Post by Burgundy on Sept 14, 2022 19:38:52 GMT
It was a cool day after a rainy night. A somewhat older man, very tall and rather stocky but it was hard to call him fat, was wandering across Karakura. Getting put out on his ass by his family immediately after getting let out of jail still stung quite a bit, but he couldn't blame them. A twelve year sentence was a bad look for any family – Akihiro had nowhere to go though. He'd renounced his ties to the Kayashi Clan, which meant he was hard up for friends to fall back on.
This is to say, the man was homeless. He'd known many discomforts in the slammer, but they paled in comparison to sleeping in the rain. While he could have gone and found a place with a bit more coverage from the rain, he'd noticed a memorial on the corner of the sidewalk next to a phone pole, which would have been ruined by the rain. He happened to find an umbrella while dumpster diving prior to that point, so he decided to give the memorial some cover, and sleep against a phone pole that night.
It was probably a mistake, thinking about it, but the memorial was still in one piece when he woke up the next morning, so he felt a bit of pride in doing his good deed for the day. While he physically felt... fine as he gets, there was this pervasive chill up his spine all day. Even after he stopped at a Free Gym to get a warm shower and clean the mud off himself, when he stepped out of the changing room he'd feel that same chill yet again.
"Getting sick at a time like this? Damn, my luck can't get any worse," Akihiro would complain to nobody in particular. He left the gym, resolving to get hired today. He needed cash asap so he could get into an apartment to keep the rain off his head.
Little did he know, that he wasn't sick – he was haunted.
A young girl who'd been struck down in a car accident had yet to move on from the world, and was bound to that memorial. When it was about to become ruined in the rain, she was full of fear. Yet a large man showed up to protect her little shrine. She had tried to express her gratitude, but he couldn't hear her... Was she perhaps resolved to return the favor?
Whatever her reasons, he couldn't hear them, so Akihiro was blind to the ghost who was following him around. Her presence was still ghostly, it still sent a chill up his spine as a mortal, but he wasn't able to understand this feeling as paranormal.
"To the temping agency."
He arrived at a temp service a few blocks away into the city proper, with its more urban development. He waited in line for what felt like hours, but was denied his opportunity when he couldn't provide an address of residence. He had to contain his indignation, and go about it the hard way: Physically walking the streets on the lookout for help-wanted signs.
In a whole city, one would think it impossible to not get hired somewhere if they put in the work, filled out paperwork to the best of their ability all day, all in-person. But then again, a criminal record in Japan was a big deal, nobody wanted to deal with a man who had a history of violence. Not to mention he didn't have a phone to call, so if they didn't hire him on the spot, they weren't going to hire him. Without a place of residence he couldn't use temp work to bypass the prejudice, without a steady income he couldn't put a roof over his head, without a roof over his head, he had no place of residence.
Truly a cycle from hell, but he accepted this as part of the challenge of becoming a better person.
As the day waned to dusk, and the shops and businessfronts were starting to close. Having found no success in the job hunt today, he simply wondered what he was going to do for something to eat. Stealing wasn't difficult, but it was illegal. Picking food out of the garbage was kind of nasty, but he was hard up for options.
He didn't feel terribly hungry at the moment, though. He could probably just find a place to settle in for the night... That would save energy and let him recover from the shame. So he decided to look around for an ideal place to set up camp, and he found...
A shrine?
It was a bit of a spectacle, but it was technically a public area, albeit a man like him just sleeping on the cobblestones would be an eyesore. The roofs of the shrine seemed to jut out a bit further than most places, so he could probably tuck himself off to the side of the place and catch some Z's behind some brush.
Justifying his intent like that, he would bound into the shrine's property line, and follow through bowing courteously to any shrines he got close to, albeit not really towards any spirits that may have lived there apologizing quietly for his transgression, and then slipping over to the lonesome side of the main building proper. The awning of the roof was long enough to provide protection from the elements which meant he could sleep here and not worry about it if there was any rain.
"Tomorrow then... tomorrow's my day. For sure."
