starsand | End of June Wrap-Up/Mingle/Plot Overview/ADA Meeting

End of June Wrap-Up/Mingle/Plot Overview/ADA Meeting

Despite the beginning of June being active, the middle and end of it was perhaps even moreso. Dazai, knowing this, had once more gathered the Fallen Stars for a meeting - this time at the ADA Cafe 'Shayou'.🗈

[The closed sign on the door of Cafe Shayou didn't stop it from being an active bustling place - though, this time, it was only filled with Fallen Stars. The group had been gathered once more for a meeting held by Dazai and the Armed Detective Agency - this time in a more secure location. He'd still gotten Dimitri to help with a barrier just in case, but as for now...Dazai rose up from his own seat, tapping his glass with a spoon to get everyone's attention.]

Hello and welcome, one and all, to Cafe Shayou! This will be our new Fallen Stars meeting spot from this point on, as far as official meetings are concerned. So. Let's start with a brief introduction for those of you who may be new in town. I - [he gestured to himself] - am Osamu Dazai. I'm a Fallen Star like the rest of you, a professional detective, and I run a little organization here known as the Armed Detective Agency along with my subordinates. [He gestures to the three nearby him.]

Their names are Atsushi Nakajima, Fauna, and Ryunosuke Akuwagata. [He didn't fuckin' stutter.] They're also quite reliable - please refer to them for any questions or concerns if I'm not available. We'll be at the center of any incidents here trying to solve them.

That having been said, welcome to Starsand. Let's go over what we've experienced recently, shall we?

Starting from the top, we had a small rumor incident with a couple of ghosts. However! That incident has since been resolved quite cleanly. Congratulations, all! Give yourselves pats on the back. It's always nice to see a happy ending.

So. There's our good news. Onto the bad news! 15 of our number were recently held in confines in a certain facility. Luckily! One of them was me! [A beat.] Akutagawa was also there. [now he's saying it correctly?!] Aaaaaaaaanyway. I'm not certain what happened to Akutagawa after we were split apart, but I was placed inside a room with Ryoma - Ryoma, please raise your hand - and Miss Inaba. Inaba, if you would-- thank you. [He gestures to them both.]

We were given an assignment. A test. One to prove our potential as a Kami. Unfortunately, the requirement to become a Kami in their eyes was murdering! And that's nooooo good! So obviously we refrained. Our test, however, led us to be in contact with a girl known as Theta. She introduced herself as the Kami of Willpower, and she seemed to favor me for the test - and Ryoma as well after a bit of minor convincing. Naturally, I was flattered, but she disappeared after a bit and left Ryoma and I to escape. Long story short, we did!

The rest of you who partook in the tests are encouraged to share your stories as well after this, by the by. But let's go over some minor objectives first.

First off. We don't know where the three Kamis have disappeared to. Theta, the Kami of Willpower. Mu, the Kami of Emotion. And Zeta, the Kami of Knowledge. All three have gone missing. It is our responsibility to track down - and furthermore, rescue these Kami. They may be hostile upon approach, but they have been misled. Their status as 'enemies' of us is not of their own desire, but someone else's. That's another priority to be looked at.

We've heard a name be tossed around - that being Therel - who is stronger than a Kami and seems to act as an overseer to the girls. However, I have reason to believe that even he isn't at the apex of this organization. It goes deeper. It is our responsibility to find how far down this rabbit hole goes, find the creature dwelling within, and show them justice, whoever they may be.

Secondly, the organization simply disappeared. It didn't seem to be destroyed in its entirety. It simply disappeared. This is not enough. It may appear somewhere else, and we must be ready. Please keep this in mind.

Thirdly. We've come upon a concept that I'm not too fond of. Theta mentioned this, and it is almost certainly something to worry about. According to their organization...no two Kamis can exist of the same concept. They are disposing of any others. Of children. And they do this regularly. So none of my suggestions come with anything but a heavy heart - apart from this last one.

