Dare to Rule the Otherworld [Open]

[Yume]

Practice makes "Heaven"

Past the twilight hour, when the purple sky finally turned dark and the majority of civilians decidedly went off for their meals, one woman wandered into one of the nearby parks within the residential district. The hem of her gown dragged lightly over the grass; the clothing she wore was not usual for a regular day. Hanging, dragging and layered, her form was meant to represent grace. However, she shuffled slowly across the grass, hugging a large wooden item against herself.

Yume appeared to be frowning in the darkness--it'd be hard to tell with the lack of light around. Her red hair couldn't escape the darkness either. She had just come from the Yamaguchi estate, curious and confused as the house dynamics quite suddenly changed in the past recent weeks. No longer alone in that mansion, members of the Yamaguchi family started moving back in and paying extra attention to her. Unable to argue, she found herself wearing clothes she wouldn't normally wear at home or anywhere, and even her record label insisted she learned a classical instrument.

What for? Times have changed to allow modern performance, what was she doing learning a goddamn koto?

"Your father was a very well read and talented man."

She rolled her eyes. Of course. Yume stopped at a spot in the park well into the middle of the area and laid the koto instrument down. This thing was gifted to her early. They haven't even found a teacher for her yet. With a flourish of fabric, she sat down before it. Yume stared at the instrument, not particularly focusing on it. Her mind was in a jumble, with many unanswered question of her family's resurgence. Perhaps they wanted to take back the grace and prosperity that they lost with Father through her. Perhaps. It was only speculation at this point. She just had to watch herself.

Her blue eyes were starting to get used to the darkness. She reached out a finger and plucked a string from the instrument. It was tuned well and made a nice sound. The princess blinked once, seeing specks of light float around over the koto. She glanced up, meeting her gaze with an unidentifiable female entity. The ghost knelt before her and smiled.

"What a wonderfully crafted koto."

Yume blinked again, before lowering her eyes back to the aforementioned instrument. "What brings you talking with me, ghost?" she asked quietly, plucking at the koto's strings again. If other people without ghost whispering capabilities approached Yume while she spoke to seemingly no one, that would be a tricky situation to weasel out from.

"Can I play it? One song, please?"

"No," came the reply without hesitation. Spirit possession was something Yume didn't ever allow, even if they meant no harm. Loss of control was one of the things she hated. The recent memory of the green gem that person had came semi-bitterly into mind. Instead, Yume looked at the dejected ghost and sighed.

"You can teach me how to play."

That should delight the spectre enough. The progress was slow, with notes plucked unsurely and out of tempo until it was eventually decent for only one song. Will o'wisps lit up around her and watched, inadvertently helping her see the strings in front of her with their light. Ghost hunters would have a riot here. Scaredy cats might scream.

Marked for training - WC +250

 

[Enatsu]

The midnight hour was upon him, this was the time where he scheduled himself to be on patrol tonight, his first patrol at that. Yuuto had been outside walking the night streets of Konoha since 11:00 PM on the dot. He requested this sector specifically because it was close to Konoha's Byoin which served as the Village Hidden in the Leave's Medical Facility. This was also quite close to the outlet of Clan Complexes that held status and enough wealth to afford one of these. Even the poorer clans still had to be making some type of bread, or combining theirs to snag a complex. Our dear Anbu Sennin was pricing places while on the job, as he soon hoped to amass the wealth needed to attain a suitable place for his family to rest once he located them. The Sennin began muttering to himself as he walked by the buildings while surveying.

The Masaru Clan will need a lot of space. We're going to need an armory fitted with a black-smithing station, a medical office and storeroom for our supplies, we'll need a training room for sparring, a war-room to strategize our combat and missions, a royal chamber for the clan leader, plenty of rooms, a huge mess hall would be ideal for this many mouths...." The Sennin paused as he realized he was starting to focus more on this than actual work. "Ah that's not good for a Sennin... I need to re-focus get back on task. Okay where am I at now?" He pulled out a small map, then traced his finger from the Kokuren (His Nightclub in the Red Oak District) to Maple Town, and then to the residential districts of Maple Town. He happened to be in one of the more upscale ones but it wasn't the best thing around. Yuuto peered to his left just in time to catch view of a woman walking alone in a nearby park. It was far too dark for Yuuto to get a good glimpse of her, but her dress was woven with elegance and definitely costed a grip.

