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Realms: Fukusei Crystals Logs

Episode 7: Information and Planning

(OOC) Sun Oct 16 1905 02:27 PM by "FukuseiGM" at "Fukusei Soundstage" (OOC)

The week is marked mostly by how ordinary it is. Shinsetsu shows up for classes twice in the entire week. People work off punishments for staying out so late on a school night. And, of course, normal, ordinary homework occupies a good deal of time.

Swim tryouts are Saturday morning, so the afternoon is the first free time for people to meet outside of school.

Tara has invited everyone to meet at her house. She knows her Nanna-san enjoys having people to 'do' for, and likes seeing Tara, her charge, spending time with children her own age. She notes a bit wistfully that Akina had been rather upset at Seiichi on Monday at school, but later told Tara on Tuesday that Seiichi had been grounded -- very grounded, as in his parents were still deciding whether or not to even let Akina visit.

Tara adds she'd felt very bad about that, and had asked Akina if she thought Tara and the guys going to apologize to Seiichi's parents would have helped any.

Though he still wears the school uniform around other people, Shinsetsu has persisted in wearing the old-fashioned clothes while hanging around Tara's place or the temple, his new sleeping grounds. Not that he's allowed inside the buildings on the temple grounds, but he seems perfectly happy with trees. At least he's discreet.

Akina had said they could try but it probably wouldn't help much, so Tara had gone ahead and done so. The Kazamoras had been polite... but adamant. Tara sighs, twirling an errant golden curl around and arround one finger, "I... still feel a bit bad about it, but I don't know what else to do. I told Nakayama-san we'd be happy to help him study if she wanted, and we've been doing that during lunch." She grins, adding, "At least he's mostly all caught up on his homework now!"

Tara curiously asks Shinsetsu, "So how do you intend to pass if you don't attend class? Or do you not care now?"

Shinsetsu shrugs. "It does seem rather pointless."

Tara grins, then cheerfully nudges Ken, "So how'd the swim team tryouts go?"

Ken flops down and says, "Actually, the swim trials went pretty well. I wanted to shave the times off several of the forms, but summer was almost too full. I'm sure to get better with more regular practice," and glances around. "Do any of you know Okamura Tsutomu? He showed up for the swim trials, and did pretty well. He's pretty good this year. He's obviously been working hard."

Tara thinks a bit, then says, "Umm... dark haired kid, kinda slight, kinda over-intense? I think I've seen him...?"

Ken says, "He asked a lot of questions about where I was over the weekend, and mentioned all of us." He shrugs, and continues, "I told him we were hiking, which is true, but I thought we'd better keep our stories straight. We'll have to be careful with the truth from now on."

Tara eyes Ken over her rice bowl, pausing a moment from eating... then nods, "Hai, we'll have to, definitely. That's what I told Seiichi-chan's parents too, actually. Domo for mentioning it, though, Ken-san."

A dull roar can be heard coming from outside, it gets steadily louder until it's recognizable as an engine. It sounds as if it's directly outside as it revs once before cutting off.

Tara waves her chopsticks towards the middle of the table, where steaming food has been placed, "Help yourself, Ken-san..." She blinks, her head turning to listen, then laughs, "Ah, sounds like the motorcycle's been repaired!"

Tara grins, noticing Shinsetsu is already eating avidly. No surprise there.

There's a bit of sound from outside before a knock on the door.

Tara grins, setting down her rice bowl and chopsticks before calling, "Enter!"

Daichi's voice is muffled, "A little help with the door would be nice."

Tara raises an eyebrow, but lightly bounces to her feet and trots over to slide the door aside. She leaves it open to let in the pleasant afternoon light, and allow for the nice view of the ocean... as well as to let Daichi in.

Daichi steps in, dressed in a suit of riding leathers, school bag on his back, and a helmet in each hand. He tosses one to Tara, "Figured you'd need one of these, too."

Tara steps aside as something is thrown at her... realizes it's a helmet and not something unpleasant -- and barely catches it.

Daichi sets his helmet down for a moment so he can take off his shoes. Once accomplished, he snags the headgear and joins the others. "Sorry I'm late; had to pick up the gear to go with the bike since I finished it last night."

Tara raises another eyebrow, studying the helmet and Daichi, then says politely, "Konnichi wa, please come in, Daichi-kun. Arigato gozaimashita for the helmet."

Tara sets the helmet down next to her books and re-settles, picking up her rice bowl and chopsticks, "We were just discussing the week's events. Ken-san mentioned that we'd need to be careful we kept our stories consistent from now on, which I think is a good idea. Help yourself to something to eat, and feel free to update us on anything of note, if you'd like?

Ken nods, "It looks like at least one person, not counting the obvious adults, is getting nosy. You know Okamura Tsutomu? He's been curious..."

Shinsetsu pauses in the middle of his bowl of soup. "Watches you like a hawk, you know."

Tara grins, "Okamura-san?" She giggles, turning to Ken, "Lucky you, eh?"

Daichi drops his bag on the floor, the helmet ending up beside it. "I know of him, I don't know him personally." Settling down he shrugs, "Important? Aside from finishing the bike the only thing is that Shinsetsu has taken up residence in a part of the temple, since the old man isn't quite so paranoid anymore."

Ken says, "Really? I hadn't noticed," and shrugs. "I guess it makes sense, we're both competing for the same spots and like that."

Tara says, "Ah, so he's a sports fanatic? Got it." She looks over at Shinsetsu, then nods to Daichi, "Glad to hear that. If you persuaded him to do that, thank you." Curiously she adds, "Did he know anything about the blue-skinned, blonde giants?"

Daichi says, "No, from what it sounds like they're not in any of our folklore."

Tara frowns, munching on rice and veggies for a while, then murmurs softly, "Very odd..."

Tara says, "Hm. So do we have a plan at all for what happens next?"

Daichi says, "I didn't know we were supposed to..."

Ken says, "What do you want to happen? I don't think being able to fly or have a big horse is going to help us with our homework, or get a job next summer. A lot of what we've been told centers on this girl that's gone missing, right?"

Ken says, "None of us knew her, so we can't even be sure this person on the other side, who seems to have a crystal and a bad friend, is the same girl. Has Murasaki Karei shown up, or been declared missing? What do we know about her anyway? For all we know, she's run away from home, or to join the circus, or whatever."

Tara says, "Well, we do need to think at least a bit about what we're going to do, if anything, about the situation in the spirit realm. I still find it odd that the vampire would toss a perfectly good hostage against the tengu through a gate into another realm. I still think the best reason to do that is if the vampire actually has another, better hostage, like the tengu's friend Ougon." She looks at Shinsetsu with a touch of sympathy, but knows better than actually expressing it to the kitsune. Instead she simply continues, "And I find it interesting the vampire didn't actually command the kitsune he tossed through the gate to find the crystal bearers -- he just made sure Shinsetsu-kun knew very, very precisely what was necessary in order to get back. That's a good bit of manipulation of a contrary spirit, I think. We also know the vampire has excellent spies, so I don't doubt for a moment he knows we were there... and it wouldn't surprise me if it's not so easy next time."

Tara pours herself some more hot tea and waits for any reactions.

Shinsetsu takes a sudden interest in one of the windows. His cheeks seem a bit redder than usual.

"That's... not quite accurate," he mutters.

Tara raises a thoughtful eyebrow as she watches the kitsune over her tea cup, blowing gently on it to dissipate the steam. Inquiringly she murmurs only, "Mmm?"

Shinsetsu says, very quietly, "It's not something I really want to talk about."

Tara nods, "All right. I think that's fair... we can wait to go back to the spirit realm until you decide you're ready to talk."

Tara adds cheerfully, "No rush!" and concentrates on sipping her tea.

Daichi smirks, "No pressure, huh?"

Tara says calmly, "Be nice, Daichi-kun." She has another sip of her tea, then changes the subject, "So, how'd you get the motorcycle finished so quickly? I thought you said there were financial issues?"

Daichi shakes his head, "No, it was just a matter of having the time to get everything together. I stayed up and put in an hour or two every night this week after I'd finished everything else for the day."

Tara considers a moment -- then laughs softly, "Ah! That explains why you were so, umm... a bit groggy all week." She smiles, "Well, congratulations. What kind is it?"

Daichi says, "Honda Blackbird... what used to be the fastest production bike out there."

Shinsetsu lies back and seems to be thinking while the humans chat.

Tara smiles, "Sounds nice."

Ken says, "So, there was this whole thing about 'closing off the spirit realm,' right? But folks with these crystals can go back and forth. Kouketsu-hanshi found Kibou-san wandering on his side, because he found a crystal and passed over, even though he was only four at the time, and it 'alerted' this Muteki thing. This was the vampire having spies everywhere, right? If it has free access to this side, what can we do to turn that off?"

Tara considers a moment, then says, "Technically, getting Murasaki-san and Kibou-kun back on this side of the gate, and the vampire and its minions on the other side, and convincing everyone with crystals not to go through the gates any more... should do it." She smiles ruefully, "Practically, however... I think it's a whole different story."

