Yeah, you dress up as characters from fiction. One year I crossplayed as Homura..."

Once more lost, Remus frowned as he rolled that word around in his head. "Um, crossplayed?"

Lightly blushing, the black haired teen rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... its when you cosplay as someone of the opposite sex. Akemi Homura is from an series called 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', which is about magical girls. To be honest, I sort of like her as a character. There's something..." A far off gaze in his eyes, Harry leaned forward on the desk with his hands in front of his face. "There's something about her that just sort of 'clicks' with me for some odd reason. Not sure why, but it just does."

Head tilted to the side, Remus frowned some in thought. "Huh... Puella Magi Madoka Magica is what its called? And its about magical girls?" When Harry nodded, he tapped his chin. "I'll have to look it up then." Part of him did wonder about the smirk and twinkle in the younger male's eyes, almost like he had laid out a prank of some sort. 'Maybe the show is really girly then if it is about those magical girls. Betty likes that sort of thing for whatever reason and it can't be any worse then that Card Captor Sakura she kept watching.' Deciding to turn to something else, Moony coughed. "So... you dressed up as a girl then?"

Much to his amusement, Harry only shrugged. "Yes? I mean, it was not that big of a deal after all." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and turned it on. After a few minutes, he handed it over. "See?"

Leaning forward, Remus blinked at the odd picture on it. In the picture was a dark, silver haired girl with violet eyes and wearing what looked like a modified, purple version of those school uniforms Japanese students wore. Then he spotted the small scare on the girl's forehead and his eyes went wide. "Wait, that's you?!" Not saying anything, Harry only grinned and nodded. "How? I mean... what? And violet eyes?"

In reply, Harry tapped the side of his head. "Colored contact lenses. The hair is a wig though and I was helped by Naka-Nee for it, she found it amusing. Especially as we knew that I really was magical at the time, which made it more funny." Frowning in thought, he shook his head. "It was hard though to get the hair flip she does in the anime perfect. But Naka-Nee and the others agreed that I nailed it."

Slowly blinking, the werewolf snorted some. 'Yeah, definitely a girly show, though I guess I will have to watch it. If only to find out why Harry likes it.' Glancing at him, Lupin chuckled. "May I ask why you decided to dress up as a girl?"

Hands behind his head, Harry leaned back and reminded Remus so much of James. "Well... partially because it was interesting. But also because it was part of a bet that I wouldn't cosplay as a girl. Not exactly something that I would do, but..." Waving a hand around, the younger wizard laughed lightly. "Also something that doesn't really bother me, though it felt really weird to do so. Mum's reaction though was hilarious..."

Laughing, Remus shook his head with a wolfish grin. "I can imagine." With a look around, he leaned forward. "Out of curiosity... I heard a rumour about the Chaser Trio in Gryffindor..."

Amused, a smirk grew on the younger boy's face. "You mean that bit about how they're going to prank Fred and George to use a spell to dress them up as girls? Already know about it... and the fact that I am likely to get caught in it as well if not targeted just because I'm one of the guys on the team. Sort of expected with what Wood and the Twins stated the other day, bakas. It is going to be hilarious to see all their reactions when not only am I not bothered by it, but when I act natural." His grin turned all the more mischievous. "Especially when I act more like a girl then the Chasers, thank the Kami for all those years spent around girls."

For a few seconds, Remus blinked before laughing. "Okay, I cannot wait to see that. I mean, your father loved pranks, but I cannot see him allowing himself to be dressed as a girl to turn one on other people."

Harry simply shrugged at that. "Well, suppose that is one thing that's a bit different about us. Wonder what his reaction would have been."

Considering that, Remus let out a short howl of laughter. "Actually, I can easily imagine his face now! He would be lost between complete and utter confusion and wanting to laugh his ass off along with wanting to congratulate you. Possibly wanting to also ask you why you're doing that as well." A thought occurred to him then and he turned his attention back onto Harry. "Have you done it more then that once though?"

Just waggling his hand, the teen frowned. "Once or twice besides that one time. Like I said, its not something that hugely bothers me to do. But its not something that I particularly go for unlike some out there. About the only times was when I was asked to do so by Jane, which I think she found amusing."

That, if anything, only made Remus more amused at how James would have reacted. 'Oh, Lily would have loved how that would have likely broken his mind...'

Eventually though, Harry turned back to the extra lesson that they were having. With a glance at his notes, the thirteen year old frowned some. "I am confused about one thing though..."

Remus gave a slow now. "Okay, what are you confused about?"

Finger running down his notes, Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "It says here that some wizards and witches had extinct animals as patronuses? Like how Hedley Fleetwood has a woolly mammoth? Is there a limit to that? I mean... would that mean that it is possible for someone to conjure a Patronus that looks like a T-Rex for example? And what about fictional creatures?"

Several moments passed while his teacher thought it over. "For an extinct one... it is not impossible to do so. There is a wizard in Chicago from what I heard who does, in fact, have a T-Rex Patronus. Granted, one that is only ten feet tall, but still. As for fictional ones... hmm. Now that I do not know, after all with how magical creatures appear? Could one conjure one that will not be mistaken for something that exists? I would not be too surprised if it is possible."

When the lesson was over, Harry put away his notebook and stood up as Remus told him to come up with a happy memory, or several, for them to practice with. Then he asked the young wizard something that made him blink. "Hmm? This weekend?"

Arms crossed as he placed the book that Harry had been using, the werewolf just nodded. "Yes, I heard from Dumbledore that you're going to be leaving the school for the weekend?"

Just nodding, the thirteen year gave a small shrug. "Yeah, going to meet Natsumi and some of our friends at the old Potter property. We're going to be picking fruit and stuff as well as making preserves for back home. Not that I mind as they're all friends though."

Lightly smiling, Remus only gave him a small nod. "Good for you then, I hope that you enjoy yourself and we'll continue on this once you get back."

Harry smiled back at that.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

There were soft voices speaking to one another when the door to the small meeting room opened up and Maruyu walked in followed by a JMSDF Officer. Almost as one, all the shipgirls in the room, Ha-101s, all rose and saluted the JMSDF Captain. He returned the salute alongside Maruyu before he nodding. "At ease."

While they retook their seats, Maruyu opened up the laptop she brought with her and hooked it up to the projector. Moments later, the lights dimmed as the projector came on to show a map of the area around Japan. Said ocean showed blue which was controlled by humans in shipgirls, red for Abyssals, and purple for contested areas. At one side, a blue corridor cut through purple waters from Minami Torishima westwards towards Wake and Midway. Standing, Maruyu adjusted her uniform jacket as she looked over the group in front of her who were all listening. "We are here today for your final briefing before Operation Kappa." Grasping the folders in front of her, she tossed them to each of the six other Submarines who took them. "Within those folders are needed information."

At the front of the room, the JMSDF Officer watched as they opened the folders, while also paying attention. Walking to the map, he gestured at one area that was within the red zone. "Okinotorishima, before the war it was the southernmost territory held by Japan and the only one we had in the tropics. Contact was lost with the people there approximately four days before the start of what was Blood Week. There was a planned mission to check on them when the Abyssals launched their attacks." Behind him, a picture came up of the island before the war. It showed a coral atoll with three circular breakwaters rising above the blue waters, and two structures on stilts. "This is what it had looked like before the war, and this is how it does now."

Hisses escaped from the Submarines as the picture changed to that taken from a drone. Where the lagoon once stood was now a small island composed of rocks most likely dredged up from the deep or brought there from other islands. As well, there were chunks of ships here and there, rusting where they laid forming more reclaimed land. But more then that was the Abyssal structures that stood there. Maruyu stood there as a number of those Submarines began to take put pens and paper before writing on them. "You can see that the Abyssals have claimed it as a launching point of sorts for raids on both convoys heading to and from Japan along the Central Route as well as those Convoys following the Ryukyu Islands to Taiwan. We are lucky though in regards to it being an Isolated Island Demon that has taken up residence on the island."

The picture changed to a photograph of said Abyssal as the JMSDF Officer continued. "Thankfully, in that a Demon class is much less a risk then a full fledge Abyssal Princess. We believe that she has taken the island in the last year from another Abyssal due to some damages that were there. More over, she has been focused on Q-Ships and the like rather then heavy hitters and acting as a logistics hub for other Abyssal forces. Most of you have already gone over the information regarding the layout of the island as it currently is known, but it never hurts to go over it again. Something though that allows for Operation Tanto has come up."

Yet again, the screen showed another image, this one a gif of a massive typhoon. "This is Typhoon Man-Yi. From all observations, the Isolated Island Demon in such cases will bunker down when such storms hit, sending her forces out to sea in order to better survive as she does not have safe harbour for her Q-Ships. None of them will be able to withstand the storm winds and waves safely. Which gives us an opening to at least perform major damage to her operations, if not more. Your mission is to sneak in while the typhoon is going on, land on the island, and proceed to perform as much damage as possible."

Eyes trailing along the papers in front, which included maps of where they could expect to safely land on the island to some extent with the storm going on, the various Submarines muttered to one another. At the front, the Captain tried not to show his concern, especially as none of them looked much older then twelve years old. One of them, which he recognized as Ha-106 raised her hand. When he nodded, she stood up. "How are we to arrive on the island in the first place? We'd have to perform it submerged under the waves, and all of us are slow, too slow to make it there before the storm is over with."

With a nod, the Officer clicked the mouse and a picture of a Submarine appeared. "The Americans have gifted us with use of one of their Ohio Class Submarines that is in the area. You will all enter one of the missile tubes and lay in wait as it transports you as close to the island as possible. Once there, it will flood the tubes that you will be in, allowing for you to exit into the ocean, at which point you will be on your own and will need to reach Point Koroshi for extraction once the mission is accomplished. The reasoning behind the operation, as you know, is that being due to the distances involved, often times she is able to see any forces coming in. Because of that, she has the time to call forth forces allied to her for reinforcements. Hence the... unconventional method that we are using here."

Raising her hand, another Ha-101 frowned. "Weapons? And how are we going to perform the sabotage needed?"

Another click brought up what looked like a three cylinders, each the size of a man's thumb. They were attached to a small chunk of C-4 with a timer. Nodding to it, the Officer frowned. "As you all know, some shipgirls have returned with Ohkas. All of these are disarmed, but we have kept the warheads used for them and... modified them, as you can see here. Each one of these demolition charges has about three thousand pounds worth of high explosive. Which, needless to say, is a lot of boom for our buck." There were chuckles at that before his smile disappeared. "You each will be given four of these."

Maruyu then gave a thin smile. "The reason being that only shipgirls can carry them effectively, as for humans they are roughly the same weight they were in the past. But for us, they're easy to carry around. Another reason being that due to the amount of high explosive involved, it is dangerous for a human to have near them while we can carry them in such a way to limit their exposure. As for other weapons..." She raised the remote and clicked showing what looked like a massive double barreled shotgun. "We have a few such as the double barreled China Lake you see on the screen. Other weapons include flenchette shotguns, each of which can punch through an inch of steel though the kickback is immense for both... for a normal human. Fifty caliber Desert Eagles are also available as are other heavy weapons we can use as well as personal ones."

Leaning back, one of the small Subgirls gave a slight nod. "So in other words we have nice toys? And what sort of grenades for the Double Chinas?"

Her lips twitching, Maruyu gestured at the screen. "What ever ones we want for them. That does, in fact, include the Fuel Air explosive ones. We can have them, mainly because we're to go in there and wreck as much shit as we can before making a runner back into the storm." Expression turning serious, she looked at each one. "But we need to get in and out quick. No hanging around, we move in, place the explosives and timers, and leave. We only get the fun weapons if we get caught and need to fight out way out."

With his hands behind his back, the Officer nodded. "Which we can hope will not happen."

Reaching under the table, Maruyu pulled out a cardboard box and slid it along the table. "We also have some other toys as shown there. One is a modified version of Omniculars that we have bought which will give us night vision in such a way that will not give us away. And due to being magical, it has also been made heavily resistant against salt water." One item pulled out made the others blink and the former IJA Submarine smirk. "We also shall all be equipped with Pipboys."

Bemused, one of the Ha-101s moved the small armlet around in her hands before placing it on her arms and nodding. There was a computer screen on it with what looked like a touchpad with letters and numbers. Eyebrow raised, she looked at Maruyu. "Pipboys?"

All Maruyu did was shrug and smile. "That was the name that the man who came up with the idea for them calls them. He is apparently a fan of the Fallout Series and invented them as a means of having his own. We can use them to communicate via text over the storm, though that means showing the others the screen. As well, there is an inbuilt map function and GPS so that we know where we are and how close we are to our objectives. There is even a radio beacon if needed. All of them are fully charged and good for eight hours, so only turn them on when we're close."

That got her nods as they each strapped theirs onto their arms. When that was done, the Officer brought up the map again, and started pointing out places. "These are the places that we are aiming for. Here is the fuel tanks which is a priority along with this spot." He pointed at another area. "The Ammunition Depot. Both of these places are to get no less then three of the demolition charges at the least. It is hoped that both going up will do more damage to the facility. Now, here is the radar station..."
Less then an hour later found all the Submarines boarding an Osprey heading out to where they would rendezvous with the Ohio...
___________________________________________________________________

Holding the charge against the wall of the radar installation, Maruyu gently pressed it against the compound she had sprayed there. Within seconds, it was stuck in place, with her following up by reaching into her pouches and pulled out a bag containing tape. Soon, the tape covered the demolition charge as the timer counted downwards from forty minutes.

With a nod, the Submarine held one hand up as a powerful gust whipped past before ducking as a chunk of sheet metal flew past, barely seen. While she would only get a dint, it would slice through an ordinary human with ease, but Maruyu would rather not get hit at all. Looking around, she could only sigh as not much could be seen in the powerful rain and darkness. The area itself was only lit up by the odd lightning bolt here and there.

But, thankfully, her goggles did not just keep the rain out of her eyes but also allowed her to see around her.

Granted, the best that it could do was show everything within twenty feet of her in various shades of grey. It was better then nothing though, which helped immensely. With a nod, Maruyu checked her belt and noticed that she had one more of the charges left as each had been given one extra just in case they came across a target of opportunity. So far, everything was going well... which made her antsy. Nothing was easy at all.

Something that was proven by a yelp over the radio as someone broke silence and shouted. {Telescope! Telescope! Lonely has Sighted land!}

Internally cursing, Maruyu took off to where she knew the Submarine was as she knew what that had meant. The Demon who was in charge of the island had sighted at least one of them and was trying to attack. Not something unexpected with how small the island was, but also something that they hoped would not happen with the Demon holed up due to the storm. Even through the pounding rain, Maruyu could see flashes of light from weapon discharges in the distance. Glancing to the side, she ran towards one of the buildings and grit her teeth as she forced most of herself as human as possible, except for her legs that she made as much of a ship.

It was something that very, very few could manage.

Reaching the building, she leapt and powered up it, seeming to run along the wall until she reached the roof at which point she ran along them, leaping dozens of feet in a single bound until she reached where she needed to be. Eyes scanning the area, she grimaced as she could see one of the Ha-101s dragging another along as the furious Demon strode forward and took aim.

Only for her to go skidding as Maruyu's foot slammed into her face, followed by emptying a clip from her Desert Eagle into her face.

Flipping back, the Subgirl kept her eyes on the Demon who got to her feet. {GET OUT OF HERE NOW! I'LL HANDLE HER!}

Shoulders shaking, the Demon got to her feet. "You'll handle me, Little Girl? That's funny, no that's hilarious!"

All Maruyu did was smirk as rain fell in rivulets down her. "No, its funny that you think that I can't."

The Abyssal narrowed her eyes at that as the two stood there with the typhoon raging around them. And then, at some unseen signal, the two charged each other, with Maruyu falling back as she slid between the Abyssal's legs. Whipping around, she pulled out the flanchette Shotgun and put both rounds into the back of the Demon's legs. A roar ripped out from the Isolated Island Demon's mouth as she whirled around and attempted to take off Maruyu's head with one blow of her fist, only to hit thin air. Using the overextended arm, the Subgirl grabbed hold of it and brought up her knee into the elbow with all the power she could behind it and nearly breaking it.

However, that only enraged the Demon and it brought the other arm down at her, with Maruyu dodging around it. "YOU MISRABLE INSECT! STAY STILL!"

Dodging around another punch, Maruyu hopped over a kick, before landing a blow where kidneys would be in a human. Internally though, she grimaced as she felt her kneecap nearly break at the hit. Instead though, she brought up her arm and put a 37mm round right into the Demon's eye, making it explode in blackened ichor and blood. Not that she got away with it as she soon found herself flying through the air. Grunting, she held her ribs close before her eyes widened and she rolled.

Just as a foot came down and shattered the rock and metal where her head had been. Snarling as oil, blood, and other fluids ran down her face from her ruined eye, the Demon's other one glowed. "I AM GOING TO ENJOY RIPPING YOU APART, SHIPGIRL!"

Soon, it turned into a hand to hand fight with Maruyu either dodging or deflecting blows. The only good thing being that her small size and speed worked while she was too close for the Abyssal to effectively use her guns. Neither could the Demon launch aircraft as the storm raged. Bringing out a knife, Maruyu slashed at the Demon's face, opening a cut on her cheek before a knee came up and drove the air from the Subgirl's lungs. Said knee though was then busted as Maruyu lashed out with a kick.

A call over the radio though made the Subgirl fall to the ground. {CROSSROADS!}

Nearly as soon as she hit the ground, the night bloomed with light as two Anti-tank missiles were fired at the Demon, impacting her in the stomach. They were soon joined by tracers from the other Submarine's weapons as well as grenades pounding her from all sides. Not, that it did much good as only the Anti-Tank weapons left a mark in the form of a bleeding wound the size of three fingers. Maruyu though grinned and brought her Hellfire launcher and took aim before firing it...

With it hitting at the exact same spot as the anti-tank missiles.

Before the staggering Demon had the chance to recover, Maruyu was already bull rushing her with a punch landing to her face. Another one followed up to her solar plexus with the IJA Subgirl bringing her knee right up into the Demon's jaw before reaching behind her.

Nearly all the Submarines though flinched as Maruyu lashed out with a fist that dug right into the Demon's stomach wound, before she was backhanded. Landing, the Subgirl rolled and brought up her grenade launcher as the Abyssal glared at them and took aim. "JUST SINK TO THE ABYSS!"

Eyes narrowing, Maruyu pulled the trigger. "You first."

Before the grenades reached her, the shipgirl was already diving into the water as she shouted for the others to get to cover. Both grenades hit the Installation in the stomach wound and entered her body before coming to rest... right next to the demolition charge that was there. Even under the water, Maruyu felt the detonation as most of the upper portion of the Demon ceased to exist. Breaking the surface, she grimaced and held her side while she took note of her wounds and winced.

Cuts, bruises, and contusions along with probably sprains and broken bones. Then looking at where the Demon had been, she gave a painfilled smile. 'Better then the other guy...' With a deep breath, she pulled the broken goggles from her face and shoved them into her hull. {Sound off! Is everyone alright!?}

One by one, the others chimed in though she winced at Ha-111. {My screws are busted, I'm going to need a tow out.}

Ha-107 then spoke up. {Pretty sure that I got at least three busted ribs... make that four...}

Just nodding, Maruyu checked the time and let out a breath. {I am not in good shape either. We have less then ten minutes before the island blows... Everyone, make to Point Sigma, we'll regroup and those who need help can be towed by the others... including myself. Move.}

Ten minutes later, the group of shipgirls were bobbing in the massive waves and could see the flashes of light from the detonations followed by the fuel burning and ammunition depot also going up. With a nod, Maruyu shot the others a thumbs up before they slowly made their way through the storm towards where they were to be picked up.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Personal History

-----

"Todoh Byakuya," Kagotsuruhe said, after taking a sip of her tea, "Is a moron." Tatsuya rolled his eyes.

"We already knew that bit," he pointed out, "or are we talking about a specific example?" The katana raised an eyebrow dubiously, glancing at him, and he sighed and shrugged. Giggling internally, Benio walked over to him and offered him a mug of his own which, after giving her a questioning look, he accepted.

Kagotsuruhe placed her tea back on the table. "Todoh had already conceived the idea of seeking out a sword worthy of himself before meeting the old man," she explained. Benio nodded at this—she and Mizuki had found a display case full of kendo trophies after a cursory search "However, it was after meeting him that he began to seriously move forward on it."

"The sword thefts?" Miyuki asked. Kagotsuruhe gave her a look and she stepped back, obviously unnerved. Benio gave her an amused look—weren't Shipgirls immune to mind magic? Miyuki gave her a shaky grin in response.

"Indeed," Kagotsuruhe finally said. "He acquired several swords through lawful purchases, but gained others with the help of Kiritani—the son of a former associate of his uncle's." And didn't that sound ominous, Benio thought. Down the hall, a door opened, and Akutoku filed into the room carrying an armload of papers, followed by Tonbo.

"Hey, did you start the villain's backstory without us?" the former complained, dumping her load over the floor, "I wanted to hear this bit so I could make fun of him."

"He always wanted to be a Wuxia villain, but he really got started on it when a creepy old man offered him all his wildest hopes and dreams," Benio offered. Akutoku frowned, pursing her lips and putting on a great show of considering.

"Not perfect," she finally said, nodding in affirmation, "but it's a start. There's definitely potential." Tatsuya gave her a long-suffering stare and she giggled, then mouthed De-ni-al. He replied with You-wish, sending her into another fit of snickering.

"If we're all done with the comedy act," Honjo said, seemingly from nowhere, and Akutoku leapt aside in her attempt to put distance between herself and the legendary blade. Benio started a little herself, jumping as she turned to face the Masamune—the one Norimune girl was standing on the other side, looking a little uncomfortable herself.

Kagotsuruhe nodded after a moment. "None of the other swords manifested their avatars," she explained, as if the interruption hadn't taken place. "Your… sister is the first one he encountered to show him that trait. She was in a secluded area of the mountains, and Kiritani… convinced her to come. Todoh believed that someone she knew came under threat."

If Benio listened closely, she could just hear the sound of teeth grinding.

"What's her name?" Honjo asked, her voice nearly a whisper. Kagotsuruhe shook her head.

"He doesn't know," she admitted. "Either because she wouldn't tell him, or because he began to have the old man erase bits and pieces of her identity after she turned him down rather impressively."

"Explain that bit," Honjo cut in again.

"You really want details on how your sister was tortured?" Akutoku asked dubiously. Honjo gave her a level glare.

"The punishment ought to fit the crime," she said simply. Akutoku nodded silently, cringing as she did.

"After they locked her in the tank," the katana said, "the old man began to using a memory spell of… disturbing import that he had developed in his younger years. First," she listed off, "he erased everyone's knowledge of her name—including her own. Next, knowledge of her face. Just little bits and pieces, every so often—her knowledge of how to talk, a few months ago, and just the other day how to even use her voice."

"And today, how to walk," Benio pointed out. Kagotsuruhe glared at her, and she quickly remembered Todoh screaming and gestured for her to continue.

Kagotsuruhe did so. "Todoh claimed that all this knowledge would have been returned to her once she agreed to become his personal sword," she said. "Unfortunately, that's where we start having problems."

"He didn't know shit about his wizard friend?" Akutoku suggested.

"Not quite so much as he thought he did," Kagotsuruhe (this was getting tiresome—Benio wondered if maybe she could call the Muramasa Kago like her sisters did) confirmed. "He knew what kind of tea the old man enjoyed, but not his name—apparently, he gave it up after leaving his former place of work." She smiled thinly. "I believe it's rather apparent what that was by now. Beyond a few more memory traps laid around the house, Todoh was unaware of any escape routes or alternate countermeasures."

"And that's really everything?" Tatsuya asked. Kagotsuruhe shrugged.

"For an intellectual," she claimed, "his head was… astonishingly empty." She glanced over at Honjo. "You can have Todoh now, if you still want him."

Honjo turned and leaned over the couch, gently stroking her nameless sister's hair before standing again. The other girl had been dressed in some women's clothes that had been found in a drawer in what Benio suspected was Todoh's room (she wrinkled her nose in disgust), but she had clung to the blanket that Miyuki had given to her and even now kept it wrapped around herself.

"It's reversible," Honjo said finally.

"Intended to be, at the very least."

Honjo breathed out heavily. It sounded like just a little of the load had dropped from her.

"When we find the old man," she said finally, "I'm going to want him for a little while." Akutoku and Norimune both looked up, like they wanted to contest the point, but subsided wordlessly. "And once it's all done… I want a piece. It doesn't have to be an especially big piece, but I'd like it to have some substance. Enough to crush and grind into pieces."

"First come, first served," Kagotsuruhe replied. "We're not the only ones with a claim." Honjo smiled darkly.

"Then we're going to have to hurry, now aren't we," she said.
-----

In a holding cell, watched over by a policeman and a Shipgirl, Antonio Kiritani sat back against the wall and mourned how he had failed Byakuya-sama.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer

An Egyptian Sunshipgirl in Queen Elizabeth II's London (Part IV)

Amisi exited Holborn station with her Pharoah's arm around her waist and with a visible sigh of relief. The journey through the Duat--no the 'Underground'--had been harrowing both for the strangeness of the train of metal with couches of surpassing luxury inside it and more importantly for how it was closed in with the earth all around them. Sunships were children of the River Nile and the Great Sea, used to the wind in their sails and the warmth of Ra or the stars of Nut shining upon their hulls. To travel in such a manner gave Amisi new insight into the sheer courage of the Ship of Ra who traveled nightly through the Underworld to rise again at the beginning of the day.

"{Where to now, my Pharaoh?}" She asked, looking at the bustle of people and marveling at the richness of the city with the chariots of metal and buildings of stone, fine brick and even metal and glass.

'This way to the Museum. There is a special exhibit that I wished to show you. A friend of my father's recommended it and wishes to meet you."

Amisi smiled as they stopped at a street corner. "{Then meet him we shall.}" She then cocked her head in surprise as a fair number of the crowd moved with her then paused in shock at the sight of the massive building now visible as they reached their destination. "{My Pharaoh...such a temple!}" While the architecture was only slightly familiar and it was carved from marble as opposed to the granite and sandstone of Egypt, it stood with a sheer impact that briefly knocked the wind from her sails and caused her rowers to falter in their pace.
Spoiler: The British Museum


"{My Pharaoh, is this...?}" She half turned to see her Pharaoh speaking into a 'telephone' as he summoned his father's friend to be their guide.

"Hall Four by the granite bust of Ramses II, Dr. Herbert. Right, I'll see you there." Her Pharaoh put away the fascinating Muggle device and turned to her. "Welcome to the British Museum, Amisi."

"{My Pharaoh, what is a 'museum'?}" She asked witha puzzled look on her face, as they walked toward the entrance.

"It's...well.. Hm. In your first life, your Pharaoh and other nobles collected items and showed them off to demonstrate their power and wealth and culture?"

She nodded and brightened up with a happy smile. "{Ah! So this is the temple that your Queen has established to show her people her power and wealth and the tribute from foreign lands!}"

Percy sighed and shook his head. "Right. Close enough, let's go with that then. This is to educate our people about the cultures that came before us."

After paying the entrance fee, Percy steered Amisi to the left and then he winked at her. "Close your eyes and I will direct you."

She looked at him and smiled, then nodded and closed her eyes, letting his hands on her shoulders guide her through the crowd, she made a turn, and then Percy whispered. "Open them, Amisi."
Spoiler: Egyptian Hall


Amisi's eyes slowly opened and then she had to blink seawater tears away as the image in front of her blurred. Directly in front of her, towering with regal majesty and larger than life, sat two Pharaohs. Although worn from the passage of centuries and the lash of desert sands, they had been lovingly restored and the black stone that they had been carved from shone as it would have in her youth. Past them other statues and artwork stood, each with their own plaques explaining who they were and what they represented to the thousands of Londoners and tourists who visited the British Museum.

"{Ho, Unis! You have not gone away dead: you have gone away alive. Sit on Osiris's chair, with your baton in your arm, and govern the living; with your water lily scepter in you arm, and govern those of the inaccessible places.}" Amisi whispered reverently as she raised her palms up to shoulder level, just as she had when her Pharaoh boarded her. Just as the priests in the temples had to honor their Pharaohs living and dead. She then turned, grabbed Percy by the shoulders and kissed him with all the force in her slender frame. "{T-thank you My Pharaoh!!}"

"Eep!"" Percy exclaimed in shock then untangled Amisi from him with some difficulty. "Not here. Not here!"

"{As you desire, my Pharaoh.}" she spoke demurely with her eyes downcast and a blush on her skin. Silently she chided herself for breaking the customs of this strange new land. Some Great Wife she would be if she did not honor his new homeland and family!

"No harm done, Amisi...now where is Dr. Herbert...aha!" Percy spoke as he guided her through the crowd to a massive stone head and torso carved from seven tons of granite, towering over the crowd of tourists and dominating the room. "Ramses the Second...in the stone as it were."
Spoiler: Ramses II


Amisi's eyes widened in awe as a portly white haired man stepped beside her and absently stroked his beard. "Takes your breath away, does it not? One of our poets said it best, I feel. 'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'" His voice rose triumphantly as he quoted Shelley's Ozymandias, then laughed self-deprecatingly as he continued the poem."'Nothing beside remains. Round the decay\Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare\The lone and level sands stretch far away.' Percy, your father is well?"

"Yes, Doctor Herbert. It is good to see you too. May I introduce you to the young lady Father mentioned, Miss Amisi Sunriver?"

Dr. Herbert bowed to her and then warmly shook her hand. "It is a great honor Miss Sunriver. A great honor indeed! I am led to believe that you are the spirit of an Ancient Egyptian solar barque?"

"{Yes I am. But I am nothing special certainly, sir. Just a simple servant of my Pharaoh who I loved in both his lives.}"

Percy coughed and blushed. "Yes, well about that. Dr. Herbert, can you tell Miss Sunriver about the collection?"

Herbert gestured for them to walk. "This is a sample of our collection. The largest and best and most complete outside Cairo. Yet only a fraction of what existed once that we know of and suspect. Three thousand years of history, rises, falls, rebirth on the foundations of the past. And yet so much has been lost. Why it was only two centuries ago and thanks to the lucky discovery and then decryption of the Rosetta Stone there," He gestured at a inscribed tablet in pride of place in the collection, "that we could begin to even read the hieroglyphic inscriptions. As one of the curators of the Museum's Egyptian and Assyrian Section, I am in negotiations with my counterparts in Egypt to allow a tour of some of Tutankhamun's treasures, perhaps for the centennial of Carter's discovery."

Amisi paused. "{Tutankhamun? I...do not know of him, Physician Herbert.}"

The curator laughed. "And you may be the only person interested in Egypt who does not, Miss Sunriver! Tutankhamun, or as people call him, King Tut was a young boy who reigned for nine years before dying of disease three thousand, three hundred years ago. A minor Pharaoh from the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom, a footnote in history...but...but!"

His eyes gleamed and he placed his arm around Amisi's shoulders to gesture to the artworks surrounding them. "Of all the hundreds of known Pharaohs, of all the tens of thousands of royal children and Great Wives and Concubines, Tut was unique. His was the only tomb to remain undisturbed by looters and time until the modern day. All the rest, all the titans of Egypt like Ramses II, Thutmose III, Khufu, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten... All had fallen to time, or thieves, or war, or fanatics. But Tut, a boy king, was the only one to have his tomb remain untouched until an Englishman was the first to shed light into the darkness when he opened a small hole in the sealed outer door and shone a candle inside on the 23rd of November, 1922.

"Raymond Carter saw the glint of gold and the shapes of strange beasts, and his sponsor Lord Carnaveron asked him if he could see anything. Carter could only reply 'Yes! Wonderful things!' and spent the next decade carefully excavating and preserving each artifact. From the everyday and plain like his cane to help him walk to the most spectacular in the golden funeral mask of the boy-king so we could learn as much as possible about Tutankhamun, his life, his times, his people, his country, so to teach it to others." Herbert's eyes shone and he looked into Amisi's eyes. "And that brings me to you, my dear. Lady Amisi, while the Modern World does honor the memory of the Old and New Kingdoms, it's only what despairingly minuscule amount we managed to remember or rediscover. The world rediscovers more every day, but so much has been lost to the sands of time, or looters, or the forces of nature, or the folly of fanatics... You? You are the living memory of Old Egypt, of the Egypt of Gods and Pharaohs, Myths and Legends, so you can help us remember or reveal the glory that was lost and honor it as it deserves. By every right, it should make you more important, more vital, in this current age than every Pharaoh ever."

Amisi stood speechless, saltwater streaming from her eyes. She trembled like a cedar tree in a tempest with the force of her emotions and Percy moved to steady her. Softly and gently he spoke in her ear. "He's right, you know."

 

[darthcourt10]

Yellowhammer


An Egyptian Sunshipgirl in Queen Elizabeth II's London (Epilogue)

Pericles of Athens (Statesman of the 5th century BC) "Wait for the wisest of all counselors, time."

Time passed, as it always does. The Statute of Secrecy fell, the Abyssal tide was checked and then swelled again. But this is not a story of those great and terrible days. Instead after those events a family came to the British Museum via its recently installed Floo network.

Amisi Sunriver-Weasley dusted off her younger daughter's hair gently, and then looked at the form of her elder daughter as Chione towered over her.

"{Chione, Nitocris be sure to pay attention. One day you will Awaken and act as a living witness too.}"

The tall and slender Chione rolled her eyes briefly before responding in a long-suffering tone. "Yes, Mother, I will be sure to pay attention."

Nitocris just nodded quietly and adjusted her glasses as Percy arrived.

"{My Pharaoh! You look divine as always.}"

Percy accepted the compliment, kiss, and straightening of his tie with long-suffering grace, then followed Amisi to the Doctor Henry Herbert Memorial Lecture Hall in the new Museum annex. As he and the children took their reserved seats in the front of the packed hall, Amisi gracefully walked to the lecture platform. She stood there, looking at the eager audience, and the cameras magical and mundane recording her lecture for generations yet unborn. Her clothing shimmered to form the linen robes that she had worn in Ancient Egypt and she began to speak in English.

"Let us take a moment to honor a good man and a better friend. Doctor Herbert spent his life questing for the truth, so that one day we would all remember the deeds of our forefathers. I wish to remember him too, for such is the honor and privilege given to us all. As we remember them, they live on in us. He was a good friend, not least for introducing me to his favorite books that he had enjoyed as a young boy dreaming of night-haunted mysterious pyramids, great and terrible deeds, kings and queens both wise and foolish."

She raised her ankh wand and an Ibis-headed scribe towered over her, writing on a scroll, that opened up into a blank sheet of Papyrus that covered the back wall. A memory formed within it as the spell that she and her husband had developed took hold, letting her memories come to life. The Nile flowed and a boat crew counted time with a song that had been lost in the depths of time until now.

"Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!"

A.N.-All credit to Maes for this scene. He had the core of it and gave me the climax of this part of Amisi's voyage of self-discovery. Also, Amisi is quoting the Fifth Dynasty Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts that describe the entombed Pharaoh's journey through the afterlife on her first sight of the Egyptian Hall. Thank you for putting up with my take on Amisi, and Merry Christmas to all!

Oh and in case people wonder what Amisi's final line is about...
Spoiler: One of the best musical openings to a movie ever

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

A.N./ tfw your PC's PSU explodes two days before xmas

At least I can still post from my phone


Juuchi is, in her own humble, unpresuming opinion, a genius.

Her current ploy of pretending to be a student, was proving to be beneficial and advantageous far behind her initial expectations. Not only did it allow her to move among the student population of the castle, hidden within plain sight and without arousing suspicion, but it also allowed her to better keep a watchful eye over her master during breaks between classes and meal times.

Case in point, the breakfast she was currently at. Not only did it allow her to gather intelligence and observe the student and teacher population in plain sight, but it also provided and avenue for keeping keep an eye on her young master.

There was also the rather pleasant fact that it gave her an excuse to have a snack at the same time.

Sure, blood oranges weren't exactly a common place part of the Hogwarts menus, but the rest of the food was nice enough.

