An Obon night

[lilyanatos]

Sayoko took about an hour in a half to get dressed for going out tonight. It was slow close to her birthday that her siblings wanted to do a number of things with her. She however, was dead set on visiting the Meiji Shrine and the festivities they held for Obon. She hadn't gotten to do this in the way she had wanted too until now. It was more that her father and siblings had wanted to make sure that she adjusted to being outside the temple she had mostly grown up in. She was doing fine and so they were letting her out without supervision tonight. Okay so it might not be them letting as her being a bit rebellious and going on her own without telling anyone what she was doing not that it would be hard for anyone to realize where she had gone. She finished doing her hair and picked up her doll and a candle and she headed out of her room with her purse and locking up her dorm room so that no one got in. She took the stairs down and out of the building. It was convient when stayed in the school dorms and everything. 

She made her way to the train and then into Tokyo after some time. She went straight from the station to the shrine without so much as saying a peep to anyone around her. She was also given a wide birth seeing as she was pale and in light colors so that she would stand out in the night so to speak so no one would run her over or not know she was there in a way. She would make her way up the steps to the shrine feeling better and better as she got to the top and smiled at the way that things were decorated. She walked over to the side near a tree and bent down to make a small offering and a small prayer to the ancestors on this night. It was calm but she could hear the voices whispered in the wind. 

[Ashken]

Tenko

---

Nighttime was his time. Tenko paced around their room for what felt like an eternity, he had promised his brother he would let him sleep in, and he intended to keep that promise, that didn't mean it would not borrow Toya's body for a few hours. He dressed a navy sweater and white blazer, only realizing after getting dressed that he just wanted out and had no real plans, not letting this stop him he grabbed the keys to their scooter and rode. He enjoyed the wind on his skin and just mindlessly let his body drive. 

By the time he stopped, and he realized where he was the great shrine was before him, "Dreaming about them uh..." he spoke to himself as he got off the scooter, both his brother and he had agreed not to pry too much into each other, although Tenko had started to piece together that when he drives his brothers subconscious has a habit of taking over when he does not focus. Running his hand over his hair he pushed it back, trying to fix some of the helmet hair. "Well let's give them their respect" He started to up the stair of the shrine, the night around him partially illuminated by a blue spiritual flame, a will-o-wisp of blue nestled where his right eye should be. 

He didn't expect many in the shrine this time at night, though he was surprised by a girl in white, he didn't recognize her, though something about her seemed familiar, he could not remember, he carefully walked toward her hoping not to startle, "Nice night to talk to the dead?" he chucked as he realized how terrible that sounded, maybe some if his brother's grim sense of humor was rubbing on him. 

[lilyanatos]

Sayoko was finishing up her prayer when she heard a voice. She blinked as she had not expected too many people at this hour. It was late usually a sign that others wanted to be left alone but also it was the best time to hear the voices of the dead. However, Sayoko could tell this voice was of the living. She stood turning from where she was kneeling. Her candle still a glow from when she had lit it upon giving her prayer and offering to the ancestors of this place and her own that chose to protect her. She brought her doll up to cover her mouth and spoke a very soft. "Hello" It seemed that the dolls mouth might have actually moved even though it didn't really. Curiosity however, rose inside of Sayoko. She could sense someone else with Tenko but she wasn't sure what she was feeling. Was he like her did the spirits communicate through him or was he something else.

She looked a bit shy as she waited to see what he had to say to her. Aside from his previous statement about talking to the dead. She took a moment before she actually answered that questions with more than a hello. "It is a lovely night to be talking to the ancestors. Though is that what brings you here?" She asked softly hearing small whipsers of be careful from those around her. Not sure why the spirits were telling her to be careful. He was a living person she knew that but she wasn't really used to talking to those that were you know living. Not unless they were her family but she had her doll doing the talking anyways hiding her mouth and facial expression save for the curiosity in her eyes that shone bright enough even for the dead to wonder what had gotten into her.

[Ashken]

"Hello"



As she turned around and used the doll to cover herself, he carefully took a step back, "My apologies" he said as he gave a quick bow, "I didn't mean to startle" he smiled as he straightened his posture and pushed his hair back, he didn't know how his brother could deal with his hair being in the way all the time. "I'm a little out of practice" realizing how weird that might sound he let out a sigh and tried to get his bearing.



"It is a lovely night to be talking to the ancestors. Though is that what brings you here?"