Daichi nods to Tara, "Added a few extra little touches to it, not that I've gotten to try them all out yet, but I'm happy so far." He thinks, "Find four more people with crystals and close the rest of the paths? Not sure that would work."

Shinsetsu looks up from his thinking. "Close something that's already closed?"

Daichi says, "There are still some that are open, right?"

Tara says, "Iie, Shinsetsu-kun, there are still the gates Kouketsu-hanshi said were still available if you had enough power to force them open."

Shinsetsu shrugs. "I haven't found any. They're still there, but it's not like just anybody can walk though."

Tara says, "So really it sounds like the answer is... iie, there's no way to close them all."

Shinsetsu looks puzzled. "Look, when a door is closed, that doesn't mean there's no door there."

Ken says, "Why eight? ...and if it's closed, it sure seems to have more than a few gaps. I don't know about you, but if I thought my access to my goals might be limited in some way, I'd be trying to get hench-things on the other side in as large a number as possible."

Tara adds politely to Ken, "I'm afraid the issue is more that we don't have enough information to answer your question accurately, Ken-san. More tea?"

Daichi says, "Ten, not eight.. we know where two more crystals are."

Ken shrugs, "Do we know what was done, or what might be required to re-do or update or patch it? I sure don't know, and replicating ..whatever.. might not be something we can do. Can we spike the door, or put a doorstop in it? Change the combination? Move the doorknob? I have no idea what I'm talking about here, but who does? I really have no idea how to proceed with this. What are our goals? When will we know when we're done? Where are the cheat codes, and like that?"

Tara says, "Nope. All we know for sure is Kouketsu-hanshi said it took ten crystals to close the gates that are closed, but it only takes 5 to open them. We know the four of us have crystals, plus there's Kibou's and Murasaki's crystals, for a total of six. That means four are still missing, but it also means they'll turn up eventually, and also that there are enough around now for the vampire to open gates, if it can get its hands on them." She pauses, then adds a bit grimly, "We also know a crystal's bearer is not required to use the crystal."

Tara repeats calmly, "We also know we don't know enough about what's happening to go back currently." She returns to slowly sipping her tea, her sherry-gold eyes far away in thought.

Daichi sighs, "Look, this isn't really getting us anywhere. We're just spinning our wheels until we get more information, and the only person who really has any knowledge about this is about a days journey away."

Shinsetsu nods. "And I'm sure he'd be thrilled to see you back."

Tara says, "True. So, want to start working on our homework, guys?"

Daichi mutters, "I'd rather have you and Shinsetsu quit being so petty about what he doesn't feel comfortable talking about." He shakes his head, "I for one sometimes take a while to get to the point I feel I can say things, and saying hi you aren't going back until he does is a lot of pressure for him to talk. Might just make him resentful and less likely to come around."

Ken says, "Shinsetsu-san, are you suggesting we spend our next weekend travelling back to Kouketsu-hanshi's mountain? I really don't think my parents are going to buy weekly 'hiking trips' just as school is starting."

Shinsetsu shrugs. "Really, I'm not sure I want to go back. After all, it's not like there are press gangs here or much in the way of competition...."

Tara raises an eyebrow at Daichi, "Petty? Excuse me? I think that's enough. I see no reason to be lumped in with him, when I've been doing my best to make sure everyone gets out safely and in one piece, instead of playing 'but you didn't aaaask me thaaat! mind games." She picks up her backpack, gets to her feet, and walks out.

Ken says, "So... how can we find out anything about this without a two day walk? Any ideas? I've never heard anything about these crystals before, and your friend Kouketsu-hanshi gave us something to go on, but it seems like mostly a dead end. If he's the most knowledgeable person you know, I'm stumped..."

Daichi sighs, "That went well..." He gets up, "Right, let me see what I can do to pull my foot out of my mouth here..." He follows after Tara, his own bag left on the floor for the moment.

Shinsetsu shrugs again. "You guys are a wild card. Nobody in there knows who you'll side with or what you'll decide to do. Certainly Kouketsu would love for you to stick with him. Muteki'd also be happy to welcome you to his army. The giants worry me, though. I've never seen them before. Or anything like them. And I've travelled a lot."

Ken watches Tara and Daichi leave, and turns to Shinsetsu. "Hm. Just you and me. So... played any good video games lately?"

Shinsetsu blinks at Ken. "Er, no?"

Ken says, "I think you've jumped ahead here. We don't know who any of these folks are, much less having decided to 'pick sides' or joining an army. Any army."

Shinsetsu sighs. "The best con men are respectable. The crystals are one factor, but there's the war, too. I don't know a single spirit who wouldn't love to have access to the human realm. But that access means Muteki can get fodder for his army."

Tara stomps out of the room, striding briskly, and turns to weave along the wide elevated porches and between several interconnected buildings, muttering under her breath to herself in English. She reaches her room, slams the sliding door open, and throws her backpack on the floor next to her desk. //Stupid, ungrateful, demanding, greedy... ooh, boys!// She yanks her chair out, flounces into it, rests her chin in her hands, and stares moodily at her computer screen. It's still got the results of her latest searches on it, for blue-skinned blonde giants with blue horses -- and the results are... nothing.

Tara hmfs to herself, and taps lightly with one finger for a bit, deleting about half her search parameters. "All right... let's try blue skinned blondes first."

Tara sighs, getting far, far too many results -- none of which cover her desired field.

Tara grumbles to herself, playing with the search parameters.

Daichi doesn't quite match Tara's pace, trusting the sound of her footfalls and her door to lead him in the correct direction. 'Right and how do you plan to patch this one over...'

Tara giggles, finding a variety of weird results... Skeletor, the Star Wars Calamari, Xanth characters, DC comics bad guys... she starts to get absorbed in her search, idly playing with the crystal on the chain around her neck as she reads.

Tara blinks, then laughs again -- the porn results probably aren't what she's looking for.

Daichi watches from her doorway for a bit before knocking on the frame, lightly.

Tara starts, straightening and looking around just as Daichi knocks on the door. She blinks, focusing on him for a moment, then simply says, "Hai?"

Daichi smiles wryly, "Decided I ought to see if I can pull my foot out of my mouth...."

Tara's golden eyes narrow a bit, but she doesn't say anything. She just politely waits.

Daichi glances down at his feet. "I didn't mean for it to sound that bad, but just sitting around waiting on someone else doesn't always get you anywhere. I'm not sure if you ever would have come and asked me to go out and do something, though you might have, but that's not the point. Sometimes you just have to take chances..." His eyes finally come back up to look at her, "This probably isn't helping me much..."

Tara's eyebrows are starting to raise in spite of herself, but she takes a few breaths, then says carefully, "You are correct that I would not have asked you out. However, I would not have done so because I've had it drilled into me by my teachers that nice girls don't do that here!" Her eyes are blazing as she adds heatedly, "And if you're not looking for a nice girl, I'm afraid I'm the wrong person for you!"

Tara turns back to her computer, not quite steaming. She glares at the screen, still absently clutching her crystal, and snaps, "Give me what I want, you wretched thing!"

There's never a right-out 'blue skinned blonde giant' description. But there's a theme. Whenever Tara tries a variation of 'blonde giant', it keeps handing her links about celts and vikings and the Aryan race. One of the blurbs mentions Sif and Sleipnir in passing.

Tara types furiously for a few seconds... then arghs, "Aliens, Moon-eyes, Telurians, crazy crackpot nonsense...! -wait." She studies the screen, her golden eyes narrowed again, then tries the link through the Norse myth, to see where that leads her.

Daichi rolls his eyes, "What makes you think I don't want a nice girl? Just because that's the way my reputation leans doesn't make it true." His own temper starting to flare some, "Besides you're the one who told me to be myself."

And there is a story of a giant who raced Odin and was tricked into showing up, unarmed, in Valhalla where the Aesir live.

Tara mumbles absently, "Uh-huh..." as she swiftly reads what's on her screen. "Huh... interesting... could Gullenfaxi be..." she blinks at that thought, "Naaah... I'm sure I'm projecting..." she grins a little wistfully, "...'d be neat though..."

Tara grins, her eyes alight as she reads the story. It reminds her wonderfully of her father's bed time stories for her!

Daichi blinks as she seems to be suddenly ignoring him. He decides to try something, "I didn't think you'd look good with green hair as opposed to gold but I think it works..."

Tara blinks, looking around absently, "Uh, what?" She tilts her head curiously at Daichi, then grins incredulously, "What?! What did you just say?" She looks back at the screen, then grins at Daichi, "Want to see an old myth that talks about a Gullfaxi?"

Daichi smiles and laughs, "Just seeing if you were paying attention." He nods and steps up behind her chair, hands resting on the back as he leans over her to read the screen.

Tara suddenly brightens, "Oh! I remember this story -- the heart of a mare, I think!" She makes room so Daichi can read over her shoulder, "Let me know if I go too fast," then goes back to avidly reading the myth.

Daichi blinks, "I'm afraid I can't read that..."

