Unassuming bookshop

[mermalaide]

"I can keep it back with the bells for the time being. I am sure people are coming to help. Just keep getting everyone inside. I will fall back after the last one." She said this, not taking her eyes off of the Byakko. Thankfully, it was not the Byakko. That would have been horrible. It was still nasty and when it tried to charge she moved and rang out with her chimes again. This purification pushed it back again. It wasn't incredibly strong, but it was just strong enough to make it think twice about charging.

The movements Tatsu made reflected the Mai Kagura dance. It was slow, circular movement, almost into a trancelike state. Each punctuation was stressed by the sound of the bells. The wave of sound made the Byakko squirm and push back. It wanted nothing to do with the sound and seemed to want to flee. Unfortunately, the priest had put down talismans, hoping to trap it, so it could not do what it had naturally wanted to, which was flee. When Tatsu noticed this, her eyes were a little wide, and she was hoping that people were being evacuated enough to retreat herself.

[Ashken]

"I can keep it back with the bells for the time being. I am sure people are coming to help. Just keep getting everyone inside. I will fall back after the last one."

"Don't over extend yourself" he shouted as he went to the next hurt person, as long as they could move he would point out the shop and tell them to head that way, Raitaro did the same, "HELP!" the little one shouted, as one of the men was struggling to walk, Wataru ran toward them and offered himself as support, guiding the man inside. 

Having gotten most of the injured out of the way and the ones who could still move starting to head into shelter, Raitaro moved toward Tatsu, her chimes made him a bit squeezy, but he tried to help, the large feline was trying to fight back, his powers where limited and with the distance Wataru was he could feel himself feeling drained, he looked around for stuff, he was hopping to chuck something at the Byakko, but nothing seem to be in the right angle. He observed Tatsu's dance and how the creature squirmed at the sound of the bells that caused his stomach to knot, but even though the creature was trying to move away he seem to be avoiding an some objects, Raitaro did not know those where sealing talismans, but he could tell it was avoiding them, positioning himself in such a way that one of the talismans where between himself and the Byakko, he tried to pull it towards the Yokai, sparks dancing on his hands, once the magnetic connection was formed he tug sending the talisman flying in his general direction.  

[mermalaide]

"Hai!" She shouted an acknowledgement and tried to stay on par with the angry yokai. Knowing that the barriers were there meant she could only hold it back, not drive it off. If she had her naginata with her it would have been a different story, but she had thought she had not needed it today. Boy had she been wrong. Tatsu was sweating a little now, trying to keep up but still dancing gracefully. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the little boy, Raitaro bravely trying to sneak along to help.

She would keep it's attention while he did that. She had no idea what he was doing but she didn't want him hurt. The sparks that he made wen pulling the talisman was pretty impressive. The electricity danced and the talisman flew. He must have been lucky because it smacked the byakko in the face hard. When the talisman hit, there was an electric charge to it. The monster let out a yowl of pain and tried to paw it off of his face. Tatsu did not have to be told twice, she turned and fled when it was doing that, grabbing Raitaro as she ran. She scooped him up under one arm and booked it.

Tatsu did not wait for the door to be opened. She and the boy were coming through. Ready of not. When they got inside the door was shut after her. The lobby of the store was littered with wounded and Tatsu was trying to catch her breath. She was still holding onto Raitaro, gently putting him down when she got across the threshold. "Th-thank you." Her cheeks were flushed and her forehead was a bit hot.

Outside, the byakko had unstuck the talisman from it's face. There were burnt marks and singed hair on it. It looked a little confused on top of being angry and started to pace out there, looking for where all the people went. "Let me catch my breath and I will start healing . Can someone point me towards the person most injured?"

[Ashken]

Wataru escorted the last injured in and started to instruct people to move towards the back of the shop, wards or not if a rampaging Yokai decided to slam against the entrance, and he could not promise safety to anyone. He hoped that by doing this he could at least make it so that Tatsu could retreat safely, before he could turn around and check on the situation, someone grabbed him by the sleeve and practically begged for first aid supplies. Wataru didn't have a lot, but he kept some stuff due to the kid not counting his grandfather kept some of his things in the back. 