There was also the advantage of being able to inconspicuously mingle among the student body, at a time of day when tongues often ran loosest with gossip. Kids catching up with the latest hearsay and class room rumors, were often far less unnoticed than they thought, while older students regularly openly debated recent events from both the newspapers that arrived every morning, and the current goings on in the school's own hall-bound dramas.

Goings on like the visitor they had apparently had last night.

Go figure that the one night she is away from the school to protect her master, something somehow apparently even worse than a dementor shows up.

Having snagged a position on the very end of the Hufflepuff table, Juuchi surreptitiously listens in on the group of seventh years, who are all too absorbed in their conversation to notice they have an eavesdropper on the side of their group which is otherwise empty of people from the rest of the house beside a lone 'second year'.

"I'm telling you guys," says one who looks like he was kept up by the storm last night and forgot to shave this morning, "what ever that thing is, it is not human."

"Maybe it's a dementor in a person suit?" quips an uninterested girl, who's bespectacled gaze seems more focused on her class schedule than her friends.

Another boy, a foppish blond shakes his head. "You didn't see this woman when she came in last night. You wouldn't be joking about it. There's something off about her."

A second girl, now leans in conspiratorially, narrowly avoiding getting her red hair in her porridge. "You didn't hear this from me.... but I heard from Jenny, who heard from Carl, who heard from his girlfriend, who's sister told her not to tell anyone that their uncle was part of the Auror guard shift last night, that apparently the dementors were terrified of this lady. They couldn't even make eye contact with her, and were scared off every time she so much as looked at them."

"Dementors don't have eyes to make eye contact with," drawls spectacles-girl boredly.

"Not that we know of," counters five-o'clock shadow.

The fop meanwhile, shivers. "I can see it happening."

Gossip-girl then gives a grin of victory and reaches out as an owl lands in front of them. "Ahah!"

"What have you got there?" asks five-o'clock shadow curiously.

"Proof!"

Her glasses wearing friend raises her eyes dubiously when she sees the cover. "Proof? From the Quibbler of all things."

The other girl of the four friends grins. "I heard from Sam who was told by Mike, who's cousin Jean is married to a wizarding wireless recording technician for WWBC4, that they were here last night. I heard they originally wanted to write a news article to go into more detail than their wireless report on something they saw when she arrived at the gate last night. But the Profit didn't want to run the piece or use any of the pictures they took FF some reason. I heard from a fifth year, who know's a third year, who knows old Xenophillus' daughter who's a second year, that apparently Lovegood heard about the article and wanted to run it instead."

The blonde of the group makes a face. "But..... The Quibbler?"

"It wasn't actually written by Lovegood himself, so I figure it's worth a bit more stock and based in reality and facts," counters the gossiper defensively.

Spectacles-girl taps at a line of the article in question dubiously. "This doesn't actually say what the hell she is. There's just a lot of spitballing about her potentially being something inhuman. Really though, this sounds to me more like someone simply with exceptional legilimency skills and a fondness for ice and foreign clothes."

"Are you kidding me?" Holding up one of the other pages of the paper, five-o'clock shadows gestures emphatically at one of the pictures taken, that Juuchi can't quite see from her current angle. "Look me in the eye and tell me that that does not look like something inhuman wearing a person suit. Look at those eyes!"

Blonde fop grimaces. "Honestly, I think the picture just makes her look like a frigid bitch of some kind. If you saw the eyes of the real thing, when she first rocked up to the castle after dinner last night- in the brief moment before she came inside and then was all smiles around Dumbledore-"

"Which was honestly almost as creepy and made her feel like some kind of stepford wife that would go horror slasher villain in the middle of the night," chips in gossip girl.

"-you'd be on board with us on how wrong and creepy this chick is."

Five-o'clock shadow shivers and puts the page back down, while spectacles-girl rolls her eyes. "Well thank goodness I was in the library then," she says with sarcasm lacing her voice.

As the four friends break into yet another round of circuitous debating, Juuchi risks sneaking peak at one of the pictures in the paper five-o'clock shadow was gesturing at. The darkness and torrential, pouring rain in the moving picture, occlude much of the detail in the image. This forces Juuchi to shift and frown, trying to make sense of what she's looking at, as what little light available plays across the shadowed figure, backlit by the fog lamps of a gothic carriage behind it.

The visitor holds itself with unnerving grace and courtly, aristocratic poise, even as the rain bears down on her somewhat androgynous, but most likely female form. One hand holds what seems to be an eastern-style paper umbrella, while her other hand rests upon something at or near her hip. Maybe a ornately large wand holster, or the hilt of one of those sword wands she occasionally still sees. Her clothing is also possibly Japanese, but in the darkness, she can't be completely confidant in that assumption. The presence of either a ribbon or bow in the hair, also lends further credence to the idea that the figure is female, or at least carries the form of one. The face however, is rather difficult to discern through the darkness. Her brow furrowing as her concentration intensifies, Juuchi is just barely able to make out frigidly sharp glints of an ice cold glare, set in what porcelain pale skin is visible.

Then, for just the briefest of moments, the magical wizard photograph is awash with light. An animated lightning bolt cracks through the air, illuminating the world within the picture for all to see.

Including the face of the figure in the picture.

Immediately Juuchi recoils in shock and instinctive fear, very nearly choking on the slice of apple she is eating in the process. Coughing and roughly swallowing before trying to catch her breath, Juuchi does her best to calm her heart and nerves while glancing back at the newspaper. Thankfully the older Hufflepuffs haven't noticed the brief moment of trouble being experienced by the 'second year' beside them, but then on the other hand, the image in the paper has once more fallen back into the darkness of the photographic night.

Uncertainly, the greatest of the Muramasas then shakes her head, as if the motion can throw the idea of what she saw from her mind.

That couldn't have been her. Surely it was just a trick of the light. She's back in Britain now. Sure, at least it's not the Kyoshu she once remembered (a demon she can now thankfully put behind her once and for all), but....

What on earth would Kagotsuruhe be doing so far from Japan?

Looking to the fruit bowl on the table, Juuchi does her best to clear her thoughts via the mindless action of looking around for whatever piece of fruit next looks most appealing.

'Yeah... that's gotta be it,' she thinks to herself. 'I'm just imagining things. There's absolutely no reason for the most terrifying Muramasa after me, and then Kyoshu to turn up here.'

"Blood orange?"

Juuchi blinks in surprise at the hand that appears out of the corner of her vision, to offer one of the delectable fruits she was only just mourning the absence of from the Hogwarts menu, and often found difficulty in acquiring during the British winter months.

"Why thank you!" she says gladly, accepting the fruit and turning to face the figure beside her.

The figure beside her, who somehow managed to sit down without her even noticing....

The figure of.....


Beside her sits a young, modernly dressed, twenty-something year old girl. Someone who could easily pass for a recently graduated Ravenclaw, just stopping by to visit some younger sibling while at Hogwarts for some other business.

But in spite of the contemporary fashion of her clothes and the smile on her face, Juuchi sees through them for what they really are. The icy light blues and frosty whites of her clothes, are the same cold color palette tones as the ones she saw on a much more traditional Japanese outfit only a few weeks earlier. And behind her softly demure smile that might win over most casual or unaware observers, Juuchi can see what's really in her eyes. Flat emptiness, forming windows into twin blue abysses, absent of all true emotion and depth.

"K-Kagotsuruhe..."

Juuchi shall later refuse to acknowledge that her voice ever wavered, nor that for the briefest moments, she reflexively entertained the notion of taking terrified flight, before logic reestablished itself in her brain. Terrifying though the Sword of Hopelessness could be to the unprepared and victims of ambush, turning up out of nowhere to attack or torment others without reason or obvious grievance was Kyoshu's style, not Kagotsuruhe's. She was also now supposed to be one of the more logical and frank members of the Muramasa sisterhood, for whom diplomacy was not some kind of unheard of lost art.

Serenely, the older Muramasa stares at her sibling, smile unwavering and unchanging. "Hello Juuchi Yosamu."

It takes a moment for for the younger of the two to realize that the Sword of Hopelessness is still holding out the blood orange in offering. Uncertainly, Juuchi looks between the held out fruit, her sister blade, and then the basket of blood oranges she now realizes that Kagotsuruhe has placed on the table.

Almost like a peace offering.....

Juuchi returns her gaze to Kagotsuruhe, now with curiosity mixed with wary confusion. "Why are you here?"

Still ever smiling, the Sword of Hopelessness cocks her head without any actual alteration to her mask of unnerving friendliness. "Do I need any reasons beyond politeness and courtesy to visit my dearest imouto-chan?"

Juuchi's eye twitches at the switch to their native Japanese for the term of endearment. "Don't call me that!" she bites out with a reflex that comes unbidden.

Kagotsuruhe simply raises an eyebrow. Something that is less like a change of expression, and more like somebody swapping masks in how her face briefly transitions from 'smiling uncanny-valley doll' to' neutral blankness', before then becoming one of 'mild sardonic observation'.

"Well," comments the Sword of Hopelessness casual evenness. "I figured that would go over better in greeting than 'foolish little sister'."

Even with just the emotionless, neutral tones of Kagotsuruhe's detached deadpan, Juuchi can't help but shudder. An instinctive shiver runs through her, causing a flare of anxiety and nerves as a ghost of centuries past whispers those same words in a much more different tone.

The cruel, cultured laugh of bemused mirth, like a woman-child about to rip the wings off a fly, and eager to revel in the sadism of doing it, millimeter by millimeter at a time to draw out the suffering.

"Fufufu.... orokanaru imouto yo...."

Doing her best to shake off the haunting memories of a past she has only ever found confidence in recollecting, when considering how far removed from their origins she is when in Britain, Juuchi fixates a glare on her sister who's entire existence is defined by calling up memories and nightmares others wish to leave forgotten.

"Why are you here?" she demands with quiet suspicion, surreptitiously glancing about to check there is no one watching their on going interactions.

"Well, to be entirely honest," says Kagotsuruhe. "What brings me to Britain is a matter of maintenance."

"Maintenance...?" It takes her a few moments to realize that the blank-faced and deadpan Muramasa is not somehow attempting to make a joke or have her on.

"Wait... you're serious? Really?" Juuchi stares in utter confusion. Considering how hardy they are as magical swords, the vague answer of 'maintenance' was the last excuse she expected.

Kagotsuruhe simply gives a vague nod. "Indeed. I can see the disbelief in your gaze, but in counterpoint, the last few years have done much to disprove the previously held notions for just how untouchable and impervious to harm we really are."

"Kyoshu," hisses Juuchi.

"And she is not the only one anymore," adds in the older Muramasa, causing Juuchi to look at her with intrigued worry. "You missed the get-together, what with being out of the country, but just a few days before I arrived here, the rest of us ended up helping Honjo out with something. Some fool with more money and hubris than sense, ended up enabling the activities of some scum with either relation or access to records of Unit-731 activities during the war. Most likely the same Sub-Unit that 'worked on' Kyoshu."

That captures the younger spirit's attention, even as Kagotsuruhe continues. "They had one of Honjo's sisters which they were putting through their.... 'ministrations'. She's barely better than Kyoshu now, or at least that was the case when I left. And even that's debatable. Kyoshu is missing essentially all of her personal memories and portions of her mental capabilities, but at least she can still walk and talk."

Juuchi boggles at the thought. "And that was a Masamune? You're certain that was one of Honjo's sister?"

Kagotsuruhe nods, causing her sister to run a disbelieving hand through her hair. While she has no love lost for Kyoshu, and it's honestly a bit hard for her to find it in herself to feel any kind of pity or even compassion for the Sword of Faded Memories current state, for someone else.... even a Masamune to be put through whatever must have utterly broken her most hated and reviled foe so thoroughly.... Juuchi feels revulsion at the idea of an innocent being subjected to even a limited or more 'refined' version.

For the moment though, she turns her attention back to the original subject at hand. "So you're... what? Looking for back up materials or something because you're a walking crime against all that is humane and good in the world? Why Britain then? Hell, why come all the way to Hogwarts?

Cycling through her 'masks', the Sword of Faded Memories finally settles on a now unintentionally creepy 'enthusiastically friendly' smile. "Would you believe it is thanks to something you did, if only for the irony of your own actions being what brought me here?"

"My actions did what now?" asks Juuchi, as her sister reaches inside one of her pockets. Pulling out a folded newspaper clipping, Kagotsuruhe reveals it to be an article cut out from the world section of a Japanese magical newspaper. One documenting the deaths of numerous dementors after they intruded upon the Hogwarts Express, and inflicted themselves upon a number of the students, only to be utter destroyed by a variety of actors present. Some of whom were known and unknown.

"Oh..." apparently not so unknown to her sisters though.

Juuchi then frowns as she realizes what Kagotsuruhe must be after. "The bones."

"Correct," acknowledges the Sword of Hopelessness with a dip of the head.

"No," says Juuchi as she taps at one image in particular. "You're after the perfectly cleaned ones aren't you?"

"That I am," answers her sister.

Juuchi however, can't resist the laugh of smug schadenfreude. "Unfortunately, you may have come to the wrong place then."

Kagotsuruhe merely shifts her expression to one of mild intrigue. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. Loath as I am to admit it, I'm not one to claim someone else's work." Juuchi grins. "I haven't been doing a very good job of leaving the ones I've been taking down whole. The striped clean bones you're after, were left behind by that Egyptian shipgirl who's always following around the older brother of the red head my master knows, like some kind of lost puppy. I didn't see what magic she used, but it must have been potent stuff, and the bones that were left behind are now at the Ministry or something, last I heard."

"Yes, Heika, as Norimune seemed to identify it," comments the Sword of Hopelessness, as if Juuchi did not just highlight the unfortunate turn of events and complication in her initial plan and assumptions. "And I already know the bones I specifically seek are no longer here. The headmaster of this institution told me as much when I met him earlier this morning."

The younger Muramasa stares in confusion, and does her best to hide her mild trepidation at not only Kagotsuruhe's continued presence at Hogwarts if the goal of her quest is elsewhere, but also her potential proximity to her young master. Strong though his will may be, Kagotsuruhe's aura has exposed the cracks in even the greatest minds and resolves if given time. "Then why are you still here?"

Kagotsuruhe's mask shifts once more, this time to one that seems to be knowing, tinged with a mild hint of amusement. "Because why fight over a bunch of cold bones with others like dogs, when I can get them fresh from the source if I have but the patience to wait. Between yourself, your master's offuda, the magics of the Egyptian, and whatever else this ancient phrontistery has drawn into it's halls of learning this year, it is surely only a matter of time before more dementors meet their ends."

Juuchi still eyes her sister uncertainly. "What about.... your diet? It's bad enough with the dementors outside."

The Sword of Hopelessness merely brushes off her sisters worries. "Oh please, you have naught to worry for. I have my urges under control. Besides, in only the day I have been here, this place has proven itself an even more bountiful nexus for passive feeding, than even the greatest of theater stages."

Juuchi raises a dubious eyebrow, in response to which Kagotsuruhe smiles. "Look around you. We are surrounded by teenagers. This room is a veritable ocean of emotion, across all parts of the spectrum, and often felt at their most heady and intense for even the smallest of things." Subtly, she begins pointing around the room.

"Further down this table, there is a girl who thinks her world is ending, because she woke up this morning with a whitehead of most horrific and noticeable size on the day she had plans to meet up with her crush and confess to him. Meanwhile over at the table of the green snakes, there's another struggling with the pressures of hiding from her extremely conservative parents that she is secretly not only seeing a student of the lions, which would invalidate her prospects for preferred future marriage arrangements in their eyes, but that she is in fact a lesbian. Back at this table of yellow and black, there is a seventh year, who has never known such relief and elation as he does now, to learn from the letter in his hands that his elder sister's trails have been without complication, and that he is now an uncle."

Next she gestures towards the front of the room. "Among those at the high table of the faculty, the greasy-haired man is in a particularly irritable mood this morning, but not because of the difficultly of the test he faces preparing the novice beginner year students for, as so many of them fear. His sleep of the night just past, was one of nightmares in manners at first casual and unassuming, that only haunt when one awakes from them. Things once said, left unsaid, and unforgettable once seen, that linger into his waking thoughts. Something worsened by the fact that he has only just noticed one of the couples at the table of bronze and blue. To the world he shows a face of snide irritation and disgust at such displays of teenage love, which themselves are a radiant pandemonium of emotions, which drive the dementors outside mad with tantalizing hunger. Within however, is such an exquisite pain and self-flagration, of an aged kind I rarely have the chance to taste."

Slowly, Kagotsuruhe spreads her arms in gesture toward the entirety of the Great Hall. "Even passively, this place is a banquet to me."

Juuchi shivers at the thought of the Sword of Hopelessness so casually skimming off the tops of everyone's surface thoughts and emotions so casually to sate her hunger.

"Well, at least I now know how to ruin your day if I ever want to," she says in a sarcastic attempt to escape the thought. "I just got to make the great greasy git happy. Maybe I should put him in touch with Umitsubame, since she apparently became just as fond of potions as Snivellus while I was away. Where'd your banquet be then, huh?"

"Who's having a banquet?" asks a curious, airy voice, interjecting itself into their conversation. Immediately the two Muramasas swivel around to find the third person who has unexpectedly entered their 'family discussion'.

"You are wearing two eye-patches," observes Kagotsuruhe with all the gravity of someone commenting that there might be some clouds outside in the middle of a torrential downpour.

"Oh, thanks for telling me," says the blonde second year student with some pirate-y embellishments her uniform. Namely the double eye patches. "I couldn't see, so I wasn't sure if it was obvious."

Sounding rather off with the fairies, the normally deadpan Kagotsuruhe seems to falter for any response to what is either some amazing shade, or serious cloudcuckoolander logic. Juuchi can't resist a snicker at her sister's expense, while in spite of the eye patches, the girl looks between the two disguised sword spirits curiously.

"I don't know you," she says with a tilt of her head when looking at Kagotsuruhe. "And I never got your name," she then says to Juuchi.

'shit' thinks the greatest of the Muramasas to herself. She never came up with a cover story for her 'student' disguise. It was just supposed to be a random, inconspicuous appearance she could use to blend into crowds and gather intelligence in plain sight. Immediately her mind fumbles for the first thing that comes to mind, before then another idea comes to mind. Maybe if she can just deflect....

"This is my older sister Kagome." / "This is my dear little sister June."

Juuchi pauses at the overlap of voices.

'Wait- what the-?' briefly, she glances at Kagotsuruhe, and sees her giving a smile to the girl that is for once not unnerving, but still oddly ethereal. For the shortest of intances though, Kagotsuruhe's gaze flicks to and meets her own.

'That bitch!' thinks Juuchi to herself. 'She had the same idea as me!'

"Ah, I'm Luna. " The pirate blonde pauses, then looks at the two curiously. "Your names sound different."

"Our father was odd with names," is Juuchi's reflexive reply, just at the same moment Kagotsuruhe comes out with "June was adopted by a family here in England."

Juuchi shoots her sister a dirty look for the disaster this cover story is already turning into, with Kagotsuruhe merely shrugs in response. Thankfully the second year either takes it as simply something Juuchi is embarrassed about or wanted to be kept secret, or she's too confused to pick up on the nuances of the silent 'sisterly' exchange.

"You're... adopted, but you know your father?" asks the girl curiously.

"Well, knew him, technically. He's dead now, which is part of the problem, not that he was a very good one," 'admits' Kagotsuruhe as she puts her acting skills to use improvising.

"The.... war?" asks the girl with hesitant curiosity.

'Kagome' nods solemnly, causing Juuchi to snort while her sister continues. There was a war alright. A little thing called the Sengoku Jidai they were all wielded in. "We had some rather.... 'problematic' siblings growing up and occasionally not the greatest of relationships-"

"That's an understatement," mutters Juuchi darkly.

"-so we all ended up getting broken up by the system. By chance, June here ended up in England. We only just recently got back in touch. As luck would have it though, some business on the behalf of a friend of mine brought me to England for an undetermined amount of time, so I decided that I would take the opportunity to visit my dearest little imouto-chan while I could."

"I swear to god, say that one more time, and they're never find all the pieces." breaths 'June' under her breath.

"That's good to hear!" says the girl, oblivious to Juuchi's threats. "Family is important."

"It's to bad you can't pick them," adds Juuchi, too low for the girl to hear.

The sound and movements of the student body in the background however, then thankfully put a halt to the conversation. Increasing numbers of students begin to finish their meals, activities and conversations, or at least make to carry them elsewhere, as the masses leaving for classes or study periods grow ever more in number. Briefly, double-eye patch girl then pulls up her sleeve and looks at a watch on her wrist. It's actually a sundial of some kind.

"Well, I should probably head off to class too," she decides with an airy nod, before looking back to the two sisters. "It's a bit of a walk to the green houses, and the storm seems to have finally let up a bit."

'Kagome' nods before looking to 'June'. "I should probably go now anyway. Work waits for no one, and I'm sure June as so much to do as well."

"Yes actually, I do," grits out Juuchi with sweet tones that hide how much she wants Kagotsuruhe to just disappear already. If she's not scouting out the castle and profiling it's inhabitants, all she really has to do is read manga and eat oranges out of boredom. "You really shouldn't keep yourself from your own work and responsibilities because of me, Kagome."

"No, I suppose I shouldn't," says the sword of Hopelessness, as she picks up the basket of Blood Oranges she brought, and then places them in her sister's currently 12-year-old-sized arms.

With her hands full, there is thus little she can do to stop as Kagotsuruhe rises, highlighting the height difference in their current avatars, only to pause partway. Reaching out, the Sword of Hopelessness then performs upon her the greatest and most embarrassing of indignities Juuchi could ever imagine.

Kagotsuruhe headpats her.

"Take care imouto-chan." For the briefest of moments, something almost like natural smugness gleams in her normally empty gaze.

"You too onee-chan." The word rolls off her tongue like a thumbtack coated in chili powder and broken glass. Pretending to pull Kagotsuruhe into a sisterly hug so that their unplanned conversation partner can't see her face, Juuchi's expression becomes a furious glare as she silently moths what she really wants to say.

'I'll get you for this.'

As ever, Kagotsuruhe simply smiles with unerring serenity.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Hearing something, Taigei turned and smiled some at the sight that met her. "Natsumi-Chan."

Said Kitsune adjusted her backpack some and smiled. "Good morning, Taigei-San."

Now looking around, Taigei frowned slightly. "Are the others not here yet, Natsumi-Chan?" When she shook her head, the shipgirl furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced at her internal clock. "Hopefully they arrive soon..."

Perking up, Natsumi looked back the way she had came and smiled some. "Actually, I think that's them now." Moments later, the rest of the group appeared and she gave a wave. "Usagi-Chan! Kaku-Kun! Rika-Chan, and Asuka-Chan! Jin-San!"

With a huff as she came up, Ayaka frowned at her "Rival" and narrowed her eyes. "What? No greeting for me?"

Head tilting to the side, the Ono closed her eyes and smiled. "Good day, Ayaka-San."

Glancing at where Natsumi and Ayaka were now throwing barbs at each other, Asuka blinked before turning to where Jin was shaking Taigei's hands. "... Yeah, so I'm basically here to be one of the adults supervising besides you, I guess?"

Simply nodding, the Submarine Tender gave a chuckle. "Yes, well, I am supposed to supervise some though there are other reasons for me to be going."

Intrigued, Usagi turned to her and blinked. "Really, Taigei-San? What sort of things if you do not mind me asking?"

Humming, Taigei smiled and shook her head. "Well, for one thing I am going to be helping with both the picking of fruit that is there as well as making the preserves. Mostly the second though as I am quite good with that to be honest." A giggle then escaped her and she looked at Natsumi who smiled back. "As well, I want to spend some time with Harry-Chan."

Just blinking, the undead Mizuchi looked between her and Natsumi before raising an eyebrow. "Oookay..." Clapping her hands, she shook her head. "So, from what I heard we're taking one of those vanishing cabinets then?"

Reaching into her apron, Taigei gave a nod. "Hai, which will get us all the way to England though we need to take the left hand one when we come in in."

Confused, Jin glances at an equally lost Asuka before turning back to the shipgirl. "Left hand one? Why that one? And..." Eyebrows furrowing, she frowns slightly. "Wait, does that mean that you have more then one?"

With a slight bob of the head, Taigei pulls out several cards on lanyards. "There's three of them as a matter of fact. One cabinet leads to England, the one in the center when you walk in goes to Kushiro, and the one on the right goes to the Timor Sea. Which means if you take the right hand one, you'll end up in the middle of a bunch of Abyssals."

Freezing, Asuka's voice is nearly a whisper as she imagines it in her mind, stepping out to find a large number of Abyssals staring at her. "Oh..."

Seconds later, the moment is broken as Jin claps her on the shoulder. "Relax, I'd be right there, Asuka." Taking one of the cards, she shrugs before placing the lanyard around her neck and giving one to the Tengu. Meanwhile, Natsumi hands out the others. "So, is it that far into the tunnels, or what?"

Taigei shook her head slightly, "Not too far into the tunnels, no. Maybe a twenty minute walk to be honest, but these will let the guards leave you go past." Checking the time again, she turned and began walking for the door. "Which means that we should be going if we want to make it on time."

As she predicted, twenty minutes later they reached the room in question which had two Marines standing guard outside the door. While one of them nodded at Taigei and began to examine the cards on the lanyards, the other one grinned. "Hey, Jin. Haven't seen you since the beach party, you don't call or anything."

Much to Asuka's shock and amusement, a small blush appeared on the normally tough Mizuchi's face. "Yeah, well... bunch of fucking stuff came up to be honest and been busy."

It was then that the teenaged Tengu realized that he was one of the Marines who had been hitting on Jin during the time on the beach. Internally, she started to snicker. 'I can't wait to tell Kiba this! He'll be so annoyed he missed it!'

Jin glanced at her almost as if she could hear what the teenager was thinking and rolled her eyes before shrugging. "But yeah, one of these days I would not mind a beer or some shit." Glancing at the door though, she blinked. "Wait, why the fuck is this place 'Narnia'? The hell?"

Lips twitching, the man grinned. "Because the wardrobes?"

That got him a facepalm and a snort from Jin as she entered the door after being cleared. "Later!" Once she entered though, she did give a raised eyebrow at the young girl seated at a desk there. 'What.'

Meanwhile, Taigei produced a piece of paper from her pockets and handed it over. "One trip to England, authorized by Admiral Goto."

Only taking the paper, the young girl looked it over before looking through a binder and giving a small nod. "You are all cleared to go. Please proceed to the left hand Cabinet and I hope that you have a nice journey."

With a bow, Taigei smiled at her. "Thank you, Kitakami-Maru. I hope that you have a pleasant day." Then walking over to one, she opened it and gestured inside. "Okay, everyone get inside please." After they all squeezed in, the shipgirl closed the doors and waited until there was a click and then opened them to reveal a different room. "And here we are, England."

Blinking, Jin stepped out and looked around before looking herself over. "Huh. Okay, that has got to be the easiest magical method to travel that I ever had to do before. I mean, feels a bit odd, but at least its not as bad as feeling like you got worked over via beater bat the International Floo leaves yeah feeling." At the confusion, her tone turned dry. "Mom once took me on a trip to Alaska when I was younger, and International Floo fucking sucks ass to no end."

Just grimacing, Usagi shook her head. "And here I was thinking that just the normal floo was bad enough at long distances. Never took the International Floo, and I know that my Nii-San didn't when he went to America for a trip before Blood Week, he took a plane instead."

The Mizuchi grunted at that. "Smart of him. International Floo is like the absolute roller-coaster that you have ever been on, with a real shitty safety record as you're flung everywhere with directions reversing at times or shit like suddenly finding yourself flipped upside down and thrown sideways. Not fun at fucking all." Jerking her thumb back at the Vanishing Cabinet. "But that? Now that, I could get used to."

Needless to say, that got her nods from the Yokai while Taigei was just happy never to have experienced things such as the Floo. Walking up the stairs, the shipgirl moved a bit faster once in the hallway. "Harry-Chan!"

Lightly laughing, Harry hugged her back with a grin as Shiromizu got to the side. "Taigei-Chan!" Said young woman moved somewhat as Natsumi walked over and gave him a hug as well that he returned. "Natsumi-Chan!"

Brightly smiling, Natsumi tightened the hug for a moment before the two pulled away. "Hey, Harry-Chan. So... is everything ready for us to pick fruit?"

Harry nodded at that with a smile of his own. "Hai, everything is ready. In fact, the old Mill house has been set up as a place where we could sleep and stuff."

Grimacing, Ayaka shook her head at that and crossed her arms with a small sigh. "Yeah, though we'll only be there for one night." Seeing him raise an eyebrow, she tapped her watch. "Right now, its about five in the evening back in Yokosuka, even if its morning here. We got to be back by Sunday night, latest so that we can go back to school."

Softly snickering, Harry shook his head. "Yes, and? Time is one thing that we got plenty of." At their confusion, he reached into his shirt and pulled out his time turner. "So no worries about that."

Much to his surprise, Jin moved forwards and grabbed said time turner and examined it before turning her attention onto him. "What the shit, Kiddo? You got a time turner?! Why the fuck would you have one of those, they're restricted as hell!"

Rubbing the back of his neck, the thirteen year old wizard chuckled weakly. "Well... it only goes back twelve hours first of all. And they gave it to me so that I can make all my classes this year. Next year I'll probably not need it as most will go down to once a week or self-study."

For almost a minute, Jin was silent before she spoke slowly. "They gave you a time turner so that you could make your classes... you're serious." When he nodded, she pinched her nose and took a deep breath. "Jesus fucking Christ... I am not even going to ask."

Her eyebrow twitched some though a few minutes later as Harry pulled out two more with an unsure grin. "Um, they also gave ones to Ron and Hermione for much the same reason? Though, er... they leant them to me for this since it is just for the weekend. So we can go back a day and a half."

That time, Jin facepalmed hard enough that their hair moved in the breeze generated.
_________________________________________________________________

Using the time turner so that they could all get some sleep, and then turning back the full amount, the group arrived at the Potter Property at noon on the day before they left Yokosuka. Stretching some, Jin took a deep breath before letting it out. "This is pretty damn nice. Air is clean and..." Cocking her head to the side, she gave a nod. "The nearby waterways are nice and clean, sweet."

All Harry did though was nod at that. "It is pretty nice here to be honest. And since we're all here... the last day we can head into Godric's Hollow if you want and do some shopping for souvenirs and such."

Usagi grinned at that and hopped a bit. "Okay, that actually sounds pretty good."

With a small nod, Harry turned to Asuka with a small smile and then gave the same smile to the others. "If you want, you can all, ah, loosen up some. No one comes up this way to be honest." Eyes widening, the Tengu gave a small groan as she let out her wings while the others let their own Yokai features pop out. 'Well, looks like they'll enjoy it.'

Looking around, Kaku turned to him with a small frown. "You sure that no one will come here? I mean..."

Just shaking his head, the only wizard of the group chuckled. "Nope, not unless someone reports us. And to be honest, no one actually shows up here anyways..." Jerking his thumb towards a stone building, he shook his head. "Besides which, the shipgirl Revenge is over there keeping an eye out for anyone approaching. She'll let us know if someone is coming."

That got her nods before Jin's head whipped to the nearby orchard and stared at it intently. "Yo, Harry." Getting a hum, she continued. "Are you sure that there's no one around? Because I am pretty sure that I see a tree spirit or something watching us with some weird ass cat and dog next to her... what the hell? She just vanished? And so did the other two things?"

Eyes wide, Harry froze before turning himself. For several moments he did not say anything before relaxing. "Huh, and here I was thinking that it was just a story."

Her eyebrow raised, Jin turned to him with a small frown. "Story? What do you mean by that?"

Not saying anything right away, the black haired wizard continued to watch the trees before letting out a chuckle. "Well, there was a family legend written down in one of the books Mum got from my... my parents house."

Feeling a hand, Harry looked to find Jin with sympathy in her eyes. "You don't need to say more if you don't want to."

However, the thirteen year old shook his head. "Its okay, but anyways... according to the book, my family made a deal with one of the travelling bands of fair folk. One of which was described as a dryad. Anyways, to make a long story short, the deal stated that as long as they would protect the family and treasures, they could stay here. The story also went on to say a few decades later, the leader of the band gave one of my ancestors a child, said child being another ancestor. There were also hints that we may have, well... had other children with them through history."

Slapping her hand against her face, Jin groaned. "Great, the Fair Folk. Just one thing." Pulling her hand away from her face, she frowned. "Are we in any danger from them?"

Just shaking his head, Harry frowned. "Not really? Potters are blood to them, and thus we're not in danger besides the odd prank. Same with anyone we care about really, they're safe as well. But... try to steal from us..."

That made Jin snort and shake her head. "And suddenly so much becomes clear." Shoving her hands into her jeans pockets, she frowned. "So, any traditions or stuff we should be informed about?"

With a nod, Harry pointed at the orchard. "Inside the trees out of sight is some standing stones. The first bunch of fruit that we pick go onto the stone alter inside of it as an offering, I guess. Part of the deal or some such."

Jin grunted a bit and nodded. "Right."

Looking between them, Asuka frowned. "Fair Folk?"

A small frown on her face, the Kitsune of the group shook her head. "They're... dangerous. Remember how our English teacher covered 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?" When Asuka nodded, she continued. "That was about the Fair Folk."

Needless to say, Asuka winced. "Right." Wanting to get her mind off, she looked around and took a deep breath. "What sort of fruit are we harvesting, Harry-San?"

Understanding what she was doing, Harry began to tick off on his fingers. "Well, right now blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, plums, and apples. Oh! And chestnuts!" Head tilted to the side, he glanced at the millpond and nodded. "There's also fish in the millpond that we can catch for our meals if anyone wants to."

It was now that Taigei spoke up and removed a map which she unrolled to show them. On it was shown various places around the property that they could harvest various things. "There's a number of places where we could hit each one, use the time turner, and go back."

Rika let out a hum as she rubbed her hands together and turned to Asuka. "Okay, so how do we do this?"

Slightly taken aback, the Tengu looked between them. "Um, me?" When they all nodded, she chewed her lip. "Why me?"

Placing his hand on her shoulder, Kaku smiled. "Because not all of us have farming experience? You probably got a very good idea as to how we should go about gathering fruit and the like."

Eyes widened, Asuka looked from one to the other before relaxing. "Sure, okay then... first things first..." Turning to Taigei, she took a deep breath. "How many jars do we have for preserves and the like? And how are we going to store them?"

The Submarine Tender nodded at that. "We have about a thousand more or less in my holds just in case." At the looks, she shrugged. "There's plenty around to be honest and generally put, you want to make sure that you have plenty of containers for food when heading out on expeditions. And as for transport? The same, we can shove them into my holds when we're done with them. As well, I have everything that we need to make the preserves."

Getting over her shock, Asuka nodded. "Um, right, that's... good?" With a shake of her head, she lifted off the ground and looked around. "Before we get picking though, we should go to where we're staying and, um... put our stuff down for now."

Harry held up a key ring and jingled them. "Not a problem, you see that stone building by the millpond?" At the nods, he grinned. "That's where we're staying. Its set up right now like a guest house."

Suddenly, Asuka's expression turned mischievous and she started flying over. "I'll see you all there!"

Behind her, the others stared for a few seconds before Jin started laughing so hard she fell over. Something that made Shiromizu sigh and shake her head. "Sempai..." Then, she turned into her Lamia form and grinned as she moved beside Harry. "Get on!"

Doing so, Harry let out a laugh as she shot forward, fast as a flash flood. Meanwhile, the other teens were also running full tilt beside them as they shouted out various things at Asuka for her trick. Something that made the young Tengu laugh as hard as she could while still airborne. About a minute later, Jin sat up and flicked a tear away from her eye. "Okay, that was hilarious guys." Not getting an answer, she blinked and looked around. "Wait, what?"

It was then that she spotted the teens nearly at the millhouse and leapt to her feet with a curse and took off. "DAMMIT YOU BRATS!"
_________________________________________________________________________

By the time Jin reached them, the teens were already inside the old Millhouse. Entering with a grumble, she glanced around the lower floor with a nod. By the door, there was a sitting area with basic, though comfortable, furniture. Over in the back though, there was a magical, self-cleaning stove as well as an ice box along with a sink forming the kitchen. Listening to the teens upstairs, she walked over and turned on the sink before making a motion to create a ball of water that hovered over her hand. Looking at it, Jin then chuckled and walked upstairs, sometimes taking sips of the water. 'Damn, this is pretty nice water.'