Tara says, "Why no- oh!" She thinks a moment, then grins, her eyes dancing, "All right, not a problem!" She starts to translate from the beginning, and Daichi can almost immediately see her love of the old Norse myths. She chooses her words not so much for grammatical correctness as to tell the myth as larger than life, her hands gesturing and changing her voice to play the different parts. Were her father to walk in at this moment he'd see how his love of the wonderful old stories has been passed on to his daughter -- she's enjoying tremendously her moment as a storyteller, and daughter of storytellers!"

Tara is about halfway through the story when she cuts off abruptly, slapping one hand against her forehead, "Oh! How could I not see it -- the giants! There only are two kinds -- frost and fire! And the fire giants are fiery-tempered hot heads -- they must have been frost giants!" She blinks, then turns to look up at Daichi, "Um... what are Norse frost giants doing in a Nipponese spirit realm?!"

Daichi blinks, "Maybe it isn't just the realm for our spirits. Maybe it's for all of them..."

Tara hms consideringly as she looks back at the screen. A moment later she nods slowly, "Maybe that's it... and you find who you expect to find there, or who you're, um... associated with?" She grins shyly, "Wouldn't it be neat if I had a Valkyrie's horse?"

Daichi just nods, not quite sure what the difference would be as he's not up on Norse mythology.

Tara considers, then adds dryly, "Although... I'm not sure how thrilled I am at finding Norse villains there. Some of them are... rather unpleasant!"

Tara blinks, looking at Daichi with a bit of surprise. Half-laughing, she says, "What are you doing in my room?!"

Daichi says, "Er, you asked me to come in."

Tara thinks a moment, then blinks. "Oh. So I did." She studies him thoughtfully for a moment, then smiles, "Nevertheless, perhaps we should step outside. Nanna-san would be scandalized, and I'd rather not do that to her." She rises, adding gently, "You know, just saying, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings' would be really nice too."

Daichi stands there for a moment at a loss then sighs mentally, he thought he'd sort of covered that already, but if she really wants to hear it. "I'm sorry, Tara. I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings, I guess I just wasn't thinking ahead."

Tara's expression softens for a moment and she takes a step towards Daichi. Then her head raises and she darts to the door, leaning to glance out both ways to be sure no one's coming. Reassured, she darts back and wraps her arms around Daichi in a tight, quick hug. She whispers, "Thank you," softly in his ear -- then hastily steps back again, slightly flushed but still smiling with pleasure. "Umm... shall we?"

Tara heads quickly out the door, glancing back with a small smile to make sure Daichi's following her.

Daichi is rather surprised at the hug, he doesn't react nearly in time before Tara steps back. He blinks at her, looking more than a bit dazed.

Shinsetsu is up in a tree again.

Tara tilts her head curiously, still smiling a bit self-consciously as she stands silhouetted in the sunlight doorway, "Daichi-kun? Are you all right? Shall we go join the others now?"

Daichi mostly comes back to himself, part of his brain making notes of all the little details of Tara as she stands there. "Umm... yeah..." Eyes scanning the room, "Your.. bag?"

Tara says, "Oh. Um... hai, let me get that." She brushes back her bangs and steps in to collect her carelessly tossed backpack, then smiles at Daichi again, "C'mon? Let's go see the others, and get started on homework, hai?"

Daichi nods hastily, "H-hai." He finally convinces his legs to start moving towards the door, that corner of his mind going over countless little thing he wasn't aware he'd noticed when she hugged him...

Tara leads Daichi back towards the common room, cheerfully explaining frost giants as she goes, "So apparently they're from different realms, between Midgard, which is where we are, and the realm Valhalla's in, and there are frost ones and fire ones..."

Tara says, "And Shinsetsu-kun is right -- none of them are reknowned for their brains, you know? Ah, here we are..." she looks around, then curiously asks, "Shinsetsu-kun left already?"

Ken is sitting a the table, taking notes from the open books in his lap and on the table. He looks up at Tara and Daichi and says, "Oh! Hey, Shinsetsu-san wandered off. I think he's up a tree again. He mentioned something about spirits really, really wanting to come here, which would make it easy for the vampire to pump up his army." He looks to Daichi and says, "Any idea why they want to come here, or what they gain? Would your uncle have some idea? Would it be too suspicious for you (or us) to ask him?"

Daichi is only half paying attention to what's going on, a very faint smile on his face. Once Ken he finishes he blinks, "Huh?"

Tara brightens, "Ooh, that's a good idea, Ken-san!" She looks at Daichi, "Your uncle-san -- might he know anything about the crystals, or more about the spirits and why they want to come here?"

Daichi shakes his head, "He doesn't know anything about the crystals."

Tara looks disappointed, "You're sure? Ah, well." She grins at Ken, flopping gracefully onto her cushion, "Hey, I think I figured out what the blue-skinned giants are, Ken-san -- I think they're Norse frost giants!"

Daichi nods, "I'm sure."

Ken says, "There are lots of stories about crystals, and plenty about giants, but the big guys we saw don't really fit our stories. They're much more western..." He nods, "Yeah, that'd make sense. So... we should be on the lookout for Fire giants, dark elves, undine, and like that? Hm..."

Tara frowns a bit worriedly, absently twirling one curl of her hair around one slender finger, "Whoa... hai, I guess so...?!"

Tara looks at her friends, vaguely relieved they're both Japanese. She mentally crosses her fingers that all the creatures of her father's mythological background don't start showing up too... "Thank goodness none of us are from South America!"

Shinsetsu enters the room, finding a place to flop on the floor.

Tara blinks at Shinsetsu's return... then smiles and shrugs. He's not hurting anything there, and if he decides to talk she'd rather he feel welcome to do so. She pulls out her books and says, "Okay, shall we get to work?"

Daichi nods and resprawls, grabbing his books. "Probably should before anything else distracts us."

Tara grins quietly in agreement, settling comfortably as she pulls out her studying equipment.

********

Daichi sets his pen down and stretches his slightly cramped hand. "Maybe we ought to take a break for a bit and get away from the books."

Shinsetsu perks a little. To say that the kitsune didn't seem interested in homework is an understatement.

Tara, absorbed in a math problem, murmurs, "Hmm...? But we just got started..." She looks up, checking the time, and blinks, "Uh. Wow, three hours. Time flew." She looks back at her books... then smiles, tossing her pencil onto them and stretching her arms over her head, "Mmm... hai, a break would be nice, actually!"

Ken says, "Sounds good to me. Some fresh air would do us good."

Daichi looks around, "Could go take a ride and stop by the temple to see what the old man is up to..."

Tara stretches in lazy luxury, rolling her head and shoulders, working her hands in a few aikido stretches, stretching out her long legs one after the other, and then tossing her hair back, "Definitely!" She bounces to her feet and touches her toes a few times, "Ah, better. Sure, the temple would be fine by me. I'd enjoy the walk!"

Daichi ers, "That's quite a walk..."

Tara looks around, then scoops up some stuff to put in her pockets instead of carrying a full backpack. She looks up with a smile, "Pardon? I make it every day on the way to school and back, Daichi-kun!"

Daichi blinks, "You walk that whole way?"

Tara grins, "Sure, why not? It's only about 4 clicks from here to the temple, and the temple's only about two clicks more to school. I usually skip or dance, too, so it doesn't take so long." She grins a bit mischievously, "What, you never noticed me go by? I'm crushed."

Daichi shrugs, "I dunno, I guess I just didn't think about it." A faint amount of color reaches his cheeks, "I'm usually not that awake in the mornings, well not on my way to school anyway."

Tara giggles mischievously, her eyes dancing, then looks around at the others, "So, shall we just meet at the temple, and folks can take whatever form of transport they want?"

Shinsetsu studies his feet.

Daichi nods, "sounds good, you walking or would you like a ride?"

Tara looks curiously at the kitsune, then at Daichi. She points a thumb over her shoulder at the kitsune and says, "I thought he was welcome now, hai? Is there a problem?"

Shinsetsu looks up. "What? I was just thinking about the pine needles. They're prickly to run over."

Daichi says, "Shoes..."

Shinsetsu shrugs. "You just don't get the same traction with shoes."

Daichi says, "You also don't get tar and other crud on your feet."

Tara blinks, then registers what Shinsetsu's talking about, "Oh! I understand now, all right." She looks back at Daichi thoughtfully, then smiles, "Why don't you take Shinsetsu-kun and Ken-san one after the other, then come back for me? That'd be fastest, hai?" She grins cheerfully, bouncing lightly on her toes, "It'll give me some walking time too!"

Daichi ummms, "I only got two helmets...."

Ken says, "We're meeting up at the temple, right? I'm happy to take my bike. If I start now, we should all be there about the same time."

Shinsetsu grins at Ken. "I could race you there..."

Tara hands a helmet to Ken, then dances happily out of the room. She does a cheerful pirouette, her hair swirling out like a golden banner behind her, then calls over her shoulder, "See you there! Shut the door after you, please!"

Ken bows slightly so Shinsetsu, and says, "I concede to your supernatural prowess," mounts up, and rides off.

Tara will start dancing happily along the road, humming to herself. She'll wave at the others as they pass by, enjoying her few moments of physical activity before she gets picked up too.

Shinsetsu walks outside after Ken and sighs. "Some people spoil all the fun."

Daichi blinks and scoops up both helmets before stepping outside. He nods and looks down the road. "I agree..."

