An Aside: Mobile Gaming

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

They had hit a lull and Mob was fussing.

Of course it didn’t look like fussing to anyone else, but Reigen was fine-tuned to Mob’s nearly-invisible displays of emotion. A tiny line on his forehead or by his mouth conveyed deep befuddlement, and all of it was aimed at his phone which he hadn’t put down for the last fifteen minutes.

Reigen would have ordinarily been inclined to have him do something more useful with himself, but this was unusual enough that he gave it a few more minutes of observation, glancing up from behind his screen, before saying something.

“Is your phone on the fritz or something?” ’Please say no.’

Comments

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen sniffed a little more loudly than intended. "It's really important that you stay by my side at all times during jobs. It's dangerous if we're not together."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah, but after I got pulled away, I thought it'd be safer for me to stay in one place."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"And you were right to do that. But you need to get comfortable with taking action and making yourself conspicuous." Reigen sniffed again. "Not that I need you too, I would have found you by your, uh, aura soon enough. But not everyone is as spiritually attuned as me, so if it were anyone else, it could have been really bad."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob absorbed Reigen's lesson completely, and for a moment, appeared to consider it.

"Maybe it would help if I had a phone."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

A phone? The thought hadn't crossed Reigen's mind until the kid's suggestion.

"Oh, crap," Reigen muttered under his breath, suddenly digging into his pocket for his own phone. He had gotten so soaked through and had tripped at least a dozen times in his mad scramble to find Shigeo that he realized he didn't even know if he still had it--or if it still worked if he did. Reigen closed his fingers around it and flipped it open. The screen still lit up just as it always did. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when--

Kreeeeeeeee!

A sharp whine that was eerily human but not at all human hit his ears and he covered one. Every tsukumogami fled, even the mat under his knees, though it had to worm painfully to do it. The lantern lights flickered in panic. Reigen looked around in surprise, as if he had only just realized they had all been there all along.

Morinji tipped over, spilling what was left of her tea everywhere, the etched featuers of her face twisting in pain. "Ooouuuu...take it away...!"

"Wha--hey!" Before he could even process what was happening, Reigen's phone was being wrenched out of his hand by a freakishly quick one-legged umbrella and being tossed out of the window in short order.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob watched passively as the phone flew out of the window and landed on the ground outside. His gaze slowly turned back to his distressed employer, who he regarded with the same neutral countenance.

"I think they can't be around technology," Mob offered helpfully.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

There were times Reigen wanted to grab the boy’s round cheeks with both hands and just squeeze. This was one of them.

“Kasa…! Don’t…treat the guest…in such a way.”

“Mori-chan! Seriously…!?” The umbrella ghost wilted. “I was just tryin’ to look out for us! Besides, this ugly jerk is here to exorcize us!”

“Okay, okay.” Reigen cleared his throat. Out of every indignity that had happened, going after his handsome self was too far. “Exorcism is a strong word.”

“The hell would you call it then, huh?”

“We’re here to soothe.” Reigen raised his hands—even if these spirits seemed weak, there was still a real risk to them and all of their clients property if he couldn’t bring this situation back under control.

Besides, the kid was watching, too.

The crotchety umbrella seemed skeptical but he wasn’t making any sudden moves. Reigen got up and righted the teapot that had tipped over. “Shigeo-kun, were you treated kindly here?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob answered without hesitation. "Yeah, they've all been really nice to me."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Except for the kidnapping,” Chochin yawned.

Kasa winced with his enormous single eye. After a long pause, he knelt on his single knee. “I’m terribly sorry. I won’t be doin’ it again.”

“Well, I’m grateful you kept my student safe at any rate.” Reigen’s hand made a series of snappy flourishes to gesture out the window. “I will be needing that phone before it gets completely soaked through, though. If I turn it off before coming back in, will that be fine?”

“Y-yeah, probably…” Kasa watched him leave—suddenly struck with a sudden sense of alarm as he exited. The rest of his fellow spirits felt it too and he frantically tried to spring after him. “W-wait, don’t go out there! It ain’t safe—!”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

It was only then that Mob felt it -- a very powerful spirit. He was sure Reigen would feel it himself, but he couldn't stop him from calling out his master's name anyway.

"Master Reigen! You shouldn't go out there!"

No matter how strong his master was, he couldn't do this unprepared.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen moved with haste—he’d be lucky if the damn thing still worked at this point, never mind the time it’d probably take to dig through the mud and bamboo for it. Luckily he was quick to spot it, its black frame standing out clearly where it had landed on a strip of white cloth. He closed the distance as fast as the thick mud would let him and picked it up. It greeted him with a familiar chime and he sighed in relief. When this was all over he was putting both it and Shigeo on a leash. Never again.

Then, the cloth shifted. Reigen blinked water out of his eyes. It was getting taller, far taller than him—and suddenly it was encircling him. His yelp of shock was muffled as it tightened its grip on him and there were hands on his head and on his back—!?

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob's trademark shield formed a dome around Reigen; it couldn't block the spirit from completely swallowing the half-orb around him, but it did rip the entrenching arms away from his head and back.

"Who is this?" Mob shouted out. He was outside now, his hands thrust out in front of him.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen gracelessly fell onto his back with a splat into the mud after the tall whatever it was forcibly released him. If nothing else he didn't fall onto his phone. There was a sour and spoilt smell clinging to him now and Reigen recognized it at once--

'...Booze?'