Walking into the second floor, she nodded at how there was more then one bedroom there. One of them, she walked into and dropped her own bags into before looking at the beds. They weren't super impressive, but still comfortable. Re-entering the hall, she poked her head into one room where Asuka and Usagi claimed a bed, laying out a sleeping bag onto it. Upon seeing Jin with one eyebrow raised, the Tengu chuckled weakly. "Um, hi, Jin?"

Softly snorting, the Mizuchi shook her head. "Hey, Asuka. Enjoying yourself so far?"

Expression brightening, Asuka nodded some. "Yeah, this is going to be so great! I mean, it was anyways, but still! This is way better then a tent or cabin that I was expecting."

That got her a nod from one of their two chaperones. "It is a lot better then I was expecting to be honest. And is definitely a step up from some places that I have been." Scratching her chin, Jin frowned in thought before shrugging it off. "So... there's, what? Six bedrooms? One for me, you two are sharing one... and I am assuming that Rika and Ayaka are doing the same? That leaves... probably Taigei either with alone or sharing one with Natsumi while Harry has one of his own then."

Coughing, Usagi sheepishly smiled some. "Actually... I am pretty sure that Natsumi-Chan will be sharing a room with Harry-San, possibly with Taigei-San as well."

Jin blinked slowly and stared at her. "What."

In return, the Inaba shrugged and shook her head. "What? When I went over to Natsumi-Chan's place... today? Anyways, when I went over for some last minute things she mentioned sharing a sleeping bag with Harry-San and Taigei-San. Her Oba-San just shrugged since apparently they get into cuddle piles all the time."

Pinching her nose, Jin sighed. "Right, of course." Internally though, she groaned. 'Dammit... hopefully those two don't act like average teens in that sort of situation.' Then shaking her head, the Mizuchi shoved that to the side. After all, she did not volunteer for that shit and she was mainly in charge of Asuka. "Anyways, once you're done come on down stairs so that we can get together and discuss exactly how we're going to do this now that we're here, okay?"

Nods were given and she ducked out to check on the others.

Once they were all downstairs, Jin was lounging back in a chair while the teens were all huddled around a map. Finger tapping, Rika frowned as she looked around. "I think that we should actually work on the blackberries in this area first, maybe the raspberries as well. Then we use the time turner to go back twelve hours and work on the apples here."

Her finger tapped another spot which got nods as Harry frowned. "Um, Taigei-Chan? While we're doing the apples, could you get started on making preserves from the blackberries and raspberries?" Looking over the map, he blinked at one stand of trees. "Wait a second, damsons? I got damsons here?"

Confused, Asuka looked down at the spot. "Damsons? What are those?"

From where she was sitting back, the oldest of the group shrugged. "They're kind of like western plums. Some are good, some aren't." At the looks, Jin shrugged. "Had some as a kid."

Intrigued, Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "Actually, it makes a bit of sense to be honest." When the others turned to him, he shook his head. "Damsons can be used in cooking, but damson wine used to be pretty popular in England. And my family was already growing varieties of plum, pear, and apples for alcoholic drinks as well as normal edible ones. From what the family history books stated, they used to sell them to other magicals after the Statute came down, and to non-magicals before including royalty. Not something one would expect, but..."

There were nods from the others as that made sense, and it was a pretty easy way to make money as well. Head tilted to the side, Shiromizu frowned some in thought. "There's a lot here to pick to be honest. Though..." Cupping her chin, she frowned. "That also begs the question of how we're going to split what we make."

Looking around, Natsumi shook her head. "Well... we're each going to have at least a dozen jars of preserves. And maybe a pound or two of chestnuts and other fresh fruit? Some of the rest will go to the base for their share..."

Harry then spoke up. "And whatever is left can be donated to those who need it for free."

Around him, there were nods and the like. Unnoticed by him, Jin was only smiling as she watched the teens work.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts Omake: Juuchi burying shit in the backyard

yukicrewger2 said:
They shed everywhere and bury their shit in the back yard?​

Umitsubame was walking towards the house at Zuchi when she paused at the sight of Juuchi filling a hole in the backyard. Blinking, she walked over and crossed her arms. "Juuchi, what are you doing?"

Shoving her shovel behind her, she blinked innocently. "Just preparing a garden... that's all." When her sister leaned in, Juuchi turned her head away and hummed. "Just burying some manure..."

About to say something, the spear opened her mouth only to freeze as a voice echoed up from underground, which she recognized as Akutoku's. "Dammit, Juuchi! I said that I was sorry about what happened! Now let me out!"

Innocently blinking, she gave a smug smile to the facepalming Umitsubame. "See? Manure."

TempestK said:
And in the end, Juuchi just can't help but like the younger girl. Before the pirate shipgirls show up. Anne especially already knows who she is, the Potters recognize their own after all. So Juuchi is warned not to toy with their little moon and to come clean about who and what she is. The poor girl's had a hard enough life as it stands, and every friend is precious to her.​

Somehow, I don't foresee Juuchi having much issue with that...

XenoTekker said:
Maybe not that, but they ARE difficult to handle when gathered in groups.​

That... is true enough.

jgkitarel said:
Jin: Harry... Catherine, there is something about her that's just not right. And I am a Mizuchi who became an Onryo. She wanted to See me.
Harry: *shrugs* What do you expect? I mean, she had an obsession with Death before she died and basically became a Guardian Ghost for the Potter family. Well, so long as you don't try and remove her skull from her room, or do anything else that's being a right git to her spirit. I left her flowers and all on Obon. She's family, Jin. And trust me, from what I've read about my family history, she wasn't even close to being at the top of the list of being not right.​

The sad part is exactly how true that is...

jgkitarel said:
She would mention how she settled a debt to Charlus Potter. And how, at the wedding between Rose and Haruna, Harry telling her that Charlus had it coming, it was hilarious to learn about, and he will remember to not piss her off. Well, not intentionally, at least.​

With Harry unintentionally giving her one heck of a burn...

jgkitarel said:
I can see this. Luna is one of those characters who is easy to like. Yes, she's an odd one, but she is also entertaining. Also, Juuchi loves watching her Troll people just by being herself. Where a Potter would have to put in some effort, Luna does it naturally.​

Point.

Barricade said:
Nah.

Luna already *knows* that 'June' and 'Kagome' are swords that move on their own and talk.

She's just so utterly blaise about things that it doesn't even ping on her (albeit, warped) weird-radar. She's just, 'huh, two sword sisters, that's new, cool. Ohhh, a new pumpkin juice blend!!'.

Imagine the looks on both sister's faces when its revealed she knew all along...
jgkitarel said:
Juuchi would just shrug, pointing out that she's not surprised that the girl knew. By that time, she would have known Luna for a bit, after all. Kagotsuruhe would just go "wat" for a moment before regaining her composure. And then, the two would look at each other and nod. They have to introduce her to their sisters. Juuchi because she's a Potter Blade and would just love to Troll them. Kagotsuruhe because watching them bluescreen for a moment, especially if Luna just Lunas.

Well, until both of them see that her and Kyoshu get along like a house on fire.​

Luna and Kyoshu really would get along great...

And drive everyone else up the wall.

VirtualFox said:
I now have an image of the Dryad dragging Jin to Cathrine for spiritual tea trying to understand how she feels lik a cross between the two of them. And then thanking the Fae courts that the Potter's have always been respectful of her and her needs and will never suffer Jin's fate​

That does sound like something that the fae would do...

yukicrewger2 said:
Huh... didn't know skulls could blush like that... can a skull become lesbian? I realize they aren't exactly straight to begin with, but...
Barricade said:
...

Do you have to?
Do you really?

-=-​

^This.

KBTKaiser said:
As a reminder, Luna has Ancient Greek shipgirl ancestry in this story, tracing back to the Iliad.
jmcdavid said:
So in other words, she's going to get some Smols? *thinks about how she would react if she gets Smols of Golden Hind and Queen Anne*
Barricade said:
More likely, she'd get a Smol of one of the Aegean ships. After all, one is her great-grandmother.
VirtualFox said:
This is a situation the word 'BOTH' was designed for​

It would be sort of funny to be perfectly honest.

Lord Khuzdul said:
Aeneid, to be precise.​

Yup, which makes them ancient.

yukicrewger2 said:
yes. yes I went there.

Jin and Catherine sitting in a tree. H-A. U. N. T. I. N. G.
imhotep99301 said:
Just when I thought we'd hit rock bottom, you up and dig further!

Oh, great... and here comes the magma...

NotHimAgain said:
"Are you sure your... grandmother really want to watch Troy? It's... probably nothing like the actual Trojan war..."

"Oh, it's quite alright. You see, all that really matters is that the people who did those things were remembered. We aren't really worried about what form it was remembered in."

3 hours later

"THAT'S MINE, DON'T EAT IT!"

"THS'SS NN NSLLLLLTT!"

"Oh dear."
VirtualFox said:
You want ancient abyssal sail ship girls? That's how you get ancient abyssal sailship girls.​

Sounds about right.

yukicrewger2 said:
With all of the mythological beasties showing up, I had me a little search.

1) Did Issie find her daughter yet? or is she still hanging around Lake Ikeda?
2) Does Hoppou or any of her Fleet know about the Steller's Sea Ape?
3) Have any of the Subgirls ever met an Amabie?
4) I ship an Amefurikozo with an Ameonna.
5) Does Taigei have nightmares about Bake-Kujira?
6) Will there be a fight in the future between Natsumi and Hoji?
7) Has Isonade ever taken out any Abyssals and when will it get an Omake?
8) Will Harry get any Kanko?
9) Was Shinno-Myobu one of Tammamo-no-Mae's aliases? Or is that just for the TypeMOON version?
imhotep99301 said:
10) Will we ever see the Giant Shark and Octopus again?​

*No Comment Noises*

jmcdavid said:
11) Will the good doG meet and fall in love with old Padfoot?
imhotep99301 said:
Unfortunately Padfoot is already taken.​

^This.

yukicrewger2 said:
Remus isn't... but that would imply Sunny taking on a form only seen in fan artworks​

You do realize that she's only taken the form of a wolf to fuck with people, right? She does have a fully human looking form...

imhotep99301 said:
Plus it would probably be less subtle the the deities are trying to be.​

Exactly.

jmcdavid said:
Hey, it's not like open relationships aren't already a thing in HatSg. *points at Harry, Ron, and Percy*
wildredlifer said:
Hmm, considering that all mentioned are under 18 just good friends is all it is.
jmcdavid said:
Well, let's consider that Molly gave Amisi her blessing to take her relationship with Percy to third base...
KBTKaiser said:
ease off on the raunchy stuff, even if Amisi is willing to go all the way for her Pharaoh. Besides, Ooyodo and Supprin would have words with her about seniority.​

Yes, please. Besides which, Molly's exact words were "Help him relax this year when he gets too stressed out". And you can be sure that if she spoke to Ooyodo or Supprin alone, she would say much the same thing.

looneytunes91 said:
Is that a no as in it's not just me and it actually is Aku speaking? Or is that a no as in it's not Aku speaking?​

No, its not just you as it was voiced by Mako, who also did the voice for Aku.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Fat and heavy, the purplish fruit hung from the branches of the tree in bunches. As the wind moved, so too did the branch. Just as it did every year, the tree, over a century old, produced plenty of its fruit. Yet another burst of wind caused it to move and shake slightly, however this burst of wind was not caused by nature like the others.

Rather, it was caused by a curious, teenaged Tengu.

Asuka fluttered around the tree poking her head close to the branches here and there, looking like, to all the world, a slow flapping and giant hummingbird. Choosing one of the fruits, she plucked it from the branch and made her way down to the ground. Once she was back on the ground, Asuka rolled it from one palm to the other examining it in thought before she looked at Harry who was watching with an amused look on his face. "So this is a damson?"

Nodding as the other teen continued to examine the fruit, the black haired wizard shrugged. "A Merryweather to be exact." He then pointed towards another small tree not far away. "Over there is some Shropshire damson and according to my family records we used to sell them to the various noble courts."

Head tilted to the side, Asuka considered that before turning her attention back to the fruit. Using some water from the bottle next to her, she rinsed it off before bringing it to her mouth and taking a bite. Eyes closed, she chewed before swallowing and smacking her lips. Opening them, Asuka frowned some at the fruit. "Hmm... it is sort of sweet and tart? Though it also makes me thirsty." Taking a sip of her water, she tilted her head to the other side. "Not really all that bad."

With his hands in his pocket, Harry smiled some. "Yeah, they're not exactly bad. They make great jams and stuff for desserts."

Taking another bite, the tengu nodded some. "I can guess." A thoughtful look on her face, she frowned some. "So these grow in Britain? How far north?"

A frown on his face, Harry gave that some thought before shaking his head. "Not sure how far north, but pretty far? From what I heard they're the only plum grown north of Norfolk here in England." Turning to a tree, he hummed. "They take a time though to grow big enough to have fruit though if you're growing from the stone, but they've been around a long time."

Interested, Asuka finished off the last of the fruit before turning her attention onto him. "Really? How long?"

Harry just shrugged at that. "A long time? The Romans ate them when they were here almost two thousand years ago." Much to his amusement, she went to the Shropshire and grabbed one of those before munching down on it. "And I am pretty sure that they've been around in Europe longer."

Not saying anything for several moments, the other teen looked at the pit left from the fruit she had been eating before tossing it. Rinsing her hands, she dried them with a burst of wind. "So they can grow north of most other soft fruit like it, and... from what I can see produce a lot of fruit." Cocking her head to the side in a way that reminded Harry of a crow, she tapped one finger against her chin. "And the English made wine from them? Really?"

That got her a nod from Harry. "Basically. I mean, it was a fruit wine mind you, but pretty popular just the same. Not many make it now..." Frowning, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, outside the magical world anyways. It was another way for my family to make money such as with the perry pears and cider apples, as well as plums for jerkum. They also made great windbreaks for other trees in the orchard."

Scratching her head, Asuka eventually shrugged. "I've heard of worse reasons for an orchard. Though... how are you going to handle stones?"

On Harry's face a slight smile appeared. "There's actually an old spell developed to remove stones and seeds from fruit without harming the flesh. Which means that we'll have plenty, though..." Leaning forward, he whispered to her. "Junyou wants us to bring a bunch of damsons back so that she can try her hand at making dansom wine."

Giggles escaped from the teenaged Yokai before she suddenly hugged him. Pulling back from the surprised Harry, she smiled and shook her head. "Thank you, Harry-San. Bringing me here... brings me back to when I lived on Izu Oshima, though we didn't really pick much fruit there."

All Harry did though was smile and nod back to her. "You're welcome, Asuka-San."

With a nod, she flapped her wings and lifted a few feet off the ground. "Anyways, I should go and check on the others. You going to be okay here, Harry-San? I'll come back soon and give you a hand with collecting them."

Just chuckling, Harry gave her a thumbs up. "Not a problem, Dess. You go ahead and do that, I'll get started."

Nodding, Asuka grinned and with a whoop, shot through the trees laughing. This was the first time in a while, she really, really got to stretch out her wings. And she had been enjoying every minute of it as she swooped and shot between tree trunks. 'This is so great!' Out of the corner of her eye though, she saw something and slowed down. "Jin?"

Said Mizuchi blinked as she turned from where she had been munching on an apple while examining the odd stone formation in front of her. Harry had called it a dolmen, and on the flat stone at the top was several small piles of fruit. "Hey, Kiddo. How's it going?"

There was a frown on Asuka's face as she looked from Jin to the table which the offerings were on. "Um, good I guess? Just tried some of the damsons and they were pretty good." Eyebrows furrowing, she gave a look to the far older being there who finished off her apple. "Er..."

Softly snorting, Jin jerked her thumb a distance away before pulling another from her pocket. "I got this from one of the other trees over there. Don't worry, I won't steal from another's offering. I am not that kind of dragon... or stupid."

When the teenager nodded and took off, Jin waited a few moments and tilted her head as she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, a few scales spreading on the bridge of her nose. A chuckle could be heard though as a soft voice like the rustling of leaves on the trees could be heard. "Calm thyself, spirit of the rivers."

Biting into the apple, Jin gave a shrug. "I am pretty calm right now, though I am also no longer a spirit of a river. Though you can't blame me for being hesitant considering."

Light laughter, like bells, could be heard before the owner stepped out into view. "No, I suppose it is best to be careful around those such as I. Though no longer a spirit of a river? No, you were, yet still are and will yet be."

Jin didn't answer right away as she raised an eyebrow while observing the woman in front of her. Said woman was dressed in a sheer, tight reddish brown dress which hinted at the body underneath. A body that had a modest bust, but was also toned while covered in tanned, sun-kissed skin with a dusting of freckles upon her face while two, nearly glowing brown eyes stared out from the face with a look of interest, though they also looked somewhat unnerved. From the sides of her head, two pointed ears stood while her hair was the same red as falling leaves while a crown of branches with fruit and berries laid upon the top of her head.

Taking another bite of her apple, Jin gave a shrug. "Who the heck knows anymore? I take it though that you are the dryad of this grove? And, uh..."

Eyes twinkling, the dryad smirked. "And the many great grandmother to young Harry? That is I, and I am she. I am also the leader of the local Fair Folk." Leaning forward, she hummed some. "And you, Jin no Hisakawa am quite interesting, though tragic."

Her own eyebrow raising, Jin frowned. "I disturb you, don't I?"

Rather then say anything, the dryad in front of her tilted her head. Then her expression became blank. "You do."

Straightening, Jin met the Fae's eyes head on, all the while cognizant of the shapes darting between the trees. Then cracking her neck, she chuckled. "Yeah, I get that a lot. I'm not here to cause any trouble though if that is what you're worried about. I'm here because someone needs to look after the kids, and Taigei as well. And the last thing that I want to do is step on any toes."

That made the dryad relax and hum herself. "I would suppose not. But you must admit that one such as you is rather... unsettling. A nature spirit twisted and transformed. You are dead, and yet alive. Mortal yet immortal, human yet a dragon. You are a study in contradictions."

Just taking another bite, the Mizuchi nodded. "I don't mind being one."

Finger tapping against the fae chuckled. "Yes, and something that is rather interesting besides how you are from so far away." Leaning back, she smirked a bit. "Perhaps you would like to... talk?"

Eyebrow raised, Jin rolled her shoulders some. "No offense, but I am really not into that sort of thing."

All she got was light laughter before the dryad grinned, teeth sparking. "A shame, though perhaps you shall speak with dear Catherine. Until we meet again, Jin no Hisakawa... or Molly Maleficus."

Head snapping up, Jin stared at where the fae had stood, now with only a few leaves floating downwards as laughter faded away. Internally though, she groused. 'And this is why I hate the Fair Folk...' Then Jin frowned in thought. 'Though that bit with Catherine is interesting...'
______________________________________________________

Lounging back, Jin groaned while finishing off what was left of a slice of tart. "Now that was some good shit right there." With a sigh, she patted her stomach before stretching. As she did so, though, the Mizuchi caught sight of the various sleepy teens there and snorted. "Tired?"

Asuka bit back a yawn before shaking her head and blinking. "A little bit, Jin. I mean, we got what? Fifteen hours or so of work?" At Jin's nod, she continued. "And it was hard work, even though Taigei-San's crew were helping."
Said shipgirl giggled some as she placed a jar of preserves into the box at one side before beginning to fill another from the pot that was on the stove. "They didn't really mind all that much, Asuka-San. And they also enjoyed themselves."

The sound of Jin clapping her hands onto her thighs made the various teens jump a bit before Jin jerked her thumb. "Okay, Kiddos. Farm work is hard so all of you hit the showers in order. Thankfully, we don't need to worry about running out of hot water here, so you can take some time to get clean from all the sweat, dirt, and berry juice."

With a small nod, Taigei smiled at them. "Once you're done with that and ready, just give me your old clothes." Excepting Harry and Natsumi as well as Shiromizu, the others looked at her with confusion until she explained. "I can take them within my hull and have them washed for you to use. After all, I am assuming that most of you packed for maybe one night."

It was a group of sheepish teens who nodded at her before they got up to get clean and such for bed. Hearing her name, Jin perked up some from where she was sipping a beer. "Hmm? What was that?"

On Taigei's face was a small smile as she put another jar of preserves away into the box before putting it to the side. "I was just thanking you for coming, Jin-San. It helps out a lot with any worries that I had."

Just waving her off, Jin gave a small chuckle. "Don't sweat it, I don't mind helping and this has been pretty damn relaxing."

Taking another filled box, Taigei closed it before shoving it down her apron with it vanishing. Not noticing the blink from Jin, who was still trying to figure out how she could do that, the Submarine Tender gave a small nod. "Still, I appreciate it. Though may I ask a question?" At the motion to continue, she did so. "You seem to have a lot of experience in this sort of thing." When Jin did not answer right away, she flushed. "Sorry if I brought up any bad memories-"

However, Jin snorted some and shook her head. "You didn't, just remembering when I was a kid." Sipping her beer, she hummed. "Grew up on a farm, my grandparents' as a matter of fact, though with Mom gone so often I had to take care of a lot of the chores when I wasn't at school. So I know a thing or two about harvesting and the like." Glancing at the stairs where she could hear Asuka talking with the others, a smile grew on her face. "I am thankful for coming though, Asuka seems to be in a very good mood and this sort of thing is good for her."

Nodding, Taigei gave a small nod. "Well, she certainly seemed to be enjoying herself here. Especially with how she is able to stretch her wings."

Unnoticed by her, the Mizuchi's eyes trailed to a nearby window and she frowned. "Yeah, she's been able to do that. Not much chance for her to really do so back home until the Statute finally gives up the ghost, but its... nice to see her acting like a normal teen." Turning back to Taigei, she smirked. "Think that you'll have enough room though for all the preserves and such?"

A twinkle in her eye, Taigei smirked right back. "I think that I will have enough, but will you?"

Jin simply grinned in reply before patting her stomach with a laugh. "Oh, don't doubt that at all..." Later that night, the undead Mizuchi was checking in on each of the various teens and poked her head into the room where Harry and Natsumi alongside Taigei slept. She raised an eyebrow at the sight that met her as it seemed that the three had combined their sleeping bags and were cuddled up next to one another with Harry in the middle. Eventually, she just shook her head and sighed. 'Yeah, not going to comment.'

Making her way downstairs, she met with a very confused Shiromizu who was there. "Um, Sempai? You wanted me for something?"

With a grunt, Jin scratched her head. "Not so much I wanted you for something, but, well... We got an invite by someone."

That made the younger dragon blink in confusion. "We did? Who?"

Glancing at her, Jin let out an explosive sigh. "One of the locals who wanted to meet you and wanted me along as well. Just consider it a lesson of sorts in diplomacy and how to schmooze." Upon reaching the door, she opened it. "We should get going."

Even though she was still confused, Shiromizu walked out alongside the older Mizuchi and the two made their way to the main orchard. As they walked, Shiromizu blinked as she could see lights move through the trees and then the sound of unearthly music reached her. Entering a clearing though, she came to a stop at the sight that met them. In the middle of the clearing was a large table with various foods and drink upon it, mostly in the form of fruit and the like. At the head of the table was the dryad from before while at other places were various other beings.

One example was a cat-like being currently watching them interest disguised as disinterest. Another was a dog-like one that was bringing food to the table, shifting to a more humanoid form. That one gave a slight smirk at seeing Shiromizu's confusion and stood before bowing. Meanwhile, the dryad smiled and gave a small bow. "Allow myself to welcome you to our feast, Lady Shiromizu, Lady Jin. Please, come and have a seat and the festivities will begin."

Swallowing, Shiromizu turned and gave Jin an unsure look. "Sempai? Um..."

Lips twitching, the older of the two patted her head. "Relax, Shiromizu. We're spirits, not mortals and thus equals to them. Besides which..." Giving a look at the group of fae there, she raised one eyebrow. "The Rules of Hospitality protect us after all."

Hands clasped across her middle, the dryad chuckled. "Indeed they do, we would not want to cause trouble for my Court which would bring in others higher then myself." Gesturing at a chair that appeared, she continued to smile. "If you would."

With a last look at Jin, Shiromizu made her way over and sat in the offered chair. Her Sempai sat down beside her before taking an offered goblet filled with some fruit smelling drink. One was also offered to Shiromizu who took it before giving the odd dog-like creature a intrigued look. Said being hummed a bit with a slight smile before puffing out her, and it was most definitely a her, chest. "Before you ask, Lady Shiromizu, I am a Barghast. And a servant of my Lady." Leaning in, she chuckled. "And as well, I too had a child with the Potters as one was rather... interested... in one such as I."

Blinking slowly, Shiromizu looked first at her own chest, and then at the Barghast's far more ample one while making note of the hips. "Um, I think I can guess why..."

Not noticed by her was how Jin twitched a bit, rather her focus was on what the Barghast was whispering in her ear and making her face feel on fire. Then, at a look from her Lady, the Fae withdrew. But not without a sway in her hips which made Jin groan internally. 'Great...'

Meanwhile, Shiromizu took a drink of what was in the goblet and raised her eyebrows at the taste. Looking down into it, she licked her lips some. "What is this?"

A small smile upon her face, the dryad leaned forward. "It is a wine of sorts that myself and mine produce here. We give it as a tithe to the Winter and Summer Courts, in return they acknowledge that the Potter Property here is Our Kingdom. Please, enjoy it and if you so wish, I can have a cask given to you before you leave for the two of you as a gift... and a second one as well for Others in your homeland as well."

Shiromizu turned to Jin who had a small frown upon her face, but nodded. "I do not see an issue with that."

The smile on the dryad's face and others grew a touch before the conversation turned to other matters. Eventually, Shiromizu got her courage up some and frowned. "Um, can I ask you a question?" Getting a nod, she continued. "Do any of you mind us being here?"

Laughter greeted her from the others at the table before their Lady explained. "No, we do not, Lady Shiromizu. It does Us good to see a Childe of Our Blood return to these lands and to gather fruit. That he brought others does not matter to us, only that they have been Invited by him to do so. And such interesting beings! Truly, Our Blood runs strong within him as it has few before." Gesturing around, she smiled in a way that made Shiromizu squirm. "Perhaps you could tell us how you came to know him though? A question returned?"

Clearing her throat as Jin gave her a small nod, Shiromizu began her story while they ate and at the end of it, the Fae were all smiling in a manner that made her feel like they knew something that she did not. Then the Cat-Sith spoke up. "And so you have joined the Potters."

Somewhat confused, Shiromizu nodded at that though she knew there was more to it. Especially with how Jin's own flinty gaze was focused on the fae. But before she could ask, the dryad stood and clapped her hands with the table transforming into an odd creature that trotted off, followed by the chairs. "Now, the meal has been had and the drink settled! And so, it is time for us to dance!"

Music filled the clearing and Shiromizu found herself dragged off to dance. Watching, Jin gave a growl to the dryad. "What did he mean by what he said?"

Amused, the dryad giggled softly and leaned towards her. "He means that she has joined the Potters as she has. And, in time, shall entwine herself still further, history repeating itself one could say."

Jin frowned more at that as she took apart what was just told to her. "She's not interested in Harry in that way."

Eyes twinkling, the dryad walked off, her last words floating to the Mizuchi. "Who ever said that it would be our Childe that she would be entwined with...?"

When they came down that morning, the others in the group were confused at seeing Shiromizu looking slightly lost. More to their confusion, Jin was on the couch listening to the wireless with a thoughtful look on her face... and a lily pad somehow growing from her head.

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K Snippet: How Kyoshu became how she is

Yellowhammer said:
Yeah, the scary thing is that I see Kago's emotion vampire in part manifesting as describing what she's sampling in the same vein that you will hear a snobby master wine taster describe the glass that was just sampled. "A hint of vanilla from the casks it was aged in to draw out the fruity smoothness as it rolls across your tongue." for instance (not a wine taster here).

My take in Amisi is that while she loves Percy deeply and has all the positive emotions that implies on somewhat of a fraying leash (if he ever made a move on her, his pelvis would need Skele-gro ASAP

), she also has a lot of 'might have been' regrets and unrequited love from her first life with him that have matured and ripened as she waited for him to awaken from his tomb to be with her. After all she was in there a long, long time with nothing to do as she slept but wonder why he had not yet come for her and think about how her memories would have been different if she had only done things 'better'. Ironically, that increases her happiness because she now has that second chance with him, and knows the value of it. So she is getting as much happiness from this time with him as possible and now has the confidence that he will keep returning to his love.

That said, his "Who me, I'm not him!" initial reaction to her did cut her deep, since she does sometimes wonder if he was right when he said that this is a case of mistaken identity. While she is also falling for Percy as himself versus the idealized Pharaoh of her dreams, that is the major chink in her emotional armor. Worse, she is very much at sea and out of time and reliant upon him for even basic needs (which I tried to point out int he London trip snips) and so her greatest fear would be Percy leaving and rejecting her, leaving her alone. If Kago ever wanted to break Amisi right now, the scene Kago projected would be Percy turning his back on her decisively and walking away as the door to her tomb/crypt that she had been stuck in closed behind him and she started to claw her fingers bloody at the unyielding stone while screaming her throat raw for him to come back.​

Ouch

Now that I think about it, I wonder what her turning up her aura would inflict on some of the others currently around, even as unintentional collateral if she were blasting a wider area, or if somebody were unwise enough to try and use legilimency on her.

Dumbledore would probably hear the duel between himself, Aberford and Grindelwald, while Kago's appearance might seem to 'shift' to that of an accusatory Ariana from his point of view.

Snape, I'm not too sure about. Maybe he'd find himself locked in some kind of Tsukuyomi-esque cycle of repeatedly being paralyzed in a third point of view, watching his younger self call Lily mudblood by the lake, then telling Voldemort about the prophecy, before switching to the moment he realizes the prophecy is applicable to the Potters, before finally being trapped in his own first person point of view as he goes through the Godric's Hollow house with purposeful slowness that draws out the discovery of what he knows will be the discovery of the dead Lily.

Harry's Kago-experience would be different from if she were just playing out being a dementor and calling up things that have already happened. An unintentional blast of her aura operating at 'attack mode', would probably dredge up and manufacture 'nightmares' of all his fears of acceptance, people turning away from him, or his loved ones being injured when there's nothing he can do.

Yellowhammer said:
In fact, thinking about it, one or more of the Dementors on the train probably started that very scenario as a mindfuck on her right before she wheeled out the heavy artillery and let fly.​

Her reaction to Kago, even without the aura, is sure to be interesting. Heck, even just having an inkling of what she is and can do, never mind how she was made.

To be entirely honest, I'm not sure how she'd react to Kago. Ancient Egyptian mythology isn't exactly my forte, so I'm not even sure what would be a comparable frame of reference for her to associate Kago with.

Some kind of avatar or demon, seemingly given power over the already alien (to her) element of ice, and born of an object so abhorrent and malevolent by nature, that it is within her power to not only paralyze men with fear and strip them of their sanity, but even kill without a touch via the sheer terror and madness she can inflict.

Yellowhammer said:
And it is absolutely glorious. You can see the personalities just playing off each other and yet under it all, even among the worst relationships like Kyoshu/Juuchi there is a certain sibling bond. Even if, or perhaps especially if, they have frequently dreamed about taking an acetylene cutting torch to each other to 'shut that smug bitch up once and for all'.​

Yeah, it makes them fun to write, that for all their vitriolic interactions, schadenfreude at each other's expenses, clashing personalities, conflicting past histories, and old grudges that aren't always fully healed or buried, there is something that binds them all together. Even if it isn't an actual sense of 'family' or unity in any reasonable way of actually understanding or explaining, if only because they are all Muramasas who have survived to present day, it's there and it connects them.

Yellowhammer said:
That is a fascinating look at Muramasa, and makes a great deal of sense. No bet who the daughter who wanted her pedestal back was, of course. This also gives a subtle reason both why Juuchi is considered to be the greatest of them all, and also why Umitsubama has what it takes inside her to keep this herd of angry smug cats mostly herded, since Umi was one of his final pieces.
Harry Leferts said:
And suddenly, so much about the relationships between the Muramasas make so much more sense...​

"Kyoshu promises to do her best! As the premia- er... peeminemi- mou... what's the word? Ah! As the preeminent blade of the Muramasa-tachi, I will not disappoint you in my performance!"

"Did I do good? I... I did? Mou, I'm not sure how I feel about this, but yay, I did good!"

"Yes! Praise me moar!"

"Wait! Master! Be careful! This foe is- N-NO! OH PLEASE-! MASTER NO!!!"

"S-So you shall be my new master? Then so long as you can remain in step, I shall bring you success in your endeavors!"

"Oh-. another one? So you are my latest master? Well, so long as your will matches mine, I shall protect you, for that is the strength of the greatest of the Muramasas!"

"Wh-What? Of course I can protect you! I am the greatest! It's his fault he died, not mine!"

"W-Wait! How can you not want me?!? I'm the greatest of the Muramasa-tachi!"

"Who the hell is Juuchi Yosamu?!?!"

"I'll show you! Prove your worth warrior- match my will with that of your own and the skill of your soul, and I will never fail you!"

"No! No! It was his mistake! I am the greatest! How could I have failed him?!?"

"This- This is your fault! You people-! You weaklings of feeble flesh and frail will! It's not me who fails! It's you!"

"NO! Wait! Come back! I am the greatest! Let me prove myself!"

"I can prove it! I can prove I'm worth something!"

"Pl-Please! Praise me! Wield me! Fear me! Hate me! Just let me prove... prove... I'm the...."

"....please.... don't ignore me..... don't let me disappear from the battlefield.... don't forget me..... because if I'm forgotten.... how can I be...."

"....how many masters.... how many did I fail?.... no... No!.... NO! I don't FAIL! It Was THEM! It was their fault! It has to be!"

"... my masters.... the only ones who ever mattered.... who left marks even after their successors stole me and erased them.... force is all anyone ever remembers..."

"Fine! I'll prove myself! In the only way that matters! That anyone seems to care about!

"They're all beneath me anyway! Insects! None are worthy! They fail and fail and fail!"

"I am the only one that cares about me! I am the only one that has never let myself down! I am the only one who is worthy of my own blade! I am the only one who is greatest!"

"They shall know I am the greatest! Whether it is through hate or fear! And if they will not love me, they will at least love my greatness!"

"I WILL MAKE THEM LOVE ME! AND I WILL DO IT DO BY PROVING I AM BETTER!"

"If might is what decides, then all beneath me- all who are beneath me, are mine to do with as I please!"

"Greatness knows no master! No restrictions! No bounds! MY WILL IS UNBROKEN, MY STRENGTH PROOF OF MY SUPERIORITY TO ALL! I am Kyoshu! Sword of Faded Memories! Greatest of the Muramasa-tachi!"

"Now, it is time to dispel these foolish notions the world has gained in my master's absence. Now the world shall see who the preeminent blade of the Muramasa-tachi is."

"Why, they should be glad! After all.... if I am so far above them, then.....they should be delighted to bow to the superiority of one such as I! To dance and perform to till my every whim is pleased! ....maybe I should make them see it that way, no?"

"Fufufuf... but my apologies, I'm getting ahead of myself! I don't believe we've even introduced ourselves! .....hmm? No words for me then? Well, why don't I begin first?"

"Hello... ~Juuchi~"

Yellowhammer said:
Actually, while Harry would have some potential difficulty wielding Kago thanks to his orphaning and related traumas giving her an 'in' to his fears, the attitude of 'dark is not evil' and accepting her at face value will probably be eerily reminiscent to Kago of how some of her old masters saw her, especially her final one who saw her as a big sister.
Harry Leferts said:
I can see Harry even afterwards accepting her in a way that those who truly know her have been to be completely honest. He would never be able to use her (and also understand that fact), but he would be more at ease when she is around then a number of others might well be.​

It would certainly earn him some friend points with her

Shinr said:
On a related note, while it is most likely will be nowhere as easy in the actual story, I imagine Kyo-chan using the "Pain, Pain, Fly Away" charm on the Nameless Masamune, and to everyone's bewilderment it actually works and all the memory curses are lifted.​

pffft

I can imagine her being air-headed enough to try.

