estoria | First Prayer: I'm not your only friend...[Open]

Who: Rei Hino and you?
What: Day in the life of Rei Hino
When: Some nebulous day between 12/17 and 12/21, or whenever works
Where: Residential District, Gym, Shopping District, Research/Tech District
Warnings: None at present?

Residential District/Research District

[Rei's always enjoyed taking walks in her free time, getting to know the area around her and taking in the sites. She's been given a day off, a small thank you for a project deadline completion, and she's taking full advantage. It's different here, of course, given the alien nature of so much of the architecture but that's actually part of the appeal. She's reminded of what she's seen of her own world's future, and while the CERES logo plastered everywhere isn't entirely her favorite thing in the world it's nice to see some of the advertisements she's been working on around.

Eventually she'll make her way into the Research and Technologies District, looking around at all the sterile government buildings and ominous labs too. It's idle curiosity, combined with her family being involved in the civic system, that catches her interest. As well as possibly finding an entryway into CERES' facilities for later.

She's not paying the most attention to her immediate surroundings, though, so she might just bump into you, or brush past you. Trailing behind her, too, is a Cybuddy, this robot taking the form of a fuzzy baby panda bear. Whoever said she couldn't like cute things?]

CERES Gym:

[Next on her list is to find Abe no Sousei's kendo school. With a little help from Edgeworth, she's actually acquired a shinai of the proper size, and she'll turn up at the gym with that and a bow, wearing some pretty standard exercise clothes (scarlet and black of course) and begin warming up if he's not in yet. She'll start off with rock-climbing, an activity she finds herself actually doing pretty well at, and then move on to perform some pretty impressive gymnastic feats. After that? Archery.

Catch her taking a breather at the juice bar, or maybe watch while she's working out? Whatever strikes your fancy]

Restaurant:

[With all that done, it's time to get dinner. And that means heading out to a restaurant and then to pick up some stuff for the rest of the week. The restaurant she's hitting up claims to serve traditional Japanese dishes, and it's worth a try, she figures...though when she gets the food she orders, Rei's lips quiver in absolute disgust. She doesn't yell, but she gets up and carries the plate over to the counter, dropping the tray down hard enough to clatter and catch staff attention]

This is not Hōtō-nabe. [Ugh.] This is not even remotely close. It's green. And it smells like garlic. And since when are edamame purple? I'd like a refund.

[Naturally, she is going to be that customer. Or that fellow patron. Or...whatever.]

Shopping

[And with that fiasco out of the way, she has to settle for less familiar food, in this case a fried fish sandwich. It is what it is, and she'll eat it, but it leaves her wanting. So it's off to the store, where she goes through a little of everything she'd consider “traditional”, gathering up a rather full basket. Sorry if you were looking for that super-secret sauce or those last pickled plums, she's already reaching for the last one...]

Wild Card:

[No prompts to your liking? Watch to catch Rei in between things? Do it!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He frowns then before shaking his head. ]

...No. That is...

[ He takes the jar and hands it to her, nodding for her to take it instead. ] We...still have some left at home. It is no trouble for you to take them. [ He'll stare at the jar and Rei for a moment before continuing. His voice soft, low and slow as he speaks. ]

I have not met many people who...enjoy such things. Are you from...Japan?

[ He's getting used to this whole meeting people from different countries/worlds so forgive him. ]

[She frowns in turn but accepts the jar, setting it down into her basket.]

Alright, then. Thank you.

[She stares back, level and cool if a little bit worried. What was going on? Was this priest well? Or was he just awkward and shy? Oh! Then he speaks...]

Yes. [She nods.] I am from Tokyo. Or...Edo, if you're from an earlier time.

[Her head cocks to one side, almost birdlike.]

Are you?

[ He wasn't shy per say just...quiet and more reserved than most of the other swords in the Citadel. He nods in a 'yes' fashion to Rei's question. ]

...Yes. I was forged in the fourteenth century by the sword maker Saemonzaburo. I am...one of his blades, Kousetsu Samonji. It is...a pleasure to meet you.

[ That sure isn't a bombshell to drop on someone. But with the things Rei has seen it's probably not that big a surprise. ]

[Rei has seen and heard a lot of strange things. She's fought against mad star gods, seen the cauldron that creates stars, been to the moon and even visited other dimensions. She has not, however, ever encountered a man who claims to be a living sword.

