npc || amun [ @ hierarchy ]

[nightnpcs]

( ping ping ping. or, y'know, whatever your phone chime is. the face of a man who looks like he's never smiled once in his entire life appears on your screen. you may have seen him before, while you were busy surviving a storm or battling reapers. no matter. you might as well bask in his impromptu company now, because his appearances are few, and his indulgences even fewer. )

Allow me to make this clear. For those of you who wonder still: I am the Hierarchy. You do not come to us; we summon, invite, and hire. Order is of the utmost importance if you wish to survive, and time is of the essence. Do not waste mine.

( behind him, movement. if you squint, you may notice strands of greying hair near the door, though the person it belongs to remains off-screen. )

Your personal troubles are your own. If you expected us to hold your hand, do think again; there are far greater affairs to attend to, so do yourselves a favor, and look for soulmates. We've prepared an application for you, easily accessible from your device's home page. Should you need additional information, perhaps it's time for you to practice self-reliance.

I will not be answering questions.

( and the feed cuts, abruptly, without greetings or a name. )

ooc note

► Amun will not be responding, though you're absolutely welcome to react, comment and discuss amongst yourselves on this post! Other NPCs might show up!
► This is, more or less, Tinder for Soulmates o/ You'll find the permanent post (aka phone application) right HERE! If you're interested, simply fill out the form and comment on the post, and bam. Browse, swipe left or swipe right, and have fun! This is not mandatory.
► Forms and replies should be posted ICly (yes, even if it's located in the OOC comm -- you may choose one (1) thread for october's AC) .
► Another character may post in your character's stead. Additionally, feel free to have their Shadow influence their blurb!
► The application offers all the information your character needs to know! To recap: All that's required for another Restless to become your Soulmate is for them to enter your home, touch your Tethers upon invitation, and from then on, a piece of their soul will merge with yours, fortifying your Self. As a literal extension of your being, they'll easily gain access to your thoughts if you let them (or if you're careless), they'll experience your pains, fears, and joys on weaker levels, and their voice, touch and overall vicinity can become great soothing weapons against your Shadow. However. If two characters already share a powerful bond and one incidentally touches the other's Tethers, it's an accidental done deal. You may thank Naruto's player for this.
► You may have multiple Soulmates!
► If you have questions regarding the app, redirect them here!

Comments

[windsongs]

[ Hibiki doesn't show emotion, has learned not to (N̵o̶ ̵o̶n̶e̴ ̷w̶a̷n̶t̷s̷ ̴t̵o̴ ̶s̴e̷e̴ ̴t̵h̸a̷t̶ ̴d̷i̸s̸a̴s̶t̷e̴r̴), so when Kaito seems to snap to and immediately flash her a grin, he pulls her right up with her. It's so abrupt that she hasn't even noticed her own smile grow a little bit.

Huh. And here she thought this guy was more guarded and reserved. This is a nice surprise, actually. ]

Client? [ Well, that's one way of looking at it, although... ] Well, I guess I should say I look forward to working with you, Kaito-san!

Wow, who knew I'd meet a chef-slash-supernatural-investigator in the Netherworld. But I guess where else would I meet him? ...Shibuya I guess!

[ It's good that she's so used to driving her feelings into the ground, because it helps her bounce back. Not to her normal radiant self, but somewhere presentable. ]

Oh yeah? Sounds a lot like me, actually. Well... except I would usually get let go from those jobs because weird things kept happening. I'm sure you can probably guess why. But I respect the hustle, from one workaholic to I think another. ...Hmm, actually, I should pick up a student or two if there's time..?

[nagano]

[ Yeah we'll see how well that works when y'all are in person and you can't hide shit from him anymore lmfao ]

Better that we met now rather than then. If we had already been working together I might have just ended up leaving you in the dust. Not super cool.

[ A beat as we ignore PSL. ]

Did someone say student? Or student loan? I barely picked something up from the speaker.

[windsongs]

[ But she likes ground pounding her emotions, it's fun :c ]

Hey, you never know. I might be a natural and we don't know it. Maybe I would've been the one leaving you in the dust.

[ She highly doubts that, but if he's going to be cheeky at her, then she is contractually obligated to return fire. ]

Oh, sorry, just a bad habit of mine. I was just saying that I might try to look at taking on a student or two myself. I never had time to before, but I mean, all we have is time now, right?

[nagano]

The possibilities are endless. Still are, in un-life.

[ Does he truly believe that? ]

What would you teach these students? Who knows, you might have a student here.

[windsongs]

Un-life huh? Mind if I take that one? I'll pay royalties once I find work.

[ Because he strikes her as the type who would want a cut--or at least say he does. ]

Music. I had to spend so much of my time either working or playing clubs that I never got to pay all those teachers who dealt with me back. What better time than now, you know?

