Shinigami Sighted, Target Locked [Invite]

Rolling down the hill, dashing back up and doing it again. There was a certain, very inexplicable thrill about being able to change into a rock and roll down a hill. Akane'd just gotten to the top again when she noticed Mitsuoki was there. Confused, she looked down into the crater, spotted Mitsuoki down there as well. This must be the other Mitsuoki. the one Mitsuoki usually called Thirty Seven. He offered her a familiar looking snack which she happily accepted, squatting on her feet while using the hand not accepting candies to balance herself in tripod fashion. The candies tasted different than she remembered. Different, but definitely tasty. It didn't occur to her that the taste buds she now had would differ from the ones she'd had as a genuine fox. Finishing a few candies, Akane bounced around to Thirty Seven's back after also accepting some head rubs. Jumping on and up to his shoulders, Akane rested both arms over his shoulder to accept further treats. She could also accept further head rubbing this way without the chance of losing her balance.

Shiro became lost in the moment. Her feelings about the situation were still very much confused as she couldn't tell if the way she felt extended to Mitsuoki's own feelings about her or not. Then Thirty Seven's announcement arrived. Knowing someone was obviously watching, Shiro became aware of the physically misunderstand-able situation and quickly sought to remedy. Pushing herself back and away from Mitsuoki, Shiro's face becoming crimson and hot. In her hurry to change the position they were in, Shiro completely forgot where and how she sat. With her legs previously folded to the side under herself, Shiro's hurried actions only proved to make an embarrassing situation even worse. She hadn't made a move to stand, but rather to push away and sit elsewhere, but because of this the girl's legs didn't move out properly. Instead of the intended results, Shiro fell backwards onto her back and bumped her head. Her feet were on the ground now but her knees raised up, causing the skirt she wore to fall up to her waist, revealing the pale blue of her underwear for all the world to see...

"...Ow." Shiro's hands reached up to rub her head where it'd hit the ground. Why had Thirty Seven chosen to wait until just then to announce his presence? Shiro looked to Thirty Seven, then to Mitsuoki. It was then, staring between her legs towards Mitsuoki, that the horror struck her face as realization fell into place. Her angle was a perfect showoff. Her skirt hiked up far enough in her fall, there was very little chance it covered anything properly at this point...! Making a quick readjustment, Shiro pulled her feet back under herself, on the ground and away from Mitsuoki's lap while both hands sought to move the skirt into a more covering position. She didn't even dare to look at either Mitsuoki or Thirty Seven at this point. Her face felt so hot she swore one could cook an egg on her temple right now...

Akane watched. Shiro was acting funny. She decided to try it too, releasing her hands from Thirty Seven's back and allowing herself to fall backwards. "Ah...!?" Akane cried as her head hit the ground. This wasn't fun, not with the dull pain now piercing her skull. Why had Shiro done this she wondered.

Shiro's head lifted up at all the noise coming from the kitchen. "No way... it couldn't be..." a horrified look played over Shiro's face, turning pale as a ghost when she looked towards Mitsuoki. "I think I know where Akane may have gone off to..." Shiro stated to Mitsuoki with grim realization and composure. If it was the case, and Akane was in the kitchen doing gods knew what, then likely the damages were already dealt. Shiro's haste to find Akane quickly turned into a hesitation. She didn't want to know, didn't want to find out what had happened. Shiro didn't even want to get up off the floor now that the likely location for Akane had been determined. And the child was in their charge, even if they wanted to claim that she wasn't, they'd entered the restaurant so their responsibility to the child would be undeniable...

"I don't want to do this... You should go get her..." Shiro slipped back into her chair and sank. The heavy embarrassment already beginning to trickle into her features even as the few heads that'd turned to observe Shiro's odd behavior started to put two and two together after hearing the ruckus coming from the kitchen. "Please..." Shiro pleaded, trying to hide her face from the onlookers.

Akane deemed the kitchen a dangerous place. Everything was suddenly falling, people were screaming and shouting. And now it seemed like she was the target as everyone stopped what they were doing to try and catch her. Akane bounced off cabinets, cupboards, other stationary tables in the kitchen which were just as solidly placed as the bread table had been and fell over just as easily... Akane was starting to panic. This investigation was quickly gathering unwanted results. Locating the doors she'd originally entered from, Akane made a beeline for them. Reached them just as another set of hands narrowly missed grabbing her around the waist. And smacked right into the left side door. Dazed, Akane remembered why one door would open while the other wouldn't. She'd smacked into the one that opened inward, not outward. Recovering herself, Akane made to rush through the proper door this time... "Gotcha!" A deep male voice and a pair of strong hands grabbed Akane, causing her to yelp in surprise. She'd been caught! Akane struggled, kicking and flailing while uttering incoherent sounds. "Miitsuu!" Akane pleaded for help using the only word she actually knew.

Gently blowing on her ramen to cool it, Shiro listened to Mitsuoki’s explanation on what this Kikanshinki device of his was all about. ”So it’s not really memory wiping then but more of a memory alteration or override? That sounds kind of like hypnosis… Like a suggestion to replace something seen and thought to be unbelievable with an idea the person can find a bit more believable? That seems pretty nifty but… also kind of iffy. What happens if the person you try to use it on has a strong belief that what they originally saw was the real thing?”