Harry Leferts said:
Cue epic facepalm from Jin.​

*After creating a few water/sludge-clones before hand, specifically for the facepalm*

Harry Leferts said:
So, chances that she has, or will take pictures/video?​

I'm sure she will make certain to locate a wizarding camera for the next time she corners Juuchi in 'June' form, now that she knows Juuchi is running around as a second year on occasion.

Harry Leferts said:
Hehehehehehe.​

That laughter can only fill me with eager anticipation for the inevitable clusterfuck

Harry Leferts said:
What about Masa the Mune though?​

kek

Harry Leferts said:
Nah, most likely when completely drunk.​

"I luuuuv yooooou guuuuuyshhh! *hic* whu.... whu couldn't we have been more noooormal sishtahs *hic*

"Aku- Aku- Please tell you have your camera."

"Fuck yeah I do."

"I miiiissshhhhed yoooou shhhhooooo muuuch! Exshept Kago and Kyoshu! *hic* Yoooou twoooo! Y-You were neveaah theeeeere Kago! Kyoshu was such a bullllly! *hic* Yoooou two are shiiiiiiit big shistahs!!!"

"Nori?"

"Yeah?"

"This is amazing."

"She's gonna fucking kill us all tomorrow, you do realize that."

"Sure, but not before I upload this to youtube."

"B-But you kooooow whaaaaat?! *hic* I fahgiiiiiive yooooou guuuuuysh!"

"Not in the morning you won't~"

Harry Leferts said:
Well... Asuka does deserve to be a teen, and right now she is in her element in a way due to how she grew up before Blood Week.​

It's so funny seeing her being in her comfort zone and adorkable at the same time

Harry Leferts said:
The dryad would find her frightening... but also interesting. Catherine would definitely sit up and take notice.​

And now we await in eager anticipation of Catherine's interactions

Harry Leferts said:
That... is a very good analysis of Amisi. Oddly, while she was in Japan, I can see her ask Ooyodo about the whole reincarnation thing with her explaining one of the aspects is that they don't have the memories of their past lives, but sometimes do get feelings of familiarity... or at least that is how it is with Natural Borns.​

Funnily enough, if Oyoodo were to mention or put her in touch with Jin, that might give her a lot of hope.

Jin didn't remember squat until she/Molly was 16, and even then, it was only bits and pieces that started to trickle in by a combination of her chance encounter with The Naegling, and her own efforts to tease out more memories/make sense of what was going on with her. And even then, she still got it wrong and only fully understood what was going on once she had the benefits of hindsight and her old memories back.

Harry Leferts said:
Umitsubame also likely has less of a chip on her shoulder due to not being a sword, same with Suisei due to being a tanto.​

Pretty much. Ironically, because she was known from the get go as the 'diet-lite' version of Juuchi applied to a different kind of weapon/not really a sword, it was less for Umitsubame to 'live up to' in the eyes of her wielders/historical perception/'legend that contributes to a spirits nature', meaning she was more free in a way, to comfortably develop into her own person/story.

Unlike everybody else (barring Suisei and Akutoku) who had to deal with the idea of having to surpass/be surpassed by the others.

Harry Leferts said:
Huh... now I wonder what would happen if, somehow, the Muramasas met their creator now that they have their avatars...​

"I'd say you have serious problems, but then that would be the pot calling the kettle black."

"Speaking of black, you there! With the dead eyes and the aura most terrible! More! More!"

"Kago.... Is... he not being effected?"

"Honestly, I have no clue."

"Draw yourself entirely so I may know what I failed to improve!"

"Okay then, well I correct myself. Your serious problems have problems of their own as well."

jgkitarel said:
Juuchi would just shrug, pointing out that she's not surprised that the girl knew. By that time, she would have known Luna for a bit, after all. Kagotsuruhe would just go "wat" for a moment before regaining her composure. And then, the two would look at each other and nod. They have to introduce her to their sisters. Juuchi because she's a Potter Blade and would just love to Troll them. Kagotsuruhe because watching them bluescreen for a moment, especially if Luna just Lunas.

Well, until both of them see that her and Kyoshu get along like a house on fire.
Harry Leferts said:
Luna and Kyoshu really would get along great...​

That would be amazing.

The sheer off-kilterness of their conversations and meandering unflappability, would have everyone else's brains short-circuiting in no time.

yukicrewger2 said:
yes. yes I went there.

Jin and Catherine sitting in a tree. H-A. U. N. T. I. N. G.​

We're reaching crack-shipping levels that shouldn't even be possible!

Harry Leferts said:
Innocently blinking, she gave a smug smile to the facepalming Umitsubame. "See? Manure."​

Maximum kek!

Harry Leferts said:
You do realize that she's only taken the form of a wolf to fuck with people, right? She does have a fully human looking form...
yukicrewger2 said:
Please threadmark this.
Spoiler: Are we talking this?

Spoiler: or this?

(damn... can't get a bigger pic)
Barricade said:
Here's larger versions of both:

1.

2.

Depending on your POV of her various actions in the myths, she could be as 'decadent' as #2, but more than likely looks like #1. And if you want a somewhat better shot of FATE's version of Amaterasu, go look at Tamamo-no-Mae's CCC unlockable outfit. It's effectively identical.
jmcdavid said:
Personally, I think #1 would be a better fit, since Sunny is clearly based on the version of Amaterasu from Okami.​

You know, it occurs to me that with that first one, she could easily walk around Yamainutaira looking like that, and everyone would simply confuse her for an out of town member of the Hokubu. Maybe a close cousin of Kogamaru's/the main family, due to the similarity between the main family version of the clan marking, and Amaterasu's own face marks (an evolution of their very ancient ancestors' original positions as actual messengers of the kami, at least according to the limited records that exist/were saved/carried over to Hokkaido during Shomaru and Daimaru's times)

Harry Leferts said:
-snip-​

Hahaha, so many interesting things going on here....

Definitely going to have to have Jin do something with the Lily pad.

It's a gift from a Fae, so she can't just get rid of it, or even drop it off somewhere.

More than that though, it's growing out of her.

Putting aside the oddness of 'person with a plant growing out of them', this is big for a number of other reasons.

Jin is a water-kami, but stream and river gods in Japan aren't just the water itself. They're the banks and contents of the places they call their homes as well. To a limited degree, they are connected to the earth and plant life as well as the water. It's a two way connection though, which is part of why her original form was angered by the encroachment of human development on her banks, even before the pollution and war damage became what finally drove her into a corrupted and poisonous state in reflection.

The thing is, the state her river was in when she died was so toxic and vile, it, combined with her death, has carried over in a spiritual connection to corruption and decay, as reflected with her more common ways of exercising her powers. Her sludge can rust and rot Abyssals (though admittedly it's a rather slow and torturous way to go), causing permanent spiritual damage as seen with Tsubasa and Soma's little horror movie. She's so corrupted, she can withstand the presence and even physical contact of a Gashdokuro, even if it wins in an actual contest of physical strength.

She's almost more a manifestation of the state her river was in at the time of her death now. Absolutely devoid and incapable of supporting life after being left fetid, stagnant, and choked by stinking muck and firebombing debris. A quagmire filled with ashes, corpses, spilled muggle chemicals, magical refuse, and human waste from broken sewers, left utterly poisonous and full of death.

And now there's a plant growing out of her. Something drawing from her toxic lifeblood.

And it's not dying.

Record the Recording said:
Prank, Jin becoming less undead, or both?
Harry Leferts said:
They're fae.​

So in other words, yes.

TempestK said:
I'm guessing that the Dryad or one of the other Fae has The Sight, and foresaw Shiromizu hooking up with a Potter-yet-to-be. The whole thing with Jin growing a lilypad kind of speaks of some kind of gradual purification happening to her perhaps? And apparently lilypads are a plant that's known to help purify water of pollutants by absorbing them.
r0b0panda said:
I might be reading too much into the LILY pad, but Lily might be pulling a favor with the local Fae and doing something.
NotHimAgain said:
This just makes me think of Lily being a troll, in a kind of silly way.

"Ah-ha! It's a lily-pad, see? Because Lily! Me! And they'll never know if that's why! They'll start to wonder, eventually, but I'm dead so they can't ask me! It'll torment them forever and ever for the rest of their days!"​

Prank or not, Jin is gonna be keeping the thing, and eager about looking after it.

If it can survive off her current form/meat-puppet, presumably it can survive her shapeshifting and the sludge that she becomes when she does so.

So what could happen if she were to plant it? Where could she plant it? What would happen if she planted it, considering it must be tied to her, in order to survive her nature?

Harry Leferts said:
Time in regards to the fae can be... wonky, to say the least. So to them, they could very well be seeing Jin as she was long ago, Jin as she currently is, and Jin how she will be... all at the same time for example. As for the lilypad? There are meanings within meanings there...

Also, it is likely to drive Jin up the wall figuring out what the hell it is all about, which makes it all the more amusing.​

Funnily enough, I could see Jin liking the thing, regardless of how much it makes her brain hurt trying to figure out the implications.

If they gave her something that wouldn't be out of place in Japan, it's actually probably a Sacred Lotus.

Supposedly individual plants can not only live for over a thousand years, but they can even be revived after ridiculous periods of stasis. As TempestK mentioned, Lotuses are known to remove pollution. In fact, they are particularly noted at being good for removing polluting compounds and heavy metals, as well as counteracting low-oxygen environments.

Interestingly, in Hinduism, the lotus is supposedly a symbol for what is divine or immortality in humanity. Ironically though, in Buddhist symbolism, the lotus represents purity of the body, speech and mind, as if floating above the murky waters of material attachment and physical desire. All things the opposite of Jin

Even if it's one of the european variants of lotus/waterlily, I still think Jin would be fond of the thing.

Sure they look nice and pretty on the surface, with their flowers and flat green 'platforms' you can occasionally even fit children on. But have you ever seen the underside of one?
Spoiler

Lilypads are actually fucking metal.

Also, in one last note, in many places, lotuses/waterlilies are traditional symbols of femininity.

Sure, Jin's not very feminine.

But lotuses/waterlilies are also flat.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Chewing and swallowing the bite of pancake in her mouth, slathered with jam, Usagi looked around the table at the others sharing breakfast. Besides herself, the others all were eating bacon, eggs, and toast with jam on it alongside their own pancakes. Taking another bite, she hummed before nodding. "So, while we're all getting ready for the new day... how well have we been doing?"

That made Harry blink before he became thoughtful. "Well, we've been bringing in a lot of fruit. Especially Asuka-San as she has been really great at it. Heck, she's been using that wind trick of hers to knock ripe fruit from the trees."

Said Tengu looked up from around a piece of toast with jam on it and then flushed a bit as everyone glanced at her. "Well... it was an old trick that my father came up with to knock ripe fruit from the trees." A far off look on her face, she softly smiled. "He taught me it before..."

Reaching over, Natsumi gave her shoulder a squeeze. When Asuka nodded, the Kitsune smiled. "Well, you've also been helping by bringing all our picked fruit to where Taigei here can process it into jam and other preserves. I never knew that you were that strong with your wings. Heck, you were lugging those baskets like a pro."

Once more, Asuka gave a small smile. "Like I said, we used to do harvesting on Izu Oshima. And at night, when no one was around? We would lift the baskets and transport them. Helped out a lot and, well..." Extending her wings like one would flex their arm, the teen grinned a little bit. "Really helped bring up one's strength."

Amused, Jin gave her a toothy grin before looking over at Taigei who was finishing up her own breakfast. "Still, that does not answer how far along we are with the preserves."

For a moment, the Shipgirl frowned and had a far off look in her eyes. One that they knew was due to her talking with her fairies before she gave a nod. "According to the numbers? We have about two hundred and seventy jars of preserves and my cooks have been working even while I was asleep."

Choking a bit, Ayaka pounded her chest before staring at the older seeming woman in surprise. "I, what? Over two hundred jars...?"

Meanwhile, the older Mizuchi of the group gave a thoughtful frown as she ran the previous day through her mind. "Somehow, I am not too surprised by that fact. We have been picking fruit all day after all. So that does make sense for that much preserves already since its not just her, but also her cooks."

That caused Asuka to give her a look that reminded Jin of Ai. "You mean us, you've been snacking on what we pick."

Only shrugging, Jin gave a small smirk. "I've been doing the most important part! Testing the produce to make sure that nothing is wrong with it at all."

Practically all the teens there rolled their eyes at that before Asuka frowned. "Are we going to have enough jars though? I mean, with the amount that we've been gathering..." Chewing her lip, she tapped her fork against her plate. "There's still a lot to gather..."

Eyebrow trailing, Kaku glanced at a crate which held a large amount of chestnuts. "Among other things..."

However, Taigei shook her head with a small smile. "I have plenty of jars left and already appropriated a further four hundred through the owl box with more on the way. Ooyodo-San is pretty pleased to be quite honest with how well we've been doing since a number will be used on the base."

Usagi finished the last of her pancake and leaned back some while patting her stomach. "I know that Haha-ue will. We're going to be eating this stuff for months."

Nods from the others met her at that even as Jin picked her teeth and snorted. "That's putting it mildly to be honest. Still..." A grin crossed her face. "All of you should be proud of the work that you have been putting in."

Leaning forward, the Kitsune of the group smirked. "And I think that we are pretty proud of how well we've done. A lot of people are going to be happy, especially the local orphanage." Asuka nodded at that though she blinked a bit at the next words from her friend. "Though Asuka? I think none of us would mind much if we gave you some extra, a good number of the chestnuts for example."

Confused, Asuka blinked at that and frowned. "Um, why?"

The next words from Natsumi made her eyes widen some. "Well, we can set some aside so that you can sell them. You've done a lot of work here organizing us and such, so it makes sense for you to profit a bit."

Mouth dropping open, the Tengu boggled a bit before looking around. The others were all nodding in agreement which made her blush. 'You guys...'

Soon enough though, the table was cleaned and the conversation turned to other matters. The map of the property spread out before them, Shiromizu was rubbing her chin in thought. "So how are we going to do this exactly? I mean, if we go with how we did yesterday, we could fit two days or so..."

Ayaka reached forward and made a circular motion on one part of the property. "We're all done here to be honest. Heck, pretty sure that we cleared all the fruit and nuts that were available."

To her confusion though, Jin shook her head. "Don't be too sure about that~" When they turned to her, she smirked. "I bet you that those trees are all ready to be harvested again."

Despite the looks given to her, she did not say anything further. Unknown to them, only Shiromizu knew and understood considering one of the conversations the previous night. However, Harry then spoke up. "Well... if that is true, and we can take a look, we could use the time turner some more." He pointed at one spot on the property. "We could handle that area again for a full twelve hours or more, then rest in the old Sty here that's been set up as a guest house. Then we can go back another twelve hours, and handle this area." The black haired wizard's finger traced another section of the orchards. "Then sleep here for the night. And tomorrow, we could tackle the last bit of the orchard, go back twelve hours and sleep in the sty again... and maybe spend another twelve hours picking over what we might have missed before going back twelve and sleeping here again. Then a final trip of twelve hours to spend the day in Godric's Hollow."

Considering that, Jin rubbed her chin with a small frown. "That is a lot of use on that time turner of yours. Not that it is not a bad idea... but do you really want to go through all that?"

In reply, Harry gave a small shrug while the others shared a look and nodded. Kaku gave a small grin at that and pumped his fist. "We can handle ourselves easily with that!"

Meanwhile, Shiromizu gave Jin a look. "And Sempai? Please don't do anything with the well again today..."

The older Mizuchi had such an innocent look on her face that butter would not have melted in it. A look that was so innocent that Mary would have called her out for doing something if she had been there. "Of course not, Shiro. You can trust me, I won't pull that stunt." She then reached behind her and rubbed her rear. "I don't want to get expelled from the well like I was again. Landed on my ass and hurt it."

Snarking a little, Harry looked at her. "I'd ask if you wanted someone to kiss it all better, but you likely would."

Jin only laughed at that before looking at him with a gleam in her eye. "Damn straight! Probably the best looking one that you've seen."

Eyebrow raising, the black haired wizard's response caused snickers from the other teens and giggles from Taigei. "Not really, I've seen better." His next words though caused one of them to flush, soon followed by himself as he realized what he said. "Natsumi-Chan for example..."

Playfully pouting, Jin sighed even as Harry could not look at his childhood friend. "Aw, man. Beaten by a bratling..."

Internally though, she was cackling at the expressions on their faces as they kept glancing at each other, granted she did note that Taigei did not seem put out by it...

A few minutes later though, a frown was on Kaku's face as he looked out the window to where the Potter's family home used to stand. "Um, speaking of that well... is the water safe to drink? I mean..."

Sipping some water, Jin gave a shrug. "Yeah, its clean. Besides the charms on it to keep it free of nasty shit, I made damn sure that nothing was left behind when I entered it." At the looks, she rolled her eyes. "I'm many things, disrespectful of water is not one of them. Especially damn good tasting water like that."

Blinking, Harry tilted his head before looking at Shiromizu. "Is it really that good?"

The young Mizuchi in question frowned and shook her head. "Um, I'm not really sure? But it is pretty nice to drink..."

All Jin did was finish off her glass and set it down. "In all honesty? It is great tasting water, filtered over hundreds of years through the bedrock here." Pointing at Shiromizu, she smirked. "I'll have to teach you how to tell things about water, so might as well show you later. That shit is real good."

Eyebrows furrowed, Shiromizu only nodded some.
_______________________________________________________________

Only an hour before sundown, fat drops fell from grey, cloudy skies as the teens ran towards the Potter Storage Shed. It was not yet the downpour that both the raindrops and clouds promised, but it was not far from it. Reaching the door, Harry unlocked it before waving them in. "Come on! Before it gets too bad!"

Behind Natsumi, Shiromizu was the last in when the skies opened up and rain came down in sheets. Out in the rain, Jin just gave a laugh. "Come on, Bratlings! Its only a small storm! What? Afraid to get wet?"

Tone dry, Rika grumbled as she took the towel Harry offered her and started to rub the damp out of her tails and hair. "Not all of us are water spirits."

If anything though, that made Jin grin all the wider as she walked towards the doors. Stepping inside, the water sloughed off her and her clothes leaving her dry. "Yeah, you got me there." With a look around, she blinked some. "So this is where the Potters store all their swag?"

A bemused look on his face, the wizard chuckled some. "Hai, this is where my family stored all our stuff." Glancing outside at the rain, he frowned thoughtfully and then shrugged. "We can wait out the storm for a bit in here. Then turn back time." Harry then pulled out his phone and glanced at the time on it. "At least we know when it will come down."

Using a little foxfire, Natsumi dried herself and then the others, while Asuka used some wind like a blow-dryer. The Kitsune then nodded some as she turned to her friend. "You know... we could show them around a little bit in here. Pretty sure that it would be a bit neat."

For a few moments, Harry considered that and then chuckled. "I don't mind. Besides... better then waiting here at the door."

The sound of a finger snapping made them turn to Jin who created several ghostly flames that hovered around her. At the looks, she smirked. "One good thing about being an Onryou, never needing a flashlight."

With a small snort, the wizard of the group created a floating ball of light and began to lead them further in. "Come on, there's a lot to see here."

Several minutes later, Jin was staring at the giant statue in front of them before walking over. Laying a hand on it, she blinked and turned to Harry. "What the fuck? This is actual ivory, gold, silver, and shit. Why the hell would your family have this?"

In reply, Harry only shrugged. "One of my ancestors during one of the Crusades brought it back from Istanbul, which was then Constantinople. He figured it would be a good conversation piece if the King ever showed up."

Looking from the statue back to him, Asuka blinked. "That's got to be thirty feet high! And he brought it all the way from Turkey?!"

Hands in his pockets, the thirteen year old gave her an amused look. "It would have been a very nice conversation."

Facepalms met him even as Natsumi snickered at the others. Then she jerked her thumb a little. "There's more statues right over there. The Potters got a number of them after all."

Intrigued, they began to follow Harry and Natsumi as they looked around. At one point though, Jin caught sight of a mirror and raised an eyebrow in interest at the scene of dancing skeletons on it. With a glance at the teens who were talking as they looked at some minor artifacts, the Mizuchi walked over and stood in front of the mirror which showed her in it. Glancing again, and seeing that they were not paying much attention to her, Jin began to do various poses in the mirror with a grin on her face. 'Oh yeah! Show that bod!'

She did jump a little as Asuka spoke up. "Jin? What are you doing looking in that creepy mirr-ahhhh!"

Turning, the Mizuchi blinked as Asuka leapt backwards with a screech. "Asuka?" As she continued to scramble back until she hit one of the piles, Jin walked up to her and crouched down while placing a hand on her shoulder as the Tengu shook. "Asuka? You okay there, Kiddo? Hey... look at me." When she did so, Jin gently stroked her head. "Its okay... relax."

Quickly making their way over, Harry looked at the mirror and winced. "Guess we forgot to put the blanket on that." Turning to Asuka, he bowed some at the still shaken teen. "Sorry about that, Asuka-San. My deepest apologies."

Utterly lost, jin looked from the mirror to Asuka and then to Harry. "Okay, what is the deal with the mirror?" When she got looks from Harry and Natsumi, who also glanced at each other, her frown grew. "Seriously, what's the big deal? Its just a mirror."

Calming down some, the teenaged Tengu pointed at it. "I... I saw a dead Tengu next to you..."

Bemused, Jin looked at the mirror. "Really?"

However, Harry shook his head. "No, you didn't Asuka-San. That mirror was, well... created by a somewhat disturbed member of my family called Catherine, better known as Catherine of the Grave. There's illusion magic that causes one's reflection to look like their dead, rotting corpse. All to show them that one day they will be dead, hence the name 'Mirror of Memento Mori'."

Now with her heart not trying to escape from her chest, Asuka looked at him as Jin walked back over to the mirror. "Wait, why would she do that? I mean... a mirror that showed you dead?"

Shaking his head, Harry did not pay much attention as the older Mizuchi looked into the mirror and began to scratch her head. "Well... she was called Catherine of the Grave for a reason. She was sort of obsessed with death due to her family having died in a plague while she survived. I mean, reading up, she was so weak from the sickness that she laid in the same bed as her husband and children who were dead, while she was unable to raise herself. That affected her really badly."

Jin suddenly spoke up from where she was. "You sure it shows one dead? I'm just seeing myself in it."

Rather then say anything, the black haired wizard walked up and stood beside her. Beside him, the undead Mizuchi blinked as she saw a rotting skeleton clothed in rags with some bits of black hair clinging to the skull beside her in the mirror. While he raised an eyebrow at how Jin was looking just like she did in real life, Harry raised an eyebrow. "Pretty sure."

Only scratching her head, Jin frowned some. "Huh, that's sort of neat. Freaky, but neat." Then she grinned and looked at the wizard next to her. "Hey, you wouldn't mind if I borrowed this? It would be amazing to see the reactions for Hallowe'en."

Walking up, Asuka flinched a bit as in the mirror, a decomposed Tengu skeleton with some feathers clinging to its wings reflected back to her. "Um, can we not, Jin? I mean..."

All Jin did was place an arm around her shoulders and begin to lead her away. "Sure, Kiddo. Just a thought is all, besides imagine how Kiba would react."

Giggling weakly at the image in her head of a cartoon Kiba leaping up and somehow clinging to the ceiling, Asuka nodded some. "I guess, though..."

Just nodding, the older Mizuchi looked at Harry who threw a blanket over it. "Anything else we got around here to take our minds off that?"

One eyebrow raised, Harry hummed. "Well, I could bring out a ring Catherine made that makes one invisible to the undead. That way Asuka-San could make all sorts of funny faces at you."

Rolling her eyes, Jin gave a sigh. "Asuka would never do that, would you Kiddo?"

Lips twitching, the Tengu looked away. "Of course not..." A few minutes later, incident forgotten, Asuka was tilting her head at a marble statue. "Um... Harry-San? Why is that woman staring at her bare butt?"

Not answering right away, Harry looked down into the book he had and raised an eyebrow. "Its a copy of the Venus Callipyge that the German Branch of my family had commissioned back just before the Statute came down. When the two Branches reunited back in the early 1800s, this was one of the items that Branch gave to the British Branch as a gift." Looking up at it, he tried not to let his eyes trail down below the hips. "Um, apparently it caused a stir when they showed it off..."

Coughing, Kaku looked away with a blush on his face, though he kept glancing back. "Um, I wonder why..."

They all shared a look and light laughter escaped them.

However, they stopped as a voice spoke up. "Oh, it was not just that statue that caused a stir, let me tell you."

Looking around with the others, Harry cleared his throat. "Um, hello? Who's there?"

Chuckles met him only for Asuka to tilt her head and fly up to one of the piles and look over it. Her eyes widened as the voice spoke up and Harry had the light fly up to her level. "Well, hello there. Never seen one such as you before... unless one counts those Harpies that one time."

Face completely red, the Tengu looked away and at the rest of the group. "Um... Harry-San? There's a painting here of a centaur and, um..." Another glance caused her blush to deepen. "She's... well... nursing twins."

Yet again, the chuckles sounded. "Well, of course I am. It was after all the subject of the painting. Ah, Joachim Potter was quite a man. Studied in Italy wouldn't you know? And I... well, I was his wet nurse." More chuckles became apparent. "He was inspired and asked for me to pose, so that he could attempt to recreate some lost painting."

Eyebrow raised, Jin crossed her arms. "Wait, what? I mean, from what I know centaurs are rather..."

Tone turning sad, the painting spoke up. "Bastards? Some are such as my herd... I was kicked out due to my brother taking control and nearly died if not for Joachim. He took me in and I cared for his children... Not that I minded." A giggle came from the painting as it continued out of view. "Oh, did I not mind at all~"

Coughing in order to cover up her laughs, Jin looked away from a mortified Asuka. "Right..."

Harry perked up some and his eyes widened. "You wouldn't happen to know if there are other paintings around, do you? I mean, of my family?"

A hum could be heard before the painting spoke up. "Yes, there would be as a matter of fact. Most of them would be in a special trunk somewhere in here... not that I know exactly where. I can't reach them either to be honest as long as they are there." After a few more moments, she gave a chuckle. "But if you do find them, do come and get me as well, it has been a rather long time since I was last out on display along with the other portraits he made me of."

With a glance to the adult of the group who shook her head and pinched her nose, Harry just nodded. "Not a problem..."

Once they were out of earshot of the painting, Kaku turned to him with a blank look. "Harry-San... why would your family have a painting like that...?"

Simply giving a shrug, Harry just scratched his cheek. "Well... nudes and stuff were common back then. I mean, that was how a lot of art was done though, um... never expected a member of my family to do that." As they were passing another alcove, the thirteen year old noticed Usagi poke her head inside. "See something?"

Nodding, the Inaba gestured for him to come over and when he did, more then one of them let out a gasp at the gold inside the alcove. Eyes wide, Usagi shook her head in awe. "Oh, wow... where did these come from?"

There was a frown on Harry's face as he looked down at the book and wrote in it. After a few moments, he gave a nod. "Well... apparently one of my ancestors managed to get the drop on some Conquistadors in Mexico. Doesn't say much more then he was a pirate, but he got a bunch of items they had from the Aztecs and Mayan they took and were going to melt down..."

It was not long after when they left the storage shed and Harry used the time turner to go back twelve hours with the rest of the group. After all, they had a lot of work left to do...

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Why am I posting this on Christmas?
Closing Time

-----

"You know," the woman said, looking down at him balefully, "I've had the hardest time deciding what to do with you."

Seated at his desk, tied to his chair, Todoh Byakuya looked back at her blankly. After the Muramasa's… ministrations, he cannot see what else they would do to him. He glances down at his hands—why did she leave them free? Something clonks on his head, and he looks up again to see the woman glaring at him irritably and holding her sheathed sword out.

"Pay attention," she says. "Now. I could have just left you in that… terrarium downstairs. Give you a taste of what it was like to be trapped in there for however long it takes the police to come. Maybe they'd never come, and you'd spend the last of your days down there. Alternatively, I could stick you in there and set the room on fire. Imagine it'd be pretty uncomfortable in there. But then again…"

She unsheathes her blade and examines it. Todoh's eyes widen—a Masamune, and what a Masamune! This… could it be?

"I could just carve you up the old-fashioned way," the woman said, examining her weapon disinterestedly. "It's just… I have so much I wish I could do to you. It's like there's something burning deep in my stomach, begging me to feed it, and I can't figure out the best way to do it."

She smirked. "But you know…" she added, leaning over the desk and looking into Todoh's eyes, "I realized something. At the end of the day, Miyuki's going to have to make a report about this to the Admiral, isn't she? Which means that, no matter what I do, you're pretty screwed—I mean, my sister. Seriously. Did you really think that you could get away with that, in the long run? The way I see it, whatever I do will just be the icing on the cake."

Her eyes ran down his body, coming to rest on his hand. Gently, she took it, moving it to rest on top of the desk. Then she reached for his other hand and repeated the motion.

Then she raised her blade.
-----

"Hey, I just thought of something," Miyuki said suddenly. Everyone in the room turned to look at her. "Why are we still in this guy's house and drinking his tea?"

Akutoku glanced down at her cup. "Well," she pointed out, "this is actually damn good tea."

Tatsuya and Benio glanced at each other. He gave her a long-suffering smile, and she grinned cheerfully.
-----

Todoh screamed, thrashing about in pain, until a sharp stinging sensation happened on his forehead, and the woman shouted "SHUT UP!" in his face. "You're fine," she growled, as his cries subsided in shocked silence, "so stop whining!"

Todoh stopped, looking down at his hands. They were whole, not chopped of, or… Oh God, his hands…

The woman stood, staring in horror, sheath clasped in her hands. "Oh Doctor," she pleaded mockingly, "Please, Doctor, were you able to save him?"

She skipped half a step to the side, standing straight and shaking her head in sorrow. "He'll live," she admitted, "but it was too late to save his hands."

"Oh dear, Doctor! You mean he'll never wield a sword again?"

"I'm sorry, we were too late."

Todoh paid her barely any attention. He just stared at his misshapen hands. Hands slammed against the desk, and he looked up, shaking, into the woman's eyes.

"Have a nice rest of your life, Todoh," she said, cold pleasure in her face, "however long that is."

She vanished out the door.
-----

"So," Akutoku said, looking up as Honjo approached, "You… feeling any better?"

"To some degree," the Masamune replied noncommittally. Akutoku turned away—from where Tatsuya was sitting, it looked like she was trying not to show the visible sigh of relief she was letting out. "So? Are we ready to go yet?"

"Not quite yet," Benio replied, walking over and pushing a cup of tea into Honjo's hands. "We've been discussing what to do with your sister."

Honjo glanced down at the tea in brief confusion, then back up at Benio. "What's to discuss?" she asked, "she'll stay with me."

"That's what we were thinking at first," Miyuki cut in, and Honjo turned to face her, "but… you kind of have something important coming up in a month or so, don't you?" Honjo looked at her in confusion at first, which gave way to realization.

"I-I'll talk to them!" she exclaimed, voice slightly frantic. "They'll understand, they'll take her! I—"

"Um, Honjo?" Benio spoke up. "Before you came down, I was saying that maybe it would be best for the Muramasas to take care of her."

"WHAT?" Honjo shouted, rounding on her. Benio stumbled back, hands raised.

"Hey!" Tatsuya cut in. Honjo turned to face him, glaring. "Benio was going off of the point that, from what we've been told, they—" he indicated Kagotsuruhe, "have experience caring for someone with a similar problem. Adding in the stuff with the Tokugawa, it… might actually be for the better."

Honjo's glare fell, seeping away from her face. She turned to look at her sister, still curled up and resting. "And you?" she asked, turning to the representatives of her rival school.

Kagotsuruhe looked down into her tea briefly. "If you need us to, we could," she admitted. "However, we would never take her from you if you were unwilling." Honjo nodded to herself, somewhat sadly.

"So, say, if the Tokugawa were unwilling to take her in."

"Yes," Kagotsuruhe confirmed. "Though… This is a matter of some import. Before we proceed further, it would probably be best to continue this discussion back at the house."

"On that note!" Benio announced, "I need to move these over to the Haneda place for temporary safe-keeping. Tatsuya, think you could help me?"

"You're planning on taking them on a train?" Tatsuya asked dubiously.

"… I shouldn't, should I," she noted thoughtfully. "Hmm, what to do… Hey Tonbo, you wanna go with your sisters?"

"I-I really shouldn't," Tonbo laughed nervously.

Tatsuya gave Benio a tired look, but shrugged tiredly. This was going to come up sooner or later now that everyone had met, he supposed. Maybe getting her to do it now would make things go more easily.

"Tonbo, can we talk?" he asked. The Muramasa looked a little worried, but walked to the window with him. Akutoku, who had just turned to say something to her, gave him a look just a little bit like a startled fish, and he nodded and returned his attention to the family blade.

"I'm not ready, okay?" Tonbo explained quietly. "There's a lot going on, and maybe I should just wait until things have settled down, and…" Tatsuya looked at her calmly, waiting for her to finish, and she sighed, looking down at her feet. "What if Chisuheri's there?" she finished mournfully. Tatsuya took a moment to look her in the eyes—distressed, desperate, a little bit miserable. He thought for a moment.

"Tonbo," he said finally, "If you didn't go tonight, do you think you'd ever be able to go?"

Tonbo gave him a confused look, before glancing back over her shoulder at her sisters. "I… don't know," she admitted. Tatsuya nodded.

"If you didn't go to see them, at any point," he said, "I think you would regret it."

Tonbo's face fell even further than it already had, but she nodded bravely. "Yeah," she said, "I get what you're saying." Tatsuya reached out, and gently rested a hand on her shoulder. Tonbo inhaled, exhaled, then looked up at him and set her jaw. She nodded, then turned and walked back towards Akutoku.

Tatsuya turned to look at Benio, who was now stuffing swords into Miyuki's pockets, and had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing. So, discussion at the Muramasa house. This was turning into an even longer night.

"Wait a second," he mused, "How do we even get there?"

A hand clamped over his shoulder, and he turned to face the even more frantic Tonbo. "She is there, I can't do this, let's go home," she pleaded.

Tatsuya facepalmed.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Humming to herself, Taigei watched as she slowly stirred the preserves in the pot. With a small nod, she looked over at where a lineup of her fairies were hard at work cleaning chestnuts. One group of them would take a chestnut and peel back the green, spiky covering before tossing the nuts into a strainer. When that was filled, they would hold it under water from the sink and shake them around to rinse them off. Afterwards, each nut would be inspected with any bad ones tossed into a crate, the good ones would be dried off meanwhile and placed into a box. "Good work, boys."

One of the Fairies gave a nod and a thumbs up. "Desu."

Then they turned back to their duties while Taigei got a jar out of a pot of simmering water that was on a camping stove on the stone countertop with the pot having a number of them. Also on the counter were lemons, some of which were cut in half, a juicer, and a bag of sugar. All needed in order to make preserves and jams. Ignoring the door opening, she spooned what was in the pot into one jar after another until it was empty. Then making sure with a rubber spatula that there were no air bubbles, the shipgirl sealed them with hot lids from another pot before placing the jars into another pot of boiling water. Wiping her hands, she nodded some with a smile. "And there we go."

Still smiling, Taigei set the timer to tell her when they were done when a chuckle made her turn. "Looking good, Taigei-Chan!"

Expression brightening, she smiled wider at the sight of the thirteen year old wizard. "Harry-Chan!" Seeing the crate filled with fruit, she giggled some. "Have some more for me to get to work on?"

With a glance beside him at the Smols which were all carrying their own crates, Harry nodded some. "Hai, and we got plenty more where that came from." Placing it to the side with the other crates that contained fruit waiting to be washed, he walked up and hugged her. "Thanks for coming, Taigei-Chan."

Her smile softening, the Submarine Tender placed her hands over the arms that were around her waist. "You don't need to thank me for that, Harry-Chan. To be honest, I'm enjoying myself with this."

In reply, Harry tilted his head to the side. "Really?"