Yuuto observed the woman for a moment, she seemed to be talking staying in a single position for the most part. However if his eyes weren't deceiving him, the woman was carrying around a large stringed instrument. He of course was instantly intrigued by a woman walking around with a Shamisen? No it was a Koto ... Why was she even carrying that! As Yuuto got closer her began to hear her plucking at the strings. Each pluck she pulled sounded like it was 2 keys off. He wasn't sure if this was her first time playing or not, because she was rapidly getting it down pat in the time he spotted her and the time he spent slowly observing and inching closer. Each step was met by a note she played. Every note became smoothed out like cookie dough, she was on a roll.

It wasn't until he was within actual shouting distance did he start to feel a prick in the back of his neck. It was like when you got shivers down your spine or the hairs on your neck stand. Yuuto felt this feeling so many times before, from the days when he communed with spirits (Ghost Walker) and even the time when he was among their ilk, (Dark Sage). Now as a Demon Halfling he felt this pressure once more, and a lot stronger than he had ever before. "Is she the cause of such spiritual pressure?" He thought to himself, concerned with this mysterious Koto player. Yet he couldn't bring himself to want to approach this cautiously or violently, he was suckered in, this music was entering his being and exciting who he was down to his core. It had been so long since he sat back and listened to the classics, and honestly no talent couldn't survive in modern day without drawing from the classics. Every sample you heard now days was proof of that. However classic was relative to time, and blah blah blah....

He was done with waiting and observation, the Anbu Sennin opened his mouth and began to let loose his voice. "This is absolutely beautiful. I could see myself sampling this. Yeah this is funky! Hi my name is Yuuto, do you mind if I play with you?" Yuuto drew one of his summoning scrolls from his utility belt and summoned out a two puppet hands. He did some fiddling via chakra strings, and eventually Yume would see that the three eyed man in front of her had created six Puppet-Tsume. He put them on his thumb, index, and middle fingers of both hands. If allowed to sit and play with her, Yuuto would follow the mysterious musician's lead and pluck after her creating a sort of reverb. If she didn't allow him to play with her he'd simply bow and kneel down watching her play. Regardless, whatever music came after was his focus for the moment. He was oblivious to the spirits around him for a moment his only desire being the musician and instrument in front of him.

Yume would notice however that something about Yuuto was offsetting the spirits. They weren't exactly cowering in fear but they were apprehensive when they got near him. Some of the wisps just straight up left the scene. This would be for her to mull over and ponder.

Yuuto's Apperance

Spoiler

-He is wearing a Black Leather body armor top and bottom. Both have pads on them at the elbow and knee areas.
-His torso is exposed revealing his scars and some of his physique
-He has two side holsters and each have a large repeating crossbow in them.
-He has a utility belt that has numerous tiny summoning scrolls strapped into it
-He has on a headset, and has a three eyed mask hanging from his belt
-Brown Skin, Platinum Blonde Hair, Hazel Eyes, Three Eyes (One in the Middle of his Forehead, wide open)

 

[Yume]

It suddenly got a little dimmer. Her final note was weak and off key, and Yume lifted the pick away from the strings. She looked over to see a silhouette of a man. The wisps that disappeared took away the light that would have allowed her to at least make out his main features. To Yuuto's untrained eye, the ghost crouched cautiously behind Yume with her featureless face staring intently at the fellow.

"Young miss, that man..." the ghost said warily. Yume raised a hand toward it in signal to shut up, or it could be a wave hello to Yuuto. Her hands then clapped together twice, which then emerged from them a holding stick with an unlit lantern hanging off from the end. It lit up almost immediately after in an eerie blue-green glow, similar to the lighting of the will o'wisps that once were around before. She held up the Spirit Lantern towards Yuuto's direction.

"Oh!"