[ Although, her sensei was hoping she might help with lessons, but she wasn't sure if she wanted it. Didn't know what she want until she got the package that would change her life. And probably ended it. What would have happened if she took him up on his offer? ]

There are other things too, but I dunno if I'm cut out for those.

[nagano]

60-40 for me, and I'll consider it.

[ He has the audacity to wink. The rest of her reply is mulled over with greater consideration. Could he have become a teacher if things had gone differently? Gennosuke's favorite art wasn't even Japanese, despite his relatively high standing as a kendoka.

The possibilities truly are endless... for better or worse. ]

There's only way to know for sure, and that's to try. What else are you thinking about? I won't make fun of you for it, probably.

[windsongs]

[ Hibiki considers for a moment, curling a hand at her chin before grinning. ]

60-40, but I don't have to tell anybody where I got it from.

[ Are you sure you want to be teaching this gremlin, Kaito? You can always back out now! Taking a breath and exhaling with a shrug of her shoulders, that smile turns wistful. If he won't make fun of her for being sappy... ]

Aikido. I got the feeling sensei would've liked to hand the dojo off to me, even asked if I wanted to help with some of the newer or younger students. I kinda wonder what would've happened if I said yes, might've been nice to have something that was mine.

[nagano]

Feh! Fine. I'll know in my heart of hearts that I'm the original copyright owner.

[ It's too late. He's here to stay. Why else did I even app him here?!?!?! ]

Aikido, huh. I know a bit of kendo, karate, some other stuff...

Again, I know that feeling, perhaps surprisingly. I worked at a ramen joint in Shibuya and a small part of me hoped that I would either inherit the business or open my own some day.

Yet here I am, un-alive.

[windsongs]

[ ...You know what. ]

Then let me offer a trade. For helping me with developing my abilities, I'll show you everything I know. You can be my first student. I won't go easy on you, though!

[ Listen to them, trying to think of ways to make their un-lives worth living. Which is why she decides to be a little self-indulgent here, her nostalgic smirk growing into a bright grin. ]

Why not do that now? I mean, it's not like we're going anywhere or anything. Or you can help me start that dojo I clearly should be running at this point, since you're already planning on teaching me.

[nagano]

... You kinda have a point.

[ A big point, at that. Kaito's ultimate goal is something he likely won't share with anyone for a while. But that's going to take time.

If he's stuck here anyway, he may as well stay productive. Build his restaurant, start his information network, and... ]

Hell, why not. Sure. None of my previous teachers have ever really given me any slack. I'm used to being roughed up.

You think a dojo can offer martial and magical training at the same time?

[windsongs]

[ For the most part she's just spitballing ideas for the fun of it, because it helps make the reason for them being possible feel less hopeless. But there's a small part of her that might not mind. ]

I don't see why not. Ki is an important part of aikido, and I know there are plenty other martial arts that use the same concept. I know it isn't quite the same thing, but if you ask me, it wouldn't make sense to not have some form of magical training available there.

[ She pauses before holding up a single finger. ]

But only if we can go 50-50, and both of our names get to be on it.

[nagano]

Indeed. Magic has many sources, both internal and external. However, the concepts of aura manipulation can easily be applied to ki, or chakra, or mana, or any of that. So, yeah.

[ A beat. He smiles. ]

I wasn't expecting to make my first business venture so quickly, but I suppose that's what I get for thinking I'm in control of the timeline.

Consider it a deal.

[windsongs]

[ Wait. Wait, she wasn't being serious. Not really. Wasn't this just supposed to be a thought exercise? One that, you know, honestly doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world. Who knows, maybe after she closed that book that brought her back to Tokyo she might have...

Ah, dammit. Sure. ]

Usually we'd have to sign a contract in ink, but considering this is the Netherworld and who even knows if they use the same legal system as literally anywhere else, I'm gonna say a verbal works. I'll even notarize it.

[ And for the first time since she got to this literal gods-forsaken place, she genuinely smiles. ]

[nagano]

[ Oh.

That smile reaches her eyes.

How dangerous. ]

A verbal contract is good enough for me. If you want to be really thorough, blood pacts are popular.

Besides, the deal just has to be valid for us. I don't want to start any kind of business too close to Stygia and whatever bureaucracy and red tape they might have.

[windsongs]

I thought we were starting a business, not a cult.

[ Also she could use just a touch less macabre in her un-life right now, and blood pacts sound messy in more ways than one. ]

I can get behind that, the less we have to worry about all of that the better. So that puts us somewhere across the sea... Doesn't really narrow down the options though, and I doubt I can pull up a map on this thing.