Meanwhile Raitaro smiled as he successfully managed to cause the talisman to fly right on the byakko, he was not sure what it would do, but between the sparks and the yowl, he knew he had succeeded to do something, he did a giddy little dance sparks jumping off his fingers, but as Wataru moved further into the store to get supplies, the sparks became weaker and weaker. The kid looked down at his hands as what little power faded, before he could do something he got scooped up by Tatsu. "Oi!" he squeaked as he got transported toward the store.  

One of the guards opened the door for Tatsu and bared it with one of the chairs they had found. The room felt off the serenity that had been there completely dispelled, the music on the background, mostly drowned out by the groans and barking of orders. "Kid!," Wataro called over everyone, "Grab the towels from the kitchen", he himself was carrying a large container with water after pulling out what little first aids he had on hand.   

"Let me catch my breath and I will start healing . Can someone point me towards the person most injured?"

Dropping the container down, so that it could be used, Wataru moved toward Tatsu, "You need anything?" he asked, "I'm hoping it leaves, but we might need to get reinforcements" 

[mermalaide]

For a moment, she had to slump to her knees, hot and sweating. "I am alright, but water would be a appreciated." Tatsu took a moment to catch her breath, before getting back up. She looked around her and saw the men lying about. The priest had all but passed out, which would mean his spiritual energy use had left him exhausted. A few men had scrapes, were fatigued, and bloody. The byakko was pacing outside and trying to find them unsuccessfully. An older man with an eyepatch and ponytail spoke up when Wataru had mentioned for reinforcements. "We were hunting it, and people were supposed to come and help us subdue it. I-I can call someone though."

"If the talismans break or disperse, it should leave, they would have to try again, but it would leave here at least." Tatsu stood up when she felt confident and went looking for the worst wounds first. She settled on a man that looked like he had been clawed significantly. He wasn't dying, but he was loosing blood. "Stay still.." She said softly, crouching down. Her hands moved to cover the wounds, and if you looked closely, little bits of electricity pulled from her fingers. It was clearing up the wound. He would likely have scars, but he would mend just fine, even the muscle that had been ripped was mending. But, this would take a bit, and it would make her a little more fatigued.

She watched the kid scramble for towels, and she smiled at him kindly. He looked like he was trying so hard to be helpful and good. He had even tried to help her. "Thank you. You are doing so good." She tries to encourage him a little. Her bangs had fell a little in front of her face, and all that black hair had obscured her. How she wished for a ribbon or hair tie. She would have to look after she finished this healing.

A scratching was heard outside and some of the men were really still. It was like a big cat who had been aggravated by the interaction with the Shinsengumi team currently in the lobby. For some reason, Tatsu thought of the mice from Cinderella, and her evil stepmother's cat, wasn't it named Lucifer? Yes, it had been. What an odd thing to laugh. "What an adventure we are having hmm? Wataru.. do you think that maybe there is a copy of Arrietty or the Barrowers?" Ghibli movies always were magical, even if the situation was not.

[Ashken]

"I am alright, but water would be a appreciated."

"Alright" Wataru moved quickly to grab some of the bottled water, his grandfather would understand, if the till was a little off today. Raitaro ran from the back, holding a pot he had filled with the kitchen towels, having seen Wataro do the same for the water, he though it perfect since he could only hold two of them at a times, now he could carry a bunch. Proud of his little plan he walked about offering people clean towels to replace the bloody rags they were using to deal with injuries. 

"We were hunting it, and people were supposed to come and help us subdue it. I-I can call someone though."


He wanted to get angry, to point how badly they had failed, but he took a deep breath, "If you can, please do so. It does not look like he's going anywhere, and you don't have the personal you started with." he assumed that if things got this bad while they were at their best and had a plan, with injured people and pushed to a corner, someone was likely to get hurt much worse. 


"If the talismans break or disperse, it should leave, they would have to try again, but it would leave here at least."

Wataru brought the water to Tatsu who seem to jump straight into healing others, "Maybe we can move the talismans out of the way." he looked around the room, no one was dead, nor close, but he didn't think they had a fighting force. As much as he hated to put the kid in danger, they could move them remotely as long as they were not too far.

"Thank you. You are doing so good."

