Conflict!! A ride on the youkai subway!

[dreamsincolor]

Who: Mitsuya, Takuro
Where: The subway. No, not that one, the other one.
What: Riding to school.
When: The morning after Iwata's lesson.


It typically didn't take Mitsuya long to adjust to changes in her life, even those that led to her riding the subway with tengu, oni, and an assortment of other folkloric and less readily describable beings that were as removed from the humdrum of her old everyday life as... well, night from day. And sure enough, it had only been a few days, but she'd become accustomed to being the only human on a crowded subway car.

But now, today, it seemed she wasn't. Someone else was getting on right now, in fact.

Ah, yes. She recalled him from the old school building. Iwasaki, the experienced one with the demon. His very normality made him stand out all the more, it seemed.

Comments

[amoralsensei]

"It got triggered by a phrase... see, this is the sort of thing that magical people live with. You know how, sometimes, you see people's names show up in bright letters? Or, if you say..."

He quieted down. A faint suspense music came into the air, from nowhere. "If that wasn't you... and it wasn't me... then who was it?"

The music was building into a crescendo.

Iwata simply rolled his eyes and hissed. "Knock it off."

The music stopped.

[fantasy_skies]

They were informed of Takuro's revival when the boy suddenly pitched forward, coughly wetly.

"Ugh," he moaned once he was done, leaning back in the chair. "That was embarassing."

[dreamsincolor]

"Welcome back to the world of the living. How are you feeling?" Mitsuya greeted him with a smile, pleased to see him awake and well. "There's no need to be embarrassed about your performance. Your share of the reward is in your pocket--does that always happen?"

[amoralsensei]

"Hold on, now. You probably are injured-- I mean, in a world where this sort of stuff was measured in numbers, your life points would be around 'one'. Clearly this calls for yogurt," Iwata said, going back to his deks. "Do you hurt anywhere, Iwasaki-kun?"

[fantasy_skies]

"I hurt all over," Takuro grumbled, trying to sit up a little staighter. "My stupid magic didn't work and- wait..."

He froze as he processed what Mitsuya had said. "...I was dead?"

[amoralsensei]

"Unconscious," Iwata corrected.

[dreamsincolor]

"Your death was purely figurative."

[fantasy_skies]

Takuro let out a big breath before laughing weakly. "That's okay, then. Thank you for taking care of me, Mitsuya-senpai. ...I'll try to be less of a burden next time."

[amoralsensei]

"It goes without saying," Iwata said, returning with a cup of yogurt and handing it to Takuro. (It felt cold to the touch: did I Iwata have a minibar hidden in his drawer?) "That this means you should cover your weaknesses. It's important to get stronger, but all the same, to learn spells that will strengthen you. Life isn't like a videogame where the first problems you'll encounter will be leveled down for you."

He straightened up, rubbing his chin while looking at both kids.

"I have an idea. You should both try making potions, or get yourselves some ingredients from nature or from a gardening shop, or some more unique ones from the Merchant! You could also get stuff that's useful from beating enemies or exploring magical sites."

[dreamsincolor]

This piqued Mitsuya's interest. "That's quite a lot to work with, sensei. Who is this 'merchant', and what sort of magical sites are there? Certainly I've seen a few names on the subway, but they can be... less than useful sometimes."

Alchemy--now this was a topic that was relevant to her interests. She was familiar in passing with the subject from her own readings, but for it to be real in some way, shape, or form...

So many paths to follow, so little time.

[fantasy_skies]

"We have to make our own potions now?" Takuro was unconvinced. "And these are supposed to help us in combat by... what, drinking them?"

He was fine with yogurt and noodles, but a little more dubious of needing to drink eye of newt or whatever counted as 'more unique' ingredients.

[amoralsensei]

"Well, it's occasionally useful, if a bit old fashioned," Iwata said. "I mean, your only other choice is getting the ingredients for magical food. Which works too. But not everything can be made into a bagel."

He scratched his chin.

"Well, on that note... maybe if I just," he looked in his drawer again, and pulled out two plastic-wrapped meals. "BARRIER BAGEL" they read, with a friendly youkai face going on about how it's "reinforced with vitamins and magic."

He tossed it at both kids.

"Fresh for a month. It'll raise your defense against spells by, um, half of your usual thing. So imagine if it could be measured in numbers, and you had 50. Then it'd go up to 75. But only for a little while. If only you could get a Barrier Baguette, now that'd be a different story. And," he nodded. "Yes, the Merchant. He's a youkai that sells pretty much anything. You have to look for him though. He's not impossible to find as long as there's customers nearby...."

