Post by Moriko Koboyashi on Apr 19, 2016 21:58:23 GMT
It’s the little things that makes all the difference. A single number written in the right book can shift the course of entire districts, a single cry of a baby can change an entire destiny, a single dusty old scroll found in a box obtained at a bulk acquisition can light the fire of rebellion in a heart. Koboyashi Moriko’s life has always been shaped by the little things and none better than her appreciates their power.
“Yo~~~! I’m home~” Mori cheered as she flounced through the entrance of the townhouse in the Shiori 24th. It was mostly paid out of her own personal funds. It wasn’t that she couldn’t politely request enough funds from the higher ups in the clan to pay for it handsomely, but there were certain somethings which she would rather keep quiet. If it was bought with clan money some might reckon that logically she wouldn’t have a problem if one of them just happened to drop by for a look-see.
Still, you don’t spend centuries working as a clerk for somebody with fingers in as many pies as the Shiori without learning how to set a tidy, if unambitious, portfolio of your own. It was just yet another one of those little things.
“Welcome back ma’am,” Said her housekeeper looking up from her gardening.
“Thanks Alice,” Mori said waving to the woman. Alice looked old enough to be Mori’s mom, though she was only about half as old. It was just another quirk of the corporeally challenged. She was an actual Victorian era maid, one experienced in keeping her employer’s secrets and bored enough with life in Ruknogai to work for cheap. She was just another one of those little things.
“There is a package awaiting you in your room, and I believe your cousin came by with some papers that he wished for you to inspect,” Alice informed her.
“EEEEEEE!!!” Mori squealed clapping her hands together and shunpoing straight past the bemused maid. Alice just smirked and went back to her gardening. This was nothing new to her.
It wasn’t the paperwork she was excited about. Chances were good it was just some business stuff he wanted her opinion on, BUT HE CAN JUST HOLD HIS HORSES. Mori was a renowned collector of human world junk and pretty much had an open bounty out on it. It wasn’t easy to obtain though. The only sources were what the recently deceased manage to make here in Soul Society, or the rare bits smuggled in by Shinigami returning from missions.
…
Of course since her eccentricity also served as a perfect smoke screen for getting her hands on more… legally grey materials was just icing on the cake.
‘Let’s see…’
Today’s offerings were the latest work of a recently deceased mangaka, a couple packs of a children’s card game that was popular in the living world today, a case of the wonderous living world potions known as Energy Drinks, and there, right at the bottom, a certain old scroll.
Carefully, almost reverentially, Mori removed the scroll from the box. How old was it? A thousand years? Two? Certainly it dated back to before the original generation established the Gotei 13 as the preminent military power in Soul Society but any more than that she couldn’t say.
She set the scroll back down. It wasn’t safe to read here.
There was a story Alice told her once, about a time when priests of a certain religion were persecuted and they built secret rooms to hide in. Moriko rather liked the term Priest Hole as a result, even if the sub-basement underneath her house was really only originally used for storing pickles. Still, some creative carpentry and it served as a passable enough secret room.
Inside she stored all her most valuable records and treasures in their own securely locked and sturdily made strongboxes along with her own, private workshop.
She brought the scroll down there and set it on the desk while she went and retrieved a second scroll from her lockbox. It was just as old as the first scroll, but though the style was similar it was not the same. This scroll contained a tale of ancient folklore, a story of ancient judge kings that fought a terrible demon with a hundred arms. Normally that wouldn’t mean much, but by reading between the lines, looking at the little things, Mori managed to grasp the first step in a form of martial arts unlike any she’d ever seen before.
The new scroll wasn’t the next part in the tale. At a glance it looked to be a record of some ancient battle. It would take time for Mori to undercover what, if any, secrets it might hold, but the important part was the seal stamped at the end. It was the same exact seal as on the first scroll.
If half the abilities of the judge kings’ were true, and what she had already grasped suggested that they were, it should prove the perfect tool for bringing about her vengeance. That seal was the only clue she had. She needed to learn more.