Fourth of all...I'd encourage recovery. You need a healthy work-life balance, all of you, and that includes from incidents and rumors! Maybe we'll all do something fun next month. But as for the rest of this month, I do believe Miss Hanyuu's Watanagashi festival is soon, so I'd personally encourage giving that at least a bit of your time stopping by, since it's for one of our own.

Now, all of you are encouraged to share any extra information you may have on your tests, the overview of the facility - whatever you may know. Thank you for attending. Please feel free to give your patronage by buying drinks or food while you're here, and we'll be happy to serve you! Let's hope July is a little more relaxing, yeah~?

[Perhaps he was hoping for too much, but...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He slides in next to her and lifts a menu as a barrier. There. He's being a little smart about this.]

Mm. They'd always say "It's been worse" to justify things. But just because your lowest point is really low doesn't mean the other bad things are 'fine,' Inaba-san. You... You can complain about it to me. If that's okay. I'd like it if you did, anyway...

I know. But it's not something to be spoken about in a place like this, around people who might be nosy.

[ She sighs. ]

It's not something to just casually speak about.

Then please let me walk you home tonight? Or I could take you somewhere private for a few minutes? I could leave you with someone else?

[He doesn't mean for his concern to be so obvious or come across as so urgent, but it does.]

Just please don't keep those thoughts in tonight. Can I beg for that much..?

Somewhere private would work.

[...]

This is a dumb question, but--can you speak in something that isn't the native language of this place? I don't know how much they'd be watching, and I wouldn't want to force you to keep up a barrier even if we're going out somewhere private.

[ So basically, yes - she's willing to talk to him. But she's also. Paranoid as all hell. ]

[Yuuto recognizes that she’s being paranoid and he doesn’t think it’s wrong. Not after all that they’ve seen tonight and especially now that she knows someone might be trying to use her.]

Mm, well… I don’t know if we’d have that language in common.

But I can take us to space? Can you handle heights?

[Thats more than heights, Yuuto…]

The common language here--it's Japanese, isn't it? Would English work? Or would that be no good?

[...]

I can handle heights, but I wouldn't be able to breathe in space.

Language here is… strange, because of the spirits.

[And he genuinely wants to protect her privacy.]

You will be fine with me. I’m a kami after all. Do you want to go?

Wait. If it's a spirit thing, then...

[ It's not a soul thing. Maybe she could at least try something. ]

But I'll go.

Mm. Okay. One second.

[Yuuto leans closer to take her hands in his and then they're gone. It's a bit disgusting just how easily he can take someone away to space. It's only a matter of adjusting the oxygen levels and temperature around them; Simple things for a kami of Yuuto's caliber. He keeps a hold on her hands for now, even if she won't necessarily float away from him.

The 'space' around them is disturbingly empty. There aren't many stars or any galaxy clusters and the planet below them is somehow fuzzy to look at. He'll be mindful to keep her attention off of it.]

There. How do you feel? Can you breath okay? Warm enough?

...You know, I thought that actually being in space would be a lot more romantic.

[ She comments in a rather dry voice.

Instead, it feels much more haunting than she expected. But then again, that's the reality of things, isn't it? ]

But - mm. I think it should be fine. Were you hiding up here when everything... happened?

Eh~ It has to be a date to be romantic though.

[He could tease her, but Yuuto is tired. Tired and worried. He loosens his grip on her hands, signaling that she can let go. Even if she tried to nullify him, the reality he's decided is set.]

Which everything..? [So much happened.] I try to stay here when I can. It's better if I'm isolated.

It doesn't have to be a date to be romantic.

[...]

When everyone disappeared because of the windchimes. It looks like our experiment showed that you didn't get sent with the rest of us, right...?

[ But- ]

Isn't it lonely, though?

Ah. [So this is just disappointing??? Well, there's not much time to focus on romance. Yuuto smiles sadly and nods.]

Mm, I was up here. So I know that no one will hear you. [This is about Inaba, not Yuuto. He knows better than to touch the pandora's box that holds his loneliness.] But I'll listen.