[fantasy_skies]

"That seems like an oddly specific benefit," Takuro murmured, glancing over the bagel's label again before shoving it in his pocket.

"Can't we find the Merchant just by going to him on the subway?"

[amoralsensei]

"That should work," Iwata said, nodding idly. "You can find just about anything by the subway... just as long as whatever you're looking for isn't actively hiding," he explained.

[fantasy_skies]

"Okay. So plenty of ways to get ingredients then. Do you have a recipe book lying around, sensei, or do we just throw whatever we want together?" Opening the yogurt he had been given, he took a mouthful, sighing softly as the aching pain all over his body dulled.

"I might need Araragi-senapi on hand to test them out if that's the case."

[dreamsincolor]

Mitsuya stowed the Barrier Bagel in her bad, after taking a moment to admire the symbolism of using something almost shield-like (at least, shape-wise, so long as one ignored the hole) to increase one's resistance to magic.

Takuro was covering her questions for the time being, but she lifted her head and raised her eyebrows a little at him at that last comment. "Why, Iwasaki-kun, you ought to have enough confidence in your own creations to be able to test them yourself, surely," she responded, a faint laugh rippling beneath her words. "Certainly that's what I'll be doing."

[amoralsensei]

"Araragi-san is right. That's terrible, Iwasaki-kun, and completely improper. It's demeaning! Isn't that why you have Kudou-san for anyway?" Iwata said, putting his hands on his hips. "But, well... yes and no. You can experiment with this sort of thing... more often than not, results will be logical. And tasty. Don't forget, potion making is just cooking in another way... Or bartending, ah-- but I'm straying. Where was I? Oh yes, you may also find recipes from youkai cook books, or perhaps punching the right people on the subway."

A pause. "And, of course, there's always asking... in a civile, polite way," he cleared his throat, holding up a finger, "Which IS what I encourage as your sensei. Let's try to be good citizens here, and only resort to violent beatings after the diplomatic process breaks down."

[fantasy_skies]

"Confidence is one thing, but not all potions would be for healing, right? There has to be- poisons, I guess, or potions that have bad effects. I'd rather have volunteers than just tricking people into trying them."

Takuro took another mouthful of yogurt, considering it. "...I'm surprised at how many problems in the magical work can be solved by 'punching people on the subway'."

[amoralsensei]

"Youkai, and most supernatural society isn't particularly concerned with the preservation of 'civility' as by human standards. It would be difficult to imagine, anyway," said Iwata, leaning back on his desk, legs stretched ahead of him. "I won't go into extremes, but let's put it simply: humans are a single species. Youkai, monsters, godly and demonic beings are easily hundreds. Some are born with a biological imperative to, say, nip your shadow and steal away a little bit of your joy. Some do the opposite. Some simply have a biological imperative that means anything else just... has to go. The long and short of it is that it's a miracle things actually go on in some reasonably amicable manner."

Iwata turned his eyes up to the ceiling. "Guess it goes to show that, at the end, progress and constructive thinking-- getting along, to put it simply, is such an appealing option that it even overcomes even the most pressing of biological and spiritual needs to act destructively." He paused. "Most of the time, anyway... thankfully. Everyone just wants to get on with their lives. And if you put aside the whole argument of species, humans may not be all that different."

He lingered in this thought for a moment, eyes gleaming with a hint of deep thought, and a crease on his face indicating just a bit of conflict from it. He pursed his lips. "And yet, undeniably... there's a sort of... purity to it, isn't there? No beating around the bush, no lies, just a terrible kind of violent honesty."

[dreamsincolor]

"Such a world has an appeal of its own."

The glint in Mitsuya's eyes showed no conflict, simply fascination. "Indeed, as you said, sensei, it's remarkable that such a world can exist--and yet it's right before our eyes. Though battle and death lie in wait around every corner...

"But saying that there are no lies surely isn't true, is it, sensei?" Her gaze fixed itself upon him, filled with curiosity. "If there are youkai as complex and selfish as we humans are, then no doubt there are some who go beyond that raw underbelly of life and take cover in the facade of deception we call 'etiquette' and 'civilization'."

[amoralsensei]

"That is true, and we really shouldn't be arrogant enough to think that we humans have a monopoly on such things!" Iwata said, smiling a bit-- exhaling heavily. "Ahh, if only classes could be about things like this. Useful life lessons, philosophy, history, extortion, that would make for a much better job..."