Shinsetsu grins at Daichi. "See you there." He takes off running, swiftly passing Tara and soon running up fences and onto roofs.

Tara smiles, watching first Ken on a bicycle go by, and then Shinsetsu. Hm, interesting. Guess they both had rides already... of a sort. Well, if he wants, Daichi will stop and she'll get a ride with him. She does an exuberant cartwheel or two, just for the fun of it.

Daichi makes sure Tara's helmet is secure, he remembers the door and shuts it before mounting onto his own bike and starting it. A satisfied grin crosses his face as the engine rumbles. Snapping the faceplate into place and kicking the stand, he starts to move. Not wanting to ruin all of Tara's fun he just kind of cruises along slowly until he catches up with her.

Tara is swirling happily around in a modified waltz step as Daichi turns onto the road she's now on. She grins and waves at him, then continues dancing, still humming to herself, but also twisting her hair into a quick, loose plait as he cruises up. She stuffs the plait unceremoniously down her jacket, then straps on the helmet offered to her and swings a leg over the bike behind Daichi. Her voice is pleased, "Red and gold and black swirlies? Nice helmet!" She giggles, flipping down her faceplate and wrapping her arms firmly around his waist, "Ready!"

Shinsetsu is first to arrive, being free to ignore traffic lights, roads, or anything else in his straight-line dash for the temple. It must have been weird for some of the other pedestrians to watch some guy hopping up onto roofs and across trees.

Daichi doesn't give the bike everything he can, but Tara can tell it's got quite a nice amount of pickup none the less, as well as very good cornering. It's obvious he's taking a longer way to the temple than is necessary, but they still make good time, arriving only a little bit after Shinsetsu.

Tara is beaming behind the helmet's faceplate, snugged up close and her chin resting on Daichi's shoulder as she enjoys the ride.

Daichi rolls to stop just beside the entrance to the temple. He turns the bike off, keeping it steady while Tara dismounts.

Tara bounces lightly off, bubbly with enthusiasm as she unfastens the helmet, "That is so nice! Thank you for the ride, it was very cool!" She giggles, adding, "Mrs. Takeda-san looked absolutely scandalized!"

Tara adds thoughtfully, studying the bike and Daichi, "Maybe I should get leathers sooner..."

Daichi unfastens his helmet, hanging it off one of the handlebars. He grins, "Just think tomorrow the ride will be longer than that." Rolling the bike over the curb and onto the sidewalk, "Let's get inside, wouldn't want anyone else to see us." He winks mischievously, "Probably a good idea."

Tara paces along next to Daichi, absently carrying her helmet under one arm, "It will? What's happening tomorrow? Oh!" She brightens, "You talked to your uncle?! Cool! What'd he say?"

Daichi shrugs, "Not much, just made a few suggestions. I kind of decided that a picnic might be nice. So you're going to get a meal and a chance to walk to your heart's content tomorrow. As well as maybe seeing what else we can squeeze out of the bike here.."

Tara grins, her eyes sparkling, "Okay!" She practically skips into the temple grounds ahead of Daichi and the bike, her plait escaping from the back of her jacket and bouncing lightly behind her, unraveling in golden strands.

Tara looks around for the others, handing her helmet to Daichi, "So where's your uncle, do you know?"

Daichi shrugs, "Your guess is as good as mine right now." Tara's helmet gets stowed as he heads for the back of the temple. "I'm going to go put this away for now. I'll be right back."

Tara nods, looking around, "Okay." She skips lightly through the grounds, calling out quiet greetings for the others to find them.

It's late enough that the temple's fairly quiet. Shinsetsu is over by the pond where O-Sashimi was given a new home.

Tara smiles and waves, "Hi! Have you seen Gensai-sama?"

Shinsetsu waves. "Not yet. Probably inside."

Tara nods and turns to head that way, unweaving her plait with slender fingers and humming softly to herself as she goes. She looks inside and calls quietly and politely, "Hello? Konnichiwa, Gensai-sama, are you within?"

Ken's bike rolls up to the temple, and he steps off in a scuff of gravel. He takes a moment to lock things down, and joins the others. "Greetings, all. I hope I'm not late."

Daichi eventually meets back up with Tara, having shed the leathers in favor of a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

It doesn't take long before Gensai Shinpu makes his appearance. He quickly finds Tara and Daichi. "I thought I heard that bike of yours." He takes a look around. "Would you like to come in? Or would you prefer to stay outside?"

Tara tilts her head thoughtfully at Daichi, realizing the T-shirt effectively hides the tattoo. She smiles, bowing politely to the priest when he arrives, "Konnichi wa, Gensai-sama."

Tara waves to beckon Shinsetsu and Ken over.

The priest gives Tara back his slight bow, repeating it for Ken.

Shinsetsu watches Tara beckon, but shrugs at her, relaxing by the pond.

Tara turns and follows the priest to wherever he chooses to lead.

Ken bows, greeting the old priest, and follows.

Daichi shrugs, "Least I didn't tear up the grounds this time, old man."

Tara surreptitiously elbows Daichi, stifling a giggle as she glances up at him, her eyes dancing. She whispers, "Hush, you!" Her lips are curved up in an irrepressible grin.

The priest gives Daichi a clip to the shoulder, but it's not a hard one. More because it's expected than a real punishment.

Tara blinks and steps out of the way of that... and when the priest isn't looking she leans to whisper, "Sorry," to Daichi again.

Daichi winks at Tara, an irrepressible smile on his face. "Don't worry about it."

Tara smiles, reassured. It's... an odd relationship, and not what she's used to... but she guesses it works for them.

After a moment of seeing if anybody will express a preference, Gensai Shinpu leads the three humans inside. Ken's sister Yousei is in the room he heads to, frowning over a table set for tea.

Tara smiles at Yousei, recognizing the girl from previous times at the temple, even if Tara can't remember the girl's name.

Yousei bows to the priest. "Oh, Gensai-sensei, I know I forgot something, but I can't remember what it was." She looks at Ken, slightly puzzled. "Is it time to go home already?"

Daichi follows after the rest of the group, surveying the table quietly.

Ken shakes his head and says, "No, we'll be leaving later. We've come to speak to Gensai-sensei."

Gensai shakes his head with a smile. "Why don't you take a break from this for a while and take care of the offerings instead. Maybe you'll remember later."

Tara glances at Daichi, not sure what to do. She'll follow his lead -- he's supposed to know about the tea ceremony.

Daichi blinks, "The table is right... maybe she forgot a step..."

Yousei bows again, with extra bobs for the others, then escapes out the door.

Tara looks a bit confused, but remains discreetly silent.

Tara returns the little bob politely, then watches the uncle and nephew for some idea of what to do next. The only thing she's sure of, regarding the tea ceremony, is that her accidentally messing it up would be very bad!

Gensai sits on a cushion, away from the table. "So you came to talk to me, then?"

Daichi shrugs and sits down on a cushion, since the table is only set for two she must be practicing. He remembers doing that and being scrutinized as well. It can be very disquieting.

Ken nods, and takes a seat.

Tara sits carefully between the two young men -- that should be safely away from the table. She says politely, "Hai, Gensai-sama. We would very much appreciate your advice on how, er..." She stalls out for a moment, realizing what this is going to sound like... then takes a deep breath and determinedly finishes, "-your advice on a certain, ah, moral issue to do with spirits, o-sama."

Gensai arches an eyebrow. "Very well. Go ahead."

Tara sighs, feeling a little foolish as she glances between the two guys. Then an idea strikes her and she explains, "You've met Shinsetsu-kun, hai? He's a kitsune, and the place he's from is the spirit realm. Apparently right now there's a war on in that realm, and there's a vampire leading one of the conquering armies. He's got a human girl working with him, and we think it's Murasaki Karei. She's found a crystal like ours, which are all color-coded," she holds up hers on the chain so the priest can see it, "-and that's helping the vampire in his war to, we think, open the gates to this world again." She smiles, adding, "So... we were hoping you could offer us some advice on what to do, Gensei-sama, please?"

The priest does something unexpected. He laughs. "You don't ask much, do you?" he says. "Well, then, let me think about this. I've wheedled a little information from our resident spirit, too."

Tara nods, unruffled, and smiles, "If it were easy, we wouldn't go to an expert, Gensei-sama."

Gensai Shinpu nods. "Well, I'm hardly an expert on warfare, and I can't comment on politics among people I've never met nor read statements from. But I can do a little analyzing with what I have."

Tara nods again, listening expectantly.

He continues, "From what I understand, each of you is incredibly valuable because you can change the course of the conflict. Perhaps not on your own, but certainly several of you together could have a large impact. Your actions are important. And, of course, your inaction is important." He hmmms to himself. "Access is limited for now, so you have breathing room to decide on a course of action. But things may not stay that way. At the very least, I would recommend securing that which is securable, as I have this building. If those who wish your crystals overcome the obstacles involved in coming here or sending agents, then you will need to be ready to act."

Tara nods, flipping open her phone to take notes on it, 'Secure house and grounds - ofuda? Ask Daichi for help?' She looks up again, still listening.

