001; action

[nikori]

[may 15; late morning/noonish]
[so like

If anyone happens to go on over into the item shop, they'll find a man -- who, to be quite honest, looks more like a boy, if anything -- curled up on the floor of one of the back corners, next to a large pile of stuffed animals and, uh... pillows. He may or may not have knocked all of these over in his sleep. He's quite a graceful sleeper over there, you see. Especially since he's curled up all over one of those pillows. A very large one of those pillows with an image of a certain Toshizo Hijikata on it. Is he aware of it? nope.

...Yeah. May wanna wake him up.]




[may 16; evening]
[The following day, once he's more or less settled and kind of knows of what's going on here, he can be found walking over to Seventh Heaven for food. Except once he gets to the restaurant? He finds the bar. But he decides to actually not get a real drink for once while there. Instead, he gets one of these... milkshake things. A chocolate milkshake. What the heck is a chocolate milkshake. He's staring this thing down with a raised eyebrow before trying it.]

Huh...

[Feel free to poke at the guy who's staring at a milkshake like it's a cup of rainbow brussel sprouts and platypi.]

Comments

[gohon]

[ He just shrugs. ] I don't lie. I didn't believe it at first, either.

[nikori]

[...Sigh.] So... We're really stuck here then? [And without the others? Do they even know they're gone..?]

What're we supposed to do in the mean time?!

[gohon]

Basically. [ Still slightly frowning... ugh.

Well. Hey! Luckily Community House 4 is not far from the item store, and luckily Souji's room is right by the entrance. Pushing open the door and leading him inside. ] Who knows. It's not really exciting here.

[nikori]

[Good because it's too light out for Heisuke anyway aaaahhhah]

Mm.. Well, you've been here longer than me, haven't you? [Some..how... Heisuke doesn't recall Souji being gone or anything, so...!] What have you been doing then?

[gohon]

About two months. [ Oh yeah he's been counting the days. ] I haven't been doing much, just the usual. You should join me on rounds after this. [ He opens the door to his apartment and oh hi Toshizo. Why are you sitting in the entryway giving me that look? ]

[nikori]

[Two months... what the heck. This place makes no sense. Souji wouldn't lie about that though, so.. gah! none of this makes sense...!]

I dunno... It's too early for that, isn't it?-- [..wait.] --Hey, Souji, what's a cat doing in here?

[gohon]

Oh. [ --oh right, only Shinpachi of those three ever met the animal. Oh well. He doesn't have to explain too much. ] That's Toshizo. Just ignore him. [ And like his instructions, he just gracefully steps over the cat like it's no big deal. ]

Even if you say it's too early, [ Entering the room and leaning against the couch, studying Heisuke carefully. ] I was in the middle of doing so when I found you. I kind of want to finish what I was doing.

[nikori]

[wait wait. Hold up on leaving to go back to what you were doing, Souji..! Did you just say Toshizo? Heisuke will get back to that but... Toshizo... That's too funny...! Which is why he bursts into laughter.]

Pffff... Hahahahaha! Toshizo?! You named a cat after Hijikata-san? I wish I could see his face after hearing about that..!

[sorry bro he's kind of stuck on this right now..]

[gohon]

Ah, I'm pretty sure you can imagine what his reaction was. [ Grins. Oh good, he thinks it's funny. ] Just look at his face. He looks just like him.

[nikori]

[Heisuke thinks everything is funny, Souji. Come on.

He gives the cat another brief look before letting out more barks of laughter.] Hahahahaha! It really does look just like 'im! I-I can't...! This is too funny! Hahaha!

[gohon]

[ Wow as you laugh Toshizo will give you a look before storming out of the room haughtily. Or he would have if he was a person. It's a normal cat's walk but with the image of Hijikata... yeah.

Souji is just kind of grinning the whole situation. ] Aw, Heisuke-kun, you offended him. [ Though he probably would have started laughing too. ]

[nikori]

[Even so, Heisuke can't help but imagine the cat as Hijikata, which leads to a few last chuckles and him wiping away any tears of laughter that may have spawned.]

Haha, oh man.. He's even as grumpy as Hijikata-san! [He is very glad that Hijikata isn't here right now-- and wow this conversation has derailed. Totally worth it though..!]

[gohon]

[ Yeah, but Souji's not one for games! ...Okay. That's a lie. But he still snickers in Heisuke's direction before standing up off the couch, taking a step or two towards him. ] No other name fits as well as that one, yeah? He won't even respond to anything else. [ Except "Vice Captain" but that's Saitou's job.

Nodding towards the door. ] C'mon. Grab your swords and let's go.

[nikori]

[Heisuke just grins at that, since yeah, that's totally true..! That cat is like. Hijikata's spirit animal. Or something-- Okay no. When Souji mentions leaving, Heisuke doesn't move, and instead gives him a bit of a "bro are you serious c'mon" look.]

Oi oi, Souji. I already said it's too early for me to go. Normally I'm not even up at this time, you know? [Duh. Come on, Souji. Get your head in the game!!]

[gohon]

[ He doesn't bother to respond until he gets to the door, where he just stands, studying Heisuke. Arms crossed. ]

You aren't? I know you're a pretty late sleeper... But it's the afternoon.

[nikori]

[Cross them all you want, Souji! He's still not going, as much as he'd like to. He tenses a bit though, giving his friend his own baffled look.]

Even in the afternoon I'm not. I mean, I used to, but since I gotta sleep in during the day I usually don't even get up until around when you guys all have dinner. You bump your head or somethin', Souji? [Because you should know this already!]

[gohon]

[ Here Souji just takes a moment to study Heisuke. ...

...And bursts out into laughter. Not a haha this is fun laughter, but... a very odd-sounding kind. ]

Hahah! Don't tell me! You're acting like a fury.

[nikori]

[Heisuke just. Blinks. And stars. Kind of studying Souji himself. He's not serious, is he...? Especially considering the fact that this is a conversation about Heisuke being a fury, welp. He's starting to get a little irritated.]

Oi, Souji! Are you being serious..? That's not funny, you know. I'm not acting, so...

[gohon]

Hmmm. [ Kind of narrows his eyes at him. He's not glaring, he's just trying to get a better look at him.

Heisuke's a terrible actor and maybe he believes it. Well, it's no matter. He can just carry on as he was before. ]

Fine. I'll be back later. [ Putting his hand on the knob to leave... ]

[nikori]

Hey, Souji! [What's going on..?! 8|

But.. gosh whatever...! Heisuke just continues to stare at Souji for a bit since wow this is weird. He hasn't seriously forgotten, has he? Welp. But yeah if he's leaving, Heisuke's not gonna stop him. what even.]