Raitaro stop by Tatsu to offer her clean towels and was surprised to see the sparks that danced from her fingers healing the man before him, "Wow." he said softly, his lull fading away the moment he heard the scratches at the door, the little kid stomped towards the door and screamed a tiny squeaky battle cry, what was not tiny was the flicker of the lights inside the building and the sparks dancing on the kids skin.   

"What an adventure we are having hmm? Wataru.. do you think that maybe there is a copy of Arrietty or the Barrowers?" 

"Actually, we might have a copy" he responded, a thought crossed his mind, as Raitaro, tried to intimidate from the inside. "Kid, step away from the door, see if they need help with things, you know the store"

[mermalaide]

The Shinesengumi looked a little ashamed but also angry, his face burned red. He nodded and tried to get out his phone, praying for signal. It had been the priest's idea but he okayed it and felt very responsible. The damn fool was knocked out pretty good. If it hadn't been for the people of the book store, this would all be so much worse. He managed to get a signal and was speaking in a low voice to someone from the branch in town. The other person seemed to be yelling on the phone and it appeared that shit would roll downhill. He could not complain though, he felt the burden of responsibility.

Tatsu took the water that was offered to her. It felt so good on her dry, dusty throat. "Thank you. I will pay for whatever I take." She sighed a little with relief. The man she had healed was resting alright, but he would need a day or so and maybe some good food in his belly. When Raitaro had said wow from her healing, she smiled. "Lightening can heal too, but don't tell anyone." She whispered to him, as if telling the biggest secret. She reached out and ruffled his hair, the way a big sister would.

She looked up at the mention of talismans. "Hey, we could give it a try. He seemed to have an issue with the one Raitaro threw at him. She thought for a moment. I could probably touch them without getting hurt. What do you think? We could try." She thought about tending to more injured, but outside of basic first aid, she would over tax herself. So she contented with cleaning a few scrapes and she managed to dig in her bag, that was still on the counter, for the small first aid kid she carried with her. They could deal with that. The healing would be for the emergency, and the rest of her strength could be to run for the talismans if need be.

"A new group will be here, but it will take time," the man on the phone said.

"So," Tatsu looked at Wataru,"what should we do?"

[Ashken]

"Thank you. I will pay for whatever I take."

"We can worry about that later" he mumbled. His priority right now was to get everyone out of here safe, and hopefully with minimal damage to the bookstore. He moved around the shop, trying to assess the situation, some of his more rambunctious youth was spent fighting, so he had a decent eye on identifying some injuries and it look like Tatsu was handling the worse off. 

"Lightening can heal too, but don't tell anyone."

Raitaro nodded, smiling as his hair was ruffled, he saved the information on the back of his mind, maybe he could heal with his sparks, maybe he could ask how, though he could feel the tension in the air, and he was mostly distracted by the big cat outside. 

"Hey, we could give it a try. He seemed to have an issue with the one Raitaro threw at him. She thought for a moment. I could probably touch them without getting hurt. What do you think? We could try."

Wataru looked around the room, from the sounds outside the wards had made it hard for the beast to get to them, but they were not going to hold on forever if he keeps attacking the general area, he tried to think of a plan, at the very least they needed to buy time for the reinforcements. "Anyone who can move come with me," he said loudly, "I have an idea to buy us time" grabbing the bit pot he headed to the back, the kitchen was small so not many people would fit, but he started to give out instructions. "Those of you physically capable grab a knife" he pointed at the cutting board. "Those of you with good aim grab some of the wasabi tubes" he opened the cupboard pointing at the tubes of wasabi. "I need some strong people" he said as he filled the pot with water and lit the stove as hot as he could. "Once this starts boiling, we strike" 

He would continue to provide people tools and items from the kitchen, from paprika containers to pans, he headed toward Tatsu, "Operation Kitchen raid" he grinned, "You think we can use the talismans if we overwhelm the Byakko?" if they got Wasabi in its eyes, or mouth, boiling water and all sort of other things, he wonders if they could buy time for her or the reinforcements. 