What brought him here... That was a more complicated question than he wished to admit, he nodded softly as he chose an answer he felt comfortable answering, "Here to give my respect to old friends" exorcist from his old life, people who had given their life to calm the storm that can be Gouma dens and other restless spirits. "Lost a few not long ago... Haven't been strong enough to say goodbye" the flickering blue flame on his eye seem to react to his emotion, quivering and shifting as he spoke.



"Your ancestors must be happy; people forget they can be there when you need them" which made him wonder as most didn't think of the spirits, nor did they attempt to communicate unless they wanted something, "Priestess?" he wondered if she was a priestess in training, as many seem to feel the presence of those spirits as night grew and rarely had the serenity to spend the time even in a place as calm as the Meji shrine.

[lilyanatos]

Sayoko took interest in the blue flame where his eye would have been. She was curious but she was not one to pry. She was still getting a soft be mindful from a few of the spirits that were speaking to her. Still she waited for the male to speak to her again. She was okay at the moment with a one on one conversation but there was something nagging on the back of her mind. Like something about this person made them ore interesting then most living. Usually that meant that spirits followed them but that felt odd to think about in this situation but it was the closest thing the young girl had to making sense of the feeling.

She shook her head when he apologized for startling her. It was okay, she had just not expected and it, it was really only the fact that he was living and talking to her that had startled her most people left her be or left her alone. She spoke a second later using her doll. "Sorry to hear you have been ill. Glad you are able to say your goodbyes now. I'm sure they will appreciate it. and any effort you gave to say goodbye before this too." She was so used to hearing the dead that for her it didn't matter if she was giving respects at a furneral or alone somewhere else, she believed the spirits would hear an earnest goodbye and the respects of others. She couldn't be a hundred precent sure but she was pretty sure they heard no matter where you were.

The doll seemed to smile at his words about her ancestors being proud. She was smiling behind the doll herself. When he questioned if she was a priestess she took a second. "In a word you could say that perhaps. I am still studying and my aunt is a priestess. and she taught me. But i am not one fully not yet." She said softly she supposed she was still in training to be one. Even if she wasn't in the temple or the shrine all the time. She wanted to be useful and needed to learn more about the world before she really could call herself a priestess right? She really wondered that but her aunt had taught her everything she knew and her siblings were trying to teach her how to people better and how to fight when she needed too. But she was a healer not a fighter.

[Ashken]

"Sorry to hear you have been ill. Glad you are able to say your goodbyes now. I'm sure they will appreciate it. and any effort you gave to say goodbye before this too."

ILL

That was one way to put it, he bit his lip as was wracked with guilt. The trauma of that night had caused both him and his brother to forget. Although the wounds on their body told a story. "You know your right" he said softly, "They would understand how long its taken for us to visit" he let out a sigh, wondering if his brother would agree. 

"In a word you could say that perhaps. I am still studying and my aunt is a priestess. and she taught me. But i am not one fully not yet."

He nodded, "Understandable" he though about how his brother felt about it all, "Sounds like your family is giving you a choice" being taught, but not being forced into the trenches, "We didn't have that choice, it's a pride of our family to keep the tradition" he stopped himself, not wishing to sour her experience. "I personally enjoyed my experience, currently on sabbatical till I'm better, a few months ago, we where still covered in bandages and stitches." he waved his hands, "Not related to our priest work" he lied, but he was a sword in a world of healers and wordsmiths. 

[lilyanatos]

Ill admittedly might not have been the right word to use but Sayoko wasn't sure what else to use. She could see some of the scars on his body but she was not sure where they all came from and to her even injury meant you were ill as injuries could become infected and the likes. She was still most interested in his eye but she would not pry it was not her place to do so. She would let him come out with it when he wanted to and if he never did she would not ask she was not that type of person. Then he started to say us and we and she looked very confused for a moment. She could sense something from him and maybe that's why he was using those words but it still felt off very off. The spirits around her was asking her to ask the questions that were on her mind prompting her to do so but she refused stubbornly as was her right and she took a moment to actually mull over his words to her.

"My family sent me to my aunt because of the closeness to death that I am and so they wanted to help me understand. I think and my aunt was the best person to teach me. However, I do want to be a healer and a priestess as I understand the rituals related to death and can speak with the spirits around others. I kinda can't not speak to them. Though its better when I'm around temples and shrines." At least temples and shrines let her at least not get overwhelmed like she did when she was at school or when she was out and about in the city. So many voice and all the time it was hard to sleep but there were tricks her aunt had taught her so that she could sleep and she could live normally so to speak.

