A Stray Dog Meets the Devil

[mermalaide]

Momiji dropped to the ground hard but on her feet. It definitely impacted the ground enough to leave indents in it. "We have been calling them collectors. Other than the fact they have been eating yokai and the dead, we aren't sure." She took a deep breath and stood on tired legs. When she did she looked at both of them. Her glasses had been smashed and were on the ground somewhere. "Everyone alright?" She did a small assessment before the flashing caught her eye.

"...What is that?"

She walked over and bent down to look, though carefully. The gloves on her hands were a godsend, because Momiji did not know if this was toxic or not. She took a small bag out of her pocket and fished the microchip and eye into the bag. "A tracking chip maybe? I have not seen anything like this before." The offal she smelt was otherworldly. An abomination of ungodly means. Science of some kind seemed to be involved.

Momiji decided to take some pictures on her phone, some of the scene, some of the chip and eye. It was a lot. She had an evidence vial, empty and left over from earlier. "I need to get ahold of some people." After collecting the few things she could, she fished for her phone. "Hazmat is going to need to come I think. This is bad."

[Sengoku]

"Alive," Naoyoshi answered when Momiji checked on everyone's status. With the monstrosity slain, Naoyoshi stood back as Momiji investigated the blinking chip. Instead, he turned his attention to his uchigatana, examining the blade. Minor rolling on the blade's edge, but only on a few portions, less than two centimeters in length. Nothing that proper maintenance and sharpening can't fix. A quality sword does not break easily. Though Naoyoshi seemed more concerned with his sword than the situation at hand, he kept note of everything Momiji said. Collectors. Devouring yōkai and corpses.

"Eating habits are like that of a gaki," Naoyoshi added. "Those things eat anything and everything that can't fight back. But they're weaklings, nothing like this 'collector.' And this thing had appendages from multiple different yōkai." He walks over to the shattered mask, his shadow cast over the broken fragments. "This thing seems to be a combination of yōkai, forcibly mashed together. Possibly with a human as well. Wouldn't be surprised if this thing had a gaki thrown into its blueprints."

Pain reverberated through his body. But Naoyoshi showed no signs of fatigue. Such aching was familiar to the grizzled samurai. "You said 'collectors.' Meaning there's more than one. I want explanations. Preferably before another shows up in a different prefecture and starts feeding before anyone can respond."

[Umbraflamma]

Ryo pulled himself up, his leg wasn't working well with his weight at the moment so he leaned against a tree and tore a large branch from it, using it as a makeshift crutch. "So there's some fuckery about with this thing, possibly man made..." he sighed as he moved towards them the crimson spot on his knee grew slowly. "yeah if this shit is becoming a problem i want to know, especially because for all we know this could have been a weak one." he said as he carefully and mindfully moved towards them.

"What exactly has been happening? And why hasn't the public been warned, or the samurai for that matter." he said as he glanced at Naoyoshi. Someone like him should have known about this. "I know there's been a rise of demand for yokai and yokai parts on the black market, i didn't deal in that shit but it's big enough to trip the underworld's radar. Is this connected?"

[mermalaide]

"You said 'collectors.' Meaning there's more than one. I want explanations. Preferably before another shows up in a different prefecture and starts feeding before anyone can respond."

"We believe there is more than one, given how bad this had gotten. Though, given what the three of us have just fought and the hunch I have had from dealing with this at the beginning of the month, I believe it is more than one." She shuddered a little bit. That tracking device she had bagged looked like it was an animal tag from a lab. She showed it to them both. "Why would something like that be tagged if it is a naturally occurring yokai? This stinks worse than a Gaki." The gears in her mind were turning. Somehow, the smell of it was far worse than most yokai, Gaki included that she had encountered.

"What exactly has been happening? And why hasn't the public been warned, or the samurai for that matter."