To be honest - I don't know where to start. Well, I guess you can say that when I went to that place, I wasn't scared. I trusted in you, and in everyone else. That they'd do something. And I trusted in myself.

[ So she was honest. ]

After all, it's not like I didn't expect something to go wrong. And I wasn't hurt or anything. And it's definitely not an experience that hurt me personally... definitely not as badly as you, or your sisters.

I'm glad you weren't hurt... Still. You cried.

[Though Yuuto knows that was his fault.]

'Not as badly as...' Please don't compare our pain. Suffering is suffering and I want none of it for you. [He frowns,] Is it your soul that you're thinking about?

Sorry.

[ She sighs, arms folded over her chest. ]

Sometimes, suffering is needed-- no, that's not it. People can't go through life without pain, or turmoil. A 'perfect life' doesn't exist. Of course, that doesn't mean that we don't strive to try and reach that. We learn things.

Anyway. That's besides the point. I didn't cry because of my soul problems back there, though.

[He nods slowly, agreeing. She’s correct that suffering can’t be avoided completely. That doesn’t stop him from trying to minimize it. Zero being ideal.]

Ah, sorry. I was wrong… What were you crying for? Can I help..?

You, stupid. I was crying about you, and your stupid situation.

Ah-.

[Now he feels extra stupid. Yuuto wanted to help Inaba with her own problems, not make this about himself again.]

Sorry, I- I didn’t mean to burden you with that. It was only supposed to keep you safe… warning you.

It's fine. You were just concerned. It still... didn't make me any less upset, though.

I'm sorry.

[Yuuto isn't sure what else to say. It's not like he can lie to himself about knowing Inaba might be hurt. He's hurting for her too and Inaba didn't admit to having a cruel fate.

He feels bad. Horrible, actually. For Inaba and for the reminder of his situation. So he tries to cure that by rambling anxiously;]

It's like you said. We can't have perfect lives... At least my siblings all got out of their trials okay, though? None of them are like me, so that's good. A-And... um, let's see- [How else can he make this okay? Not for Inaba anymore, but for himself. Yuuto doesn't want to breakdown and add to Inaba's misery;] I. I'm very careful not to interact with people, so not many people will miss me..?

...you can't say something like that and not make me more upset with those words.

[ Just the fact that he admits to the idea of 'not many people will miss him' just makes her heart twist. It hurts.

She almost feels like she's going to cry again. ]

[Yuuto flinches and then shrinks back. To him it's comforting. Or at least, it's supposed to be. Hearing that it upsets Inaba makes Yuuto realize just how awful his thoughts are.]

Yes, you're right. I'm sorry. I just- ["Don't want to be afraid," is what he almost says. But Yuuto catches that selfish thought. It's not worth it if it's hurt her.

He withdraws his hands, reminded of another way that he's been hurting his friend.]

You said that you didn't like abilities being used on you... I'm sorry to change the subject, but I want to know how to not hurt you in that way, at least?

...Ah, it's back to that. I always have my nullification ability on unless I'm doing something for somebody else, so you mostly just have to tell me, first. Otherwise I might immediately deflect. I guess 'bounce back' is the term, but I'm not saying anything.

That's all.

[Now he's the one stinging. She really doesn't want to talk about. But he feels guilty for all of the times that he's sprung his power on her. Even teleporting near her is an invasion of space, isn't it?

He nods slowly, resigned to the fact that Inaba won't say much more.]

I understand. I- I'll try... [to be normal?

Yuuto sighs.]

I don't know the first thing about being normal, Inaba-san. Not how to talk to a friend, or ask for help, or have a conversation, or to help others. So if I'm doing it wrong, please tell me. I really...

[And Yuuto flickers from especially timid to more resolved for this;]

I really like you. I think. [as a friend. he can't fathom anything more right now.] I don't want you to leave me. But right now, it feels like all I'm doing is making you miserable. I don't know what to do.

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