The priest smiles at Tara's record keeping. "You know of two factions, and you might even throw in your lot with one of them. However, do not get caught by thinking of those as the only two choices. Decide what result you want, then choose your path accordingly. Do you wish to keep things as they are, or do you wish to change things? And, if you seek change, then what change do you want? If you don't decide these things yourselves, then chances are they will be decided for you. Of course, some people prefer letting other people make their decisions."

Tara thinks a moment, then says calmly and honestly, "I seek someone who'll be honest and straightforward with us, Gensei-sama. I'm tired of our being fibbed to and given half-truths." She smiles bleakly, "And I can't speak for the others, but I'm pretty sure I won't be wandering around randomly out there, hoping to find such a person. If they want to talk to me, they can come find me. As I said to Daichi-kun earlier, I've had it with tricksters."

Tara says, "I come from a country reknowned for meddling without knowing enough before it jumped in with both feet first. I see no reasong to carry on that tradition."

Daichi smiles wryly, "Not like we have a perfect record there either..."

Tara grins at Daichi, her eyes bright with amusement, "Hai, but it's for you to say that, not I. It's your country, you know?"

Tara adds in sudden curiosity, "Gensai-sama, if I may ask, how on earth did you get the kitsune to talk to you?! It's been as painful as pulling teeth to get anything from him -- and we know he's not telling the full truth as it is, because he'll frequently say 'you didn't ask me that!' with injured dignity... as if that's a legitimate excuse!" She sounds genuninely puzzled, "So... what did you do?"

Gensai Shinpu smiles. "I asked him why he was here and what he planned to do next. We spoke for quite some time. He was forthcoming on most of it. Where he wasn't, I simply went on to the next question. One can often infer the unspoken answers from the spoken ones."

Tara ponders for a while... then smiles and shrugs, "Well, I guess that just shows you're better at it -- I haven't the patience to play mind games incessantly with him, and fortunately Daichi-kun seems to be wrong about my ignoring him just drawing his attention." She thinks a moment, then adds, "Is there anything useful you can tell us from what he said?"

The priest hmms. "I'm not sure what you would find useful. I was mostly concerned with his character, and also if his being here was a threat to this temple. I wasn't worried about other matters." He pauses to collect his thoughts. "He would have come here on his own if he could; if nothing else, you can count on kitsune to be interested in new things. However, he didn't come here on his own, or of his own choice. He had a father he loved a good deal and a teacher whose teachings he enjoyed, but whose methods in other areas he didn't approve of. And his mother used to tell him human stories when he was small."

Gensai chuckles. "I'll add that he seems rather disappointed after comparing us to the stories he heard."

Tara nods, interested that this actually replicates part of the story she's heard from the kitsune. Good to find out at least some of it was truthful. At the comment about his mother she says curiously, "Really? I wonder why. Are humans as exotic to them as they are to us?"

"If none of us have managed to visit them any more than they've visited us, then I imagine so. And, of course, for kitsune it's part of their history," the priest answers.

Tara says, "Their history? Oh, that they kept coming over here and passing as humans?"

"Among other things. The kitsune belong to Inari, as you may know, and she was well-loved in many villages. Still is, in some areas." He shakes his head. "Too many forget."

Daichi only partly listens to some of this, having heard it many times before.

Tara says, "Hm." She thinks for a while, then says, "What did you tell him about us, please?"

The priest smiles. "That if he got Daichi killed, I'd tie a dozen wards to him and throw him in the ocean."

Tara blinks, then suddenly and completely unwittingly gets an extremely icy look. However, she says only, "Sounds reasonable."

Daichi blinks, first at his uncle and then at Tara.

Tara ponders a bit longer, then asks, "So... is the spirit realm one huge area where all human-known spirit-myths live? Is there any map of it, or any way to navigate it?"

Gensai gives a tiny shrug. "He knows where he stands with me. Seems to make him comfortable." He considers the question. "That I don't know. After all, I've never been to the spirit realm, nor met anybody who has before all of you decided to go. I don't know of any maps of it, either. However, if there are stars there, I'm certain somebody knows how to follow them. Even in a place like that, some things do not change."

Tara nods slowly, "All right, we'll keep that in mind. It's the only way to explain Norse frost giants there, after all. Um... do the stars match those here, do you know?"

Gensai keeps his smile. "You're the ones who have been there. And I know that at least one of you knows enough to be able to answer that question." He looks at Daichi, letting the smile slip into a frown.

Tara looks a bit surprised, giving Daichi an inquiring glance, "You weren't too tired to notice? I was pretty worn out by night time, myself."

Daichi thinks back, yes, there were stars, not that he was really paying much attention at the time. "I'd have to actually really look at them..."

The priest sighs. "You let yourself get distracted far to easily. Pay attention to things!"

Tara nods, understanding Daichi's predicament. She looks back at the priest and gives a polite seated bow, "Gensei-sama, you have been most kind in sharing your wisdom with us; we are in your debt. Please allow us to withdraw and disturb you no longer?"

Tara adds politely, "And should you have further words of wisdom for us, we look forward to receiving them."

The priest bobs in return. "Certainly. I believe I'll see if I can help Yousei-chan with her delimma." He stands up, giving one last bob before heading off to other parts of the temple.

Tara grins, and waits until the priest has departed to swirl around, still seated, so she's facing the tea table. She leans to look interestedly at it, careful not to touch anything. "So... what's it all for, guys?"

Daichi hmmms, "What's what all for?"

Tara grins and waves a hand to indicate the table, "All the paraphernalia. Although... maybe I should ask later. I suspect Ken's little sister would be aghast if she walked in and we were touching anything, hai?" She flows easily upright, stretching her hands over her head again and rising up onto tiptoes, "Mmmm! Okay, we've gotten the good advice... shall we go lie in the grass outside and be decadently lazy, and pretend it's because we're sagely pondering?" She giggles, returning to a more normal stance, then bounds cheerfully outside, "Sunshine, yay!"

Tara flops happily in the grass by the pool, rolling back and forth once or twice while no one's watching. She sits up, giggling quietly to herself, then lies on her stomach to gaze into the fish pond, "So, o-Sashimi, where are you? Are you happy here, mmm?" She lazily trails one finger lightly in the water, watching the ripples move smoothly ever outwards from her delicate touch.

Ken joins Tara outside and picks a spot in the shade to flop in. He says, "What's it all for?" He shrugs, "I don't know. It looks like lots of old things trying to keep their place and push around other old things. Something picked us and gave us these crystals, but didn't really give us much else in the way of warning or information. Not very good planning on the part of this mysterious agency, if you ask me."

Tara giggles over her shoulder at Ken, "Hai, there is that problem!"

Daichi gets back to his feet and stretches. "It's a long explanation. If you're still curious ask me tomorrow." He follows her out, settling on his back, hands supporting the back of his head.

Tara beams at Daichi, "All right!" She grins mischievously -- she's always curious, so that won't be a problem.

Shinsetsu notes the presense of other people and stops weaving the branches of two trees together. Instead, he dangles from where his legs are hooked around the stem of the branch and tries to figure out how to get down without too much hassle.

Tara rests her chin on her folded hands, watching the sunlight ripple beautifully across the slowly moving water, and ponders for a while. Finally she muses, "So... let's ask ourselves the obvious questions, I guess. First the really easy ones -- do we even care what happens in the spirit realm? And if we do, do we really feel qualified to meddle there?"

Daichi muses. "I certainly care what happens there. If Muteki takes over he's bound to want to expand his power..." Eyes closing, "As for being qualified... I can't really think of anyone else who is around here, even if we are novices at some of it."

Tara nods, "All right, that's valid." She tilts her head sidedways so she can glance at Ken, "And you, Ken-san? What do you think?"

Ken says, "Well, it's certainly not something my guidance councilor put on my class list. Beginning Unearthly Politics? Interdimensional Warfare 101? How the heck are we supposed to know who, or what, or whatever to trust? Worse, nobody on either side, or here, or there seems to know any better than we do, or won't tell us if they do. What makes us the right people to decide?"

Tara giggles at that mental image.

Tara nods, "Also valid, and I'd have to say I agree with you both. So... I guess the next question is -- how do we find someone trustworthy? I certainly don't want to blunder around without that, at the very least."

Daichi responds to Ken, "Because no one else will decide for us."

Shinsetsu drops out of his tree, having figured out a way to get his feet pointed downwards. "You'd really trust somebody who said you should trust them?"

Tara rolls over, her hair flaring out golden against the green grass, and puts her hands behind her head. She smiles lazily, considering the question, then says to Daichi, "I don't expect anyone else to decide for us, but I do expect to not make decisions with bad information. That's just... unwise!"

Daichi smirks, "Oh, I trust you... I trust you to be sneaky and potentially untrustworthy."

Shinsetsu flops down with a dramatic sigh. "I'm hurt. You wound me terribly."

Tara raises an eyebrow, then rolls over again.

Ken laughs, "Someone already has decided for us! They've given us these stones! Even if we gave them away, or threw them in the ocean, do you really think we'd be done with them? Or the politics would be done with us? I'm sure someone, somewhere would want to grind us up for spell components, just because we've touched them."