Akane stared in sadness at her plate. Little more than crumbs littered its surface now. Had she eaten them too quickly? They didn’t appear to be coming back and there didn’t seem to be any more than the ones she’d started out with. But then where had they come from? Taking to her drink, Akane looked over to Shiro. Akane noticed that the food Shiro and Mitsuoki ordered was distinctly different than her own. While she’d love to try some of theirs too, they seemed distracted with their own verbal communication. It didn’t bother her but what exactly was it with humans and talking so much? Did they really understand every word the other one spoke?

Whether because of her familiarity with the food she’d just eaten, or perhaps due to some residual foxy notion hidden within her being, Akane noticed the smell of more nuggets and quickly went about looking to identify the source. Her eyes fell on a boy about her size, pouring his plate of nuggets into a container of some sort. Such a waste… why would he do that instead of eating them? The boy got down from his chair and two older looking humans guided the boy to the door Shiro, Mitsuoki, and she herself had previously entered from. Glancing back to Shiro and Mitsuoki to see if they’d noticed the boy’s actions, Akane deemed it up to her to retrieve the nuggets before they were lost to the void of becoming un-eaten.

In much the same manner as before, Akane subtly slid down underneath the table from the chair she was in. Careful to avoid Shiro and Mitsuoki’s legs, she dipped out from under the table crawling in awkward human fashion until she got to the table beyond. Her ears and tail popped out again as she scanned the area to orient herself to the target, eyes catching the boy and his parents just as they disappeared out the door. Good they were still within sight. This door pushed just like normal. It seemed this place liked one-way doors but thankfully she’d just seen which door to properly use so opening it was no trouble at all. Dang they moved fast. The group dipped around another corner, just out of visual sight. Akane pursued, turning the corner in time to notice the two humans and the boy entering one of the strange metal boxes on wheels. Nonono! This was bad! Akane had seen how fast those boxes could move! If she didn’t get to them before it started to leave then keeping up with it long enough to retrieve the nuggets was sure to be a failure. The box roared to life and smoke blew out from its hard cylindrical tail, Akane panicked. It was about to take off and there wouldn’t be anything she could do about it if it did. There was a word… one she’d heard many times in Soul Society. It seemed to be one that was commonly associated with running away or escaping. ‘Stop.’ For various reasons she knew this word. It seemed whenever someone was in a place they shouldn’t be they would use the word. Alternatively whenever Akane had been in the mood to play keep away as a fox with Mitsuoki or the other Shinigami people around him they would direct this word at her.

Akane tried. Though the word was far from the result of her efforts when pursuing this vehicle… shutting her eyes upon the third attempt to shout the word stop, Akane heard the screeching of tires. She’d done it? They’d listened to her and actually stopped? Daring to open her eyes and see the results of her progress, Akane’s face fell. Yes the mechanical box on wheels had stopped but… The front of the thing appeared to be engulfed in flames as the couple and their child quickly vacated the vehicle and ran to safety. She watched as they ran, curious about why the box was now on fire… She didn’t want to get close to it but the boy hadn’t left with the nuggets so they still had to be inside. Cautiously, Akane stepped towards the vehicle silently willing the flames to go away. Surprisingly the unintelligible flames seemed to be listening to her as they slowly faded and disappeared, leaving nothing behind. Not even any damage to the vehicle itself... Strange.

The doors were left open and upon approaching them, Akane quickly spotted the container with the nuggets inside. With no sign of the original owner in sight she picked up the container and smiled. More nuggets for her. Today was a good day!

”Not concerned if it failed? Why not?” Shiro questioned. Why wouldn’t he be concerned? Wouldn’t it be bad if the person who’s memory was altered ended up remembering what had happened? But Mitsuoki’s words explained away the question quite solidly. ”I see… Well alright then.” Shiro commented. She didn’t really want to know what other methods Mitsuoki had for erasing memories.

Shiro kept quiet when the other robed Shinigami appeared. Obviously Mitsuoki had been here for a reason and whatever it was he’d been tasked with, apparently his part in it was concluded. She observed the two but mostly the newcomer, who didn’t seem to pay her any mind despite the obvious fact that she could see them both.

Delicious yummy nuggets! Akane was overjoyed to have a second helping of these delightful pieces of peculiar meat. She’d even gone so far as to try and pop an entire one into her mouth but came up with nothing. Confused, and a little concerned about what’d happened to her nugget, Akane opened her eyes to behold Mitsuoki standing before her. ”Owa…!” Akane cried out when she received the flick on her forehead. Tears welled at the side of her eyes, more for the fact that her second helping of nuggets had been confiscated and returned while she herself was pulled from the vehicle and escorted back into the restaurant than from the stinging feeling of the flick itself. Try as she might she couldn’t reach far or fast enough to grab the nuggets before Mitsuoki pulled her away from her prize. Sure she understood that she’d done wrong but she didn’t want to leave the nuggets just sitting there… Halfway back to the restaurant, Akane gave up and allowed Mitsuoki to walk her back.