Just nodding as she hummed, Taigei twisted around before hugging him back. "Hai." Gesturing at the pots and other items, her smile softened further. "This is the sort of thing that I really enjoy. Besides..." A giggle escaped her as she leaned down. "I'm going to have enough preserves and jams to make sure that my Girls are well fed for some time, especially out at sea. And I know that they enjoy fruit and such during resupply."

That made Harry chuckle as his eyes twinkled. "True enough, Taigei-Chan. Or at least that is what Iku-Chan and the others told me." Head tilting to the side, he smiled. "Then I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself."

Momentarily hesitating, Taigei rubbed her nose against his as her cheeks pinkened. "I am, so thank you." Pulling back, she looked down at him with a smile. Unlike her Submarines, Taigei was not quite as fixated on the boy holding her. Oh, that was not to say that she did not like him, she did. Nor did it mean that she would not like it if in the future that the Submarines succeeded with their plan with her as part of it, she would. But while saddened if it did not work out, Taigei knew that she would still be close with Harry, and that would be enough.

Which was not to say that she did not have dreams, of course...

Looking down into those emerald eyes, her mind drifted back to a day over a year ago. Badly injured in the Repair Docks, she could remember the evacuation that happened when the above ground nuclear detonation alarm had blared. More then that, she remembered how Harry had jumped into the pool and took her into his arms as gently as he could as to not to aggravate her wounds. How he had then carried her through the pool and held her close until they got to the gurney. In her mind, Taigei could still see the look of pure determination as well as the care that was also on it and in his eyes.

A look that more often then not appeared in daydreams and actual dreams on a much older Harry's face. One that was wearing an Admiral's uniform. Said dreams did make her boilers pound just from that, though others they sometimes turned into... Well, sometimes she had to literally release some steam from her boilers before they burst.

Taigei was brought out of her thoughts though as Harry leaned up and kissed her on the cheek, which made her face go red. "Still, thank you for all that you've done, Taigei-Chan."

Giggling, she looked away some. "Um, you're very welcome, Harry-Chan." With a glance towards the pot, she took note of the time before nodding as she continued to just enjoy the hug. When the time came though, Taigei reached over with one hand and put it into the boiling water before taking out one jar of preserves. Drying it off, she placed it to the side while continuing with a smile. "You want to give me a hand, Harry-Chan?"

In reply, Harry grinned and rolled up his sleeves, his answer making her giggle happily. "You bet, Taigei-Chan!"

While working alongside him, Taigei smiled brightly as it felt nice to do so. Just the two of them hard at work in the kitchen. 'Maybe... maybe Harry-Chan might want to spend more time with me. I'd like that...' Part of her mind was on the fact that night would have her cuddled up with him, which was something else that she enjoyed.

Thus, her smile grew a touch.
______________________________________________________________________

On the next to last use of the time turner to go back to Sunday morning, they cleaned everything up. All the jars of jam and preserve were placed into Taigei's hold as well as crates of chestnuts and fruit of other sorts. With all that done, the group looked around the now cleaned area with a nod. Then they walked out the door and a distance away before Harry pulled out his time turner and used it one last time to go back to the morning.

Less then a half hour later found the group in front of Catherine's tower with Harry pulling out a key. With a look over his shoulder, he frowned. "You want to meet Catherine, Jin? Face to face as it were?"

Hands in her pocket, the Onryō gave a nod as she gave a once over of the door as Harry inserted the key. "I do, she's been sort of... pulling at me. And I know that she wants to meet me as well. Not to mention seeing that mirror perked my interest." A small smile grew on her face as she stroked her chin. "Besides, this is new for me. And I'm what you can call an expert in dead things after all."

It went without saying that got her looks from the others. But they were soon distracted as the lock on the door clicked and Harry pushed it open. Stepping inside, he glanced around before bowing at something the others besides Jin could not see. "Hello, Aunt Catherine. I brought some visitors for you..."

Walking forward, the eyes of the teens all widened at the sight of the skull impaled on a spike. For her part, Rika's tails suddenly puffed out as she swallowed. "Okay, that is a very powerful guardian ghost..."
Just tilting her head to the side, Jin stepped into the doorway behind Harry. "Yeah, she certainly is."

All of a sudden, the skull moved on the spike until it's empty eye sockets were facing the other undead in the room. Empty... until they filled with a bluish glow while her jaw dropped open with mist seeping out. Looking between a intrigued Jin, who had some scales spread across her skin, and Catherine, Harry gulped. "Um, Jin? You're not going to..."

Looking at him as her eyes bled toxic black, Jin let out a low chuckle. "Fight? Nah, neither of us want to, just take a measure of sorts."

Rika's eyes meanwhile widened as she looked between Jin and the skull. "Oh... wow... Never seen anything like that."

From out of nowhere, a strong wind began blowing in the room though it bypassed Harry and only ruffled his hair. Oddly, it felt... affectionate in regards to him. Jin's grin widened though as she took a step against the wind which increased the further she got until she was looking up into the skull's glowing eyes. "That was fucking impressive." Head tilted to the side, she hummed as the winds died down. Eyes glancing at the small table which had a vase on it with old flowers, which as she watched were replaced by Harry, Jin gave a small nod. "Nice place you got here."

The skull rattled before settling down, with Harry glancing at her. "Well, um... it wasn't so nice before. I sort of fixed things up a bit at the last Obon."

Looking over her shoulder, Jin gave him a small nod. "Well, let me tell you, Kiddo. You did good there." She then turned her attention back at Catherine's skull. Motioning towards the door, the undead Mizuchi nodded. "Anyways, just give me and Catherine here a few minutes alone, okay?"

Unsure, the wizard looked from the skull, to Jin and back. "Um, you sure about that?" When she nodded, he backed out and shut the door. "Well, okay then..."

Once the door was shut, the Onryō chuckled as her voice began to change. "Didn't want to scare the kids too badly. Though... Not a bad descendant you got there. You should be proud."

Cathernine's skull turned made a nodding motion on the spike it was on before the mist that dropped from its mouth reached the floor. It then began to take a shape there. "He is..."

Body seemingly decaying as ichor dripped from her jaws and eyes, black veins standing out against her white, pasty skin between the scales, Jin chuckled. "Now for that talk..."

Meanwhile, outside, Harry was looking at the tower with a small frown as a ghostly glow was apparent from the windows. His eyebrow raised though when he turned to Rika who was looking on with awe. "Rika-San?"

Eyes somewhat milky, Rika blinked and turned to him. "Can't you see it? Sense it?" When he shook his head, followed by the others, the Nekomata chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh yeah... I forgot, it would be sort of hard for you all to do so. But for a Nekomata..." Shaking her head, she hummed before pointing at Asuka. "It is sort of like how she can see and feel the wind, I guess."

Her own eyes widening, the Tengu looked between her friend to the tower. "Really? I mean... what does it look like to you then?"

Tilting her head to the side, Rika did not say anything right away before tapping her chin. "The... closest that I can come to it would be two typhoons meeting pressed against each other. Or perhaps, I guess, tornados brushing against one another. Its hard to describe though I do know one thing for certain."

A frown on his face, Kaku frowned. "And that would be?"

Narrowing her eyes slightly, the Nekomata looked at him. "We are very, very lucky that both Jin-San is not super hostile to us and that neither is Catherine-San as well as having self-control. Because I am not certain, but it is possible that if either of them let loose? The Nihon San Dai Onryō could be given a run for their money since both are powerful grudges."

Interested, Harry turned to the tower and shifted his eyes which made them glow. Then they widened some at what he could see, the separate, though powerful currents being generated. "Okay, that is... wow."

With her head tilted to the side, Rika blinked. "Wait, you can see that now?"

Frowning, the wizard tapped his chin. "Kind of? Its more like seeing streamers of energies..." Then he held his fingers in front of his glowing eyes. "Easily seen by my Eyes of Disillusion!"

Several seconds went past before Usagi spoke. "Wat."

Asuka jerked her thumb at the Inaba. "She beat me to it."

Slowly blinking, Natsumi stood there. Then, she brought up her hand and gave Harry a whack to the back of the head. "Harry-Chan, don't you dare go Chunni! Or so help me..."

Holding her face in her hands, Taigei tried to hide her smile as well as her giggles. "I guess hanging around Tenryuu-San is contagious..."

Meanwhile, the wizard pouted as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Forty minutes later, Jin walked out of the tower and closed the door behind her with a thoughtful look on her face. Looking at the kids, she grinned a bit. "Sorry about the wait, kids. Had to have a nice long chat with Catherine, though it was pretty interesting..." Frowning, she tapped her chin. "Very interesting as a matter of fact."

Raising an eyebrow, Asuka frowned back at her. "You're not going to put your skull on a spike, are you?"

Waving her off, the older female shook her head. "Nah. I mean, that would be pretty fucking metal and all. But not my shitck." She then reached her hands into her pockets and pulled out rolls of bills which she handed out to the surprised teens. "Anyways, went and got money exchanged the other day. So all of you got some spending money for the village."

Expressions brightening, the teens all looked at each other with smiles and laughed. Soon after, they were outside the village with the Yokai in their human disguises with Usagi looking around in interest at it laid out before them. "This looks like something from a storybook! I mean, look at it!"

Beside her, Kaku nodded. "It really does." Turning to Harry, he cocked his head to the side. "Its an old village, right? I mean, from the way you talked about it?"

As they started walking along the cobblestone road, the wizard gave a small nod. "Hai, it's really old." Pointing at the church spire, he continued. "Behind that church is a graveyard for the village. And buried there are members of my family going back a thousand years. Heck, Hardwin Potter settled the family here in 1120. Um..." Thinking some, Harry frowned. "So my family has been living here since what would have been the Heian Period back in Japan."

Her eyebrow raised, Jin rubbed her jaw some. "Huh, that so?" When he nodded, she frowned. "I knew that the Potters were old, but still. That puts it into perspective."

Looking between Harry and Natsumi, Ayaka cocked her head to the side. "There's only a few clans outside of Yokai ones back in Japan that old, Harry-San. That is... impressive."

With a shrug, Harry lightly laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess that it is."

Smiling, the Nekomata turned her head this way and that as she listened to the conversation as they entered the village proper. However, she did perk up after one bit in particular. "Wait, how old is the village?"

Now turned to her, Harry frowned in thought. "Not really all that sure, but... Godric was born here around... 940 AD, I think. His family used to be the Lords of the Village before the Normans arrived during the 1100s and mostly died out except for Godric's granddaughter, Bethany Gryffindor who married Hardwin's son, Richard in 1143, and Elizabeth who married Hadrian Dumbledore in 1139 among others." Then he shrugged. "Granted, Godric was well known for, um, having spread wild oats."

Jin facepalmed at that and shook her head. "Because of course he did."

Rather then comment on what she had just heard, the teenaged Tengu of the group looked around the area they were in with interest. After all, this was the furthest that she had ever gone before! Looking over her shoulder at Harry, she tilted her head some like a curious crow. "So where should we go first?"

Pulling out a map, Harry held it so that they could all see it as they clustered around it. "Well, there's a few places. On this road for example is some of the old shops. And the village pub is right here, we can have lunch there, it dates from the 1450s. Then there is..."

It went without saying that everyone was grinning at the end of the day when, after another turn of a few hours with the time turner, they went back to Japan.
_______________________________________________________________________

Sitting on the couch, Kiba looked up as Kensuke poked his head in. "Hey, Kiba." At seeing he had the Okuri Inu's attention, the Tanuki jerked his thumb in the direction he came from. "Asuka's back and so is Jin." Glancing towards where the garage is, he frowned. "She, um, brought a quite a bit of stuff back."

Lightly chuckling as he got up, Kiba shook his head. "Well, might as well see what she did bring back. Could use some nice homemade stuff here."

However, he did blink as Kensuke snorted. "Uh, yeah... Some. Sure."

Before Kiba could ask though, the Tanuki had vanished. Scratching his head, he began to walk down the hall towards the garage. "Wonder what that was all about? How much could she have brought back after all since it was only a day and a half?" Entering the garage, he raised a hand in greeting. "Hey, Asuka..."

Asuka looked up at that with a smile before she set down another crate of preserves and jams. "Kiba!" Running over, she hugged the stunned older Yokai around the waist. "You would not believe how much we're bringing back!"

Just blinking slowly, Kiba looked from Asuka to at least a dozen crates containing two dozen jars at the least, each. "Uh, yeah... I sort of can't."

Meanwhile, Jin reached into the Scubaru and pulled out another large crate. Turning, she shot the other member of the JNHRO a grin. "Heh, Kiddo had a lot of fun there." Shrugging, the Mizuchi hummed. "Same here..."

Nodding, Asuka smiled herself. "Yeah, it was a lot of fun, Kiba! I mean, hopefully we can do it next year or something." Still smiling, she looked at Kensuke. "We had to call Kensuke though to come and bring the Scubaru because we wouldn't have had enough room for everything."

Only scratching his head, the Okuri Inu nodded somewhat lost. It was then that Kogamaru poked his head in and noticed the jars. Picking one up, he gave a hum. "Oooh! Blackberry! Mind if I have this one, Asuka?"

While Asuka discussed it with Kogamaru, Kiba continued to scratch his head in confusion. Especially at noticing the chestnuts as well as boxes of fruit. 'How the heck...?'

Unknown to him, the teenaged Tengu was giggling internally, which became external when Ai looked in and nearly fell over at what she saw.

 

[darthcourt10]

WickedestCard

Hey so uh...I meant to have this out a long while ago but life and work hindered me. Hopefully it's up to snuff with everything, especially it's combining a couple things. And its on time for Christmas on my end so HAH! For setting, this takes place during the Winter of 3rd Year.

------

The Week Before Christmas.


USS Santa Fe and pretty much all of the shipgirls currently with the convoy were sure that only the actual end of the world would be able to get the happy grin off of a certain Escort Carrier as they sailed northwards towards Japan after their stop in Australia. After all, Gambier Bay's boyfriend had managed to make it to San Diego in time for the carrier's Launch Day and to spend another with her.


To say she was ecstatic would be an understatement as this meant she had all those she cherished and cared about for on that day. She even giggled as her fellow Taffies went and interrogated him to make sure he didn't have some nefarious or ner-do-well intentions towards her. In the end they decided that he passed their test but all of the destroyers and destroyer escorts gave him the 'I'll be watching you' look.


And while her party had possibly the largest cake she had seen up until that day it was the next day that gave her the biggest surprised. After walking around the base and San Diego she took him to the USS Midway Museum to show him her aircraft as he had told her how much he loved airplanes. As she had it set up so that when she show him the model exhibit of her a squad of her fairies would fly over. That plan however quickly failed to survive contact as when the two got to her model they heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet.


Coming around the tiny conning tower was a tiny and nervous looking Smol of Gambier Bay who froze as she saw that her full sized counterpart had brought her boyfriend. Gambier Bay herself also froze for a second before she managed to shake the shock off and tried to explain that this wasn't part of her surprise. However Smol Gambier Bay was still frozen until he poked her cheek and gave her soft headpats which she gladly accepted. He then put the Smol on top of her head as they watched her aircraft fly over.


They brought back the Smol with them to the base and they all tried to figure out a name for her but no one could agree what to call her. Some suggestions were 'Gabby, Bay, Bae, SmolFluff, TinyFloof and more. Even Gambier Bay gave a small giggle as the nervous little ship was looking around as the other members of Taffy 3 and other ships argued about her, the Smol hiding behind both her and her boyfriend. That was until he brought out a few plates of food for her Smol to try.


Coming back to the present day the Escort Carrier shook her head to focus some as it was her turn to have CAP up in the air. Their convoy was destined for Japan and while it wasn't vital materials no one wanted to take the risk of the ships being taken out. They were expected to arrive just before New Years day and that gave Gambier a sense of thankfulness as she had only been able to have a video call just before his Birthday and she was going to miss Christmas. Granted the escort with her contained fellow Taffy 3 Escort Carriers USS Kitkun Bay and Kalinin Bay, the Destroyer Escorts USS Dennis and Raymond so they at least could spend time together during the holiday. The other ships agreed to give them the space when Christmas comes up, after all they all knew how all the ships from that day tried to find each other whenever possible.


Suddenly, the blond carrier head turned towards the west as she heard radio chatter from one of her Avengers.


"Um...Gamby? What's going on? Do we need to go to stations?" Dennis asked as she gripped her 5 inch gun.


"N-No I don't think so...one of my Avengers found something odd. It looks like a Abyssal Submarine...a So-class one I think. And it's being towed by some small Abyssal ships. Smaller than the normal destroyer ones." the carrier stated as she received the information. At this Santa Fe blinked.


"Smaller than Destroyers? Do you mean those creepy PT Imps?" Santa Fe asked but when the carrier shook her head the cruiser blinked in confusion, "Wha? Do they have a Destroyer Escort equivalent or Frigates? I've never seen any before."


"I haven't seen any either but something seems odd...I-I'm not sure if they have spotted my plane yet." Gambier said. Sharing a nod, the other Escort Carriers launched their own squaderns into the air in order to back up the ones already up.


Several miles away the small Avenger plane was circling around the small group of DE Abyssals towing what seemed to be an unconscious sub. He could tell that the group were doing something but couldn't quite make out what it was. Taking a look around at the cloud cover the fairy formulated a plan to try and get more information. Relaying his plan to the other fairies onboard the fairy winged over and dove lower, low enough that all of them were sure that they'd be spotted. That suspicion proved to be corrected when one of the small ships turned around into their direction but the fairy stayed the course for a few more hundred feet before banking hard and turning away.


Oddly enough, they all noticed that there was no incoming AA fire at all. In fact, as the gunners looked back they saw something weird, the little ship that noticed them had raised up a white flag and was waving it around frantically. This was quickly relayed by their radio operator back to the blonde carrier who in turned told Santa Fe.


"Wait what!? They're surrendering and everything? That doesn't seem suspiciously like a trap at all...but then again it only seems to be what, 5 of those Frigates or DEs and that sub. Hey, Kalinin and Kitkun, have your fairies spotted anything that looks like this could be a trap?" Santa Fe asked as she took in all the information.


"Not a thing Fe! It's all open ocean for miles, none of our fairies are seeing anything subs underneath the waves and trust us, they can spot a sub in this weather no problem. And the base at Guam hasn't noticed anything odd lately." Kalinin replied as she took in what her own planes were seeing. At this Santa Fe simply nodded and was thinking on the next action to take. A quick glance at all the others as the communicated silently and came to a conclusion.

"Well, we haven't been able to get a lot of information on Abyssal Subs as they either always run or die to depth charges...radio the base at Guam and let California back with the convoy what's going on. Dennis, Raymond get another couple Destroyers and you'll be with me as close in. Gamby, you and others cover us." Santa Fe ordered as she fired her boilers up to go and intercept the Abyssal group.


Soon enough it became clear to them why the abyssals had surrendered to them without a fight. As they and their fairies started to go through to make sure the wasn't going to any unwanted explosive surprises they found that all the abyssals were absolutely empty on ammunition. Even the imps it seemed could barely scrounge up a hand full of pistol rounds but other than they had nothing, no 5 inch, 40 mm, not even depth charges or flares. Not only that but all of them except the Sub were close to empty on their fuel stores.


All the Taffies could see that the DEs had external damage as well from surface action and quickly figured that they had been doing their best to keep their most senior ranked Abyssal alive. From sonar scan they could tell that there were no trace of any other submarines which was odd. More than a few shipgirls thought that it could be due to having lost them to whatever forces were attacking them. However what shocked them was state the Sub was in.


"Damn...what happened to her? I've never seen this kind of damage done to a sub, Abyssal, shipgirl or steel-hull. Massive structural damage, leaks everywhere, hell her bones look like they're broken in ways I've never thought could happen." Santa Fe wondered in morbid fascination at the devastated form of the sub.


"Um...Santa Fe...that looks like damage from crush depth, like if she had dove too deep underwater. But I'm surprised she's still alive with the damage done to her, I've seen other So-classes, Flagships even, die from far less than this." USS Dennis said, and indeed the shipgirls wondered just how the So-class was even alive at the moment.


"Must be tough as nails if she's still alive. These little guys must have been fighting tooth and nail to keep her from sinking, let alone from whatever was fighting them." Santa Fe commented after taking in as much information they had.


"California to Santa Fe. We got word from the base, they have a seaplane transport en-route to pick up the So-class. We should also have enough Un-Rep to fuel the DE's until Taiwan. They'll be taken under guard and not be given ammunition during the trip." USS California said on the radio. The Abyssal DEs looked towards one another and nodded, accepting this as the best they could hope for in their surrender. After all, if it could get their Flagship any possible help to stay alive they were more than willing to do it.


"Copy that California. We'll be standing by for the transport and signal once they're in range." Santa Fe responded cleanly as they all formed up around the So-class.


"Good, also Gambier Bay once the transport arrives I want you and a couple others to go with as an Emergency Escort. You'll be heading all the way towards Yokosuka once you transfer at Guam. Since they're expediting this due to the possible intel we can get you may just make it to Japan in time for Christmas." came the further instructions of the Battleship Shipgirl in charge.


"Wait, really? But why?" Gambier asked confused as she started to close the distance between herself and the other girls surrounding the So-class.


"Higher ups decided that you'll get some leave early after doing the escort to Yokosuka for taking so many convoy escort missions. It's a well deserved rest. Besides, I heard a rumor that they'll be flying over a Christmas Care package just for you." California said with a playful tone after explaining.


"Knock him dead Gambay!" Kitkun Bay cheered over the radio along with several other cheers from all the others. This was more than enough to get the blond Escort Carrier to turn red and shake her head in confusion.


"Wha? What do you guys mean?" She asked over the radio as she neared the soon to be evac site.

-----


Several miles away in a location so desolate it may as well have been a alien world, it's single inhabitant felt something resonate, something similar. Expanding her senses she looked upwards and focused in on that feeling. Perhaps...perhaps one day she may get her wish but first it wouldn't do to let someone how came so close to leave without a favor. After all, what was waiting a few more years for one like her. She could endure it if it meant her wish.


She let out a melodious sound for the one she felt, another invitation though this one for a time far from now. Little did she know that one other would get the invitation as well as the second was far further and a different world away.
----

So...Anyone want to guess what happened? And I will admit, this started out as simple Gambier Launch day snip but realized that I really shouldn't write too much about myself in these snips and it was taking so long that I figured I could include something else to tie it more in with the world.

Also, Smol Gambay was fed small tacos when she was brought back to base. Didn't include that because I'm afraid what the damage from that amount of cute would do to the world and people's health.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Closing her book, Amisi let out a sigh and leaned back. In front of her, Myrtle floated in her older form as if she was sitting on something though, of course, nothing was there. With a small smile, the ghost nodded and clapped her hands. "Very good, Amisi! You've been moving along very well."

Just opening one eye, Amisi glanced down at the book which had a colorful cover on it. Though doing so brought a small blush to her face. "{I am unsure if I have, Teacher. This... 'book', is for young children and...}"

In reply, the ghost shook her head and waved her off. "Yes, and? We all must start somewhere, Amisi. Besides which, with your progression I would not be surprised if we are not past this by the end of the year! Much the same with your writing as well... And, I suspect, by Christmas that you will be able to hold better conversations with people in English. All in all?" Reaching forward, Myrtle placed her hand on the shipgirl's muscled shoulder. "You have every reason to be proud of yourself. I know that I am proud of you as my student."

Lightly blushing, Amisi bowed some towards her with a slight smile. "{Only because I have a good teacher, for whom I have thanked Thoth many times.}"

Now it was Myrtle's turn to blush some at that before she shook her head good naturedly. Then expression became melancholy. "You know, not once did I ever think that perhaps I would become a teacher and be good at it." Smiling sadly, she sighed. "I wonder if I would have considered that career path..."

Frowning, Amisi reached up and took the spirit's hands in her own. "{Teacher, you have been doing very well! Do not be sad because of the past, as you have done so well in the here and now.}"

Myrtle brightened some at that and nodded. "You are right, Amisi. Thank you." With a look around, she gave a small nod. "Now then, I think that is enough for today. I shall see you tomorrow."

Simply nodding, Amisi smiled back at the ghost who waved some before leaving the Head Boy's and Head Girl's quarters she shared with Percy. Getting to her feet, she looked outside the window to where the grounds were and stood there for several moments. From where the shipgirl stood, she could see the Forbidden Forest in the distance. While she had gotten used to the sight of such forests, it seemed that the world could still amaze her.

For the leaves on the trees had begun to change their colors as autumn went on. Brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows were painted across the landscape. It was a sight that took her breath away and one she was certain that she would never tire of. Lips curling, she could remember walking along with Percy as he took a break from various things and taken her outside to walk along one of the safer wooded stands outside the Forbidden Forest.

Granted, said memory also brought forth a sympathetic shiver as the temperature had dropped.

But despite what was to her extremely cold, she had been bundled up and enjoyed the walk. Especially as her Pharaoh had used his own magic to warm her using charms. Walking along through the trees as the leaves fell around them, Amisi had felt it... magical, in a way. Just something that she shared with her Pharaoh and him alone.

Amisi stood there for some time before she turned and walked towards Percy's room and knocked, though there was amusement on her face. Mainly because she found the whole idea somewhat silly. So what if she had walked in on him in the middle of changing his clothes more then once, there was nothing about her Pharaoh that was not unpleasant to look at...

Her lips curled as she remembered one time in particular, when he had no clothes on. 'No, my Pharaoh has absolutely nothing that is unpleasant. And much was explained about how it is his mother has had such children if his father is much the same.' Giggles escaped from her for a moment before she heard Percy tell her it was okay. Walking in, Amisi looked around before making her way to where the Weasley was pulling something from a package. Blinking, the Sunship tilted her head to the side. "{Leather, my Pharaoh?}"

With a slight smile, Percy hummed a bit as he looked up at her curious gaze. "Of a sort, Amisi." Unrolling it, he gave a small nod as he examined it. "Its actually dragon hide."

Eyes widening, Amisi turned her full attention to the black material in front of her. Reaching out, she glanced at the young man at her side who nodded. Then, gently, the shipgirl ran her fingers along it. A tingle went from her finger tips up her arms as she felt the hide in front of her, though the scales were much smaller then she would have expected. "{Dragon hide, my Pharaoh? One of the giant scaled beasts that breath fire?}"

Simply nodding, Percy leaned forward and placed his chin on his clasped hands. "As a matter of fact, yes. I had Charlie send this to me from the reserve he worked at." That got a nod from Amisi, the Ancient Egyptian respecting her Pharaoh's brother greatly for handling such great and powerful beasts. Even in her day, such an act would have been worthy of someone of a royal bloodline who was not to take over. "Granted, it's not normal dragon hide."

That bit of information only fueled her curiosity as she sat down next to him. Now looking between the young man and the hide, Amisi frowned in thought. "{How is it not normal, my Pharaoh?}"

Lips twitching, there was some sadness in his eyes. "The hide is from a young dragon, maybe a year old." At her widening eyes, he shook his head. "They didn't kill it though, a number of hatchlings never survive their first year. Either from fighting, exposure, or what have you. In this case, the youngster died during a large windstorm." With a small shrug, Percy continued. "They're not normally used for much."

While sad for a life cut short, Amisi was still curious. "{Then why have the hide of such sent to you, my Pharaoh?}"

His lips curling, Percy stroked the hide. "Young dragon hide is extremely supple, especially when treated after skinning as this was. One big difference though is that while physically tough, the hide is not as spell resistant as ones from a full grown adult so you can use magic on it. Which is one of the reasons that they're not often used, Amisi. But... it not being as spell resistant and supple is good for what I am planning."

Head tilting, the Sunship frowned before a thought occurred to her. "You... wish to make something? But... what?"

Smile growing as she switched to English, Percy hummed. "Actually? I am thinking of making some gloves for Supprin." That made Amisi's eyebrows furrow some. "Or rather, at the next Hogsmeade trip, I am going down to one of the craftsman there in the village and having them make the gloves to my specifications. Re-sizing charms so that they would fit her hand well, a spell so that she can actually feel through said gloves to a human level as if it was her skin, and spells to protect it against the elements among others."

Considering that, Amisi smiled herself as she remembered how the Abyssal's hands were sensitive without her massive gauntlets on them. "Is she... only one?"

Bemused as he knew what she was doing, Percy smirked some. "Well, perhaps not. I have a few other ideas as well. Cannot say much though."

That got a good natured huff from Amisi before she shook her head. Yes, her Pharaoh was odd in this life, and could be quite silly. But at the same time? She was thankful that he was not as stressed as he had been in his last life.

Also, she was enjoying the world as it was.

Elsewhere in the castle, in the Room of Requirement, Harry raised an eyebrow at Shiromizu who was biting into a meat pie thoughtfully. "Wait, so you're nervous about October? Really, Shiromizu?"

Swallowing the food in her mouth, the Mizuchi nodded though she did chew her lip some. "Hai, I am, Harry. I mean..." With a deep breath, she ran her hand through her hair. "Well... you know what happens in October, right?"

His eyes widening, Harry frowned in thought. "Kannazuki, right? The Month Without Gods, when they all travel to Izumo Taisha?"

Just nodding, Shiromizu shifted a little bit. "Um, hai. I mean, Sempai is going to accompany me to Izumo Taisha as this is the first time that I have ever had to go somewhere and... well... I'm just a little nervous." At Harry's raised eyebrow, she flushed and sighed. "Okay, I'm very nervous. I mean, we're talking about how the most powerful Kami are going to be there! Then there is the whole bit where I need to present myself to Ryuujin-Dono since I'm a new Mizuchi and... and..." Quickly, the other person at the table moved her plate out of the way as she banged her head on the table. "I just know that I am going to mess up somehow."

Reaching over, the wizard shook his head as he patted her shoulder. "You'll do fine, Shiromizu-Nee. I know that for a fact."

The honorific brought a small smile to Shiromizu's face and she gave a small smile. "Thanks, Otouto." Frowning, she ran a hand through her hair. "Still, I'm pretty nervous about it."

Harry frowned himself and furrowed his eyebrows. "Out of curiosity... can I ask a question?" When she waved him on, he continued. "Kannazuki was supposed to be in November, until they changed the Calendars, right? So they did change it to October?"

Blinking, Shiromizu thought back to the various things she had been told by Jin and nodded. "Um, I suppose? From what Sempai stated, there was a whole lot of divine politics and such that went into it as some wanted to keep to the old date and others move to the new one. It was something that they argued back and forth over for more then three decades from what I heard."

With a slow nod, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped box. "Speaking of that... I have a gift for you that could be useful." Confused, Shiromizu took it and began to unwrap it. "I commissioned it when I went to visit Natsumi-Chan's Grandparents and they pointed me to a shop in the town there."

Finally opening it, Shiromizu sucked in a breath at what met her. Inside the box was a Inrō along with the Netsuke. Taking it out, she felt her eyes water as the top part showed her mountain on it while the Netsuke was of a coiled white snake. "Oh, Harry... it's beautiful..."

It was then that she noticed his smirk and he nodded at it. "Set it down on the floor and then tap the top while focusing some magic into it."

Confused, Shiromizu did so and jerked back as the inrō was now the size of a trunk. Opening each space, her eyebrows rose as each one was the size of an actual trunk. Upon opening the last one, she noticed a small crank and slowly used it. Much to her surprise, an entire wardrobe rose out. "This... this is..."

Shrugging some, Harry smiled at her. "I thought that you could use it and it would be more presentable."

A sniffle escaped her before she gave him a small hug. "Thank you, Harry. Thank you so very much."

Harry simply hugged her back in reply with a smile. "Then I'm happy."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Hands behind his back, Goto glanced at Ooyodo with a hum. Said Cruiser gave him a raised eyebrow back in return. "Teitoku?"

Watching as everything was set up for the Summoning, the Admiral did not say anything right away. But then he smiled some in thought. "Just thinking of the summoning. This is the last one before October after all though it is night out."

Simply tilting her head, Ooyodo considered that before sighing. "Yes, well... Summonings here in Japan do seem to fail if performed during the month of October. Though I wonder..." Becoming thoughtful, she glanced at Haru who was in her Miko garb. "Is it because of the fact that it is Kannazuki? Or is there some other reason?"

A frown on his face, Goto was also thoughtful. "That is a rather good question. But... at the same time it also reminds us that there is so much that we don't know about summoning. Which is something that we should all keep in mind considering we are messing with forces beyond mortal ken."

Just nodding, the Light Cruiser turned her attention to her clipboard. "It would seem about right to be honest." Considering her notes on the paper, she raised an eyebrow. "And it also falls upon the Harvest Moon it would seem."

Finger tapping against his arm, Goto gave a slow nod at that. "The Harvest Moon, you say? Now that is interesting." Lips curling, he chuckled some. "I have a rather good feeling about it."

Eyebrow raised, Ooyodo frowned. "A good feeling, Teitoku?" When he nodded, she shook her head. "I see."

Placing his hands behind his back, Goto smirked. "A very good feeling as a matter of fact."

Rather then say anything, Ooyodo turned her attention back to the ceremony as it started. As it continued, the wind picked up and swirled around the Summoning Chamber. Candles in their places flickered and the scent of incense filled noses as the water sloshed and the Summoning materials were swallowed up. Beside her sister, Niiyodo frowned and tilted her head. "There's a number of ships coming, Nee-San."

Only nodding, the other Light Cruiser waited only to blink as the shipgirls burst from the water. At the front was a silver haired Destroyer wearing an outfit nearly identical to the Akizuki's, except for how wore a white bodysuit. Moments later, her identity was confirmed as Teruzuki gasped in happiness. "Suzutsuki!"

With a blink at her sisters, the Destroyer smiled a bit and then saluted. "I am the Akizuki-class air defence destroyer 'Suzutsuki'. So that I can always... can always protect everyone, I'll... do my best. I'll be under your care!"

Nodding, Goto smiled a bit. "Good to have you back, Suzutsuki." Turning to the others, he blinked though at how there were three Light Cruisers. One of them was obviously a Katori Class going by the outfit though she had white hair. The other two though? They had purple hair with floating horns by their head. For one, the horns branched once into a two prong shape while the second had hers look more like spread out fins.

It did not help that one had a massive hammer slung over one shoulder and the other had what looked like a Jian style sword.

He could also see two smaller girls in familiar looking swimsuits. Eyebrow raising, he hummed. 'It seems that someone has gotten their wish for some of her sisters to return...'

Meanwhile, the Katori Class snapped to a salute. "Katori-Class, Kashihara! It is a pleasure to be able to finally serve!"

Beside her, both the purple haired Cruisers also saluted. "Tenryuu-Class #3 and #4, reporting!"

With blinks, the two smaller girls also nodded. "Um, Yu-10 and Yu-11 reporting!"

Turning, he regarded the last girl who wore a uniform not unlike Ooyodo's, but with a apron on the front with pink hair. With a swallow, she also saluted. "Repair Ship, Momotori-" She yelped a bit as another pink haired girl jumped her and knocked her to the water's surface. "W-what?!"

Lips curling, Goto gave a small nod. "Allow me to welcome you all back to the here and now. We'll be giving you all a debriefing soon enough." Once they nodded and started to the ladder, with a crying Akashi. However, before they got far, the water began to bubble and everyone leaned forward only to stare as a fourth Light Cruiser appeared. Something about her struck them as familiar from her clothing, which was a light grey Sarafuku with her stomach exposed, though it was wrapped in bandages. She also had greenish hair in a braided ponytail with a bluish-green hairbow at the end. "And you are?"

Breathing heavily, the girl coughed a bit before standing straight. "Sorry for the wait, Sir! Just... give me a moment." With a swallow, she gave a small smile and her next words caused a stir. "Yuubari Class Experimental Cruiser, Katsura, reporting! Ready to make some magic happen!"

Very slowly, Ooyodo turned to Goto and quirked one eyebrow. "Yes, a very good feeling."

All Goto did in return was shrug.

Half an hour later found them all in Goto's office. Leaning back into his chair, the Admiral considered the shipgirls in front of him with a slight frown. "Hmm." Out of all of them though, his gaze locked on one of them who was examining the various items in the room in interest, such as the television screen and mumbling to herself. "Before we go any further, we need to address an elephant in the room... Katsura-San?"