Daichi says, "Yeah, well time wounds all heels."

Tara says, "I guess that's the central issue for me, guys -- how do we find someone trustworthy?"

Daichi says, "I'm guessing you mean outside our little group here?"

Tara says, "Hai, Daichi-kun. Someone informed on these issues."

Ken shrugs, "I don't think will be able to "find" someone who's trustworthy. Now that we have something they all want, how could we figure it out? It's like being really, really rich. How can you ever know who's not just your friend for the money?"

Tara says, "Frankly, outside you two and Seiichi, I don't want any of the folks we've met so far at my back in a fight... and I'd worry about Seiichi simply because I'm pretty sure he's not a combatant, you know?"

Daichi shrugs, "Go over what we know of spirits, see who we can find, hold interviews and ask for references..."

Ken says, "He's a good kid, but... easily distracted."

Tara blinks at Ken, a bit taken aback at that. She's got money available to her... she reviews. Does she get the feeling the folks she knows here are interested in her just for her money? She... doesn't... think so...?

Tara frowns, sitting up and nibbling absently on the end of a curl. Disturbing thought.

Tara finally looks up and says firmly, "Well... we have to at least try, I think."

Tara grins at Daichi, adding, "Don't forget to ask for drug-of-choice and next-of-kin, hai?"

Daichi opens his eyes and looks at Tara, "Do, or do not; there is no try."

Tara rolls her eyes, then grins, "Domo, Yoda-sensei."

Daichi chuckles and winks, "Of course, young padawan."

Tara laughs! -then smiles, pulling her legs into a comfortable half-lotus, "So... I guess we move to the next question -- securing things." She looks at Daichi, "Can you help us secure our homes and families with ofuda, Daichi-kun?"

Daichi nods, "Hai, I could even just put them on the buildings themselves, but that may be just a tad bit obvious.

Tara smiles, "Well, I suspect Nanna-san won't mind -- she likes me learning more about Nipponese culture." She looks at Ken thoughtfully, "It's Seiichi-chan's and Ken-san's families I'm more worried about. What do you think, Ken-san?"

Ken says, "I think.. I think that's something that's been bothering me all along about this. Too many people know about this, and we really have no way at all to defend ourselves or our families. We'll have to tell them, or someone might remove any of the wards that are set."

Tara nods slowly, "I understand. Perhaps we could get the priest to talk to them?"

Daichi says, "I'm pretty sure the old man could convince your mother to leave them in place. Which somehow would probably keep them in place despite what I've heard about your father."

Ken says, "Oh, it should be easy enough to make them believe, don't you think?"

Tara gives Ken a curious look, "What did you have in mind, Ken-san?"

Ken says, "The problem will be what happens then. I can see it now: 'You're grounded, mister! No spirit war for you till your 40!' Oh yeah, that'll work..."

Tara laughs!

Daichi chuckles, "I'm sure we can think of something less drastic then that."

Ken shrugs, "I really don't have much in mind. We don't know what the conflict will be like, we don't have much (if anything) in the way of resources, little or no experience in this kind of thing, and no one we can really trust to give us guidance."

Ken says, "What do we really want out of this whole thing? I dunno. For it to be over? Do either of you really want to be on the front lines of a war?"

Tara says, "Well, for starters I want to be sure our homes are safe. After that I'm willing to start looking around for someone trustworthy."

Daichi says, "If it means I can do something about it and change the outcome, yes."

Tara says, "And I'm not going to write this off any more than I'm going to leap blindly into it. I'm not going to make bad decisions on no data -- and that includes running away as much as running at the problem!"

Shinsetsu looks over at the group from where he's flopped. "Nothing tells you as much as seeing things for yourself."

Tara says, "So let's try to focus a bit here, guys? Let's get our homes safeguarded, if nothing else."

Tara turns to Daichi, "What do you need to do this? What can we do to help?"

Daichi says, "Just brushes, ink, and paper. Which I have plenty of here. Would just need to gather it all up and take it with me to where ever we're going."

Tara nods firmly, "Then... let's do it, shall we? We can start with my house, and try Ken-san's next. We can ask Gensei-sama to talk to the Kazamoras, and do them last, hai?"

Ken says, "Do they have to be visible? Can they be hidden or disguised?"

Tara looks inquiringly at Daichi, at that question -- she has no idea.

Ken says, "Hm. Could they be in English?"

Daichi says, "They don't have to be visible to be effective..."

Tara says, "Excellent!"

Daichi blinks, "I'm not sure, but I can't write in English so it doesn't matter."

Tara bounces to her feet, "Shall we? I can carry the utensils on the back of the bike, Daichi-kun." She turns to Ken, "Can we meet you at your place? That'll give you time to talk to your mother first, hai?"

Shinsetsu sighs. "Still, it's courteous to have them visible, because then it gives a spirit an option of not walking into something painful."

Daichi nods, "Well, yes, there is that."

Tara raises an eyebrow. Any spirit walking into her house without an express invitation from her shouldn't be there in the first place, as far as she's concerned. However, she says nothing, simply looking inquiringly at Ken to see his reaction to her question.

Ken says, "Huh. OK, that does seem unfair, but I don't see much choice. If we don't disguise them, we'll have to explain them."

Tara curiously asks Daichi, "Is there a way to set up... like a doorway, so you can selectively let chosen spirits in? Is that what your uncle's done here?"

Daichi shakes his head, "He just took the wards down around here."

Tara nods thoughtfully, "All right. In that case, shall we?"

Once they're done, Tara takes a moment to stretch, then looks at the other two. "Well... all that's left is the Kazamoras. Daichi-kun, I hope your uncle can convince them. Do you want to make the ofuda now, for tomorrow?"

Tara will politely inform Daichi's uncle that they're going to take his advice and secure all their respective houses. However, would it be possible for him to talk to the Kazamoras, since she doubts they're likely to listen to anyone else, as Seiichi is seriously grounded for going out for the weekend with them earlier?

Gensai Shinpu agrees, but will go in person tomorrow. His authority just isn't the same over a phone.

Daichi nods and goes to collect what he needs, stowing it in a duffel which he hands to Tara. "Hopefully this will be enough." He doesn't linger once they're on the motorcycle, taking the direct route to Tara's place.

Tara slings the duffel on like a backpack, pulls on the helmet, and cheerfully clings to Daichi during the ride. This is serious business, potentially life-threatening... but she's happy to live for the moment and enjoy the sheer physical pleasure of moving fast and having a delightful time!

Daichi has to take his time making the ofuda to be certain he does it right. After he finishes a few he asks, "So are we hiding these or putting these out in the open, Tara?" He continues working on more since Tara's home is rather vast compared to most others.

Tara thinks for a moment, then says, "I... would rather be sure and hide them, but I don't want to be a sneak." She pauses, then adds, "For all he irritates me sometimes, I don't have any reason to smack poor Shi- er, our mutual friend, either. So..." she takes a deep breath, then says, "Let's put them in the open. I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to tell Nanna-san what we're doing, on the advice of your uncle. That should work."

Daichi nods and keeps working, finishing a stack and starting to place the wards on the walls and windows.

Tara cheerfully informs her Nanna-san of their putting up the ofuda, and that she's doing so on the advice of the temple priest, and she hopes Nanna-san doesn't mind? Tara just wants to try being more like the Nipponese a bit, please?

Nanna-san is, of course, fine with it so long as they don't get put on with anything that can't be cleaned off later.

Tara happily hugs her in relief, promises to do so, then trots hastily back to report to Daichi, "Is that all right -- to do like she wants?"

Daichi nods, "It's fine, we don't use anything that is hard to get cleaned up. The old man would throw a fit if we did."

Tara sighs in relief, then happily pitches in, following Daichi's instructions to help get her (rather large) house covered.

Daichi has to make a few more to complete the warding. He goes and checks Tara's efforts, only having to move one or two a few feet. "That should be sufficient."

Tara beams in relief at the house. She looks at Daichi, hesitates a moment, then grins and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek, "Thank you, Daichi-kun."

Tara turns a bit pink, and hastily starts helping collect up Daichi's tools, "So, um, Ken-san's house next? How long do you think your uncle will need to convince the Kazamoras?"

Daichi blinks at the kiss, again kind off off in a daze for a moment or two. He nods numbly, "Ummm, yeah, that's probably the best plan." He shrugs, "I'm not really sure, depends on what he tries."

Tara beams happily at Daichi, then pauses in thought a moment. Finally she says slowly, "It's odd... I know this is a very bad situation, but... well..." she grins a little sheepishly, "I, um... I'm enjoying this time with you. I, ah, I hope you're enjoying yourself too?"

Ken says, "Let's see how Mom takes my newfound interest in her New Agey stuff." He stops and grins a bit, "Wow, wouldn't that be funny..."

Tara will hop on the motorcycle with Daichi and talk with him on the way. When they arrive at Ken's house, she's curious at his comment, "What would?"

Daichi nods at Tara, "Oh, hai, I'm enjoying it very much." A faint blush can be seen coloring his cheecks before he slips his helmet on.