[mermalaide]

Tatsu could move. She got right up, a few of the other men got up too. Eye Patch got up, ready to redeem himself. It was an army of six of them. This included Tatsu, Raitaro, Wataru, Eye Patch, and two other Shinsengumi. They looked more like neighborhood watch. But it was fine. Tatsu tied up her hair so it would be out of her way. She drained the rest of the water, and tucked her bells into the belt of her dress. Everyone else looked exhausted and had to rest. Tatsu listened to the plan Wataru was detailing.

He asked her if she thought they could overwhelm Byakko. Tatsu nodded. "I think we can! They are charged to act as a barrier, but I think we can do damage. I watched Raitaro do it. "I will handle the talismans. It might be safer than having him pick them up. They are some kind of anti yokai charm." She would have to get a better look, but she was sure those were barrier papers. In that case, they could drive it away or possibly banish it.

It looked like they were going to have to try themselves. Reinforcements be damned!

Eye Patch and the two other Shinesengumi picked up knives. "Let's go!"

The door was ready to be opened. Tatsu got ready to move as fast as her legs would take her. The large Byakko cat was passing when they started to unbar the door. She looked to where each talisman was. It was almost like a clock face of four around them on the ground. It sniffed the air and made a mighty roar that shook the windows where they were at. It didn't take long for the water to start boiling on the stove. Tatsu was crouched near the door, watching the cat and waiting. 

[Ashken]

Everyone started to take place, and with Tatsu's confidence on them being able to use the Talismans, he nodded and got ready, he knew they needed to move fast and decisively if they wanted to overwhelm the Yokai, it was a small group of people, but they all seem more than driven to take down the beast, 


"I think we can! They are charged to act as a barrier, but I think we can do damage. I watched Raitaro do it. I will handle the talismans. It might be safer than having him pick them up. They are some kind of anti yokai charm."

"Okay, we'll buy you as much time as we can", he looked at everyone else in case any of them had any objections, once the pot was boiling, he added some of the hot spices, keeping some to toss directly if needed, the fumes of the boiling water were causing his eyes to tear up, with help he picked up the pot and moved toward the door, "On the count of three the burst out" he looked back at the injured parties, "Close the door behind us, the wards are more effective when the door are closed" 

He would normally tell Raitaro to stay back, but if he was already putting himself in danger then the kid was in danger himself "One" he grew tense knowing that they only had one shot, "Two" he bent his knees ready to burst out the moment the door open, "Three" the moment the door opened for him he made a point to run as quickly as his legs would allow and chuck the boiling water at the Yokai, he was hoping that between the spices and wasabi they could overload its senses, and if any of that boiling spiced water his its eyes or mouth, it would affect him even more. 

Raitaro was not too far from his father figure, squirting a tomato paste tube in the direction of the Byakko, he though they needed some red, since everyone else picked the green tubes of Wasabi. Picking the kid up Wataru tried to put some distance between himself and the big cat till he had evidence of that first assault did anything.

[mermalaide]

The burst forth through the door. The byakko (thankfully a much smaller fellow than byakko prime, that was celestial beast tier) was caught off guard so much that he almost fell over. His recovery was quick and he was immediately bounding after them. Tatsu split in one direction to scoop up a talisman. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Part of it was hoping that no one would get hurt, the other was still kicking at herself internally from not bringing her weapon. But they were being smarter. The others were thankfully armed.  She felt her skirt flutter as she snatched up one and kept running for the next target.

The Shinsengumi that were helping were trying to play chicken with the eye patch fellow taking the lead. His fighting style was very aggressive and he went for double knives, ready to stab at the charging beast. Several times it avoided him and he slashed air, trying to be careful and not hit his co-horts. This wasn't his first rodeo so to speak and he felt his temper rise. "Ora!" He was yelling over the roars, trying to keep the attention of the beast. If anything he was brave, foolish but he wanted desperately to make up his mistake. The younger of the two cadets that had followed were a brother and sister, and they poked at the beast and attacked in tandem, you could tell that they never fought alone and would do their best to distract the violent yokai.

It all changed when Wataru threw that pot of boiling wasabi water. The boiling water hit the yokai full on and it had made something between a gurgle and a screetch. It reminded one of a cat getting hit full on. You would almost feel sorry for it if it hadn't been for the nasty trail of injuries it had dished out. If the wasabi had not been bad enough, little Reitaro came in with a squirt of tomato paste. Tatsu would have laughed if not for what came next. It tried to reach out it's claws to Reitaro, but before it got a chance, Tatsu threw the first Talisman, right on it's back. It let out another scream of pain, an almost human one. 

