spirits_and_such_offices | Chapter 4: Cutting Algae Part One

Texting was a pretty neat function. It was widely adopted by every teenager except the one he, Reigen, had so generously gifted a phone to do it with. Mob was diligent to a fault about picking up his calls, but texting? Still a work in progress. Mob was getting better, though. After all, how else was Reigen supposed to give him a heads up about big jobs before the end of the school day? Excepting the occasional friendly lunch break chat.

That was of course assuming the phone was still intact. After their chat last night, Reigen wasn't so sure. It wasn't like Mob made a habit of texting him first.

Reigen squinted at the clock on his second-hand laptop he'd just replaced the shattered one with. 12:05PM. He had found a decent deal on one in a flea market but there was something off about the graphics. Parts of the screen were always slightly out of frame and most of his day had been spent trying to uselessly dink with the display options until it was righted, but instead he just ended up with a resolution that was too small.

'Ugh. New laptop, and if we're really unlucky, a new phone? I'll just garnish it...' Reigen pulled out his phone and fired off a text to his pupil. You didn't get washed away, did you? Your phone's still working, right?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"No, not really. So I guess in that way, our situations aren't entirely different."

From:

mp_npc

"It sounds like he's the one trying not to worry you." That was a role taken up by the elder, wasn't it? They came upon a koi pond that shimmered with fish of all different colors and patterns. She was thankful they had weathered the storms well enough. "Every day that goes by it gets a little bit worse. My parents think it's due to the curse from the castle. I'm not so sure. Either way...if it keeps up like this, something terrible is going to happen. That's what I think."

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

Mob hadn't really considered that before. If so, why...? Mob was at work, though, so he filed that away for thinking about later.

"Your sister... did she go to the castle once she came back here?"

From:

mp_npc

"Yeah. She has. Even if she won't admit it."

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

Mob considered this.

"What do you think?"

From:

mp_npc

Near the koi pond was a meticulously attended rock garden--well, it was. It was another thing getting battered by wind and rain. Some patterns created by the smooth stones remained intact, but others had been knocked into a state of chaos. Misaki frowned as she beheld it.

"I've lived here all my life, and my parents have lived here all their lives, and their parents have lived here all their lives. Kona-Zanshō Castle has a scary reputation, but it really isn't the beginning of anyone's troubles." Misaki was speaking the most slowly she had since meeting Mob. "But it definitely has it's own personality. And it has things it hates. That's what I know to be true."

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"You said before that it curses people, right? Do you think she may have done something it hated?"

From:

mp_npc

"It must be something like that, right?" Misaki spun to face Mob, the ribbon binding her kimono fluttering. "You've seen stuff like this before, right?"

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"Kind of. We've dealt with curses before, but if this is one... I don't know what kind of curse it is yet." Maybe with more time he could figure it out, but they only had a few minutes together and he was trying his best to pay attention to the client who was actually talking to them.

From:

mp_npc

Humming, Misaki twisted a finger in the end of her braid to think of something that could immediately aid in Mob's investigation. "...Ah! I got it. I'll show you the kind of stuff that my sister has done here. If you get an idea of who she really is, that'll help you wrap your head around things!"

It was also the perfect way to neatly tie in her duties of giving her guest the tour of their business.

She walked them through one of the paths through the gardens back towards the main building, skipping on the moss-covered stone steps as she went. They rounded back to the teahouse and she gestured at it--it was composed of clean lines and inside the furnishings were quite modern. "Like I said, our parents are really great--they never repress us or anything! Asa updated this old building before she left for college. She calls it a Zen Minimalist style."

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

Mob didn't know anything about architecture, but it definitely looked impressive to him.

"Is your sister studying architecture?"

From:

mp_npc

"Nope. Business." There was an obvious puzzled lilt as she said it, even if it was matter-of-fact.

Soon, they were at the entrance of the ryokan. She slid the door open and lead Mob to a section of the entrance opposite a small shrine--a little alcove. Within it was a guest book mounted on a waist-high pedestal that was overlooked by a collage of sepia-toned photographs.

"This was Asa's idea, too! When she was in elementary--right after I was born. She really liked photographing me with this old-fashioned camera. So, then, she had the idea to give guests the option of photographing themselves after their stay here, fully refreshed."

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

Mob wondered for a half-second if they'd do that too, but he quickly realized that Reigen wouldn't let them leave without doing it.

When he looked down at the guest book, though, he was surprised by what he saw there. "Oh, Teru." His blonde friend was much smaller than he was now. Maybe 5 or 6? Mob wasn't sure; he had a hard time judging people's ages. After all, a lot of people thought he was the younger brother, but Mob couldn't see it.

Next to him was a much older man, who had his hand pressed to Teru's shoulder. He was beaming with pride. Was that Teru's grandfather? He looked way too old to be his father.

From:

mp_npc

"Hm? Who?" Misaki leaned in to get a look at where Mob's eyes were--and her mouth fell all the way open. "Wait! This picture!?"

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"Yeah," Mob answered once she pointed to the correct image. "That's it."

From:

mp_npc

"You're on a first-name basis with the Terukatsu Kinugawa!?"

From:

spiritsandsuchtrainee

"Huh?" It took a moment for Mob to register that that must have been Teru's grandfather's name. "Oh, no, Teruki." Mob pointed at the little blonde boy in the photo.

From:

mp_npc

Misaki's visible state of awe didn't lessen. "To think that your office was so well-connected...wow! This might be just what snaps my big sister out of her funk...!"