She blinked, hiding most of her surprise at the third eye watching back at her. It was an inkling, call it an extrasensory perception, but she had a feeling that her ghost teacher's apprehension of this guy was due to perhaps that third eye contained something deeper than just a mutation. The ghost that was with her didn't feel pleased at all, but it didn't bother Yume too much. If she was apprehensive with Yuuto, then she should fear Yume. She ignored the ghost and smiled at him, abashed, and waved her free hand quickly to and fro in front of her face.

"Oh... oh no, I don't really know how to play this. My label just gifted this to me, but they haven't found a teacher yet," she said. It was the truth, despite having been able to play that one song. She eyed the picks on his fingers and brightened up her expression a bit more.

"I take it you know how to play the koto though? Here, if you like, please play something!" She smiled a dazzling smile fit for an idol, as she shifted herself to the side from the instrument and offered him her original place.

 

[Enatsu]

The woman started to offer her seat which prompted Yuuto to decline her. He would immediately shake his hands in a waving motion back and forth. "Dont get up please, I'll play from this side" Yuuto would sit opposite of her resting on his knees while he observed the instrument. "In response to your statement earlier , I've
dabbled with similar instruments Im not very good, don't judge me."

Every piece was representative of a mythical creature that did not exist in these lands. His fingers started tracing the strings while he lightly flicked with the puppet tsume. He would periodically lay his hands on the string to stop the motion of of the wired, bringing any sound to a complete halt. Yuuto took about 2 minutes to adjust before plucking at a string. He gradually picked up speed plucking more strings in a sequence.

Yuuto wasn't doing much more than creating an imitation of a few notes from an old folk lore song named Sakura. However he did manage to hit some of the notes exceptionally well. He decided he wanted to take it a step further.

Yuuto's fingers started moving quicker and an invisible force would surround his fingers. This force was his sound chakra, which was currently distributing itself throughout his tsume. The notes he was hitting were becoming more melodic and he was even manipulating their length causing reverberation as if he was mixing the sounds in a studio while working them live. As a Cadency, one with sound, this was a creative technique for Yuuto to work on music.

While Yuuto did this unique display of sound control he slowly began to take notice of the wil-o-wisps that were gathered around them.

"Ah I see , this is why I've had goosebumps since I came over. Here I was just thinking it was your pretty face." he'd say to Yume before reaching out to one of the souls, it would recoil from him.

He looked down at his hand and chuckled for a moment. He was realizing that his Dark Chakra must be off putting. If anything he now understood what hybrids like Karun, had to go through.

 

[Yume]

"Ah, but isn't that..." Yume wasn't able to finish her interjection--Yuuto had already sat himself on the opposite side of the koto and started playing. '... like playing upside down?' she finished the sentence in her thoughts instead, then turned her sights onto his fingers on the strings.

The music he played was a traditional classic. A genre that was out of her interests, simply put. The concentration she had for him wasn't because of the tune itself however, but how the tune played. The fine, invisible hairs on her cheeks reverberated with the resonance, and Yume finally remembered a piece of nostalgia.

"Oh... You're like mother..." she murmured under her breath, hardly audible. The thought passed as quick as it came and as quick as the music came to a halt. Yume glanced up to look at the man's face; her heart skipped a beat at his remark.

"Ah, I see this is why I've had goosebumps since I came over. Here I was just thinking it was your pretty face."

His hand reached out towards her. Her heart thumped hard for a moment, though not in response to his offhanded compliment. The will o'wisp hanging next to her head recoiled away from Yuuto's reach, with a soft chime that spoke to her like a whimper. He can see them, can he? Could he see that faceless ghost too? It had now fled away from the scene by then.

What many possibilities could come from this. It was obvious now, paired with the third eye and the spirits' reaction that he was at least not fully human and something that was considered a threat to them. That's so interesting. Wonder if he was the same as she.

After an uncertain pause, as if he had just told a creepy horror story, Yume smiled nervously and turned her head to look at where he reached towards. "What is why you've had goosebumps, Yuuto-san?" she asked.

It wasn't a good idea to disclose her own ability to see the spirit world. Especially now, when...