Piece by piece she started to feel antsy but curious as to why he spoke the way he did. "You say we but I only see one. but I feel something else." The voice of the doll came out softer than it had before a way of showing her curiosity but also unease. "You feel like...like there is something with you but its not visible. usually others are visible." She said again even softer her mind trying to understand what was happening here. Maybe it was the protections on the Meiji shrine but she wasn't sure she didn't know.

[Ashken]

"My family sent me to my aunt because of the closeness to death that I am and so they wanted to help me understand. I think and my aunt was the best person to teach me. However, I do want to be a healer and a priestess as I understand the rituals related to death and can speak with the spirits around others. I kinda can't not speak to them. Though its better when I'm around temples and shrines."

Tenko listened carefully as she explained her situation, "I don't want to make any assumptions" he said carefully, "But anyone who shows the kind of compassion that you show for spirits, will be a great healer and priestess" he knew plenty of people with great healing powers, but they lacked that human element to connect with others alive or dead, "Well temples and shrines tend to be protected" he said calmly, having been involved in many of the rituals required to maintain the seals and protections in most shrines, "It helps when everyone feels safe" spirits allowed to rest without the disturbance of evil Yokai and people. 

"You say we but I only see one. but I feel something else."

He made a bit of a face, he had not realized he was using 'we', he took a deep breath and sat down. "I..."  he was looking for ways to explain, but he didn't feel like walking the path his brother walked, his brother was chained to his long list of lies, even though he hated lying.  "Your perceptive" 

"You feel like...like there is something with you but its not visible. usually others are visible." 

He ran his hand through his hair pushing it down covering the flame, shortly after his body slumped on the ground snoring in its sleep. Tenko manifested in his spiritual form, looking like an exact copy of the boy sleeping, "I'm Tenko, the sleepy head is Toya my twin brother" he kept his distance not wishing to startle her, "He let's me borrow his body when he sleeps, lets me... Be alive for a little bit" he nervously poked his index fingers together, as he looked around making sure that no one else showed up and though the wrong thing. 

[lilyanatos]

Sayoko waited for Tenko to reply to her. She was doing okay right now but this might have been the longest that she'd spoken to a living person in a long time. And by spoken really she was using her doll to do it but that was sorta what everyone usually saw when she spoke. She gave him a nod to her words and the doll seemed to do the same. It was true that shrines were protected so that was likely why it felt calming in places like this and why the voice did die down a little bit as opposed to being in the city or in her bedroom.

She tilted her head when he apparently came to the realization that he was using the word we. She waited for him to say something and then when the last of her words reached him things got a little well weird and that was saying something. Okay it wasn't this whole thing was odd after all. Her eyes went wide when she took note of the sleeping boy. Then she took note of Tenko in his spiritual form and her eyes would have gone wide in shock if she had likely been anyone other than who she was. She took a deep breath and tried to figure out how this possession worked. "You died, did you both somehow get so hurt that you both nearly died?" She questioned because now she couldn't help it. See there was something about spirits a duty of sort that she had to let them be at ease. It wasn't that Tenko wasn't at ease she supposed but still.

"I'm Sayoko" She said in reply to him giving his name. "its a pleasure to meet you both." She gave a small bow not that Toya would see due to him sleeping. "So you two share one body now." She said softly thinking it kinda sad but then also it was kinda a good thing right they were still together in some fashion and the suffering was less or was it really less. This case was unique and yet she sorta found it in a way comforting. She was an odd duck with that though.

[Ashken]

He was hoping he was not being unsettling to her. Unlike his brother his spiritual form lacked the many of the marks being more of an idealized version of themselves before everything happened. 

"You died, did you both somehow get so hurt that you both nearly died?"

He shrugged, "I think so," he honestly was not sure how they ended up bound to each other and if his brother remembered anything he was not sharing. "Misson gone wrong" he looked in the directions of some where others were resting, "Lot of good people got hurt that day," he looked back at the doll and put on a smile, "We got lucky" 


"I'm Sayoko, its a pleasure to meet you both."

"It's a pleasure to properly meet you", his brother would rather him keep low, as not everyone knew what had happened and he was convinced that he could fix it. At this time Tenko didn't feel like popping his brother's bubble it was that somewhat crazy train of thought that allowed Toya to push forward through all of this. 

"So you two share one body now."

"Uh..." he looked at his sleeping brother, "Yeah, you can say that" they had an agreement, "He pilots during the day and I can barrow during the night," plus his brother could not say no when he was sleeping, thankfully he was a heavy sleeper.