Ken says, "Oh, I always thought she was a bit, I dunno, 'out there' with all this. I don't really know how she would react if she knew the Real, Awesome, Cosmic Secrets ... and like that, if they came from me. I just don't see myself in the old Magus role here, and I just can't seem to hold the picture of a Wizard in a Speedo in my head..."

Tara laughs aloud!

Tara grins mischievously at Ken, "What do wizards wear under those robes, mmm?"

Tara giggles, then gets to work helping Daichi and Ken set things up.

Daichi gets back to work creating another set of ofuda, not nearly as many as for Tara's home or the temple.

Tara will help hang them where required. Should Ken's mother walk in, Tara will be polite but stay out of the way, so Ken can explain.

While Daichi and Tara place the ofuda around the house, Ken goes to explain to his Mother. She listens with interest as Ken "explains" his conversation with Gensai-sama, and his "advice" wards be placed around the house. She seems delighted that Ken is taking an interest in the "ways of the spirits," much to his embarrassment. They quickly agree to place them a bit surreptitiously, so Ken's father isn't ..troubled.. by this new-found interest.

Daichi keeps working, making sure the wards aren't obvious to those who don't know what they're looking for.

Daichi nods, "I should probably just make them now as it would take time away from other things tomorrow."

Tara nods, "All right." She helps all she can, and then, finally, they're done. She looks around, then at the other two, "Back to the temple to talk, maybe get a bite to eat on the way?"

Daichi shrugs, "Sure, if you want."

Tara says, "Well, we do still have to figure out a few things... like how we're going to know if someone's trustworthy, and what sorts of things might be useful to do, neh?"

Tara grins, "We could get some Chinese food to go?" She giggles, then apologizes, "Sorry, American joke."

Daichi blinks, missing the humor of that entirely.

Some time later, after they've returned to the temple and plenty of to-go food has been shared between the four of them, Tara sighs contentedly and sits back, "Okay, I feel better now. So... do we have any idea how to get more information on the political situation there, without trampling through it ourselves? And any suggestions on how to tell if someone's trustworthy or not?"

Tara stretches out a bit, leaning on one elbow on the grass. She decides she should try eating outside at home more... because it's certainly pleasant doing so here by the pond at the temple.

Daichi is leaning back up against a tree, gaze wandering over Tara and the pond, more often Tara as he's stared at the pond on more than a few occasions.

Tara looks between Daichi and Ken, and smiles, "Um... any thoughts, guys?"

Daichi says, "I think we're just going to have to go find out for ourselves, since any information we get from other people will be biased at least a little bit."

Tara shakes her head worriedly, "I hate to be a bother, but I'm extremely uncomfortable with that solution. I'm always leery of tromping around without good information ahead of time! Just like when we moved here -- my parents made sure I could speak Nipponese, and at least read the simple kanji."

Tara frowns consideringly, adding, "Going there with no idea, no plan... it seems a bit like going to a new country without even knowing the language or culture!" She blinks, then adds pragmatically, "Actually, it is a new country and culture, now I think about it, isn't it?"

Daichi nods, "Or several all in the same place it seems."

Tara eeks quietly, "I hadn't thought of that! You're right, there'll be several languages at the very least, won't there?"

Shinsetsu chuckles.

Ken says, "There's also the problem of school, exams, and like that. How will we explain being 'out of town' on every weekend doing the 'spirit realm interview circut?' You've also got to know we will miss a 'connection' back home at least once. We'll be out of position, or get hurt or something that will keep us over there past curfew. We need a better cover, if that's going to work at all."

Ken says, "Also, our travel radius will be one day out, one day back. We'll be incredibly predictable."

Tara nods slowly, "That's an excellent point also, Ken-san." She thinks a bit, then looks at Daichi dubiously, "Your uncle's not going to want to lie for us, I'm sure. Hm... can we think up anything that might work for a good cover? School trip or something?"

Daichi hmmms, "Well I doubt people at school would believe we were going on a school trip without one being scheduled..."

Tara frowns, folding and refolding an innocent napkin to death as she considers, "Well... does your uncle ever, um... I don't know... take folks on trips? No, that won't work, he'd still be here... my parents? Hm... we'd have to let them in on it, though... argh! This is harder than I realized..."

Shinsetsu, staring up at the stars, says, "You wouldn't be quite so predictable if you found more doors to go through."

Ken says, "We'd need to have him sponsor a .. club or something, like a hiking club, or a camping club, or a running club we could use as cover. Some excuse to be out of touch for a couple of days."

Ken eyes Shinsetsu, "Any idea how we go about that?"

Tara blinks thoughtfully, then looks at Daichi, "Isn't there a door that's always locked in the temple? Is that a sacred thing, or is it something your uncle would be willing to occasionally unlock for us?"

Tara giggles suddenly, and says in a conversational tone of voice, "Thank you for joining our hiking club. On the left you'll see the army of the Invincible Overlord, while on the right are the fleeing minions of his most recently defeated army. Please keep your head down and stay in line!"

Shinsetsu shrugs. "I don't know how to find them, but then again, I'm not exceptionally sensitive to such things. I know of at least one other door, but it's not exactly usable right now."

Daichi thinks for a moment. "Ummmm... yes, there is one place..."

Tara watches interestedly, wondering how many gates might be close to here.

Daichi says, "Though I've never really gotten a straight answer as to what exactly it is."

Tara says, "The locked door, you mean?" She grins, "Well... we could ask?"

Daichi says, "It's a building, not just a door."

Daichi nods, "Go ahead, you may get an actual answer out of him."

Tara grins mischievously, bouncing lightly to her feet, "All right, then, I will!" She heads back into the temple grounds, searching for the old priest.

Daichi chuckles and closes his eyes, "Good luck..."

Tara unfortunately doesn't know the place well enough to find Gensei-sama. So she wanders around, curiously exploring. She discovers lots of minor shrines to people and things she's never heard of, as well as a few she has. Most of them have interesting old items on them, which she studies curiously, remembering Daichi's tale of how the staff had glowed when he saw it after finding the crystal. She pauses to examine her crystal, then wonders if she could maybe help it find something useful by focusing on it like she did with the computer. She closes a hand around the crystal and smiles, closing her eyes and concentrating, "All right, pretty crystal... find me something helpful and useful in our quest -- like a trustworthy person who will give us the information we need!"

The crystal doesn't do anything. It just rests there in her hand.

Tara opens her eyes and looks around. She's seen small wooden fans, weapons, helmets (one with a broken mask inside), jewelry, all sorts of things. She checks -- is anything glowing, or is there someone nearby curiously observing her?

The old items stubbornly remain ordinary-looking. They're kept clean, but none of the people who keep them that way seem to be around.

Tara sighs, faintly disappointed. "Oh, well... guess I should stick to looking for Gensai-sama." She frowns, pushing away the nervous thought that maybe she didn't see anyone because there isn't anyone trustworthy who will help them. "Gensai-sama...? Are you around, o-sama?"

The priest persists in his absense.

Tara is starting to get puzzled -- this isn't Narnia, and she should be hitting the back of the temple compound soon, surely? She continues pacing forward, looking around alertly and occasionally calling softly.

Unfortunately, the older sections of the temple seem more grown together than deliberately planned out.

Tara grins reassuringly to herself -- it can't be far now. Think of it as an adventure! She cheerfully keeps heading mostly forward, occasionally going under or over or around as necessary.

Daichi gets to his feet and stretches. "I should probably go see if she's found him yet, she's been gone longer than I'd expected..."

Ken says, "Rule #25. Always stick together." He turns to Shinsetsu, and says, "Let's all go."

Shinsetsu blinks. "Are you insane?"

Daichi ums, "He can't, well not without severe pain."

The kitsune stretches. "Yeah, and I'm not wild about pitting my strength against stuff like that unless I absolutely have to."

Ken says, "I thought there was a path in for him?" He shrugs and says, "OK, then. Let's go looking for her."

Daichi shakes his head, "He gets part of the temple, not the whole thing." He heads towards some of the more out of the way places, guessing Tara has managed to get turned around somewhere within those depths.

Ken says, "If she comes back, you should both stay here until we get back. If we're not back in half-an-hour, leave." He turns to follow Daichi, and says, "Let's go."

Tara can be heard calling softly and periodically before she's seen.

Daichi waits until he can actually see her before responding. "I figured you'd be back here somewhere..."

Tara looks startled, "Whoa! I... guess I got turned around. Where's your uncle, Daichi-kun?"

Daichi says, "Probably staring at some trinket off in his study."

Tara frowns puzzledly, "This is... an odd compound. All right, could I trouble you to just show me where he is, please, and I'll ask?"

Daichi nods and leads them both to an even more out of the way corner of the temple. He doesn't bother knocking and just opens the door.

Tara peeks puzzledly around Daichi's shoulder. She's still confused at how easily she got turned around.

The door leads to a short hallway where there's more doors, one of which has light shining through it.

Tara follows Daichi closely, looking around curiously.

Daichi continues down to the room with the light on. He again opens the door without bothering to announce himself.

Gensai Shinpu looks up from a small pile of papers and books. "Haven't I told you to knock, boy?"

Daichi shrugs, "And how often do you not hear me when I do?"