"Oh, I'm rude. I didn't introduce myself when you did!" she gasped suddenly, covering her mouth with her hand in shame. She brought it down soon after, bringing her fingers together in a heart shape and smiled. "My name's Yume. But seriously, what was that all about? You made it sound like something was there!"

 

[Enatsu]

Yume seemed unbothered by the surrounding spirits while her counterpart was only intrigued by the existence of so many tiny souls drawn around one person. Yuuto only noticed them more as they spoke together. He was honestly shocked but it could be a simple situation. Perhaps she was a beacon of sorts? She asked what was possibly causing Yuuto goosebumps and what did he see. ”Hold up wait a minute, you mean to tell me that you have no idea what I’m talking about? You don’t see the spirits around here?” Yuuto wasn’t exactly in tune with the Spirits anymore, there was the time when he adopted the ability to enter the spiritual realm (Ghost Walker). However these wisps simply were here most interacting from Emotion. The Dark Sennin would stand scratching his head.

”To be honest with you Yume, I’m more than I appear. I am currently infected by Dark Chakra although when I have the proper chance to trade up I will purge it. These Wisps are probably terrified of me to be honest and I don’t plan on making them more uncomfortable. Tell you what though I enjoyed playing this koto with you, If you have the time to spare do you want to come to my nightclub? It’s in the Red Oak District, named the Kokuren. If you’d like we can walk there now, it’s much more convenient and quiet there.” There was a very real chance that wisps were here for Yume. It was the only thing that made sense to him at the time. She was probably like a flame, and they were moths. He was a deterrent for them but what if a stronger more malevolent spirit appeared? Yume could be in trouble and this way if she stuck with him he’d keep most if not all the spirits away. However if she chose against it, he’d simply understand and have to respect her wishes.

-----

If Yume did decide to go however, Yuuto would hand her his jacket first and foremost. While they walked he would begin to ask her questions or at least attempt to start a deeper conversation. ”So while we walk to the Kokuren let’s play a game, 7 Questions. No objective for winning, we simply have to ask each other seven questions. At the end of the answer the person who asked the question has to determine if you’re telling fact or fiction. Are you game?” If Yume was up for this little game on their way to the nightclub, Yuuto would of course let ladies go first and she would start. ” So who will ask the first question…One… two.. three Nose Goes!”Yuuto quickly put his finger on his nose signifying to Yume that it was on her.

 

[Yume]

Yume gasped, bringing a sleeve to her mouth and leaned forward as if she were about to partake in a conspiracy theory. "You can see ghosts?" she whispered. The hairs on the back of her neck stood in warning, yet her eyes glistened brightly in awe. "That's so cool! Who's here right now?!"

If she were anybody else, maybe Yume would be fine with sharing her abilities. The other world is pretty hilarious if you look at it a certain way. However, Yume was U<3ME, someone with a known face. She couldn't imagine what crazy public paparazzi bullshit that would come about if it was revealed that a pop idol could see and speak to spirits. Maybe a new reality TV show would come about.

Yeah, she's so not going to let that happen.

"Kokuren? Oh, it's that new building across from FiRE E&M isn't it?" she chirped happily, bringing herself to her feet. "You own that place? That's fantastic. It's not open to the public yet, is it?"

Suppose that was a yes. Yume picked up her koto, ready to leave with him before pausing. "Oh... Nightclub? I can't go wearing this. Or carrying this. Can we stop by the clan housing district for a second?" she asked. Juggling the koto around so that she could free a hand, it went up to her ear. With a slight press, she spoke to the recipient.

"Oh, Oppa? Oppa! Can you come take my stuff, pretty please?" Click again it went before her manager could even splutter a reply. Yume smiled at Yuuto, and they began their walk. Then came the proposal of the question game, something that she was a little iffy with. Only because she didn't know how deep he might try to pry, or how well of a liar-spotter he could be. Nevertheless, Yume nodded.

"Eh? Nose goes?" she repeated confused. "Oh, I start first?" Hey, wait a minute, that was rigged! She had her hands full with carrying the koto!

Well, that didn't matter. Yume blinked to the side a few times in thought before starting off easy. "How old are you, Yuuto-san?"