Well, that could wait. She could afford to be patient. It was her day off! Maybe by helping out her cousin she could con him into getting her more goodies from the human world?
Mori locked up her secret room and headed back upstairs, now fully energized to get some work done. Huzzah!
Moriko Koboyashi © All rights reserved, 2015-2016.
“Yo~~~! I’m home~” Mori cheered as she flounced through the entrance of the townhouse in the Shiori 24th. It was mostly paid out of her own personal funds. It wasn’t that she couldn’t politely request enough funds from the higher ups in the clan to pay for it handsomely, but there were certain somethings which she would rather keep quiet. If it was bought with clan money some might reckon that logically she wouldn’t have a problem if one of them just happened to drop by for a look-see.
Still, you don’t spend centuries working as a clerk for somebody with fingers in as many pies as the Shiori without learning how to set a tidy, if unambitious, portfolio of your own. It was just yet another one of those little things.
“Welcome back ma’am,” Said her housekeeper looking up from her gardening.
“Thanks Alice,” Mori said waving to the woman. Alice looked old enough to be Mori’s mom, though she was only about half as old. It was just another quirk of the corporeally challenged. She was an actual Victorian era maid, one experienced in keeping her employer’s secrets and bored enough with life in Ruknogai to work for cheap. She was just another one of those little things.
“There is a package awaiting you in your room, and I believe your cousin came by with some papers that he wished for you to inspect,” Alice informed her.
“EEEEEEE!!!” Mori squealed clapping her hands together and shunpoing straight past the bemused maid. Alice just smirked and went back to her gardening. This was nothing new to her.
It wasn’t the paperwork she was excited about. Chances were good it was just some business stuff he wanted her opinion on, BUT HE CAN JUST HOLD HIS HORSES. Mori was a renowned collector of human world junk and pretty much had an open bounty out on it. It wasn’t easy to obtain though. The only sources were what the recently deceased manage to make here in Soul Society, or the rare bits smuggled in by Shinigami returning from missions.
…
Of course since her eccentricity also served as a perfect smoke screen for getting her hands on more… legally grey materials was just icing on the cake.
‘Let’s see…’
Today’s offerings were the latest work of a recently deceased mangaka, a couple packs of a children’s card game that was popular in the living world today, a case of the wonderous living world potions known as Energy Drinks, and there, right at the bottom, a certain old scroll.
Carefully, almost reverentially, Mori removed the scroll from the box. How old was it? A thousand years? Two? Certainly it dated back to before the original generation established the Gotei 13 as the preminent military power in Soul Society but any more than that she couldn’t say.
She set the scroll back down. It wasn’t safe to read here.
There was a story Alice told her once, about a time when priests of a certain religion were persecuted and they built secret rooms to hide in. Moriko rather liked the term Priest Hole as a result, even if the sub-basement underneath her house was really only originally used for storing pickles. Still, some creative carpentry and it served as a passable enough secret room.
Inside she stored all her most valuable records and treasures in their own securely locked and sturdily made strongboxes along with her own, private workshop.
She brought the scroll down there and set it on the desk while she went and retrieved a second scroll from her lockbox. It was just as old as the first scroll, but though the style was similar it was not the same. This scroll contained a tale of ancient folklore, a story of ancient judge kings that fought a terrible demon with a hundred arms. Normally that wouldn’t mean much, but by reading between the lines, looking at the little things, Mori managed to grasp the first step in a form of martial arts unlike any she’d ever seen before.
The new scroll wasn’t the next part in the tale. At a glance it looked to be a record of some ancient battle. It would take time for Mori to undercover what, if any, secrets it might hold, but the important part was the seal stamped at the end. It was the same exact seal as on the first scroll.
If half the abilities of the judge kings’ were true, and what she had already grasped suggested that they were, it should prove the perfect tool for bringing about her vengeance. That seal was the only clue she had. She needed to learn more.
Well, that could wait. She could afford to be patient. It was her day off! Maybe by helping out her cousin she could con him into getting her more goodies from the human world?
Mori locked up her secret room and headed back upstairs, now fully energized to get some work done. Huzzah!