"I couldn't say why the higher ups are choosing to sit on this, but I can only imagine that they might not want to cause mass panic, and they likely do not know enough yet to really send out details on how to handle it. This is an open investigation, and when I responded to this call, I was expecting oni. But, now that I think about it, this seems to be the outside of the range of the current attacks. So it is slowly spreading out." She thought about Ryo's comments about the black market parts going on. "It very well could be. We have had an increase of missing persons, and it's more than likely these are connected."

This was very upsetting. They were worse for wear, however, the three of them were somewhat alright. Soon there would be medics and Shinsengumi swarming all over the scene, but until they were, she wanted to speak with them. "Is it possible for us to exchange contact information before people start to descend on us? I would like to keep you both in the loop if possible. I do not like the implications of what I am seeing here." 

[Sengoku]

As the adrenaline faded from Naoyoshi's system, his muscles burned and his bones ached again. The fight against Ryo already pushed his body to the limit - fighting this monstrosity only worsened the recovery process. Yet he still maintained his posture and moved without showing the pain, walking back to where the paramedics were treating him before the chase.

"Not hard to search up a samurai's public information. Just ask the university for Ii Naoyoshi. You're Shinsengumi - that what you do, isn't it?" Momiji had his respect as a professional and an officer of the Shinsengumi. But she was still Shinsengumi. The guard dogs who breathed down the samurai clans' necks to make sure they behaved. They were allies, not friends. Then there was Ryo.

"Medics are this way. Hurry it up." Cold as his words were, Naoyoshi still waited on the scruffy young man. Much like Momiji, friendship was still off the table for now. But there was still respect. He proved himself as a warrior, after all.

- Exit -

[Umbraflamma]

"Yep i think my leg is well and truly fucked." he said as he started to limp away, then stopped for a moment, reciting a series of numbers. "Thats my number let me know if something comes up." he said before continuing to follow naoyoshi towards the medics. His entire body felt like it was falling apart, he had been pushed to his limits and then past. He was going to get an earful from the doctors, but they won, and they survived. 

He owed naoyoshi a proper gesture as apology. "Hey, Ii-sama, Ill need your contact info. I do still owe you a formal apology for getting a bit disrespectful to you." he said as he used the crutch to keep pace.

Thankfully for now, the situation was resolved.

-exit-

[mermalaide]

"Not hard to search up a samurai's public information. Just ask the university for Ii Naoyoshi. You're Shinsengumi - that what you do, isn't it?" She nodded. "Indeed it is. I will contact you both when I can." A black and gold pen came from inside her pants pocket as well as a small pad to write with. She wrote down the name of Naoyoshi and wrote down Ryo's number and name. Her body ached a little bit, but out of the three it was only exhaustion and possibly, some scratches and bruises.

She winced a little as a hand rested on her shoulder. "Sensei!" He had startled her a little. Her senses must have been pretty dull after all of that. "Let's get you out of here. You can write a statement later. There were already people cleaning up and recording everything going on. One seemed to be searching with gloves through the pile of dead creature that was there before them. It looked like it was already starting to decompose. She felt her legs buckle a little, and the older man, still very strong, caught her. "Those men that are leaving, do they need to be detained?"

"No sir, I have contact information. There was no need, though, I hope they get medical. That was a bad fight." He quieted her, looking nervous. He started to pull her away. It was then she noticed it. Some of the medical people that had swarmed suddenly were not all Shinsengumi. They were not from the Temple's Network either. It made her blood run cold too. One of the men locked eyes with her, but she was shielded from attention by Shibara-sensei. He whispered to her. "Keep quiet and hold onto me." 

Momiji kept her head down and let Shibara-sensei lead her out of the park. What looked like an antiqued little car was waiting. He helped her into the passenger side and closed her in as someone came running up. He seemed to look uncomfortable. Even for the man they called the ice-prince of the Shinsengumi. He said something quietly, trying to rebuff what was said, then got into the car and started to drive it away. After they rode a few blocks, he looked down at her.

"It appears you have stepped in something, dear apprentice."

There was no mistaking the worry in his voice. "Rest for now."

_exit and close_