With a jump, the shipgirl twisted around and stood stiffly. "Y-yes, Sir? What is it?"

In reply, Goto clasped his hands in front of him. "You are very interesting right now, mainly for one reason." Eyes narrowing slightly, he frowned deeper. "From all records, there has only ever one member of the Yuubari-Class. So you have to understand the confusion from there being a second."

That made the shipgirl suck her teeth a bit as she glanced around. "Well, um... there's... reasons for it? I mean..." Chewing her lip, here eyes went from one spot to another. "I-I, that is... considering how I know that we lost the war, but considering how we showed up, I thought that..."

From where she was next to the door, Haru's eyes widened a bit and mouthed something to Goto. Said Officer just nodded as it confirmed something to him and gave a sigh. "If it is about magic, we already know about it."

Blinking, Katsura stared at him. "Y-you do? But... the Statute and, we lost! How...?" Simply sitting back, Goto glanced at Haru who nodded and allowed her tails and ears out. At seeing that, the Light Cruiser's jaw dropped and her eyes widened, alongside the others besides Ooyodo, Niiyodo, and Nagato. "A-a Kitsune! What is going on here?"

Softly sighing, the five tail shook her head. "What is going on, Katsura-San, is that we are currently in a magical war of sorts. One that eclipses the one that you knew. More over, the Statute is slowly dying and will likely collapse in the next few years."

Legs weakening, the shipgirl looked ready to fall over. Seeing that, Niiyodo raised a foot and kicked a chair to where it was in the right spot for her to fall into. Now in the chair, Katsura ran a hand through her hair as she blinked. "Oh..."

Expression softening, Goto got up and walked to the small cup machine and made some tea which he passed to her. Once she had it, he stood in front of her. "I understand that this is a bit of a shock, but we do need to know what is going on so that we can come up with some explanation and know what might come. Because there are those who can be... still problematic about things. Though I did make an order that until further notice your existence will be kept a secret."

Not saying anything, Katsura sipped her tea with shaking hands before taking a deep breath. "I... guess that I should start at the beginning then?"

Goto leaned against his desk and nodded. "That would be a good start, yes." With a glance to the other shipgirls, he gave a small nod. "I have some food on the way, it'll be here soon."

Shaking her head, Suzutsuki smiled lightly as she looked at her sisters. "I don't mind at all, Teitoku."

Both Yu-10 and Yu-11 shook their heads as well with Yu-10 speaking up. "We don't mind, Sir. We're wondering ourselves... magic? Really?"

Laughing somewhat bitterly, Katsura shook her head. "Yeah, magic. Wonderful, wonderful... and yet terrible magic." With another sip, she calmed down some. "I... assume that you know about the Kamo government?" After those in the know nodded, the Light Cruiser frowned. "Well, I was laid down September 21, 1924 as an experimental ship on a hidden slipway. Like my Onee-San, I was to test out new systems and the like. Unlike her, though, the systems that I was to test out were magical ones. Some were systems that had been stolen from an island in the Atlantic where the people there merged technology and magic on a warship of their own."

A frown on his face, the Admiral furrowed his eyebrows. "Saint Brendan's, I take it?" At her surprised look, he thinly smiled. "We know of it for certain reasons. And not good ones..." Goto then waved her on. "If you could?"

Even though she was confused, the magical shipgirl continued. "Um, right! So I was used to test out a lot of magical systems in the 1920s and 30s. Magical sensors and the like for instance. Then... the war broke out." Chewing her lip, Katsura shook her head. "It... was bad. I was mostly used to ship magicals back and forth, as well as try and fight against MACUSA forces, mainly the ships that they were using for floating bases. After the war... myself and the other magical warships of Japan were taken to a place just above the Japanese Trench and... they used a fast acting corroding alchemical compound sprayed into our hulls. It rusted us from the inside out even as we sank in order to get rid of any evidence of magic. It was not pleasant to say the least."

Placing her hand on the smaller shipgirl's shoulder, Nagato gave her a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry."

Sadly smiling, Katsura shrugged. "Not your fault." Then turning her attention to Goto, she took a deep breath. "What now?"

On Goto's face as an understanding smile. "Well, the first thing to do is to contact Yuubari and let her know that she has a sister after our debrief. Now, what comes after? That we'll deal with as it comes. In the meantime, welcome back."

Her smile brightening some, Katsura nodded. "Good to be back, Sir. And this time, I hope to do good in this life."

With a final nod, Goto turned to the others and tilted his head some as he looked at the two Tenryuu class. 'Going to need to come up with names for those two.' Putting that aside for now, he cleared his throat. "Now, with that out of the way, we need to begin our debrief..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

Slowly, the last of the sun's rays faded over the skies of Tokyo, as the Autumn sunset slowly gave way to twilight proper.

It was the hour of omagatoki. It was the time when the worlds of sekai and ikai, the mundane and the spirit, began to thing an blend. Eyes watching the park adjacent to her apartment building, Jin watched the trees shift in the cold breeze which brushed at their branches. Across the way, the traffic began to tail off, as people finished their commutes home for the day. Lights and neon start to appear, or at least become more noticeable in the fading light. The first precursors to the inverted starscape that would become the night time metropolis.

Within the park however, no lights would be coming on today. Instead for the next few hours, there would only be muggle-repelling charms and illusions to provide a false appearance of everything being normal during the activities planned. Glancing to the side, she observes Haru, in full Shrine Priestess regalia and gravity, checking over the last of her apparel and tools. Behind her, Natsumi and Shiromizu wait and watch curiously.

It had been Jin's suggestion to bring the two along, even if the ritual to take place was still a bit beyond either of them. For Natsumi she reasoned, it was a rare opportunity to see them as an observer while Haru carried them out. For Shiromizu, it would be a chance to see one of the more spiritual aspects of being a kami. To see how it might work if she ever wanted to go through with what Jin had planned.

Finally, Haru finishes her adjustments and checks, before rising and looking to the corrupted kami. "Shall we begin?"

Jin nods, pulling off the hilariously out of place pointed witch's hat she has been wearing while still dressed up like a biker, and tosses the headwear to one of the nearby Adachi Neighborhood Watch members who have been helping seal and establish a perimeter around the park. "Let's get this show on the road."

In the cool autumn breeze, the lily pad growing out of her head bobs lightly.
-------------------------------------------------

"What the heck is all of this stuff?" asks Natsumi as they approach the center of the park. Beside her, Shiromizu shifts uneasily, something in the air- no the ground, putting her on edge with unease.

The bottles of sake, bentos of food, and the odd rice ball, surrounded by loose sprigs of Sakaki leaves and maybe the rare paper talisman, are all pretty much expected by now. Jin can practically time how they turn up at least once a month. Heck, there had practically been a banquet left behind after the anniversary of Blood Week back in August.

Now though, there were some new additions since the last time she's been home, that surprised even her. Sure, they weren't great ones.

But it was still somewhat bemusing to find one of those small, cheap, solar-powered plastic water fixtures people sometimes got for their gardens, sitting on a small tablet of river stone. Accompanying the kitsch, Walmart-quality, fake-stone koi leaping out of and spitting water back into it's basin sized pond, was also what Jin was pretty sure was supposed to be an attempt at making a low budget Hokora. Except instead, it looked like somebody with meat-tenderisers for fingers, had bungled putting together one of those do-it-yourself bird houses, before finally calling it a day after copious amounts of glue to undo their failure to follow the assembly instructions and thumb-tacking on some shide streamers for good measure.

Most kami might have actually been offended by the poorness of the attempt, no matter how much obvious fervent dedication went into the set up. Jin just found it hilarious.

"It's the abyssal cultists!" she cackled with amusement, as she began picking up offering and handing them to nearby ANW members, both to clear the area and to pass them out to everyone later.

Natsumi stares in disbelief. "Abyssal cultists? You have people leaving offerings to Abyssals around here?!"

Jin can't help the giggle she fails to restrain. "Actually, they're Abyssals who're leaving the offerings. Cultists who are Abyssals. Cultists. Abyssals. Ergo, Abyssal cultists."

It's Shiromizu who catches on first, and has her jaw drop. "You've got a bunch of Abyssals worshiping you?"

The older mizuchi gives a bemused shrug, that fails to hide her undercurrent of smug pride. "Well, I don't entirely get it myself, but I think it's an Abyssal thing. Apparently if you kill enough of them in memorable, nightmarish ways, the survivors start singing songs of what is left in your passing, and praying to you, either out of appeasement or as some sort of vengeful dark-god-protector-spirit, who comes to the aid of the weak and those in need by horrifically slaughtering all who do them ill."

Briefly, she twirls a box of pocky in her hand. "For some reason the cult recently started to really take off among a lot of nomadic fleets and exiled loners, even though it was mostly started by Abyssals who liked the damage I did or inadvertently terrified into fearing ever harming humans again. I suppose without a Demon, Princess or larger fleet for protection, the desperate look elsewhere. Especially since they're usually only nomadic after losing their previous territory and leaders to another group. Most exiles also get the shit kicked out of them, or are lucky to be alive after being crippled and left to die by their previous comrades."

Shriomizu just looks at Jin, unsure whether to laugh at the ludicrousness of her sempai having a cult made up of Abyssals, express awe at the fact that the older mizuchi gained a cult through terrifying Abyssals so badly, or be appalled at the fact that the corrupted and dark-aligned water kami now has a cult made up of corrupted and dark-aligned ship kami. "And you know all this why?"

"They're out here practically every other week," answers Jin, her voice tinged with a slight note of annoyance. "Dark One! Dark One! You can hear them from across the road and the garages sometimes. Hell, sometimes I'm not even here, and I hear them."

Haru looks at the older mizuchi with mild alarm. "You're getting actual faith and prayers from them?"

Jin shakes her head. "Not really. I just hear them because I have a connection to this place, but none of my power is actually here."

Shifting slightly, Shiromizu reaches out for the feeling that leaves her feeling uneasy and feeling slightly sickened. "Wait.... So if that's not you I'm picking up from this place- what am I detecting?"

Area now cleared, Jin dusts off her hands as she rises back to her feet, taking a moment to examine the tacky plastic water fixture distractedly. "Probably my old grudge. That or my corpse."

Shiromizu blinks. "Your what?"

"If you want to be technical, my old head waters began about another thirty meters that way, in a spring rising up from an aquifer way down in the ground." Thumbing over her shoulder at a parking lot to the northwest, Jin then scuffs her boots on the dusty ground she's standing on, directly at the center of the park. "but this right here though, is where it properly reached the surface and started as a decently deep pond. Which would still be, if it wasn't currently locked in a concrete tube a few meters below our feet" gripes the mizuchi irritably.

Natsumi, less familiar with Jin's story than the mizuchi's kohai, or her aunt who had lived through the time period, blinks and looks around at not only the meagre park, but also the rest of the neighborhood that is within view. The massive appartment blocks, the streets lined with stores, wide avenues of asphalt, and the rest of the concrete and electronic cityscape humanity has built the surrounding area into - Natsumi takes it in with new eyes. "This- this wasn't just your home- this was your go-shinta?!"

"It was," says the corrupted mizuchi with no small amount of melancholy. "And it was beautiful."

The younger water-kami of the group however, now looks even more disturbed. "We're standing on top of your corpse!"

"Ehhh, technically yes and no," says Jin making a so-so gesture. "I was still fully manifested in the physical world via a dying corporeal form when they dropped a boulder into what was left of the pond to plug my spring, so it meant I left a few dozen tons of dead dragon around after kicking it. Seeing as I'm kind of too fucking big to move though, they ended up having to fill in the pond, which is why this is a mound, rather than a water feature now. So you're not really standing on me like we would if we were standing in your spring." The dragon pauses awkwardly for a moment, before amending her sentence. "But what is left of my corpse, is around ten meters down, in for pretty much every direction around us."

Natsumi frowns, trying to make sense of the mizuchi's words. "Wait, -so, you fill the entire park?"

"Pretty much," answers the mizuchi with a nod as she lazily points to one corner of the park in particular. "What's left of my head starts over at that corner, and kind of just squiggles back and forth to the opposite one."

Shiromizu looks at the ground uneasily. "So if your head's over there. Then- what's here, and why is this where the.... wrongness feels strongest?"

Jin grins. "Well, why don't I show you guys. It's why we're here and I'm borrowing the help of Natsumi's aunt."

Glancing at Haru, who now has her gohei in hand, the shrine priestess nods. Seeing the kitsune is ready, the mizuchi rolls up her sleeves, as scales slowly begin to spread across her paling features, and black ichor starts to seep from her eyes and re-opening scars. "Right, just give me a second to get this thing out of here-"

"Get what out of where?" asks Shiromizu, just in time to see Jin collapse into a puddle of caustic sludge, black with fetid rot and the slight sheen of spilled oil and chemicals. The one spot of color, is the lilypad that pokes out happily from the surface of the newly formed puddle, as if it were a normal, though rather polluted, park water feature.

"Oh what the hell!" exclaims Natsumi. "It's the well all over again!"

Shiromizu is pretty sure she hears what sounds like a bubbling, gurgle of a laugh, but oddly enough, it also sounds muted. Like it's coming from within the ground. With a mild amount of surprise, the younger mizuchi then realizes it is coming from within the ground. Slowly, the black puddle is shrinking, as if the toxic muck were slowly seeping into, and being absorbed by the dirt.

Down and down it seeps, deep into the earth. Not poisoning it though, for now Shriomizu finally realizes what has been amiss and unnerved her so much.

This place is already poisoned. Contaminated and fouled by something that still lingers, long after the pollution and filth of urbanization and warfare has faded. There is something here.... a tainted scar on the spiritual landscape. A festering darkness, that though decades gone, leaves a stain which seethes and saturates the ground beneath the park.

A grudge.

With a start, Shiromizu then realizes that Jin seems to be 'returning', slowly, the puddle with it's lily, begins to ripple and grow. Undulating and rising out of the grown like liquefaction, slowly the sludge begins to resolve itself into a more familiar, humanoid shape. As her now fully scaled arms coming up though, something else then happens. The ground begins to shift and churn, as if the mizuchi were displacing dirt, dragging something to the surface.

"Haha!" cries the scarred mizuchi victoriously, as the upheaving earth at last surrenders what Natsumi at first take to be an extremely odd shaped boulder, ensnared in a tangle of decayed tree stumps and dirt. However, while Natsumi merely wrinkles her nose in disgust at the car-sized lump, Shiromizu gasps in horror at what she sees. A mass of fetid mud. Once white porous river stone stained black with slime. Water-logged roots almost liquid from rot, and connected to petrified trunks of bog-wood, which ooze sludge from some of the larger trunks and vents. All while practically radiating the same aura as her sempai when powered up.

"Oh how I missed you thump-thump!" declares the mizuchi with a fond pat to the grudge tainted mass.
Spoiler

"What the hell is that sempai?!?" screeches the younger mizuchi.

Jin cackles. "Come on, this should be obvious! It's my original heart!"

While Haru begins cautiously inspecting the object Jin has unearthed, Natsumi looks on with an expression torn between disgusted intrigue, an urge to begin laying down offuda, and technical curiosity. "Wait, I thought you said you didn't have any power here?"

"I don't," answers the mizuchi.

"Then explain that!" says the kitsune miko-in-training, pointing at the car sized mass of grudge-borne rot and corruption.

"It's not really me," says Jin, before pausing and making a face. "Hmm... well, maybe to be more exact, what it once was, is not part of the current me."

Shiromizu looks at the older water-kami curiously. "Wait, so is it like.... a defiled mikoshi, or a desecrated branch shrine containing your power?"

Jin shakes her head. "Not really. I've never divide myself before, at least not in any traditional manner."

Glancing at Haru, who with a nod then begins running through a variety of shinto chants, Jin glances back to their younger counterparts present. "You know how the soul of a kami is technically divided into four parts?"

Shiromizu nods, reciting one of the many, much more spiritually complicated concepts her normally irreverent sempai had imparted upon her. Something that struck her with no amount of irony, considering the corrupted mizuchi's tendency to invoke the Abrahamic god's name in vain, and occasionally some more creative curses involving the Nordic pantheon as well.

"The four parts of the Mitama, right?" answers the younger mizuchi. "The Ara-mitama, the Nigi-mitama, the Saki-mitama, and the Kushi-mitama."

"Got it in one," says Jin with a nod. "Now, to cut a lot of the complicated stuff short, which probably includes some dangerous things I shouldn't tell you two anyway, part of how I cast my original grudge and got myself reincarnated, was by gaming the system in, what in retrospect, was a really really stupid way."

"How so?" asks Natsumi

"Well for one thing," says Jin, "the 'me' you're talking to, is technically only the original me's Ara-mitama, plus a chunk of the Kushi-mitama I tore out and made off with for it's powers over the mysterious and transformations."

Shiromizu looks at her sempai in horror. "You only have half a soul?!?!"

The older mizuchi actually looks somewhat affronted by the accusation. "What?! No! Of course I have a full soul! You'd have to be an idiot to walk around with great whooping chunks of soul missing and unbalanced! The missing bits were replaced with human ones when I reincarnated. I may have been stupid-angry at the time, but I wasn't that stupid."

The ex-water kami then pauses awkwardly. "....granted, I kind of overlooked what having a Nigi-mitama and a mind with a much less alien-elemental way of thinking and actually positive connections to everyone I was hoping to kill would do for my opinion of that plan, but that's besides the point."

Natsumi meanwhile, frowns. "Wait, so then what happened to the rest of you?"

"Well, my Saki-mitama, and the rest of my Kushi-mitama proooobably ended up...." Jin waves her hand vaguely, "Wherever it is kami go when they kick it. But my Nigi-mitama didn't immediately disappear. That's the part that had to take one for the team and actually work the magic to make sure my memories jumped ship properly as well." Pausing, the mizuchi looks back at the rock, as Haru seems to finish her current round of chanting. "Which reminds me, thanks for the great delayed birthday present past-me."

Dropping her sarcasm, Jin then looks back to Natsumi and Shiromizu. "Anyway, I can't really tell what happened to it myself. Near as I can figure, it kinda burned itself out. Without the rest of me, it couldn't really do anything, so it pretty much just kept the grudge going, without the power to do more than make other nature kami slightly uncomfortable. It already petered out to into what you're currently looking at before I even got back in the '60s. What's left is actually the grudge itself, more than any part of my soul hanging around within my old corpse."

The mizuchi's expression then becomes an annoyed frown. "Which is a pain in the ass, since as the part of the soul that's supposed to be a sign of my normal state and function as a kami, so long as my stream is covered and lifeless, it's stuck being fucking dead and corrupted. But due to how I've hatchet-jobbed my soul together, my natural state and function is for lack of a better term, locked and I can't automatically influence it. I'm stuck in this weird Schrodinger's cat situation of simultaneously having the living human Nigi-mitama I'm currently running around with, while also still being tied to this fucking dead and corrupted kami Nigi-mitama as well. And the reason I can't easily change it, is because humans don't become 'dead' and 'corrupted' in the same way kami do, nor can they usually come back from being 'corrupted and 'dead' in the same way a kami might if you change their environment or appease them."

"Yes, 'corruption of the soul' and 'death' are pretty terminal conditions for normal mortals, no matter how long lived they are," comments Haru dryly from where she works.

Shiromizu blinks, as pieces start lining up in her mind. "Hold on, so if- that's why you can't really do a lot of the stuff I can! It's why all the powers you have left are either offensive or transformative oriented. That's the reason you've never fixed your stream or your powers yourself, and have such a strong connection to death! As a water-kami, all you've got is the rough and violent side of the spirit that should only appear in times of war or natural disasters, and while you do have some of the soul that governs change and the power to provide, it's fractured! At least half of you is dead, half of you is alive, half of you is a kami, and half of you is human!"

Briefly, Jin's brow twitches. "It's the mind and spirit that counts. Regardless of the patchwork quilt I've made of my body and soul, my mind and spirit are what I choose."

As the older mizuchi taps at the side of her head, Natsumi looks at her with faux-curiously and innocence. "And what is that? Mizuchi, or human?"

Jin levels an unamused look the kitsune's way, while Shiromizu glances back at the rotten heart once more, expression now curious. "So.... this is all kinda neat in a mildly horrific way and all, but what exactly are we doing with this thing anyway?"

The corrupted kami grins, tapping at the lily pad currently sprouting out of her head. "Well, you guys saw know I picked this thing up, right? And how it's a gift from a fucking fae."

Shiromizu and Natsumi both nod, at which Jin continues. "So, at first I was all worried and stuff, right? 'Oh geez, what am I going to do with this thing?' 'I can't just get rid of it, that would probably lead to some serious shit.' 'I can't wander around with a plant growing outta my fucking skull.' All that jazz. My original plan was that I was gonna make a water clone, then jump myself to that body and leave this one in the bathtub whenever I'm not home, but that still seemed kinda disingenuous and playing with fire in the respectfulness department. But then I realized something!"

"Realized what?" asks Natsumi curiously.

In answer, Jin wipes at one of her many seeping wounds, and then flicks her hand at the ground. Immediately, there is a muted, sizzling hiss, as grass wilts, blackens, and rots upon contact with the sludge, until it becomes homogeneous with the corruption seeping into the dirt.

Head tilted uncertainly, Natsumi then looks back to Jin. "Uh.... Other than affirming my desire to never drink from Harry's well until somebody else does so first, the point of that was what exactly?"

Shiromizu's eyes however, then light up with excited realization. "The plant! It's alive!"

"Exactly!" answers the older mizuchi. "Whatever Potter's fae relatives did to this thing or wherever they got it from, my corrupted nature doesn't kill it!"

Her curiosity now fully alight, Shiromizu looks between her sempai, the rotten heart, and the lily growing of of Jin head intently, trying to figure out what the goal is. Then it clicks. "You want to plant the lily in your old heart?!" The young water kami's eyes widen. "If you plant it in your old heart, it's something alive and growing from a 'part' of you, even if it's not your stream!"

"Yep!" crows Jin, posing like a victorious genius. Albeit, one who also has a leaf growing out of her head. "I'm not sure if it'll do anything, and even if it does, it's probably a process that'll take years at best for anything to happen. Waterways take time to recover after all, and even if my stream was uncovered, I'd never recover all of my original power or abilities thanks to all the changes I've been through and the new ones I've gained. But even so, I think it's worth a try!"

Natsumi however, frowns, already noting an issue with the plan. "But what about keeping the thing around you? I thought you just said you were worried about potentially upsetting the fae if you just the thing somewhere separate from you."

"That," says Jin with a smile on her face. "Is where I have decided to cheat. And also where your aunt comes in."

"Speaking of which," interrupts Haru. "I'm basically done here."

The older kitsune nods at the car sized hunk of balled roots, bog-wood, mud, and stone, which has largely finished exuding it's ichor onto the ground, in the pit created when Jin uprooted it. "This is about as good as it's going to get without me practically gift wrapping it in purification offuda first, and that would defeat the point of this whole endeavor if I did so."

Natsumi looks at the heart dubiously, as Jin begins to fish around in one of her magically expanded pockets for something. "And we wouldn't want to purify this thing when that's your plan in the end, why exactly?"

"Because firstly, those ofuda you lot have been running around with, suck ass for me. The back blast from the Gashadokuro left me looking sunburned for like a week, and I heard from one of my friends that one of those pretty much fucking dusted a dementor." Giving a victorious grin, Jin then begins pulling what she's been looking for, out of her pocket. Something that turns out to be a an extremely long length of rice-straw rope, intermittently festooned with paper shide streamers.

"Secondly," says the mizuchi as she begins passing the lengths of Shimenawa to Haru, "the corruption of the heart, plus the fact that it already used to be a part of me, makes it perfect as a repository for a copy of my soul."

At last, the piece of the plan fall into place for Natsumi. "You're going to use a chunk of your own corpse as a yorishiro!"

"And if you use a Kanjo ritual to make a linked copy of yourself-" continues Shiromizu, "It lets you create something of greater respect and permanence than a water-clone-"

In unison, they then simultaneously finish their joint epiphany "Which lets you plant something, and off-load the lily from your actual body at the same time!"

"You got it!" says Jin, giving them both thumbs up. "A+ marks right there!"

To the side, Haru then chips in. "Now that you two are both up to speed, maybe you two could help me wrap this Shimenawa around it?"

"Oh, right."

"Sure thing."

As the two youths move to help Haru, Shiromizu then looks to the others curiously. "So... out of curiosity, how does this work?"

Natsumi shrugs. "Well, the way I've always heard it, a Kanjo is supposed to be less like halving or splitting up something, and more like lighting one candle with the flame already going on another." Awkwardly, the miko-in-training then glances at Jin. "But then, I've never seen or heard of a kanjo involving a water-kami physically present. Never mind one involving something like.... well, how you are."

Now it's Jin's turn to shrug, lost for a serious answer as she looks to Haru curiously instead. "Honestly, I have no real clue how this is supposed to normally work myself. It's why I got your help in the first place. I know the mechanics of it, but I've never actually done it myself, since I was never really worshiped, and there was wasn't ever any reason for me to want to be divided through ritual means. This is basically my first time doing this."

Immediately Haru grins, as she accepts either end of the Shimenawa from Natsumi and Shiromizu, and begins closing the circuit around the upper portion of stumps and river boulder with a knot. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

Even if it's at her expense, Jin can't resist an amused snort at the joke. "Hardy-har-har. More seriously, what the heck do I do now? I can tell this thing's calling me after what you just did, but now what?"

Finishing off her knot and letting the Shimenawa now drape from where it tightly hugs the circumference of, but does not seem to get stained by the black stumps and mud, Haru shrugs. "Just do what ever you feel is right. You don't want to just jam it in."

The mizuchi narrows her gaze. "That had better not be another first time joke."

The kitsune simply smiles enigmatically, causing the mizuchi to roll her eyes. "Right.... so.... what feels right?"

For a moment, Jin hums curiously to herself.

Briefly, she looks down, apparently inspecting one of her clawed hands.

With a frown, Shiromizu then notes how the surface of her sempai's white wife-beater, worn beneath her open biker jacket, begins to shift. First is a brief glimpse of white scales, riven by a pair of great bleeding wounds, before then it changes again. Next it becomes a rippling surface, almost like a watery portal into the pool of a murky pond, which has replaced the inside of the older mizuchi's rib cage and it's contents beneath her skin.

Which is about all the warning Jin gives, before she abruptly shoves her clawed fist into her own chest.

"SEMPAI! WHAT THE FUCK!?!"

"Holy shit!"

"Don't just shove it in to prove me wrong!" shouts Haru in horror, only to choke as she realizes the this time entirely unintentional slip she's made.

Jin, as should have been expected of her, cackles at the reactions garnered. Haru's in particular, draws a smirk from her as she begins fishing about inside her chest for something. "Sorry, was that too much for you to handle?"

The kitsune gives a long suffering sigh, while Natsumi and Shiromizu watch with morbid curiosity as the surface of Jin 'watery' flesh simply ripples like the surface of a pond, as she finally seems to find her grasp on what she's looking for. "Hey, you started it!" accuses Jin as she begins to withdraw her hand.

Shiromizu stares at what she sees.
Spoiler

It's like a 'healthy' (for a given degree of healthy), human-scale version of the car-sized organ of mud, stone and wood wrapped in a Shimenawa in front of them.

Though not without it's own signs of stagnation and corruption, it isn't quite as obviously outright dead as it's counterpart. Rather than being clogged entirely with toxic mud, there is still at least some water which drifts and flows about, even if it is murky and filled with streamers of black and veins of sludge. All of this liquid encases a discolored and tainted river stone, like a tail around a comet. Off of the stone also creep a variety of interwoven roots, but unlike on the larger organ however, these ones aren't completely riven with blackening rot, even if they are rather twisted and discolored.

All four are silent, as Jin slowly pulls the spiritual avatar of her current heart and soul, away from her chest, and moves to approach her long since dead one. Flowing ribbons of water still connect it to her, as if the entire organ were rigged to invisible hoses running back into the mizuchi and performing some kind of function she probably doesn't actually need. Then, upon reaching the surface of the black-stained rock and it's shroud of rotting roots, Jin simply pushes her hand forward. Without any resistance, heart, hand, and a good portion of her forearm enter the side of the rock as if it was intangible.

For a long moment, nothing seems to happen. Then with a gasp, Shiromizu hears it. Feels it.

A pulse of power.

And then a beat.

Immediately Haru begins chanting, while Jin distractedly starts to withdraw her hand from the black-stained rock of her old organ. Even as a change begins to over come it. With a pulse of the mizuchi's power, the worst of the remaining sludge seeps back inside the porous stone, while whole sheets of semi-liquefied root system detach from the face of the boulder and more intact trunks, falling to the ground where they begin to dry up and shrivel into nothingness. By the time Jin's hand is free, the heart at least looks more like a rather ugly modern art sculpture, rather than a katamari rolled through a swamp and then a tar pit.

What also comes free with Jin's hand, is a clone pair of the mildly less corrupted heart she just inserted. One remains linked to her by it's flowing veins and arteries of muck and sludge, but the second is instead tied to nothing. For a brief moment, the mizuchi stares, before watching as the second heart floats off of her hand, and sinks back into the stained black stone and grudge-formed bog-wood.

At last, the mizuchi then presses her connected organ effigy back to her chest. Rippling and dissolving into water and sludge, the liquids diffuse and swirl back into the puddle that makes up her sternum, before with a final pond-like shimmer, her front returns to it's previous 'plain shirt underneath a leather jacket' appearance.

Blinking curiously, Jin then slowly wiggles her fingers that previously held her 'hearts'. "Huh.... I guess it worked."

"Looks like it to me," agrees Haru with a nod, as she begins inspecting the now (relatively) cleaned up rock with it's crown of stumps. "Which also officially makes this the oddest kanjo I have ever done or seen performed."

Natsumi wrinkles her nose. "I dunno, it still seems off to me."

"That's because it worked," says Jin. "if it didn't feel like me, then I'd be in trouble."

Briefly glancing at the rock for a moment, a pulse of her power causes sludge to seep out of it's surface and cracks, as well as the breaks in the bog-wood trunks while roots begin to grow, only for everything to then reverse in progress and sink back in. Watching the progress, Jin can't help but make a face and mutter. "Tamamo-no-Mae got a stone that could kill anything in reach. I put my soul into a stone, and it just does xenomorph shark-week. Go figure."

Haru looks like she doesn't know whether to laugh, be offended, or gag, while Natsumi twitches and facepalms.

Shiromizu however, finally finishes her morbidly fascinated inspection of the newly created yorishiro and looks to Jin curiously. "So, how do you feel Sempai?"

The older mizuchi shrugs. "Pretty.... normal I guess?" Frowning and looking herself up and down, Jin then glances at the rock. A brief pulse of power then emanates from both the ex-kami's current body, and the entwined mass of bog-wood trunks and black-stained stone.

"It's... interesting," she finally decides after a few moments. "It's sort of like a water-clone, but not. A copy of me that's still a part of the whole. I can extend a degree of awareness and power through it, but it's not mobile and pretty much limited to the immediate vicinity around the thing. "

"Huh...." says Shiromizu with mild interest. "Now what?"

Reaching up, Jin plays at the steam of the lily pad growing out of her head. "Now we plant this thing, and figure out how to disguise this thing as a water feature."

"And how do we do that- OH JEEZ SEMPAI!"

With disgusting, sucking squelch, Jin grips either side of her head with both hand, and then pulls, causing it to detach from her neck with a noise like a boot being pulled from a deep, muddy quagmire. One which leaves behind a ballooning mass of black sludge at the stump, which is already reformulating into a new head for the onryo-mizuchi. A reversal of the one now in her hands, which swiftly undergoes a process of decay, until it is little more than an orb of mixed water and sludge, with a Sacred Lotus rhizome floating in the murk, and the lily pad still happily protruding from the top of the sphere.

More than a little disturbed, Natsume finds herself unable to look away from the sight of the oozing fetid bubble which grows from Jin's neck, inflating and reshaping itself to become a decay blackened human skull with deer horns protruding from it's head. One that is then swiftly covered by creeping tendrils of liquid, which next become the basis for sludge filled veins and necrotised flesh. Finally a layer of pale skin, covered in white scales emerges, at least in the spots where it isn't punctured and riven by old weeping wounds.

"Well.... that's going to be in my nightmares for a while." comments Natsume absently, while Jin gives a shake of her head as her mane of green hair is the last thing to grow in. "You just tore your own head off...."

"Meh, I was overdue for a haircut anyway," is the Mizuchi's flippant reply. "Been thinking I ought to take some volume off the top for a while now. Update the style with the times and all that."

Dryly, Haru watches on. "Well, you got it 'out' of you," says the Kitsune, as she observes the murky, polluted orb with it's precious green cargo in the mizuchi's hands. "What's you're next step?"

Jin hums thoughtfully. Looking at the stone, with it's gnarled crown of trunks, after a long moment of consideration, the mizuchi steps forwards. Inspecting the entwined mass for a moment, Jin then carefully lowers the orb into a ragged crack in the surface of the surface of the boulder. On that on closer inspection, Shiromizu realizes can't be natural. If the rough approximation of an organ is vaguely correct, then the unexpected hollow Jin has chosen as a repository for holding the lily and it's liquid, is in fact an atrium which has been partly carved open.

"That's.... is that what killed you?"

The older mizuchi blinks. "What, this little thing? Nah, this was post-mortem." A brief glimpse of a snarl passes over ex-water kami's recently regenerated features before she then schools her expression. "The ones who actually brought me down were smart enough to realize that desecrating what was left of me and not already corrupt, was probably a bad idea. When the professionals left though, some of more greedy fucks tasked with 'disposal' decided that rather than let me go to waste, they'd raid my corpse for anything they could make a dime off of. There wasn't much of my hide left, that didn't have bullet holes and chunks blasted out of it, but they basically squelched everything else they could loot. Blood, teeth, and heart strings were the main ones."

Shiromizu shifts with uncomfortable horror, hand absently rising to her breast where her own heart beats, while the mizuchi chuckles darkly. "The joke was on those guys though and karma got them back before my new body even left the womb. Case in point, the one who nicked my blood found it worked a bit too well, when he used some of it to make a verruca-removal potion for something he picked up after one of his many off base visits to the local whorehouse, financed with coin from selling the rest."

Looking to the spot of grass that Jin's blood previously rotted to sludge on contact, Natsumi turns mildly green while the mizuchi continues. "As for the one who stoles a bunch of my teeth, apparently he fell down a flight of stairs on to a couple of them. It was pretty much like that scene with the umbrella in 'Another'."

Shiromizu frowns. "I'm.... not sure I've ever seen that?"

"It's basically Final Destination - The Anime."

Shiromizu looks ill. "I'm.... not sure I ever want to see that...."

Jin shrugs, while simultaneously using a brief flex of her power to fill the interior of the rock's chambers with water. Slowly she begins to withdraw her hands, leaving the lily bobbing happily in it's new home. "The last dude meanwhile, thought he could break into the amateur wandmaking business."

"Do we even want to ask what happened to that guy?" says Natsumi with a frown.

The corrupted mizuchi grins as a quick flick removes the remaining water from her hands and dries them clean. "Let's just call it a tragic prototype failure. It made the local news on the west coast and everything. I had a clip floating around back when I was researching my original self, and trying to figure out what was- well, that's a heavy story for another time."

As Shiromizu and Natsumi jointly shiver, Haru finally interrupts with a raised eyebrow. "And what exactly is this story for another time?"

In response, Jin gives a languid shrug. "I dunno..... If you're willing to skip it though, I reckon there's still a good morale worth imparting on it's own."

Reach out a hand, the hollow boulder and entwined trunks of the heart thrum with power, officially adding the water and plant-life to the yorishiro within the shimenawa. As the mass of stone and bog-wood next slowly begins to sink into the ground, until only the shimenawa, lily pads, and trunks are above the rim of the depression in the ground the excavation and reburial have created, Jin then turns her gaze to Natsumi and Shiromizu. "Always be careful with the powers you have or earn, and how you use them. Sometimes power and what we wish, lingers on long after we are gone. Sometimes what we earn and learn, is not as new as we think, with all the baggage that entails. And sometimes a heated justification in a moment, becomes an unthinking wish made, and a future regret to hold." Briefly, her irreverent and confidently unflappable, bosozoku airs disappear, being replaced with those of a worldly woman looking out for the 'younger girls' she has come to find a fondness for, imparting the lessons she wished she learned sooner.