He sat himself down, before slumping into a relaxed position – Head propped up by his hand, which was propped up by his elbow against the ground, laying on his side. Akihiro fell into a slumber, the chill of the nighttime breeze seemingly lost on him. The spirit of a young girl who had been haunting him all day idled nearby, not needing sleep, and being a bit lost. She'd watch over him, out of gratitude. That was enough, right?
This is to say, the man was homeless. He'd known many discomforts in the slammer, but they paled in comparison to sleeping in the rain. While he could have gone and found a place with a bit more coverage from the rain, he'd noticed a memorial on the corner of the sidewalk next to a phone pole, which would have been ruined by the rain. He happened to find an umbrella while dumpster diving prior to that point, so he decided to give the memorial some cover, and sleep against a phone pole that night.
It was probably a mistake, thinking about it, but the memorial was still in one piece when he woke up the next morning, so he felt a bit of pride in doing his good deed for the day. While he physically felt... fine as he gets, there was this pervasive chill up his spine all day. Even after he stopped at a Free Gym to get a warm shower and clean the mud off himself, when he stepped out of the changing room he'd feel that same chill yet again.
"Getting sick at a time like this? Damn, my luck can't get any worse," Akihiro would complain to nobody in particular. He left the gym, resolving to get hired today. He needed cash asap so he could get into an apartment to keep the rain off his head.
Little did he know, that he wasn't sick – he was haunted.
A young girl who'd been struck down in a car accident had yet to move on from the world, and was bound to that memorial. When it was about to become ruined in the rain, she was full of fear. Yet a large man showed up to protect her little shrine. She had tried to express her gratitude, but he couldn't hear her... Was she perhaps resolved to return the favor?
Whatever her reasons, he couldn't hear them, so Akihiro was blind to the ghost who was following him around. Her presence was still ghostly, it still sent a chill up his spine as a mortal, but he wasn't able to understand this feeling as paranormal.
"To the temping agency."
He arrived at a temp service a few blocks away into the city proper, with its more urban development. He waited in line for what felt like hours, but was denied his opportunity when he couldn't provide an address of residence. He had to contain his indignation, and go about it the hard way: Physically walking the streets on the lookout for help-wanted signs.
In a whole city, one would think it impossible to not get hired somewhere if they put in the work, filled out paperwork to the best of their ability all day, all in-person. But then again, a criminal record in Japan was a big deal, nobody wanted to deal with a man who had a history of violence. Not to mention he didn't have a phone to call, so if they didn't hire him on the spot, they weren't going to hire him. Without a place of residence he couldn't use temp work to bypass the prejudice, without a steady income he couldn't put a roof over his head, without a roof over his head, he had no place of residence.
Truly a cycle from hell, but he accepted this as part of the challenge of becoming a better person.
As the day waned to dusk, and the shops and businessfronts were starting to close. Having found no success in the job hunt today, he simply wondered what he was going to do for something to eat. Stealing wasn't difficult, but it was illegal. Picking food out of the garbage was kind of nasty, but he was hard up for options.
He didn't feel terribly hungry at the moment, though. He could probably just find a place to settle in for the night... That would save energy and let him recover from the shame. So he decided to look around for an ideal place to set up camp, and he found...
A shrine?
It was a bit of a spectacle, but it was technically a public area, albeit a man like him just sleeping on the cobblestones would be an eyesore. The roofs of the shrine seemed to jut out a bit further than most places, so he could probably tuck himself off to the side of the place and catch some Z's behind some brush.
Justifying his intent like that, he would bound into the shrine's property line, and follow through bowing courteously to any shrines he got close to, albeit not really towards any spirits that may have lived there apologizing quietly for his transgression, and then slipping over to the lonesome side of the main building proper. The awning of the roof was long enough to provide protection from the elements which meant he could sleep here and not worry about it if there was any rain.
"Tomorrow then... tomorrow's my day. For sure."
He sat himself down, before slumping into a relaxed position – Head propped up by his hand, which was propped up by his elbow against the ground, laying on his side. Akihiro fell into a slumber, the chill of the nighttime breeze seemingly lost on him. The spirit of a young girl who had been haunting him all day idled nearby, not needing sleep, and being a bit lost. She'd watch over him, out of gratitude. That was enough, right?