It felt weird being out an about in his spirit form, at this point there was less than a handful of people who knew he was still around including Sayoko. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm picking my brother from the floor now," he chuckled as he re-entered Toya's body the blue flame flickering on his eye as he stirred awake, pushing his hair out of the way, "I still don't understand how he lives with this ridiculous bang"

[lilyanatos]

He was not unsettling to her in the slightest. She was sorta used to this type of thing. Well kinda. She could see the dead when they allowed her to see them. She spoke to them all of the time so there would be alot that would need to be done for her to actually be unsettled. There was no marking on his spiritual form like there was on his brother's body. It was all sorta odd. She gave a small nod to the mission gone wrong statement and the fact that a lot of people got hurt. "I'm sorry that things didn't go well and that people got hurt. Though I'm glad that in a word you both got lucky."

Sayoko couldn't say for sure if it was lucky or not. She liked to see spirits pass on if they could but then again Tenko was bound to his brother in some fashion that she didn't understand. It seemed that they had an agreement with eachother so this wasn't exactly a typical possession either. She shook it off and figured she might understand later the more she got to know the boys and that was an odd thought in her head. She wanted to get to know them better and that was an odd feeling for her. she wasn't normally like that with the living but maybe it was because of their unique circumstance.

As he re-entered Toya's body she understood the blue flame in a sense. She let out a cute little giggle when he pushed his hair out of the way and mentioned something about the bang that covered his eye. She couldn't help but giggle and she was taken aback by her own giggle it was rare to see her like this again with a living person. "I'm sure he has his reasons." She said as she herself wore her hair in such a way that she had bangs too and when they were long enough they would get in her eyes but she didn't generally let them get long enough it was a hassel. "you two are very interesting. Do you hang out around the shrine often." She rather prefered temples and shrines.

Her siblings would find it interesting that she wanted to get to know someone that wasn't them but then again that's if she told her siblings anything about it. They might just be happy she was out wandering round close to the living instead of being at shrines or cemetaries or the likes. She was still getting used to the world okay and it took her a long time with all the voices she had to shift through on a daily basis. Maybe she should mention that she was a Nanbu.

[Ashken]

"I'm sorry that things didn't go well and that people got hurt. Though I'm glad that in a word you both got lucky."

"I'm glad too, I still have plenty of things left to do," he answered with some laughter, plus he needed to make sure his brother was in a good place before figuring out how to move on, he knew one day it had to happen, but this was not the time to think of that, specially not when his brother would rather crawl in a hole if he didn't push him forward. 

"I'm sure he has his reasons."

"I know he does" he said as he dusted their body off, he didn't take the giggle personally, adding "Nothing an eyepatch and some confidence can't fix" being the more outgoing of the twins, he didn't understand what was so hard about just having the confidence, but his brother was always more reserved. He had the conversation before, it didn't go far, and he didn't feel like fighting with his brother. Finally satisfied that the hair was out of the day and his clothing was as clean as he could. 

"you two are very interesting. Do you hang out around the shrine often."

"We used to" he admitted, pulling out the key to their scooter "Though lately I go to were the wind takes me" he let out a sigh, "Though honestly..." he looked in further into the Shrine. "I should visit more often and say my respects" he and his brother would not be here if it was not for the priestess and healers and all the talented people who worked hard in making the world at least a little safer. 

He felt out of practice talking to someone other than his brother, but was realizing he was having her do all the heavy lifting in the conversation, "Do you spend a lot of time around, uhm the shrine?" he knew it was Obon and that somewhere more inclined to visit this time of year, but there was something about how comfortable she seemed and how easily she took his existence. "Sorry sometimes I feel like I forgot how to talk to people..."

[lilyanatos]

Sayoko smiled at him. "Well when you want to. I can help you." She said softly. She wasn't sure why she said it but she felt the need to help him and his brother perhaps. It was rare that she was like this. It would have freaked out those that knew her well. She closed her eyes for a second and shook her head slightly. She was trying to calm the rest of the spirits in the area. "They thank you." She said softly as she opened her eyes again.

She listened to what he had to say about hanging out around shrines. "I see shrines sorta make me feel safer. Its too loud out there." She pointed to outside the shrine. "They'd likely appreciate you coming by more often." She said with a smile or at least it would seem like she was smiling since the doll was. As a matter of fact he'd kinda notice that the doll seemed to mirror her in a way but it would seem odd as doll's weren't supposed to do that right?