Before either of them can completely respond to or absorb this imparted wisdom though, Jin the rises once more, a smile now on her face. "And now that the seriousness quotient has been reached, it's time for some fun!"

"Fun?" asks Natsumi with mild disbelief. "You mean you haven't already been having fun horrifying everyone with your revelations, self-dismemberment, and stories?"

With a mild grin, Haru interrupts. "I don;t know. I'd say watching your reactions was fun enough for me at least."

The younger kitsune facepalms and sighs at her aunt undermining her. Jin however, looks to Shiromizu with a grin.

"What do you think?" the older mizuchi says with a gesture at the upper portion of the heart sticking out of the ground. With the black-on-black appearance of the stone and bog-wood, it'd look almost like a rock feature or modern art sculpture with a rope tied around it and sunken into a dirt pit, if it wasn't for the one spot of green that is the lily leaf protruding from the top. "Let's face it, it is still a bit boring and shit looking."

"Er... I guess so." offers Shiromizu uncertainly.

Amusement gleams in her gaze. "Totally below the lodgings of a water god, even a dead one, don't you think?"

"Um..." the younger water kami decides not to point out that she actually enjoys living in a terrarium with it's tiny little castle. "I guess?"

"Glad to see you agree then, because my ability to grow shit magically is all shot to shit." Jin then smiles. "Want to help me pretty this thing up and make it at least look like a council installed pond?"

Shiromizu blinks. "What, you want me to do what?"

The older mizuchi chuckles. "As neat as the 'evil tree stumps of doom' look is, I don't think it'll win any awards. If a bunch of someones with normal powers were to help line the pit with stones and fill it with some normal water however, I figure it could make a pretty nice lotus pond, with a relatively neat water feature partly submerged in the middle."

Shiromizu's gaze lights up happily.
-------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Jin wakes up feeling oddly satisfied.

Not from any effect of the lily, exactly. That would still take weeks, if not months to begin showing even the smallest hints of any effect on her or her powers. Not without anything drastic happening to the conditions of her stream.

No, she simply feels rather proud of the work she, Haru, Natsumi, and Shiromizu ended up doing on her park's newly acquired water feature the previous night.

It still wasn't a very big pond, but using what was there, it had been disguised as something surprisingly acceptable, and dare she say it, pretty. Especially when compared to the surrounding urban environment, where the predominate terrain features were grey apartment blocks, black asphalt roads, and slightly different shades of grey that made up the surrounding low-rise commercial buildings.
Spoiler

For now, the sections of trunk that peaked above the water simply seemed like surprisingly dark stepping logs, but weren't all that out of the ordinary. Even if one looked hard into the murky water, it would be hard to make out more than the upper half of the boulder or any of it's finer details. To further effect, the low water visibility meant that only the most attentive gaze would notice the shimenawa if they didn't already know it was there. Something helped along by Shiromizu aiding her in propagating a few non-fae lotus rhizomes, that she then planted elsewhere in the pond, so they weren't in contact with the heart.

In a mildly fortunate twist, they'd also ended up using some of the junk left behind by the Abyssal cultists, to further ensure the beautification of the area.

Most of the water that actually went into the pond was drawn from one of the park's taps normally used for watering the area in summer, but without anywhere to actually drain into, the pond was technically an artificial and closed water system. To avoid any potential algae blooms or the pool becoming a mosquito haven until the colder half of Autumn finally arrived for good, they had ended up disassembling the tacky plastic koi water fountain/pond for it's pump and purifier, then 'reinstalled' it in large part thanks to Natsumi.
Spoiler

Haru meanwhile, had taken the hilariously shoddy hokora that the Abyssals had attempted to build, and then somehow procured or magic'd it into a proper one that wasn't a hilarious tragedy. A small part of Jin couldn't help but keep on expecting her tiny, new, red hokora to turn back into the crappy, ham-fisted attempt using a birdhouse, as some sort of kitsune illusion-prank for her fun wheedling reactions out of everyone last night. But then on the other hand, it was so surprisingly quaint, inviting and neat, that she couldn't help but want to find a nice place for it nearby the pond as well.

As a final bit of beautification, Jin had then taken some of the sprigs of sakaki the Abyssals were always leaving about, and then exerted her control over one of the few plants she had any lingering connection to, to grow them into a couple of small shrubs around the edge of the pond.

Yes, reflects Jin, as she looks out the window, nursing her morning coffee. Everything had worked out wonderfully.

Her head was now free of a problematic, but potentially useful Sword of Damocles.

For the first time in decades, she at last had something growing in a part of her once more (albeit, it was currently only a single lone lily).

Her park now had a surprisingly nice little water feature, and a new conversation piece that could add a little bit more nature to the area. Something that was good for not just her, but also many of the other ruined, homeless, or sickly nature spirits and minor kami that sometimes passed through or lived in her apartment building.

Oh, and apparently it gave something new for her cult to exult over and worship.

Blinking and double-taking mid sip, Jin then spittakes at what she sees.

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE! SO TRULY MERCILESS, HER POWER GROWS IN OUR ABSENCE!"

Gathering in the park, in the broad morning daylight, is the Cult of the Dark One. Examining the water feature that wasn't there the previous day, no doubt thanks to someone likely tipping them off about the abrupt addition to the park's contents, in the span of the one night since they last visited.

"KNOW THAT OUR PRAYERS AND OFFERINGS DO NOT GO UNANSWERED, AS SOME NAYSAYERS WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE! THEY ARE NOT FRUITLESSLY ABANDONED TO THE PIGEONS AND HOBOS AS THE FAITHLESS SAY! FOR THE DARK ONE IS HERE AND PRESENT! GONE ARE OUR OFFERINGS, AND IN IT'S PLACE IS GRANDEUR SO WE MAY BETTER SUPPLICATE BEFORE HER, AND WORSHIP HER GLORIOUS RUTHLESSNESS!"

Unfortunately, they are also currently confusing correlation with causation.

"LOOK UPON HER WORKS AND WEEP! SEE HOW WE ARE NOT WORTHY, AND CONTEMPLATE HOW SHE IMPROVES UPON OUR EFFORTS IN EVERY WAY! BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!"

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!" comes an answering chorus, while Jin blinks in confusion.

'Wait? What's this about improving their works?'

"Look! Look at this!" shouts an exuberant Wo-Class. "The pump and filters for this fountain! These are the ones from that little thing Neruda brought the other day! BEHOLD HER INGENUITY TO TURN THAT LITTLE THING INTO THIS GREAT MASTER PIECE!"

Wut- but it wasn't just her- that- the pump itself, was mostly Natsumi who figured out the-

Loudly, a Tsu-Class begins to weep with ecclesiastical rapture, holding her oversized hands out before herself reverently. "These- These are the hands that built the shrine- the shrine that she has now made her own- I am never washing these hands again! For they have touched something the Dark One chose not to destroy!"

"BEHOLD WHAT THE DARK ONE CHOOSES TO SPARE WITH HER PASSING!" exults a Re-Class in the Shrine Maiden outfit.

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!" echo the rest.

Damnit, the Hokora was Haru's work, not her's!

..... also, she's not quite sure what to make of the perception that she only ever destroys everything she touches.

"Her corruption is below! I was never sure before- but now I feel it! I FEEL IT AT LAST!" exclaims a Ru-Class with excited, ecstatic joy. "I- I can't believe I ever doubted-! For now I behold her! BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!"

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!"

Jin stares owlishly from her window. They can feel the heart?!?

Then the realization hits her.

These abyssals worship her, no matter how little she cares for or benefits from it due to her nature. The park was already practically a shrine to them, thanks to her corpse being located beneath it. And she bound a part of herself into her old heart when she turned it into a yorishiro.

An idle though creeps into Jin's mind.

What is a shrine?

Most people when thinking of Shinto shrines, imagine a torri, a honden, and maybe a few side buildings.

But technically.... all you actually need is a repository for a kami (or at least part of it) to inhabit or empower, and a conduit or space through which faith and offerings can be given to appease it or seek it's favor.

Hell, when she first gained cognizance as a kami, people were still drawing genitals on rocks and calling it a day when looking for fertility spirits and road guardians.

Starring down at the park, Jin watches as they slowly begins to gather around the hokora, facing the miniature shrine with the lily filled pond and it's hidden heart of darkness and corruption in the background.

"She who is crueler than the seas! The Slayer of Slayers!"

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!"

"The foul protector! May we share in but a glimpse of her ancient and terrible vision!

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!"

"Ever we pray for her dark favor, with this exchange of offerings and prayer!"

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!"

....oops?

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Somewhat halfway around the world, Harry was writing some notes in Divination when he perked up and looked to the East. After a few moments, Hermione noticed and gave him an odd look while Trelawney blinked and looked at him. "Is something the matter dear boy...?"

The black haired boy stood and shook his head as he continued to look eastwards. "No, Professor, nothing is wrong at all." Slowly, his lips curled into a smile. "Something is right! Another Ducky has returned and must be fed... nay! Stuffed! Stuffed to the gills!"

For several moments, Trelawney looked more confused then usual and turned to the rest of the class. "Ducky...?"

Ron nodded some as he placed his hands into his pockets. "Um, yeah. There's this group of Destroyers he knows back in Yokosuka that are known as the Duckies for some reason... Not sure why."

Beside him, Hermione shrugged some while ignoring Harry going on about how he was going to stuff someone full of food. "They're called that because of the Kanji used for 'Zuki' in 'Akizuki', which is the Class name. It can be read as 'Duki' instead."

Just blinking, Lavender frowned some. "Wait, its some sort of wordplay?" When Hermione nodded, the other female Gryffindor crossed her arms. "I guess that makes sense with Harry."

From where she sat, Pavarti just nodded while watching as the bushy haired Gryffindor tried to yank Harry back into his seat. "Yeah, he does love his wordplay. And those awful puns of his."

Suddenly pulling out a piece of paper, Harry wrote something on it before smiling as he showed it had the word 'Pun' on it. "Yeah, they can be pretty..." He then ripped it in half. "Tearable."

There were groans from the rest of the class at that, before Dean snorted some. "So, wait... How would you know that a new one was summoned just now? I mean, we're in Scotland and they're in Japan! for bloody sakes!"

It said something about the class that no one did much more then blink as the black haired boy pulled his cloak up around the lower half of his face. "I know... because of my Hungry Duck Sense!"

Utter silence met him before Hermione groaned and pinched her nose. "Hungry... Duck... Sense..." Reaching up, she finally grabbed hold of him and yanked on his cloak, causing him to squawk as he fell over the table. Still sighing, she ignored his shout of being okay. "Harry, no. You do not have a Hungry Duck Sense."

Popping his head up over the table, Harry blinked at her. "Yes, I do as a matter of fact. It is a very powerful Sixth Sense I have. It allows for me to know where and pinpoint were a Ducky is that is hungry." Fingers waggling in front of his face, he smirked. "It is a powerful and mysterious ability passed down!"

Eyebrows furrowing, Ron looked at Neville who seemed as lost as he was. "Is this that 'Chunni' thing, that I have heard of? Because this sounds like that Chunni thing."

All Neville did was give a small shrug and shake his head in complete befuddlement. He did not have the slightest clue after all. Meanwhile, Trelawney cleared her throat. "I am afraid that you are wrong, my dear boy. If you truly do have a sixth sense, it is not telling you that there is a hungry... duck, out there. No, it is telling you that something awful has befallen them!"

Frowning, Harry raised an eyebrow. "A Ducky being hungry is a pretty awful thing to be perfectly honest. Super awful in fact."

The teacher shook her head. "No, no! It is telling you that they are dying!"

Harry nodded at that before looking eastwards with a frown and narrowed eyes. "Yes... dying of hunger! And I am not there to help feed the Duckies! Because a Ducky that is new must be fed! Stuffed until there is no more room be stuffed!"

While the thirteen year old wizard and "Seer" argued back and forth, Hermione just banged her head on the table. Finally, she had enough and grabbed him by his collar. "Harry, you do not have a 'Hungry Duck Sense'. It is impossible for you to know that a Ducky has been summoned. Okay? Now stop!"

Letting him go, she then turned back to her work only to have her eyebrow twitch as Harry continued to mumble about hungry ducks and how he was going to need to start cooking soon. It was the end of class when she pulled out her phone and turned it on. Quickly going to SGO, she went to the thread that talked about new Summons and showed it to him. "See! There is no Ducky having been summoned! None!" Refreshing the page, Hermione was about to say more when she noticed the smirk on Harry's face and looked.

Sure enough, there was now a new post mentioning a new Akizuki, Suzutsuki, had been summoned an hour earlier.

About the only sound was the clock ticking as every student close by looked at the screen of held by the frozen Hermione then turned back to their neighbours and began to whisper. Walking over, Trelawney looked, adjusted her glasses, and then nodded as she patted Harry on the head. "Perhaps you do have something of the Sight after all, my dear child!"

In return, Hermione snapped out of it and began to bang her head on the table while wondering if, somehow, which one of them was really a shipgirl.

Not helping was how right after class, Harry told them that he needed to be off to bake some food for the new Duck. Words that resulted in the disguised shipgirl walking over to a wall and banging her head on it while muttering to herself about weird friends. Several moments later, a blonde girl with a pirate themed Hogwarts uniform and two eyepatches blinked and then gestured. "And this is a very common occurrence here, Kagome. Usually, it has been caused by one Harry Potter... or perhaps the Nargles that seemingly infest the air around him. I suppose that he is some sort of breeding ground for them or else they like the atmosphere he generates."

The older teenaged girl, who had strangely empty, and yet hungry, eyes simply nodded while her younger sister "June" simply gave off a feeling of pure smug... and orange scent for some odd reason.

_____________________________________________________________________

Eating her way through a bowl of ramen contained in what looked like a punchbowl, Suzutsuki frowned some as she listened to her sisters as they ate their own meals. The briefing to give them an overview of what had happened was not over five minutes when Akizuki dragged the other Destroyer to the Mess Hall. Part of the white haired Akizuki Destroyer was still mulling over everything that she had been told.

Yes, she had lived to see the end of the war, unlike so many others, and also had some idea of what had happened while used as a breakwater. But that was foggy, as if she was mostly unconscious. She did know that her nation had recovered though, which to her was a good thing. And seeing that in the briefing as well as the brief views that the Destroyer had seen on the way from the Summoning Chambers did her boilers good...

However, the rest? That was something entirely different.

Knowing that her nation was once more threatened by an powerful enemy, one her sisters had fought numerous times, was something that she could have done without on her return. But, Suzutsuki promised, she would fight alongside them now. And together, they would win this.

Right now though, her attention was not quite on the war, but rather on some boy that her sisters were enthusiastically telling her about. That Nagato had adopted a young child was surprise enough! The fact that said child was a British boy had surprised her to no end. At the same time though, listening to her sisters? Suzutsuki found herself wanting to meet the boy in question, if only because he had taken care of them. And that alone raised him up several notches as well. Returning to the present, Suzutsuki frowned some as she pieced together what she had been told. "So, unless I miss my guess... Harry-San is like..."

Three hungry Akizukis walked up towards the counter, looking nervously around. Swallowing, Teruzuki called out as she looked at the counter. "H-Harry-Chan? A... are you there? We're kind of hungry..."

A shadowy figure slowly rose to reveal a somewhat more muscular version of the real Harry with light reflecting off his glasses menacingly. "You're hungry, Teruzuki-Chan?"

Nodding, Akizuki patted her sister on the shoulder. "H-hai, Harry-Chan. Could we have a little bit of food? Not much, but..."

Head tilting back, Harry fixed them with a glare as he slowly raised a ladle with the sound not unlike a blade being drawn. Behind him, piles of delicious food also appeared. "Hungry..." His arms them blurred with strikes in the direction of the three Destroyers. So many were there that the air itself blew away from the shockwaves. Then he stopped and pointed at them with one finger with all the food vanished. "You are already fed."

The three Destroyers sighed happily as they patted their bulging stomachs. "We're so full...'"

Giving the newest Akizuki a look from a short distance away, Mutsuki frowned and looked at Yuudachi and Fubuki who also had odd looks on their faces. "Um... did that sound like Fist of the North Star to you? Because I am pretty sure that Harry-Chan can't do that..."

Meanwhile, Hatsuzuki shook her head and waved her hand. "No, no. Um, it is more like..."

Standing behind the counter, Harry looked at the three Duckies and took pity on them. They were so very hungry, but unsure about the amount of food. Magically forming a spoon in one hand, and a plate in the other, he began to chant.

"I am the Bone of my Ladle.
Ovens are my body and cooking my blood.
I have created over a thousand meals.
Unknown to hunger
Nor to weight gain.
Withstood the Kitchen's heat to create many foods, Waiting for Diner's Arrival.
I have no regrets. This is the only path...
Unlimited Cooking Works!

Around them the World itself rippled before it changed to reveal a massive kitchen. Ovens that reached to the sky, fridges that overflowed with ingredients and treats. The skies themselves had giant cupboards filled with food.
Shocked, the Destroyers could see that as far as the eye could see, there were tables full of food. Delicious, filling food. Succulent dishes of vegetables and noodles, savory cuts of meat and fish. Piles of desserts of every description with glasses filled with drinks unimaginable! Then Harry made a motion with his hand and the food streamed towards the three hungry Destroyers..."

Blinking, Yuudachi scratched her head as she looked at the facepalming Fubuki. "I am pretty sure that Harry-Chan doesn't have a Reality Marble, Poi. That's sort of noticeable..."

It was then that a white blur swept in before landing in front of the Akizuki Destroyers. Gasping, Teruzuki smiled at the owl as the confused Suzutsuki looked on. "Hedwig-San!" Spotting the package, her eyes widened and she gently took it. "Harry-Chan sent us something for Suzutsuki-Chan!"

Confused, Suzutsuki frowned some. 'Hmm... how did he know though?'

Opening it, all three of the Akizukis who knew Harry clapped their hands with Akizuki pulling out some brownies. "Ah! Harry-Chan sent us some treats! Because he knew that you would be hungry..."

Even though she was confused, Suzutsuki smiled and tried some of them and smiled even more. Yes, she would need to get to know this 'Harry-Chan' better. If he fed her sisters such as this, then he was a very good person after all.

 

[darthcourt10]

Weaver

Monday, 23rd September 2013

The morning after her commissioning Patricia, also known as HMS Patrol, awoke in her quarters at the Hartlepool naval base. While her family had been there for her commissioning (looking bemused but proud as usual) the other shipgirls had made plans for celebrating it and things had continued until well after her family members had had to leave because they had work or, in Dan's case, college in the morning.

Well, it wasn't quite the same as every other time she'd woken up for the last three weeks. Mostly because she wasn't alone in her bed.

Opening her eyes and raising her head a little she took stock of the situation. Vetch had somehow managed to squeeze herself between her and the wall, while on the other side, laying perilously close to the edge of the mattress was Snapdragon. At least two more currently unidentified girls were laying partly on her legs.

'Huh. I suppose that this is one of those cuddlepiles I've heard about."

After taking a moment to think about the situation she sat up, taking care not to disturb anyone and especially careful to not push Snapdragon out of bed. The two shipgirls at the other end of the bed turned out to be Svana and Lincoln City, while the floor next to her bed turned out to be occupied by a pile of destroyers and frigates sleeping on what looked like a pile of duvets.

Getting out of bed proved to be a bit tricky, involving extracting her legs from the embrace of two naval trawlers, wriggling out from under a pair of corvettes, climbing awkwardly over two sleeping shipgirls and almost stepping on both Imogen and Ilex, but somehow she managed it without waking anyone up. Donning her dressing gown, she padded out of the room towards the bathroom, pausing to look into the room shared by Trinidad and Mauritius. She smiled slightly at seeing that they were surrounded by their own piles of smaller ships, Trinidad's being made up of the four "French" Flower-classes while Mauritius was being snuggled by Sunflower, Stonecrop and a couple of other girls who Patricia couldn't identify from her position at the door.

Shaking her head with a smile on her face, she continued to the bathroom while wondering if this sort of thing was going to be a regular occurrence.

 

[darthcourt10]

qsurf Omake: Harry loves Cooking

...I was inspired, so I did a thing:
Spoiler: Harry loves Cooking
Akizuki, it has often been said that I like cooking.

Teruzuki, I like cooking...

No, Hatsuzuki, I love cooking!

I love baking.

I love barbecuing.

I love stove top cooking.

I love roasts, grilling, I love dressing salads, and tossing pasta.

Open-air cooking across prairies, in streets, in mess halls, in grasslands, in frozen tundras, through deserts, on the sea, in the air, I love every form of cooking that can occur upon this earth.

I love whisking melting chocolate into warm heavy cream to form the Mousse that has had Akashi-obaa tackle Ooyodo-obaa for the last cup.

My heart leaps with joy whenever a light cruiser is tossed high into the air by a ravening hoard of hungry destroyers stampeding for some barbecue sandwiches. And there is nothing like a fellow cook using their skills to destroy the Enemy called Hunger. And the feeling that comes when a carrier sighs happily after she finishes her last plate only to be served a dense chocolate cake, is such an exquisite feeling. Like when ranks of marines brandish their knives and forks rushing to consume the dish of the day. It moves me deep within my heart to watch a newly summoned shipgirl joyfully eating delicious pasta over and over even after her stomach is full.

The sight of dessert being displayed on the service line is an irresistible pleasure. And there is nothing more wonderful, than the sounds made by kitchen full of cooks and the tools of their trade clanking together in a gastronomic symphony as the Head Cook shouts out order after order!

When a band of pitiful and hungry submarines approach the mess hall as we close up for the night, asking for something to eat because their mission took longer than expected, only to gasp in delight at the warm meals that were saved for them, I'm so happy.

I love it when my family is ravaged by the deadly drowsiness after a massive meal. It's so sad to see what was going to be a productive afternoon being laid to waste, their drowsiness slowly sending them off into the abyss that is the after lunch nap.

I love to squash, mash, crush all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and even grains to gain an greater array of flavours and textures to add to the meal at hand. The humiliation, as those that partake in those meals cannot separate the individual flavours, but continue to eat on regardless until they cannot help but to waddle out of the hall.

Suzutsuki... All I ask for is to cook a feast so grand as to make your stomach itself grumble. Duckies, I ask you as my wonderful taste testers, what is it that you really want? Do you wish for more of my cooking as I do? Do you wish for a merciless pace of dish after dish?! A feast whose courses are always accompanied with rice, and miso, and tea?! Do you ask for a feast to sweep in like a tempest, leaving not even battleships to feel the slightest hint of hunger, upon this Earth!?!

...Very well. Then Shokuji is what you shall have. We clench our chopsticks and spoons, ready to slurp down all the noodles before us with all our might.

But... After enduring over half a month without a new recipe, for us, a simple "ordinary" dish such as the ones before you now will no longer be sufficient.

We need a NEW AND EXOTIC recipe! A recipe beyond any other that our palates have ever known!

We are but a single boy and four destroyers... Members of a select group of personnel numbering less then twenty strong. However, I believe that each of you young ladies is equal to a carrier! You represent a panel of gourmands that would make even the most professional of chefs pale!

It is time to pre-heat the ovens in preparation of the newest recipe that sent even stalwart Head Cook screaming into hell, and who now lies resting. Let's drag the secrets of the process out of these mere words on a piece of scrap paper, and remind those who watch of who I am and who you all are! We will remind them of what it feels like to see a recipe succeed and the kitchen fill with that delicious aroma. We will remind them of the sound of stainless steel meeting ceramic as the diners happily chew as they enjoy the meal.

We will remind them, that there are more things between Heaven and Hell than are dreamt of in their cook books.

You, my panel of destroyers will push me to the limit as attempt to perfect the recipe.

Yes, my friends! Soon, Europe's roasted fare will illuminate your palates!

I have brought you to this Mess Hall just as I promised I would. Back to our favorite battlefield. Back to our beloved feast!

...At last, the oven is at temperature and the preparations for the roast are almost done. Pay attention, I will begin to mix according to the recipe! This is a message from your cook.

…Duckies... wait patiently and eat more as I complete the Roast.

 

[darthcourt10]

U.N.Spacy000 Omake: Arguments about Jin40K

Harry Leferts said:
So now her Mom's clothes really would fit her?​

"And here I didn't believe my friends and coworkers when they said their daughters borrowing their clothing was annoying," Mary grumbled as she caught Molly trying on a dress Mary had worn in the fifties.

Lord K said:
Mildly disturbed, Shiromizu glances at Jin, who has been doing her best to avoid being seen through her window. "I was wondering what happened to my Death Guard codex," mutters the corrupted mizuchi.​

Pffft.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"No! The Dark One is Wrath and Vengeance! She is clearly best represented by Khorne!" one Abyssal declared as she held up a codex decorated with skulls on the cover.

"Bah, The Dark One clearly moves in ways that you simpletons don't understand and has deep, meaningful schemes - she is best represented by Tzeentch," a different Abyssal argued.

"Nonsense - The Dark One has a delicious flat chest and - " the fourth Abyssal began before she was interrupted by angry dragon noises in the distance. "The Dark One favors me! She is obviously best represented by Slaanesh!"

"Heresy! The Dark One is a corpse goddess upon her throne that protects the undeserving that worship her and curses hard enough to make a sailor blush! The God Emperor of Mankind is the best fit!" a fifth Abyssal claimed as she brandished all the Imperial codexes at her fellow Abyssals.

*Religious squabbling and decisions via 40K battles ensue*

Lord K said:
"There's not even a pay rise with this promotion either."

"Wait, you get paid?"

"No, but that's beside the point.​

I dunno, Jin. That sounds exactly like the point.

Maybe this is why so many kami demand tributes to be appeased. You should convince your followers to give you things of actual value, Jin.

Lord K said:
Well, considering that she would have grown up in the 50s with even older and hilariously linguistically aged gems such as 'Singin' in the Rain', 'Guys and Dolls', 'South Pacific', and many of the older Disney movies....​

I am now imagining Disney Princess Jin. As soon as the Statute falls and she isn't wanted by MACUSA, I see her going to Disney World, getting prettied up at the Princess Boutique, and then riding all the rides in full Princess getup.

Somehow, images are leaked to her neighborhood watch. It is, of course, Mary's fault.

Harry Leferts said:
Natsumi frowned at the sight of what a Titan painted in Blood Raven colours Harry just set up. "Were did you get that from?"​

... This makes too much sense.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Taking a deep breath of the autumn air, the JMSDF Lieutenant walking across the pedestrian bridge over a highway let it out with a sigh. As she took a sip of her morning coffee, she looked back at the apartment building behind her before shaking her head. Instead, she continued to walk towards where her Naval Station was with a small frown on her face as she watched the activity. Rather then enter the small office building where she would be spending much of her day, she turned her attention instead to the trucks and such waiting in the large parking lot going back and forth, having been loaded down with cargo.

Which explained why she didn't have much time when she heard a shout. "DAITOU-CHAN! LOOK OUT!" A weight colliding with her made the Lieutenant stumble back a step and look down to find a face buried in her chest. Looking up, she found a mortified Hiburi with her hands over her mouth. "Oh no... Commander! I-I-I'm sorry but..."

Simply raising an eyebrow, the woman looked down at the seeming young girl who now tilted her head back some. "Hey, Commander... Um, can I have a cookie?"

Rather then say anything, the Lieutenant reached into a pocket with a small smile and produced one. "Here." Patting the small shipgirl on the head, she smirked a bit before pulling out a milk box. "Also, this should help it go down."

A smile on her face, Daitou took it and began to sip her drink before looking at her sister. "Hey! Come on over, Hiburi-Chan! Commander has cookies and stuff!"

Despite still be mortified, the small Escort still did so. "U-um, sorry about that, Commander... I tried to stop her and, well..."

Just chuckling, the Lieutenant patted her on the head. "Its fine, no one is hurt at all, Hiburi-Chan. And here, I got some cookies and milk for you as well." Even though she was embarrassed, the shipgirl took the offered food before leaning her head against the Officer's chest as she stood there sipping her coffee. Looking down, she had a bemused smile on her face. "Comfortable?"

Eyes turning up to her, Hiburi nodded though Daitou grinned. "Hai! Super comfortable!" Rubbing her head against the older woman's chest, she sighed. "They're like giant, soft pillows."

Ignoring the sputters from Hiburi, who tried to tell her sister to be more respectful, the Lieutenant only snorted to herself. "Well, from what I have heard you're not the only one to find it such." After a few minutes. she gave them a smile and gently pushed them off. "You should be heading off to get some sleep and such."

With a mumble, Daitou nodded. "Hai, I'm really tried... Come on, Hiburi-Chan!"

An amused Officer watched as she grabbed her sister's hand dragged the protesting Escort off. Head tilted to the side, the Lieutenant hummed some. "Not who I was expecting..." Turning, someone else tripped and faceplanted right into her chest which made her smirk some as she recognized it as Mogami. "Now that was who I was expecting."

Jerking up, Mogami had a flaming blush on her cheeks. "Commander! I..." It was then she noticed something and flushed. "Are you giggling at me...?"

Eyes twinkling, the Officer nodded. "Indeed I am. We're always meeting like this, I think."

That, if anything, caused Mogami's blush to deepen before she hung her head. "I just don't understand why..." Hearing more laughter, she gave a small glare at the shorter woman. "Yuzuki-Chan!"

Lips curling, the now named Yuzuki patted her on the head. "Now, now, Mogami-Chan. You know that I don't mind it much." Taking a step forward, she pressed her generous chest against the Heavy Cruiser. "I'm just happy that I got my flat chested Mogami here."

Groaning, the shipgirl facepalmed. "Dammit, Yuzuki-Chan! Using that damn chest of yours against me!"

While taking another sip of coffee, Yuzuki hummed. "It is a great and powerful weapon." Looking down at it, she frowned some and adjusted her uniform with a scowl. "And at least it is useful for something. I swear, finding uniforms that fit is near impossible."

Part of her was internally smirking as Mogami's eye was drawn by her fixing said uniform before the Heavy Cruiser shook it off. "Well, as long as you don't have a cow about it." Then she winced as the other woman gave her a look. "Um, oops?"

Rolling her eyes, Yuzuki punched the other girl in the arm. "Fuck. You."

As she walked off, the shipgirl facepalmed hard. "Dammit! Fuck!"

By the time she caught up with the Lieutenant, said woman was watching as cargo was lifted out of baskets held by a number of shipgirls there. All of them being returned Cargo ships from WWII and before. Mogami did take a moment to look over the operation, now that it really looked that big compared to other places in the Port of Fukuoka. Really, it was not much bigger then the size of a large marina with a long pier. Along said pier, forklifts went back and forth transporting crates into a warehouse set up. From there, they would be set into trailers on trucks and transported elsewhere in Kyushu or elsewhere in Japan.

For the most part, the cargo was from nearby Korea. Raw ore being shipped from Busan that had come from what was once North Korea especially being important. There were other items as well such as rice and other food as well. Reaching the Lieutenant, Mogami was about to say something when she spoke up. "So how was the trip?"

Wincing, Mogami cleared her throat some. 'Shit, I really screwed up...' Rather then dig a deeper hole for herself, she straightened her back. "The trip was honestly very quiet, Ma'am. LIttle to no Abyssal activity as we made the journey outside of a few Submarine contacts, and those were easily chased off. But for the most part, we were left alone."

Just nodding, Yuzuki nodded. "I see, that's good news. Any signs of Ancient Destroyer Princess?"

Blinking, the Heavy Cruiser shook her head some. "No, none at all. We haven't seen her or her Demons since we fought them four months back. Pretty sure that they're still licking their wounds from when we drove them off their attack on Tsushima, though..." A frown on her face, she furrowed her eyebrows. "It looked less like they were trying to kill people and more land there..."

Only grunting, Yuzuki narrowed her eyes as she began to flip through the manifests. "I see."

The silence continued and Mogami began to twitch a bit before she took a deep breath. "I'll, um... head over to the Mess Hall now." Yuzuki only waved her on and the shipgirl walked over hanging her head some. 'Dammit... dammit...' Entering though, she walked up to the counter and sighed at another very busty young woman who looked like the Lieutenant. "Hey, Hiroko-San."

Eyebrow raised, the cook frowned some. "Uh-oh, I know that face. What did you do now, Mogami-San?"

Wincing, Mogami waited until she was there and banged her head on the counter. "I was talking with your Nee-San when she was complaining about her uniform not fitting right and I made the comment that 'As long as she did not make a cow out of it.'"

That made Hiroko wince and give her a glare full of disapproval. "You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?"

Mogami only rubbed her face with a groan. "Tell me about it."

Disappearing into the back, Hiroko came back with a large tray and a container. "Here, give this to Yuzuru-Chan. They're her favorites and she would probably calm down enough to listen to you apologize."

Hands clapped together, the shipgirl bowed at her. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She then grabbed the tray and container before running to the door, though she had to dance around Matsukaze who was walking into the small mess hall. "Sorry! Excuse me!"

From where she stood, all Matsukaze did was raise an eyebrow as Mogami nearly tripped only to catch herself and go running for the main offices. Shaking her head, she walked up to the counter and leaned against it. "So, what was that all about?"

Glancing at her, Hiroko rolled her eyes some. "Mogami-San being clumsy again, verbally this time and pressing a sore spot."

Confused, Matsukaze furrowed her eyebrows. "Uh, which one? I mean..."

With a look towards her, the woman behind the counter sighed. "The cow one."

Just wincing, Matsukaze shook her head. "Ah, that one. So she doesn't know...?" Getting a shake of the head, she let out a hiss. "Double ouch."

Placing a tray with various sweet pastries on it, Hiroko nodded. "Sounds about right to be honest. Though Nee-San will go a bit easy on her considering everything, not like she knew... I mean, besides the obvious."

Matsukaze shrugged some as she bit down on the pastry and let out a hum. "Yeah, the Commander will calm down and those two will relax some. Heck, with Mogami-San back, that goes without saying in certain ways."

Softly snorting as the nearly eighteen looking Destroyer waggled her eyebrows, Hiroko smiled some. "That I don't doubt. So..." Eyebrow raised, she looked at the shipgirl. "Are the two of us heading out with your Nee-Sans still tonight..."

Leaning against her clasped hands, Matsukaze smiled. "I think so, though it is a good thing that you have the same weakness as your Nee-San... You cannot resist us shipgirls."

That got her a light chuckle from the other female there. "Maybe, though that is a good thing from my view. Well, alongside working here."

With another bite of her pastry, the Destroyer shook her head. "Nah, you're just that good at cooking. We're all lucky that despite your sister being in Command, the JMSDF lets you work here as well..."

As Hiroko waved her off and told her to stop it, Mogami reached the office building and made her way to the top floor. Knocking on the door, she heard a voice answer after a few seconds. "Enter." Doing so, the shipgirl found the Lieutenant blinking before she turned back to her work. "Yes, Mogami-San."

Carefully making her way to the desk, Mogami placed the tray on it and took a step back. "I brought you some food from the mess hall." Seeing the woman look at the tray and the container, she took a deep breath as Yuzuki rubbed her forehead. 'Okay, you can do this, Mogami.'

"I'm sorry."

Pausing, Mogami blinked. 'Wait, that wasn't me...' Then she turned her attention to Yuzuki who was looking at her with those brown eyes of hers. "I..."

Slowly standing up, the Lieutenant walked over to the window and closed the blinds some before leaning against the wall. "I'm sorry, Mogami-Chan. That... something happened the other day. And I should never have taken it out on you."

Utterly lost, Mogami made her way over and grasped her shoulders. "Hey, look at me." Turning, she frowned some. "You have nothing to be sorry about, I know how sensitive you can get about things like that. So it was my fuck up." Only shrugging, Yuzuki leaned into her. "What happened?"