She blinks, and takes a step back.]

I...you...are a sword? Kensai?

[ Ah did he perhaps frighten her? He wasn't very good at these sorts of things yet. But the word Kensai makes him tilt his head a little. The Saniwa had told them about such things, because they were somewhat related to the word. However they were not human, nor were they saints, they were simply tools given form. ]

No...that's... [ He shakes his head. ] We are more like...tsukumogami.

[Frighten, no, surprise? Very much so. But her reaction to that is to stop and raise an eyebrow.]

Animated objects? Are you a spirit then? The...soul of a sword?

...yes that is one way of thinking about it. [ He nods in agreement. ]

We have corporeal forms but our true forms are...these. [ He'll motion to the blade sheathed at his side. ] You would...have to ask our Saniwa on how they did it. I...am not entirely sure of the methods myself.

[ Being brought into the world was disorienting enough, so he never got the chance to actually ask. And then the wars going on left little time for idle chatter, especially in the Saniwa's case. ]

Well, that's not really my place to pry, now is it?

[Rei smiles somewhat vaguely and bows again. If he is what he says, then respect is deserved, and her spiritual senses are not arguing with him.]

May I ask, who is your Saniwa?

Haru-san. [ He nods as he says it. Haru was...an interesting boy. He was the one who gave them life though, so his gratitude towards the young Saniwa was sincere. ]

I hope that...they are safe. [ Because he is refusing to believe that their world has been destroyed. ]

[She nods in reply, too.]

As do I. But then, I don't really know how much of what we've been told is true.

[Really she has her reasons to be very suspicious.]

...yes. I have been told to...not believe in what we have been shown on that...screen. [ Powerpoint thing? Yeah he doesn't know what it was but the words spoken by it couldn't possibly be true. He shakes his head, hair swaying slightly with the action. ]

If we have been brought here then there is hope that the others will be brought as well.

I suppose that's true enough. Though, I'm not sure I'd wish to put my friends through a lot of what's happened so far.

[Basically CERES sucks.]

Have you been here long?

It is...strange here. But I am sure some of the others would like it here. [ The younger tantous for example might be more eager to jump in on all this newfangled technology after all. He shakes his head in a 'no' fashion. ]

Tsurumaru-san my brother, Souza, and I have only just arrived a week or so ago. We came during that...carnival.

Ah. As did I. Though, calling it a carnival is being generous. Nobody had fun.

[Rei rolls her head back, looking up at the ceiling for a moment in a gesture of resignation. She...just doesn't want to be here.]

Are you a priest as well, Kousetsu-san?

[ He nods with that sentiment. He was not a fan of the rides. But the food was pretty interesting and kinda good. ]

My previous master, before the saniwa, was a priest by the name of Itabeoka Kousetsusai a retainer of Hojo Ujimasa. I have taken on his name and ideals.

[ So in retrospection he's not exactly a priest per say. ] I have only ever been a sword used for war and bloodshed. [ He says that dourly as he looks to the blade at his side. ]

But I do retain memories of many of the teachings my master once preformed as his duty as a priest.

So, you have been passed down then. [An odd pause, her eyes tracking his to the sword.] Most priests don't use swords, at least in my experience. He must have been an odd one, or one devoted to a War god.

...yes. Itabeoka Kousetsusai was my first master and then Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After him it was Tokugawa Ieyasu. [ He will follow her gaze, albeit its a bit more dour that usual. Talking about his previous masters this way always made him lost in thought. ]

He...did not use me unless absolutely necessary. It was...one of the teachings that he followed most readily. My master...prevented a war between the Tokogawa and Hojo clans. [ He speaks with some reverence as he remembers those times long ago, in what seemed like days to a sword like himself. ]

He would not fight, but merely speak.

[Famous names, of course. Rei knows them, but politely doesn't say anything. It's not that odd for a Tsukumogami to be passed on from person to person, after all.]

An important, but often forgotten tenant of Bushido. Peace where possible, before acting in violence.

[She smiles somewhat wanly.]

A wise man.

First Prayer: I'm not your only friend...[Open]

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