" Om Mani Pädme Hum!"

It was a universal chant.  The mantra was believed to evoke compassion and wisdom, and to purify negative karma and negative emotions. Tatsu felt that this beast was likely tied to a person somehow, and not acting on it's own. She had no real idea as to why she thought that. Maybe it was the second scream, the one that sounded more human like, which was absolutely terrifying. The other reason she gave such a shot was to dispel the negative energies around them and give confidence to those that were fighting. She unleshed the wand with its bell, the Kagura Suzu. It's chimes rung out and she felt it turn towards her. 

[Ashken]

The initial assault seemed to be going well, everyone moved quickly and relatively efficiently for a rag tag group of survivors armed with supplies from a kitchen. In the ends they were able to distract the beast enough that Tatsu was able to start collecting some of the talismans. The Shinsengumi where earning their keep, with their aggressive style Wataru hoped they had enough self-preservation to not overextend themselves, he did not know how long it would take for the reinforcements to arrive, but he knew their supplies would not be able to save people if someone got gravely injured. If anything, it seems like the locals had managed to escape. 

Things almost when south as the Yokai swiped in the direction of Raitaro. The boy had frozen his eyes going wide as the claw came his way. Between Tatsu's quick reaction and Wataru yanking the boy back by his shirt, the claw barely missed the boy.  Wataru turned the boy around and patted him quickly checking for injuries, a small gash on the shirt showing how close they had come to danger. "It's dangerous time to get inside" he told the boy firmly, giving him a soft push to get him going, taking out a rolling pin he had tucked aside. He needed to help the Shinsengumi buy more time for Tatsu, who had now become the main target.  

" Om Mani Pädme Hum!"


Wataru moved in trying to stick to the beast flank, if he would find a good opportunity he would lunge and strike the beast as the base of the tail, if it fallowed the same rules as any feline, the nerve cluster there would be sensitive, he might not be able to do great damage, but maybe buy more time. 

In the meantime, Raitaro was a ball of emotions, this went from fun all the way to scary, to things he could not put his little clawed fingers on, once again he was too small to help, the emotions bubbling on the boy, sparks bouncing off his skin as he stubbornly, walked toward the bookstore at the edge of his vison another of the talismans where nearby, if the first one had frustrated the creature and the current one stuck on its back cause it to scream, "BAD KITTY" Raitaro shouted at the current proximity with Wataru his powers where at his strongest, creating the link between him and the talisman was easy, he tugged his arm enveloped in sparks. Moving in such a way that once again the feline Yokai was in-between him and the talisman. "BE BETTER!" if the talisman made contact with the Yokai he would tug and tug making sure it would stay on the Byakko.

[mermalaide]

It was a yokai beatdown! The more they beat down on it though, the more it's body began to distort. It wanted to turn and fight Tatsu but it got a rolling pin to the flank for it's trouble. Confused and angry at this point, it could only lash out to the things closest. The yowls of pain became distorted screams, almost as if something was trying to come out, and the nasty part of it was that byakko's face started to change. The eyes became more human, and the face was just wrong. It became more of a mix of cat and human.

Both Tatsu and Raitaro found another talisman. But Raitaro was much faster than Tatsu. "BAD KITTY" It tried to look up at him. "BE BETTER!" It screamed in pain, trying to remove the paper charm that had been charged. As it rolled it got splapped by Tatsu and the final of the charms that had been lying on the ground. She took a deep breath and slapped it hard on the byakko, much like a battle cry, again yelling the mantra to banish negativity. " Om Mani Pädme Hum!"

It's body fell, rolling to the ground and thudding hard against the shop across the bookstore. The body was a smoking mess of miasma pouring off the large body that was shrinking. Was that a man?! A gaunt looking man in torn looking rags was lying there against the pavement.  Suddenly a older woman ran past them, throwing what looked like a net adorned with paper charms. It closed in on the body of the man and the charms made almost a sizzling noise against his  bare flesh.