Tara blinks, peering over Daichi's shoulder again, and grins to herself, wondering if this lack of knocking has any connection to Daichi not getting the answers he wants. She smiles and nods politely when the priest notices her.

The priest stands up. "That's not important."

Tara puts a hand lightly on Daichi's shoulder, hoping to prevent an argument, "Ah... may I speak with you for a moment please, Gensai-sama?"

Gensai bows to Tara. "Of course."

Tara smiles in relief and politely returns the bow, "Arigato gozaimasu, Gensai-sama." She slides between Daichi and the door so she's not peering over his shoulder, murmuring, "'Scuse me?" then stands next to him to say to the uncle, "We've been trying to think of ways to try and be effective in the spirit realm, o-sama, and one of the problems we have is our travel radius is limited. It was suggested we try using other gates as well, to make us less predictable. Do you know of any gates to the spirit world which we might use? I'd heard of an always-locked door or something in the temple -- is that one of the gates?"

Gensai Shinpu sighs. "I should have known it'd be something like this."

Tara blinks, then apologizes, "I'm sorry, were you expecting someone or something else? We could come back later...?"

The priest turns and hunts through his stacks of things. Books, papers (some shoved into folders in a semblance of order) and quite a few odd objects sit on shelves, the table he was working at, and the floor. He eventually finds what he was looking for and slips it into the sash about his waist. "Ah, well."

Tara is rather puzzled by now. She glances inquiringly back at Daichi, wondering if they're supposed to quietly leave, or what?

Daichi seems to be watching his uncle for the moment.

Tara mentally shrugs -- guess it's okay...? -and also watches the old priest curiously.

Now that he has the thing he was looking for, the priest's attention returns to the group. "I could have wished for a smaller audience." He waves away his own objection. "Follow me." And he sets off into the temple.

Tara looks surprised, but follows with great interest.

Daichi lets everyone else go ahead, closing doors behind them.

Naturally, the group ends up at the locked door. It's a very solid wooden door that's been reinforced with metal bindings. It sits in a stone wall that takes up a very small section of this particular patch of temple, looking very out of place amid all the paper and light wood.

Tara examines it from her position with fascination, wondering what sort of gate this is, and where it leads to. Or... ooh, interesting thought -- can it lead to anywhere, perhaps? That'd be fantastic for their needs!

Tara looks around thoughtfully... just the priest, his nephew, herself, and Ken. Now why would so few people be considered too large an audience?

Gensai Shinpu takes out a key from his sash and places it in the substantial looking lock. It creaks a little as he turns the key, then thunks as things shift into place. Gensai opens the door.

Tara leans forward, not wanting to step in anyone's way, her lips parted in fascination as she tries to see.

Inside are three pieces of wood fitted together, standing in dirt. A doorway to nowhere. It's a little short, but passable, and the room is just big enough to enclose it.

Tara blinks, stepping forward for real this time.

Daichi blinks, "A torii..."

Tara says, "A what?"

Daichi says, "A gate."

Tara brightens, "Oh, good!" A moment later she adds, "Um... where to?"

Daichi says, "You walk through them all over here, but normally they're bigger..."

Tara nods, "And redder, hai."

The priest shakes his head. "I've never been through this one. Well, I've walked under it, but that's not the same as going through. This has been here as long as the temple has, back when the shrines where just that- shrines sitting out in the wilderness."

Tara whoas softly under her breath, stepping forward again to stand next to the priest, "So... do you know where it goes, or how to make it work?"

Tara reaches out cautiously, "Can I touch it?"

Tara says, "How long has this wood been here, I wonder?" Her tone is almost reverently fascinated, "And how did it stay in place?"

Gensai spreads his hands. "I don't know much else about it. It was made and placed here, but this room is kept locked, and has been since I first came here to train." He looks at Daichi. "I was going to tell you when you finished your training, but, considering recent events, it seems better to show you now."

Daichi hmmms, "Feels like the other gate... but I don't think we should open it right now. Since we don't exactly know where it leads."

Tara nods, smiling over her shoulder at Daichi, then turns and lets her fingertips gently brush the ancient wooden frame. "Wow... if it could talk, what stories might it tell?"

The priest nods. "Though I am fairly certain that this is how Shinsetsu got here. The lock was picked."

Daichi blinks.

Tara tilts her head slightly, letting her senses talk to her... the cool, almost crumbly-dry feeling wood under her fingertips; the old, almost dusty scent of the dirt; the absolute quiet, aside from them... she steps back after a moment and says politely, "Arigato gozaimasu, Gensai-sama, for showing us this. May we carry one of the keys with us?"

Daichi umms, "There's really no need...."

Gensai shakes his head. "There is only one key to this door. Not that it's a terribly good lock. Generally, treating it like just a door works better than putting up obvious signs that people shouldn't go there."

Tara glances back at Daichi inquiringly, "How would we otherwise open the big door, Daichi-kun?"

Daichi hehs, "Just trust me on this one."

Tara raises an eyebrow, her lips parting to ask a question -- and then she hastily closes her mouth as she realizes she might accidentally get Daichi into trouble! A moment later she says to the priest, "Thank you for trusting us with this, Gensai-sama."

"I'm trusting Daichi with this. After all, this will be part of his responsibility someday."

Tara raises her other eyebrow, but politely remains silent.

Daichi says, "Doesn't that make it my responsibility now and not someday?"

Gensai smiles. "Officially? No."

Tara thinks a moment, then says, "We had one other question, Gensai-sama, actually. We were trying to think of some good excuse we might use to cover for an accidental but prolonged absence in the other world. Do you have any suggestions as to what we might use?"

Gensai thinks about it a moment, then shakes his head. "Nothing that can be used more than once or twice, unfortunately."

Tara sighs, a bit disappointed, but simply answers politely, "Well... we'll keep working on that one, I guess. That, and hanging on to see if someone trustworthy ever turns up."

The priest says, "Have you ever thought of just telling the truth? If nothing else, people will at least think you need a rest for a while."

Tara adds to Daichi, "When we try going through here, we should try focusing on it coming out someplace-" She blinks, staring startledly at the priest for a moment... then giggles a touch nervously, "Ah... if I told my parents that I suspect I'd be so grounded...!"

Daichi grins and remains silent.

Gensai shrugs. "Just a thought."

Tara says apologetically, "Gensai-sama, it would be nice to be able to travel back and forth without worry. However, I think my parents will consider my grades here to be a touch more important than whether I'm about to go get myself killed in the spirit realm?"

Daichi says, "You mean they wouldn't be as worried about your well being as about whether you're passing all your classes?"

Tara laughs! "Iie, I think they'd be more interested in my being safely here, passing my classes -- and consider it highly preferable to my getting killed over there, Daichi-kun!"

Daichi grins, "Probably true."

Gensai nods. "It can be very frustrating to tell people the truth and not be believed. But that's the world we live in." He shoos them away from the room so he can lock it back away.

Tara says, "Well." She smiles, "We've had one of our problems dealt with, and arigato gozaimasu, Gensai-sama. I'm thinking we should leave Daichi's uncle in peace, and see if we can come up with any other solutions to our two other problems, hai?"

Daichi nods, "I suppose so."

Tara heads out quietly, pacing along thoughtfully through the hallways as she talks to the others, "So we have no long term solution to absences, aside from telling the truth... and regarding the trustworthy person, either they show up, or they don't, hai?"

Tara holds up a finger, "But we do at least have another gate to hand!"

Daichi says, "One out of three, could be worse..."

Ken says, "For this to be effective, the other side of this gate will need to be scouted." He turns to Daichi and says, "Are there any stories or odd things about this torii we should know?"

Tara grins cheerfully at Daichi as she emerges from the building, looking around her at the quiet night in the temple grounds and listening to the two of them talk.

Daichi shrugs, "I didn't know what was behind that door until today. But we can probably ask Shinsetsu what's on the other side.."

Ken says, "Hm. That's a good point. We'll see what he says..."

Tara heads back to the little pool and curls up gracefully by the edge. She sighs softly, laying her head back so she can look up at the stars while the guys talk. Stars are always inspiring... maybe she'll think of something while listening.

While this isn't exactly how he planned out the day it's been nice. Daichi settles down next to Tara, his own gaze scanning the heavens quietly.

Tara smiles lazily up at Daichi, then returns her gaze starwards.

Tara gently nudges Daichi, "Didn't you have a question you wanted to ask?"

Daichi hmms softly, "Of who?"

Tara smiles, pointing at the kitsune, "Him, I thought?" She relaxes, putting her hands behind her head, and lazily adds, "Or not... up to you, Daichi-chan."

Daichi shrugs, "I don't see why Ken-san can't ask him." It takes him a moment to realize she used -chan and not -kun. "Beside I just feel like relaxing for a bit, Tara-chan."

Tara chuckles quietly, then falls silent. It's been a fairly productive day... she thinks she deserves a bit of peace and quiet and niceness here with friends... all things considered.

(Log stopped Mon Oct 17 1905 12:36 AM by "FukuseiGM" at "Fukusei Soundstage" OOC)

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Last modified: 2005-Aug-09 21:48:11

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