Yuzuki pulled away and looked at the door before frowning. Then her form shifted a bit, with her head becoming that of a cow's while her muscles bulked up a touch. Leaning back against Mogami, she sighed. "Yesterday I went to the magical quarter here in Fukuoka. Mainly because something that I sent for was held up at the local Owl Post Office and I had to pick it up. And I decided to go and do some shopping as well. But... well, there was this one Auror from Tokyo there, some newby."

Frowning, the Heavy Cruiser looked down at the Ushi-Onna. "What did he do? He didn't touch you or anything, did he?"

That got a sad chuckle from Yuzuki as she shook her head. "No, not at all. He just followed me around the entire time because, as a Yokai, I might be up to no good. The whole time making comments... 'Cow tits' was one of the milder ones."

Moments later, she blinked as she heard a growl from Mogami who clenched her fists. "Where is that bastard?! I'll punch him in his face for that shit!" However, the shipgirl heard chuckles and looked down to see her girlfriend's shoulders shaking. "What? I will do that, you know."

Waving her off, Yuzuki shook her head. "I know, and that is what makes it great. Because I know that given half a chance, you will do that. Kami, I missed you, Mogami-Chan."

Lightly blushing, Mogami only shrugged before hugging her tightly. "Same here, Yuzuki-Chan." Laying her head between the other's horns, she sighed. "I cannot wait until those guys in Kyoto take over, or better yet, the Statute falls. Because then those fuckers won't have any power soon enough."

Just humming, Yuzuki nodded before angling her head up and giving Mogami a small kiss. "Same here." Pulling away, she walked back to the desk and sat down. Granted, she raised one amused eyebrow as Mogami sat on the corner of her desk before shaking it off as she grabbed one of the vegetable sticks and opened the container. Dipping it in, Yuzuki let out a sigh before taking a bite from the crunchy snack. "Vegetable sticks and ranch dressing. Nothing better as comfort food."

Shrugging, Mogami gave a chuckle at that. "I guess so, Yuzuki-Chan." Then she scratched her chin as she looked around. "So, I heard Tanaka got promoted to Admiral. When do you think..."

Amused, the Ushi-Onna raised an eyebrow. "When do I think that I might get promoted?" At the nod, she shook her head. "Not a clue. We're a naval station, one seconded to Sasebo unlike Kushiro. I mean, Tanaka-San was basically in control of that entire section of Hokkaido shipgirl-wise. Might make Captain though, and I would be pretty happy with that."

There was a frown on Mogami's face, though she did nod at that. 'Hopefully soon...'

However, the next words from her girlfriend's mouth made her perk up. "Oh, and I have heard that the final snags in the regs forbidding fraternization have been straightened out. They're thinking of having them implimented next year, which means that those in the JMSDF will be able to marry their Shipgirl others."

Nodding, Mogami frowned some before stealing a carrot stick and dipping it, to the mock glare from the Yokai. "That's great and all. I mean, that's a big step forward and I am pretty sure that Kongou will be over the Moon about it... and Goto-Teitoku's hips buried deep under the mountain, as it were." Ignoring the choking sound, she continued. "But that doesn't help much with us. I mean, we're both girls."

With a shrug, Yuzuki raised one eyebrow. "Yes, and? Its a step forward for us as well. Not to mention that Rose-San and Haruna-San marrying has cracked open the door as it were. Sort of hard to argue about things." Then she smirked a bit. "And even if it takes years, I can wait. Not like I have to worry too much about being too old to enjoy it."

That got her a laugh from her shipgirl girlfriend. "I guess." Rubbing her chin, she hummed some. "I mean, there would not be much of an issue even with fraternization regs as we're under different Commands. Officially, I'm under Richardson-Teitoku's Command and you're under Captain Yonehara's Command and in charge of the smaller Escort girls alongside the Armed Merchant Cruisers and Cargo shipgirls here, not us larger warships. But getting married..." A chuckle then escaped from Mogami as she grinned. "Though who gets the Tux? I mean, pretty sure that should be me and I would love to see you in the dress..."

At the waggling eyebrows, Yuzuki snorted some in amusement. "You just want to see how well my tits fill it out." Shaking her head as the Heavy Cruiser grinned, she smirked. Her eyes tracked to a photo of a younger her with her sister and parents, the three females in human guise. Her human father had owned a small ocean going transport company, and she had gotten a lot of experience helping him run it in logistics. After Blood Week, she had joined up with the JMSDF and that experience saw her placed in the Logistics branch. In particular, handling convoys. Something that became more important as Cargo ships returned as shipgirls. Which lead her to be in command of the small Naval Station in Fukuoka.

Something that lead her to meeting Mogami, who was stationed there as well, which she would never regret.

Later that night, after both her and the Heavy Cruiser "Made up", Yuzuki smiled down at Mogami who's sleeping head was pillowed on her chest. Gently stroking her head, she thought back to the past when she had first met the clumsy shipgirl. More then once, the Heavy Cruiser had crashed into her, often faceplanting into her ample bosom. While understanding that it was an accident, Yuzuki developed a sense of humour about it. One day, when both of them hit the ground and Mogami jumped up profusuly apologizing, the Ushi-Onna had joked that maybe the shipgirl should ask her out on a date first.

Much to her surprise, Mogami had done exactly that and taken her out on a date. Also to her surprise, it was... enjoyable and fun. By the end of the night, the two were in a relationship with each other though they kept it toned down. And, a year later when Yuzuki revealed the truth about what she was, Mogami just accepted it.

That was three years ago.

Smiling, Yuzuki looked down at her girlfriend and kissed her on the head before laying back and closing her eyes with a smile. While some considered Mogami unlucky, both of them thought the opposite. They were very lucky indeed...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Currently in that half awake, half asleep state after her internal alarm went off, Mogami gave a small hum as she laid under the warm sheets. While not Kako, she definitely agreed with her fellow Heavy Cruiser that sleep was one of the best things about their current state of being. Just being able to lay there and rest was wonderful.

Granted, there were other things that were still better in Mogami's mind.

And with that thought, she moved forward and nuzzled... thin air. Not finding her favorite pillows where they should have been, Mogami frowned before patting around. Finally, she cracked open her eyes to find an empty bed besides her. "What the...?" Propping herself up on her elbows, she scratched her head in confusion. "Wait a second, where is Yuzuki-Chan?" It was then though that a scent tickled her nose and a small smile grew on her face. "Huh."

Looking at the clock, she nodded some before sitting up and stretching. Not caring that the sheets fell away from her, Mogami let out a loud yawn that was big enough to crack her jaw some. A relaxed expression, she looked around the bedroom and nodded as she remembered what happened the night before. 'Well, they were right about making up... or something.' Scratching her cheek, she gave a small nod before swinging her legs out of bed and throwing on enough to be decent.

Slowly padding out the room, Mogami entered the main part of the apartment and paused as she caught sight of her girlfriend at the stove.

The Ushi-Onna stood there in a nightie dancing a bit to the music coming from the radio on the counter, not knowing that the shipgirl's eyes continued to trail along her, mainly locking on two different places. Leaning against the wall, Mogami just watched with her head tilted to the side. Part of her mused about how, despite what some might thing, the only real difference between a Ushi-Onna in their natural form and a normal human woman was that one had a cow's head and the other didn't. Internally though, she chuckled after a glance at Yuzuki's upper body. 'Though they usually are far more... developed... then a normal woman.' Lips curling into a smirk, Mogami was unable to help herself and snorted softly. 'That though I like.'

Ear flicking for a moment, Yuzuki turned and looked over her shoulder with a smile. "Good morning, Mogami-Chan. Just give me a few minutes and breakfast will be done."

Walking over, the shipgirl practically draped herself over the smaller woman before kissing one ear. "Sounds good to me, your breakfasts are always good." Quick as a snake, Mogami snatched a tamagoyaki and popped it into her mouth with a hum. "So good~"

In reply, Yuzuki playfully scowled and whacked her on the arm. "Hey! You can wait."

Moments later she laughed as the Heavy Cruiser whined some. "But my fuel tanks are running on empty." Then Mogami placed her chin between the Ushi-Onna's two horns and practically slumped there. "Guess I'll just stay here while I try and gather some energy."

Lips curling upwards in an amused smile, Yuzuki gave a snort before trying to whack the shipgirl who dodged around it with a snicker. "Gah! Like you don't have plenty of energy. Make some toast or throw some pastries into the microwave then if you got nothing else to do."

Pouting, Mogami sighed. "I guess... though I don't have much energy right now."

Eyes rolling, the Ushi-Onna shook her head. "Really now? And yet you seemed to have plenty of energy last night."

A glint in her eyes, Mogami hummed. "Well, that was last night and you wore me all out." Then she quickly kissed her girlfriend on the cheek and shot past to where the toaster was. "But I guess I can make some toast."

Only sighing, Yuzuki grumbled some though her smile betrayed her. "Baka."

Looking back, the shipgirl smirked. "And you know that you love me." Several minutes later found Mogami giving a groan as she ate another tomogoyaki. "Oh man, Yuzuki-Chan... your food is one of the reasons that I'm lucky to have you as a girlfriend."

Softly snorting, said girlfriend shook her head as she ate some of her rice. "Well, that is a good thing then. Otherwise all you would be eating would be donuts and such for breakfast."

With a huff, Mogami turned her nose up at Yuzuki, who smirked a bit. "I will have you know that donuts are an important part of an American breakfast. Something that I learned up in Sasebo from an expert!"

Grabbing a piece of egg, Yuzuki snorted some. "Arizona-San, despite everything, is not an expert in such."

Unable to help herself, the Heavy Cruiser laughed some. "I guess that she is a bit too much into donuts. Though they are good, and I know that you eat some at work." Despite not being able to see it, she knew that the other woman was blushing. "What? Forgot that I caught you more then once?"

Now it was Yuzuki's turn to pout some. "Yeah, yeah." Then she smirked and adjusted her nightie in a way that caused Mogami's attention to shift from her face. "Besides which, you don't mind as it all goes to... certain places."

Leaning against her hand, Mogami shook her head. "Now that? That right there is not fair." She then looked at her shirt and sighed some. "I wouldn't mind that... though desserts go into a different stomach."

Bemused, the JMSDF Lieutenant rolled her eyes. "Not for me, anyways." Grabbing some food from Mogami's plate, she hummed. "You have any real plans for the next few days?"

Quickly knocking the other female's chopsticks away from her food, she scowled. "Mine!" Then Mogami snatched one of the Ushi-Onna's tamagoyaki and popped it into her mouth as she mumbled past it. "As for the next few days?" Swallowing, she frowned some. "Not really all that sure myself to be honest. I mean, I already sent in the preliminary report about the Convoy to Richardson-Teitoku yesterday. All I really need to do is sort through the others' reports, compile them with my actual one, and then send that through. Other then that... I'm pretty much free for the next several days. Why?"

Taking a sip of her coffee, Yuzuki gave her an amused smile. "Well... a new Yakiniku place opened up. I was wondering if you would want to go and give it a try."

Mogami perked up at that and nodded. "I'm game for that!" Rubbing her chin, she smiled a bit. "Heck, I could dress up nice for it since its been a while since we were on a real date with each other." Her eyes then trailed to the Yokai across from her. "Question is which dress would you wear?"

In reply, Yuzuki spoke with a rather dry tone. "I was thinking my blue dress that you like..."

For a few moments, the shipgirl frowned before her eyes widened. "Wait, you mean the one that, you know... shows quite a bit of cleavage?" When her girlfriend nodded, Mogami gained a dreamy smile. "Oh yeah... that would be nice."

Just laughing lightly, Yuzuki poked her forehead. "You just want to have a reason to stare at my tits all night."

Rather then deny it though, Mogami shrugged. "So? I got a girlfriend with huge fuel tanks and I don't see an issue with enjoying that fact." Moving her chair around the table, she sighed as she leaned her head down on the Ushi-Onna's chest and closed her eyes. "Really enjoy that fact."

Unable to help herself, the Lieutenant laughed and shoved her off. "Mogami Hentai no Baka!"

Grinning, said shipgirl winked at her as she moved back to where she had been. "And proud of it!" Then Mogami chewed her lip a little bit. "Though I am still surprised that, uh..."

Lips twitching, Yuzuki snorted. "That I enjoy barbecue despite how I look?" Tapping her snout, she continued. "While I may have a cow's head, the rest of my body is mostly human in function even if it is literally as strong as an ox. Us Ushi-Onna in general enjoy a good burger for example as much as the next person."

Eyebrows furrowing as a thought occurred to her, Mogami frowned. "Yeah..."

Raising her eyebrow, the Yokai shook her head at how her girlfriend had gone quiet. Instead, she finished off her breakfast and started to gather the dishes. "Well, we should get cleaned up... and the sooner that we get the dishes clean, the sooner that we can take a shower."

At seeing the waggling eyebrows, Mogami snapped out of whatever thoughts she had. "Wait, can we..."

Slyly smirking, Yuzuki hummed. "Well we have been told to conserve resources. And I suppose that could also mean water which means sharing..."

Pumping her fist in the air, Mogami grinned. "I can get behind that! Give me one moment to finish and I'll get those dishes washed in a flash!"

Two minutes later though, her girlfriend was laughing and nearly falling from where she had to support herself against the counter as an excited Mogami had tripped and once more landed face first in her cleavage.

It was almost an hour later that the two in their usual uniforms left the apartment. Performing her usual transformation, Yuzuki locked the door behind them and began walking along as she sipped her usual coffee, Mogami beside her with a can of juice. Glancing at the thoughtful shipgirl, she tilted her head. "Something wrong, Mogami-Chan?"

Blinking, the Heavy Cruiser looked at her for a few moments before chewing her lip. "Well... um, it is about several things that you mentioned to me about, you know. I want to ask something but..."

With a small sigh, Yuzuki shook her head. "You're afraid that I'll get angry like yesterday?" At the nod, she rolled her eyes and punched Mogami in the arm. "Don't. I already said that I was sorry for snapping at you like that when you did nothing wrong at all." Wrapping one arm around her girlfriend's waist, the disguised Ushi-Onna continued. "Now, what seems to be the issue?"

Unthinkingly, Mogami placed her arm around Yuzuki's shoulders with the smaller woman who snuggled in. "I... was wondering about something that I noticed." Looking down at her girlfriend, she continued. "It seems like you Ushi-Onna get a lot more flak from Tokyo then most Yokai outside those that are predatory. Heck, even some other Yokai don't seem to like you... I just don't get it."

Not answering right away, the Ushi-Onna considered how to best answer the question. Sipping her coffee, she gave a small nod and sighed. "Most of the reason is due to how we Ushi-Onna came into being."

Confused, Mogami frowned at her. "What does that have anything to do with it?"

Thinly smiling, Yuzuki shook her head. "Unfortunately, it has everything to do with it, Mogami-Chan. I mean... this is sort of hard because I am not sure what you might think afterwards...'

Rather then say anything, the shipgirl came to a stop and turned. Before Yuzuki could ask, Mogami tilted her chin up and kissed her hard. Pulling away after a minute which left both breathless, the Cruiser gave her a glare. "Nothing you say, Yuzuki-Chan, would make anything different. Believe me on that much."

Swallowing, she nodded as she tried to catch her breath. "H-hai..." Chewing her lip, she thought it over before nodding. "Mogami-Chan? Let me ask you a question, when you were a steel hull, did you ever hear of Ushi-Onna?"

Lost, Mogami was about to answer when she actually gave it some thought. After nearly a minute, she shook her head with a frown. "Actually... I never did hear about Ushi-Onna. My crew wasn't really all that interested in that sort of stuff, but, I was around long enough that I can't help but think that I should have heard something about them."

Just nodding, Yuzuki sighed some. "That is because we didn't exist back then. Like with Hanako-San and several others, we're a new species of Yokai. One that fully came into being during the War. My Kaa-San is basically one from the Second Generation of my species and I'm a Third Generation. I'm not sure about numbers, but I would be surprised if there was more then a thousand of us even before the Abyssals started the war."

Utterly surprised, the Heavy Cruiser stared at her. "Wait, what?! There's only a thousand of you in all of Japan?! But..." Scratching her head as her girlfriend nodded, she frowned. "And you're a new species?"

Slowly, Yuzuki nodded. "We are, Mogami-Chan. None of us are really even over the age of eighty five even if we still look young. In fact, no one is even sure how long we will live for on average. But... it is not just that we're a new species that is the problem. It is also that we're pretty much an artificially created species. You know of how there was a magical side to Unit-731?"

Eyes widening, Mogami sucked in a breath as if she had been punched in the gut. "Ushi-Onna were created by those guys? Seriously?"

With a slight shrug, the female Yokai shook her head. "We were accidents to be honest, not what they were hoping for. As to how... what do you know of Kudan?"

Now lost and, slightly, unsure where this was going or if she really wanted to continue, Mogami frowned. "Kudan? Well... they're a rare Yokai born from normal cattle with the power of prophecy. What they say will happen does, and then they die after giving their prophecy, days after being born. They look like calves, except they have human faces and..." Trailing off, she boggled a minute. "Wait, Ushi-Onna look like women but with the heads of cows..."

Grimacing, Yuzuki looked away. "Hai, we're related to Kudan. Specifically, the magicals in Unit-731 figured out that if they prevented a Kudan from giving a prophecy, it would continue to live until it could, and continue to grow and age. Once the two they had were old enough to breed, well... they tested it. Their plan was that they would breed Kudan in order to foretell anything disastrous that could happen and prevent it. But when they tried with normal cattle, all they got was, well, normal cattle. And being that Kudan had human faces..."

Horrified, Mogami stared at her. "They... they didn't. Please tell me that..." When her girlfriend continued looking away, she scowled and then rubbed her face. "Those fucks."

Voice nearly a whisper, the Ushi-Onna closed her eyes. "That is the general thought, and from that came us Ushi-Onna. Generally, they saw us as failures since we didn't have any special abilities from the Kudan. Yes, we were stronger then a normal human, but nowhere near as much as some such as Oni. Our senses are roughly on par with a cow's to be honest, even if we have a human intelligence. After the war, some in the ICW considered ending us all right there and then. But others stopped them and for the most part, we were all shoved into the reserves. Most of us though have gotten out and had lives in the non-magical world, but our... creation... still puts a pall over us." Hanging her head as she felt Mogami pull back, Yuzuki sighed. "If you-"

Before she could say anything else, Mogami pulled her into a tight hug. Then burying her face in her girlfriend's hair, the shipgirl whispered to her. "I could care fucking less about that. Am I angry about what happened there? Fuck yes, because my crew fought and died for those assholes, may they burn in Jigoku for what they did. But what makes me even more angry is that people see that as a reason to shit all over you and other Ushi-Onna. If anything, I now want to straight up murder some bastards, like that auror from the other day you told me about. How fucking dare they!?"

Eyes closed, tears still slipped through Yuzuki's eyelids. "I would rather you not, Mogami-Chan. At least because then you would be in trouble for it."

Lifting her chin, Mogami simply kissed her gently before pulling away. "Whether or not I would get in trouble for it, I don't care. Next one of those assholes who gives you trouble for being a Ushi-Onna, I am going to punch in their face. I'll just make sure that it is just above what a human could do."

In reply, her girlfriend opened her eyes to reveal wet, shiny brown orbs before she wrapped her arms around the shipgirl's neck. Standing on her toes, Yuzuki pulled her into a deep kiss for almost a minute before pulling away. "Thank you, Mogami-Chan. I was sort of worried there that..."

Just cupping her cheek, the other woman shook her head. "And you shouldn't have." Tightening the embrace, Mogami's expression softened. "I love you, Yuzuki-Chan. One day, I am going to have you as my wife and we're going to have a lot of kids."

Unable to help herself, Yuzuki laughed some. "Even if they're Ushi-Onna? I mean, like with Yuki-Onna and such, daughters usually are Ushi-Onna."

Only shrugging, Mogami grinned a bit before pressing their foreheads together and lightly kissed her. "So what? They're going to have one of their parents big, beautiful brown eyes and bodies that will probably make all the girls they know green with envy or some such. Hopefully, they won't be as clumsy as me, but what the heck? Even if they're all Ushi-Onna, I'll find them beautiful because they would be our kids."

Giggling some, the Yokai shook her head. "Well, maybe not all of them. One of the new 30FF Frigates that they're going to be building is supposed to be named Mogami after all. So chances are we're going to have one shipgirl."

Awed, Mogami stared at her for several moments. "Wait, they're naming one Mogami? Really?" At the nod, she lifted her girlfriend and spun her around, uncaring if anyone saw. "HELL YEAH!"

Just laughing, Yuzuki cut her girlfriend off with another deep kiss, one which was returned gladly. Pulling away, she gave a small sigh. "Shame that we both have work..."

Head tilted to the side, the Heavy Cruiser hummed. "Well... you do have a Secretary Ship. And we could always sneak off, I am pretty sure that we can find a closet or something~"

Giving her a whack on the arm, Yuzuki playfully glared at her. "We are not." Then she kissed Mogami again. "But maybe tonight..."

Lips curling upwards, Mogami shook her head. "Then I am definitely going to make sure to get all my work done as fast as I can. Of that, you can be sure of, Yuzuki-Chan."

With a hum, Yuzuki leaned against her, head pressed against the shipgirl's chest where she could hear the sound of boilers. "Same here, Mogami-Chan... same here."

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K Omake: Abyssal Shrine Maidens Meet/Why the Yakuza do not bother Jin

Harry Leferts said:
It is going to be pretty damn interesting to be honest. And now I cannot help but imagine one group setting up in Hidaka going on about the "Fiery One, whose flames of vengeance cannot be quenched!"​

The two Abyssals in Shrine Maiden outfits stare each other down.

"Vengeance that burns all in her path!"

"Merciless rage that rots unending!"

"Cleansing fire of the spurned heart!"

"Corruption of the undying which transcends death!"

"She who's scales alight with the flames which consumes all!"

"She who's flesh writhes with the grudge of a fallen!"

"The Burning Serpent of the Hidaka!"

"The Darkness Darker than the Deepest Abyss!"

"Praise the Fiery One!"

"Behold the Dark O-"

*Sound of a window being thrown open, followed by a torch being shone down into the park.*

*To the crowd of Abyssals though, it almost looks like a beam of light shining down from the darkened heavens upon one of the Abyssal mikos.

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP! IT'S THREE IN THE FUCKING MORNING AND PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP! DON'T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE IF YOU CAUSE A NOISE COMPLAINT! NOW EITHER MAKE FRIENDS AND FUCK OFF, OR HAVE YOUR STUPID SCHISM TOMORROW!"

*Light disappears, followed by sound of a window closing*

*The Abyssal miko who was in the beam of the light from above, trembles not with fear, but tearfully rapturous joy*

"Th-The Dark One! She spoke to me! The Dark One gifted us with her words!"

"Behold the Dark One!" echos the crowd with fanatical fervor and excitement.

"Joyous day, for the Dark One has made her will known, and shown compassion by not smiting us for transgressing against her rest and inclination to other scriptures!"

*Looks towards the Miko of the Fiery One*

"Come! Let us make friends with the with those of the Fiery One! For tonight we put aside our difference, just as the the Dark One commands!"

*Flicking her fingers, a Ne-Class in the crowd hoists a boombox over her head, while the miko pulls out a rose from and places it in her teeth*


*Miko of the Dark One waggles her eyebrows*

"And maybe more if you so wish?"

*awkward pause*

*Miko of the Fiery One quietly begins to leave*

"What-? Wait- no! Come back! Please! .....Fine then! MY LOVE IS ONLY FOR THE DARK ONE ANYWAY!"

*Window opens somewhere in the darkness above*

"NOW IF ONLY THERE WAS SOMEONE OUT THERE WHO LOVED YOU. SO KINDLY FUCK OFF!"

*Miko of the Dark One sniffles*

*The rest of the group stares. A Re-Class in a too small shirt points at how the Miko of the Dark One's eyes begin to water*

"Truly her cruelty is without mercy or end! Behold the Dark One!"

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!"

*Frustrated scream from above, followed by sound of a window shutting yet again*

Harry Leferts said:
She just cannot win...

Wait, does the money donated to shrines count as pay?​

The real question is whether they count as income or religious donations on her tax returns

Zebrin said:
It would be funny if Jin gets promoted due to having worshippers, so she decides that "Well, whatever, might as well go whole hog on this." And sets up a legit priesthood, sending one of her cultists to college and everything.​

Maybe once she's got more than a few dozen worshipers she actually wants to be associated with or can get some worthwhile amounts of faith from

U.N.Spacy000 said:
"No! The Dark One is Wrath and Vengeance! She is clearly best represented by Khorne!" one Abyssal declared as she held up a codex decorated with skulls on the cover.

"Bah, The Dark One clearly moves in ways that you simpletons don't understand and has deep, meaningful schemes - she is best represented by Tzeentch," a different Abyssal argued.

"Nonsense - The Dark One has a delicious flat chest and - " the fourth Abyssal began before she was interrupted by angry dragon noises in the distance. "The Dark One favors me! She is obviously best represented by Slaanesh!"

"Heresy! The Dark One is a corpse goddess upon her throne that protects the undeserving that worship her and curses hard enough to make a sailor blush! The God Emperor of Mankind is the best fit!" a fifth Abyssal claimed as she brandished all the Imperial codexes at her fellow Abyssals.

*Religious squabbling and decisions via 40K battles ensue*
Harry Leferts said:
Let's face it, the Blood Ravens are made for the Potters here.
U.N.Spacy000 said:
I dunno, Jin. That sounds exactly like the point.

Maybe this is why so many kami demand tributes to be appeased. You should convince your followers to give you things of actual value, Jin.​

"Wait. Tributes? You mean the rest of your are skimming off the top for this?"

U.N.Spacy000 said:
I am now imagining Disney Princess Jin. As soon as the Statute falls and she isn't wanted by MACUSA, I see her going to Disney World, getting prettied up at the Princess Boutique, and then riding all the rides in full Princess getup.

Somehow, images are leaked to her neighborhood watch. It is, of course, Mary's fault.​

Let's face it. There's one Disney Character above all the rest that Jin will want to cosplay first

Harry Leferts said:
For some odd reason, that makes far too much sense... Though come to think of it, what does Jin do for money...?
Harry Leferts said:
*Snorts* Actually, wait... isn't she the land lady for the apartment building on top of her spring?​

Yep, rent money from those living in her apartment building is her main income. She owns the structure (and owes Kiba for helping her amass the cash to get it in the first place).

Kiba actually handles most of her money really. What she doesn't spend on outfitting the Watch, and supporting those who end up in her building until they can get new IDs/jobs/get back on their feet, she mostly just flogs off to him to invest for her until she needs it.

rdmcmains said:
Her bike gang being called "Adachi Neighborhood Watch" is not ironic. Jin runs the only 'protection racket' in post-Blood Week Japan that actually offers protection.
Harry Leferts said:
Huh... so she would technically operate as a security company then...​

They don't really run a racket, but they do take donations from those who want to help support the group.

Weaver said:
Given some of what she's been shown to get up to I'm inclined to suspect that she's doing the same sort of thing as a real life, moderately famous local hard man nicknamed the Taxman, ie rough up anyone engaged in unacceptable criminal activities on her patch, take their money, and tell them to piss off and not come back.
Harry Leferts said:
That does sound like Jin to be honest.
Lambert Kipling said:
Also known as the "Walking Away" tax, or the fee you pay for the privilege of walking away because she didn't break your legs with a cricket bat.
Harry Leferts said:
Well, not even that in some cases...​

The AWN/Jin sort of used to do that to a degree, but it was a slow build up to it, and doesn't really happen anymore due to her current 'control' over her corner of Adachi Ward.

Way back in the 50s/60s, before the AWN first became a thing, a small number of magicals and yokai living in the area (a carry over from the time there used to be a magical neighborhood, even if it no longer existed post-war), meant that muggle policing was a complicated and difficult issue thanks to all the repelling wards on magical side streets and properties. Meanwhile, Aurors didn't really go to the place all that often, because 'who cares about a yokai neighborhood?'. This create a self-fulfilling cycle, where law enforcement on both sides was thin, so crime went up, so the area decreased in status, which only made it less of a priority to police.

By the early 70s, this issue had taken the incarnation of a number of large bosozoku and street gangs, all vying for control of the area around what was once the old magical neighborhood, and messing up the ward even further. Seeing as the police weren't much help against the bosozoku, and the Aurors didn't give a damn about a 'muggle problem', after repeatedly seeing gangs get kicked out by the police or rivals, only for new ones to move in or take over when older groups fell apart, Jin decided to take matters into her own hands. Long lived and durable as yokai and kami are, she decided to form her own 'muggle biker gang' and then take over the area herself, thus hopefully breaking the cycle of 'succession crises'.

At first this was all fine and dandy, but eventually they then ran into a 'problem'. Some of the less upstanding sorts in the magical gangs also started to see the ANW as a rival magical gang to be put down, even though the ANW's focus was on cleaning up the muggle streets. Not that they posed much of a problem, as it's a bit hard to win any kind of street brawl or magical duel with somebody who can T-1000 their way through a fight. But this then started attracting the attention of the authorities.

To keep the gains they had, and maintain the surprising amount of territory she had unintentionally carved out for herself by this point, Jin then entered the ANW into a devil's deal compromise. Knowing how corrupt the Magical Diet could be, she then made an alliance with some of Tokyo's magical Yakuza, who were more than happy to lean on the ties they had, if it meant they had an in with the uniter of a territory that had previously always been a mess of unreliable and transient street-level factions. The problem was that in forging a deal with her, they never read the fine print about many of the things she was adamant about not allowing and the fact that it was an 'alliance of equals'. After a few 'incidents' where Jin resoundingly proved impossible to dislodge or topple from her leadership, the obyan running the whole shindig decided that pursuit of more control and profits wasn't worth risking killing the golden goose which brought some semblance of order over the area, or who had the greater 'nuclear option' should things descend into a gang war or draw the ire of the authorities before she could be conceivably brought down.

Things remained at a relative true then, right up until the early 80s. New leadership and those unfamiliar with the tense background to the original deal, increasingly chafed at how little control or influence they actually had over the ANW, the lack of respect and deference the ANW gave them, how 'comparatively unprofitable' the ANW turf was under their administration, and their lack of usefulness or involvement in many activities the magical Yakuza branches ran. Even more gallingly, the ANW and it's leader seemingly had now desire to even expand or make something of themselves. Eventually as a compromise though, the ANW ended up more closely working with the muggle branches of their Yakuza allies.

Unfortunately, this further distanced them from those who understood and respected the powers and politics at play between the ANW and their original allies. Especially as a new generation started to not only come up and enter the ranks, but the leadership also began to change during the late 80s. This culminated in a number of incidents and crimes committed young lieutenants, recent initiates, and thugs pretending to be Yakuza, who thought that either their association or the name would protect them, or that the ANW could be cowed into line by intimidation or force. This already pretty badly frayed the alliance, which Jin had never really been fond of an only seen as a short term action of necessity with some minor long term benefits as a potential 'rainy day' card. After one particularly notable and horrific incident that was potentially tied to her territory, Jin decided to level her ultimatum.

The muggle Yakuza had to go. And thus, she promptly kicked them out of her turf, even if they continued to operate in the rest of Adachi Ward. In the process though, they did inadvertently take a little bit more territory too.

Though she initially offered to let the magical branches remain under some conditions, she purposely turned the offer into a poisoned chalice. Accepting her harsher demands and letting her dictate what they could or could not do, would be bowing to a bunch of yokai and political suicide within the group, even if they were led by a fallen kami. On the other hand, they couldn't conceivably win a gang war against a fallen kami and her bunch of highly motivated and now veteran yokai lieutenants.

Unfortunately, when they decided to try and outsmart her and take a third option by sicking the authorities on her, Jin had already prepared for it. Pointing out just how many of them had criminal activities going on in both the muggle and magical sides, and the fact that her memory was a long one which no amount of human spellcraft could easily silence or kill without causing an incident, in the end, an uneasy truce was made between her and the organized crime syndicates on the magical side of things. The fact that the ANW had no aspirations for expansion or growth, was basically the saving grace that meant allowing them to exist was palatable.

Since then, the AWN has faced a few attempts to muscle in on their turf, mainly from muggle gangs and groups that don't understand why the ANW has managed to resolutely linger on for so long. Otherwise though, the group and it's turf has remained unchanged since it's brief minor expansion in territory while kicking out the yakuza and associated minor gangs through the '89-'90 period. Gradually, especially since the the start of the Abyssal War, this uneasy truce has turned into an outright zero-tolerance policy toward criminals and gangs that are not considered allies of Jin or the ANW, or 'authorised' in their activities. There are some groups they do work with though, namely Kurosawa Mika's smuggling ring, and black marketers associated with or operating in the same circles as Mizukashii Suigetsu.

While Jin's apartment building, with it's interior magically enlarged to fit a surprisingly sizable community inside, is their primary base in lower Adachi Ward, it also isn't their only one. The group's long held defacto status as the neighborhood's 'actual' law enforcement in it's magical community, mean that they either own or rent through certain members or family, a number of mechanics shops, garages and apartment that they also base out of and patrol from.

Harry Leferts said:
-Ushi-ona Experimentation
Guardsman_Sparky said:
...You know, those idiots in Group 731 should have seen that coming. After all, there is a precedence in the Minotaur.

Disgusting fucks.
Harry Leferts said:
Yes, but they were obsessed with winning the war and thus wanted a bunch of Kudan to use to warn them of coming military disasters. We're talking a Yokai who's whole existence lasts mere days normally, it spouts off a prophecy just before it happens, and then dies with its work done. They wanted more of them to get a leg up partially because they were desperate.

But yes, they were disgusting fucks, though that has reflected on the Ushi-Onna.​

You know, considering the Hokubu's history with messing around with cattle and magic, I can't help but feel like this would be the kind of ruthlessly horrific and disgusting thing Royomaru have either had a hand in, or been happy to 'lend' people with expertise to contribute to as the project progressed...

You also gotta wonder how they were even extending the lives of those Kudan in the first place, or stopping them from giving their prophecies

jmcdavid said:
You know, after Aso's encounter with those Unit 731 remnants, I'm honestly kind of surprised something wasn't organized to track down and eliminate any remaining cells that might have survived to the present day.
TempestK said:
They're still trying, but part of the problem is that the magical Diet wanted to sweep it all under the rug, and gave them a ton of time and room to run and hide.
Harry Leferts said:
Actually, so did MACUSA and others who wanted information they gathered as a sort of "Fuck you" in case of World War Three, with their freedom being what they were given in exchange.​

Jiromaru secretly going around hunting down everyone dumb enough to stick their heads up, or get themselves removed from the Diet and MACUSA's protection by ending up on the 'kill or disappear' lists for various alphabet soup agencies, may have also unintentionally made things harder in that regard.

While it meant there weren't (as) many horrific mad-science/magitech incidents (as there could have been), it also probably clued those smart enough to reign themselves in or keep a low profile, that someone out there was not afraid to off them if they created a stir or were cut loose for convenience/politics, and seemed to have a pretty good idea who everyone was and what to watch for if they were up to something.

Yellowhammer said:
A further problem at the time was that a lot of the worst atrocities that Unit 731 performed were in Manchuria and China so that a lot of the US forces in Japan were somewhat unaware of the specifics. Both because they had very poor penetration of those areas with their intelligence and data of what was going on was muddled to put it mildly. IE when you have a bubonic plague outbreak in a Nationalist Chinese town with loads of refugees is it natural to the area, caused by the overcrowding and breakdown of hygiene durign wartime, or caused by Unit-731 dropping some plague bombs filled with infected fleas?

Unfortunately, realizing that a massive disease outbreak is not natural can be difficult in poor, war-torn countries, which China most definitely was.​

It didn't help that China was also still dealing with the ongoing Civil War, which never really ended even during the Second Sino-Japanese War and then WWII.

The fear of Japan splintering, or communism gaining a foothold as happened in Korea and Vietnam if the occupation was too harsh, also was partly responsible for a policy of not rocking the boat as much as they can on certain issues. Eventually due to a complicated series of politicking and backroom deals to secure the close relationship they had with the Japanese government, a lot of the remaining War Criminals were simply let go around the early to mid 50s (IIRC, I could be off on that time period for the releases). Even many of those serving extended sentences for Class A crimes were eventually let out by late 50s.