Tatsu watched as several Shinsengumi with body armor came rolling through, ready to collapse onto their foe. She moved a little closer to where Wataru and Raitaro were. "Lord Buddha.." There was shouting between the men, who were trying to lift and drag this man to a stretcher. "We need to hurry before he wakes up. Containment is waiting." Tatsu looked to answers from Wataru, who probably knew as much as she did.

"Hanako-sensei!" The man in the eyepatch shouted a greeting over to the older woman, who was already making her way to Tatsu and the group. 

[Ashken]

Due to the proximity to the byakko Wataru had a up close seat to the beast distorting and morphing into something else, something more human, they kept the pressure from all sides, and Raitaro decided to not listen to him, he would have to have a talk with the kid about listening, but right now, he needed to focus on the angry Yokai, though as it became more and more human he was reminded of old woodprints in where the Yokai's monstrous body would have a human face attached to it. 


Raitaro focused on the talisman more and more sparks danced around him as he continued to tug making sure the talisman was pressed hard on the beast, though the screams of pain were causing the kid to feel terribly guilty. His eyes filled with tears, but he had seen the hurt people inside, he just wanted the big cat to behave and stop hurting people.  He felt a slack as the Yokai finished reverting into human form, letting go of the talisman it quickly lost its fight against gravity falling aside. The young boy looked as the man rolled and impacted the building, before the temptation of getting closer to look got to the boy, Wataru ran and held him in a tight hug, "Everything alright, relax" the boy was trying to turn around and see, but Wataru held him in such a way that made it hard to turn. "Let's get inside" Wataru said sharply as he his eyes jumped from the older woman to the Shinsengumi that had arrived. He carefully moved toward the bookstore, soothing the boy so that the sparks that had been dancing around him faded away. 

Wataru had aligned himself with the Shinsengumi because everyone was in danger, but now that the main danger was over, he had little reason to trust them, and he was not going to put Raitaro in danger, sure not all Shinsengumi would react violently, but he only needed one to decide that the boy was a danger of some kind. As he entered the bookstore he looked at the people inside "Your reinforcements arrived" he told them sternly as he continued to guide Raitaro to a small office on the back that his grandfather kept for the administrative work, it looked like a broom closet with how small it was, "Stay" he didn't give the boy an option as he closed the door behind him and walked back outside, snagging a box of cigarettes from under the counter. 

He stuck an unlit cigarette on his lip and waved at Tatsu form the entrance of the bookstore. Raitaro would be upset, but he did what he though was right at the moment. "Thanks for the help" he would say to her once she came closer. "Kid's on time out"

[mermalaide]

She wandered over to Wataru. "Oh? He was a big help." She looked around realizing though, so many Shinsengumi. An older Miko with the man that wore an eye patch came over. "You both helped immensely. If there were any damages you can bill us." She gave out a card for them both to contact the Shinsengumi. "What happened?" Tatsu looked to them both for answers. The old woman signaled for people to put the immobile man who had been Byakko into a truck. "A man had hidden from his family that he had a yokai pact. and at one point, he failed to pacify it. Police tried to take him into custody and only succeeded in riling him up." She smoothed her gray hair. "My apprentice and these men were tasked with catching him, but that clearly failed."

"It did, and people were hurt, but no one here died." Tatsu tried to soften the failure a little, not that it helped. "Well, because you all have managed to help out, I am sure you will get some kind of reward. Are you with the Shinto Shrine network?" Tatsu dug for her ID, "I am somewhat. I am not from Ise, my grandfather runs a temple in West Kyoto, near the Abe no Seimei University. I am registered and I help out, but I am not from the big branch." She was a little sheepish and embarrassed about it, like maybe she had gotten flack a bit before.

"I am not from there either. To pretentious for me." She gave a laugh that was a bit rusty and surprising the man in the eyepatch, she took out a rolled cigarette. "You have a light for me young man?" This was directed at Wataru. She looked at Tatsu's ID and gave it back. "I think I remember you. Goro's granddaughter right? I will make sure the temple gets a donation." She looked over at Wataru. "I meant it about the expenses. If you need something, as long as it's reasonable, I will get it for you. You both saved us a lot of trouble tonight."

The man with the eye patch bowed to them, he looked exhausted, and he had his own card to give. "Tachibana Daiske, sorry to meet under such circumstances."