"I just prefer being somewhere, where its slightly more quiet. And i can understand what the ancestors and spirits are trying to tell me." She said softly and then tilted her head. "i'm not good with it either. I'm don't usually hold long conversations with most people. She righted her head again and thought for a moment. "There is a spirit here that is restless though and I don't know how to calm it. And its starting to give me a headache." She closed her eyes again trying to find where or under which protected sacred tree she was feeling this from.

[Ashken]

"Well when you want to. I can help you."

He nodded softly, he knew that there were a number of things he needed to tackle, he had been trying his best to not obsess over the things he didn't have control over. "Appreciate that." he started to pace around, hands in his pockets. The moment she closed her eyes, he stopped. Due to his current state, he was more grounded towards life, but he didn't need his old powers or be dead to sense that she had a special connection, it explained her comments about talking to ancestors, didn't mean it in a colloquial, but literally. He let out a sigh, it would explain why she was still training to be a priestess. His experience was that some groups among the Ise saw that certain skills should be nurtured and others though they should have nothing to do with them, it was a small area of frustration for him. 

"I see shrines sorta make me feel safer. Its too loud out there."

"My brother used to have that problem" Toya was trained as a seeker, before his powers shattered under the pressure of maintaining his brother's existence, he was sensitive to Spirits, yokai and more, and they could tell he could see them and hear them, even the weakest of spirits could catch his brother's attention, it made it difficult for him to connect with the world for the longest time he found it difficult to separate the dead from the living, it forced Tenko into a protector roll, molding his powers in such a way he could protect his brother, and under the guidance of his teachers, he had been a blade to cut down anything that did not respond to rituals and purification, at times they had him cut them down before attempting any peaceful resolutions. "For a while music helped him," there was a time in his life that one would rarely find his brother without headphones to isolate himself from the noise, be it living or dead.

"They'd likely appreciate you coming by more often."

He found himself pushing the bang out of the way once more, "I should visit more often" they finally had recovered from the worse of their physical injuries, they had a place to call home and his brother had gotten a job at Sparkles, the only thing left was them returning to the academy now that their waiver was running out, but all in all they had found a new normal, a stable place to move forward from.

He focused on the doll as she explained why she preferred quiet locations, which made sense to him, although he was not his brother, he had seen how much it affected him when he got overwhelmed. Out of all the things that came out of the botched mission, the silence was one that Toya appreciated, which allowed him to have the deep sleep Tenko took advantage off.  

"i'm not good with it either. I'm don't usually hold long conversations with most people."

"Your friend seems to be helping though" he was trying to be careful with his words not wanting to have her feel like he was trying to make fun or her or something, " Sayoko, uhm does your friend have a name?" he was not one to judge people for the things that brough them comfort, his brother had his music and black noodles, he had copious number of Korean Dramas that he used to fantasize normal instead of being raised as silent weapon against the endless war raged against evil and corrupted spirits.

"There is a spirit here that is restless though and I don't know how to calm it. And its starting to give me a headache." 

"If your up for it," there was some excitement on his voice that he clearly was trying to tamper down, "We can see what is bothering it" it was Obon, many spirits would get restless for many reasons, sometimes simple small stuff other times, well, there was a reason he was trained as a weapon, but he hope it didn't come to any of that. He could see she was focusing, so he tried to stay quiet to allow her to do so, he wished he had fraction of his old power maybe he could help more, but he had seen his brother defuse situations by just listening and talking.

[lilyanatos]

Sayoko was listening to him speak when he asked about her doll. "His name is Yuma" She says softly. She was also very interesting in what he had to say about his brother. It made her want to meet him as well which was a good thing. She wanted to know them both because then she could help them both. She took a moment after she spoke to fully concentrate on what it was that was happening around her with the spirits. She was very much so up to seeing why this spirit was so restless. They were just making this pounding on her head but not talking at the moment. She could just feel its restlessness and it hurt. She didn't like the pain so sa she needed to find out what it was.

"I don't know if it knows its dead." She said softly and then without opening her eyes as they had been closed she started to move towards the area that it was coming from stopping near a tree that had been marked as a scared tree and had a barrier around it. She took a deep breath putting her hand out. "Right here" She said softly. "But they won't say anything." She said softly she didn't know why they weren't saying anything but now she was staring at them face to face. "What is it you need I can't help if you don't help me understand." She said softly wondering if Tenko could see them. She took a moment realizing that it might have been a restless earth spirit and those needed offerings most of the time and didn't exactly speak but used images to let one know. She closed her eyes again and stumbled backwards the power of the spirit slightly overwhelming her.