There was a sniff. Then, there was growling--no, crying--no, blubbering. Reigen wiped at his eyes to finally see what had grabbed him. A towering man with an instrument for a head was trying to feebly reach for him. 'A biwa.' He spared a thought for the traditional music classes he took in middle school. It's face was twisted with inelegant sobbing and when it wiped at it's face it's cries distorted with a harsh twang as it plucked itself.

"A-A nice group of guys...a nice group of guys showed up...!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Was this spirit dangerous? It was hard for Mob to tell. He didn't sense any hostility from him, but Mob was hesitant to drop the shield from around Reigen until he had a chance to suss things out for himself.

"Why aren't you inside with everyone else?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

An old wooden bucket tipped over as it heaved a sigh with a loud splosh as the rainwater it was collecting spilled out. "Biwa-kun, you're being terribly unseemly." It spoke with an aggrieved familiarity. "Go around the back and sober up."

Kasa landed on Mob's shoulder, his canopy flaring out to shield him from the rain. "He ain't inside cause he causes trouble for everyone. He steals energy better than any of us...not that he means to. He just drinks and cries so much that people get trapped into consolin' him. ...That, or they're just too slow to escape. Still, he got really powerful that way..."

'So he's an energy vampire?' Reigen grimaced as he watched the tsukumogami's maudlin display. He got back to his feet and watched him carefully for a few moments more before taking a deep breath. "Hey."

Biwa rubbed his face on his sleeve and whimpered in acknowledgement.

"My student will lower the barrier, but you can't grab me or him. Deal?"

Eventually, Biwa gave a little nod. Reigen motioned for Mob to let it down.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob promptly let down the barrier.

"Everybody misses people that much, huh?" Mob considered that. He never really missed much of anyone. He saw his family and Master Reigen almost every day, so it was really hard for him to relate.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Kasa’s singular eye grimaced at Mob’s comment. “He did take the humans abandoning this place the hardest. I guess that’s musicians for you. Still makes a nuisance out of himself, though.”

“You seem like a nice guy…there aren’t any nice humans around anymore…” Biwa sniffed. “And when I saw you crying, I thought you might be like me—“

“T-that was just the rain.” Reigen gestured for Biwa to follow him inside. Spirit or not, he couldn’t stand by and watch a sloppy drunk crying out in the cold. “Shigeo-kun, please start some more tea.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob wasn't exactly sure how he could start some more tea, especially since Morinji poured it from himself. Was it okay for him to use a spirit to make tea? Mob wasn't sure. He'd never encountered a teapot spirit until now. It might be rude.

It was probably better for him to ask.

"Do you have any more tea?" he asked Morinji.

[mp_npc]

Mori’s bronze body quaked with excitement at the question. “Yes! Are going to use me to make tea?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob nodded. "If you're okay with it."

[mp_npc]

“Of course!” The metal of Mori’s face glistened as if it was shining with tears. “That’s what I was crafted for.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob picked up Mori just as he would the teapot they had at Spirits and Such. "Let's get you heated up. Just show me where I need to go."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Spirit or no spirit, Reigen was skilled in the art of playing keeper to a sad drunk. His spirit brethen seemed taken aback by his and Shigeo's easy-going approach, some even insisting that they let Biwa sleep it off out back so as not to inconvenience either of them, but he steadfastly reminded him of their mission: to soothe. Reigen felt a mote of pity for the spirits who had already forgotten they were exorcists on a mission, but that was far secondary to their essential purpose of simply serving humans. Reigen chose not to dwell on it--it wasn't for him to understand how spirits thought. Even the crass umbrella was relaxing in the corner of the room, all folded up comfortably.

As for the problem-child, Biwa seemed to respond well enough to firm boundaries. No begging for seconds of tea until everyone at the table had gotten theirs, no blowing his nose on the sentient cloth, no leaning on Shigeo's head. A little more time passed, the tea was almost gone and everyone was warmed up and dried when he made a request that surprised Reigen.

"Mister...can you play me?"

"Play...you?" Reigen gestured at Biwa's head.

"Yeah. You can play good music, right? I can tell from your fingers."

Reigen blushed slightly, but he hid it behind his hand and played it off like he was simply ponderous. It wasn't exactly the instrument he spent the most time with, but he had played it a few times in college out of sheer intrigue. Even if he wasn't blind, it was a romantic fantasy in imagining himself a biwa hoshi when things got too stressful to deal with. Those embarrassing thoughts flew through his head in an instant and he wondered if the tsukumogami could perceive them with some panic.

"I suppose...I do know at least one song..."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Wow, so you're that old," Mob observed aloud as the teapot was warmed over the stove. "How long ago did the previous owners move out?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

There was a confused hush that fell over the spirits and Reigen cleared his throat loudly. “What my humble protège means is that you all are very esteemed in your experience and hospitality.”

The redirection worked flawlessly on Biwa, whose change in mood set the rest of the less powerful yokai at ease. He laid himself on Reigen’s lap, propping his head into his hands.

Reigen reminded himself that this was a ghost possessing an instrument and not a man nuzzling up against him. One hand found the neck of the instrument part and the other found the plectrum. He had to pause at the feel of it…it felt like ivory. ‘This isn’t legal anymore, is it…?’

Regardless, the show had to go on.

When he struck the strings, the sound was resilient and rich. The tone reverberated in the room and a steady calm fell over even the most restless of the ghosts.