Once they arrived at the edge of the clan housing district, without having to even enter to look for her estate, Yume's manager was already waiting outside. Still in his business attire, he had his arms crossed in mild annoyance.

But really, the more pressing matter was Yuuto's age.

 

[Enatsu]

Her excitement of seeing ghost was cute, and unbeknownst to her Yuuto completely bought it. He truly believed she was an average citizen who was s musician. Not only was he unaware of her status as an idol, he had no idea this was his fellow Sennin . . . What? Yuuto isn't psychic readers he doesn't know everything.

"Yes! That's the one, odd building with the tree through it. Been having some renovations but we cant remove the tree due to foundation issues. I think it gives me a little culture though yanno?" while they walked Yume realized her attire was not the best of things for a night club. And truth be told neither was Yuutos. "Yeah I'm gonna do the same.... when we get to the club... cause Iive there too. "

When she asked her question he smiled a little rubbing his smooth skin. "I'm 40 and a half, I'll be 41 soonish. Am I telling fact or fiction." Yume wished to go to the clan complexes to which Yuuto could only oblige. He followed her home making light of the spirits who had gathered at the park. The two musicians ended up at a very large expensive set of homes. "Hold up hold up you live here? Sheesh, I can only imagine the 0s' this joint cost..."

One of Yuuto's most important goals were providing a home for his family, however that wasnt gonna happen anytime soon on a Sennin salary. "Ah shoot, that counts as my question huh? Well played" as the attendant pulled up on them, he waited for their exchange before letting her do what she needed.

 

[Yume]

"What whaaaat?" Yume squinted through the dim street lighting to examine his face. "Forty??? Either that's a lie or you take really good care of your skin. You don't look a day over twenty-eight! Ah, hold on. Let me guess after this. Oh, and that doesn't have to be the question if you don't want to. I don't live here. Oppa!"

Her answer was so brisk, maybe it could have been taken as a lie. It was the truth, however. The reason she stopped just before the district was to hide which estate she lived in. Lucky that person was on the same wavelength as her and waited outside. Or maybe he was moving for the sake of her family. Whichever.

She skipped over to her manager, or the person Yuuto mistook as an attendant, and gave a cat-like smile. "Take this," she said, placing the koto on the ground and leaned it against the light pole. "And these clothes please."

"Where are you going this time of night?" he asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the man that accompanied her.

"To play," came the quick reply. Yume turned around with her back to the manager while she faced Yuuto. As she rummaged through her sleeves, she came to a realisation. Oh, silly her. She should probably introduce him. "Oh, this is my manager, Yuuto-san! Oppa, this is Yuuto. He owns that nightclub building across from FiRE."

Manager half-hummed and half-grunted in contemplation, then finally gave Yuuto a modest bow of his head. "How do you do?" he greeted. Yume was still waiting, to which he finally gave up and helped her shed the outer layers of her robe. With the large fold of fabric hanging over his forearm, Yume spun around, now only wearing a simple strapless red dress that had hid underneath her robes. She was looking a lot happier with the excess, dragging fabric off her body, while the manager looked like he was more done with her shit.

"Be careful," he said simply, moving to take the koto as well. Yume bounded over to him with a dazzling smile--the idol kind that he was already immune to.

"Thanks, Oppa!" she chirped, taking off the headpiece off herself and placing it on his head playfully. "You're the best! I promise I'll be on time tomorrow for rehearsal. Okay, Yuuto-san, I'm all ready!"

And at that, she was back by Yuuto's side, being led away to the Kokuren. She twirled her long red hair up into a bun on top of her head, pinning it in place with the tresses themselves. "Oh that's right," she sounded in remembrance. After she was satisfied with her hair, she took out a coin that swiped from her manager during the confusion.

"Heads [1] means lie, tails [2] means truth," she declared, tossing the coin into the air.

It landed on tails.

"Wow! Then that means, you take really good care of your skin," Yume beamed, throwing a skip into her walk. "Now let's see... What was your question?"

[spoilername="Rolleroo"][10:13 PM] BOTNadeko:
@Yoonie Dice rolled: 11 - 2
Rolls
2
Sum
2 + 0 - 0 = 2[/spoilername]