The High Road {Isamu}

[Tomoko Hashimoto]

It had been a quiet day. Apparently, ghosts didn't bother Tomoko nearly as much on Thursdays, for whatever reason. Not like Tomoko cared. More time for her to read her mystery novels.She was laying stomach-down on her bed, reading Murder on the Orient Express. She was just getting to the point where Hercule Pirot, the famous detective, was just about to announce who killed the man on the train when -

"Tomoko! Go make the rounds!"

Tomoko groaned and put her book down with a flop. "Why can't you do it?" She yelled back.

"I'm making dinner! Tomoko! Go make the rounds!"

"But moooom-"

"TOMOKO HASHIMOTO. YOU GO OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW AND TAKE CARE OF AT LEAST ONE GHOST OR NO DINNER FOR YOU."

With a sigh, Tomoko put her bookmarker in, pulled her jacket on, and toddled outside. She slammed the paper door (a feat - they were sort of stuck from age) and slipped on a pair of flats (no shoes allowed inside). The night was cool, and Tomoko looked down at her legs. She was wearing shorts. After a moment of deliberation, Tomoko decided that she didn't care enough to go change into warmer clothing. She walked out onto the street, grumpy. Not even the fact that she was wearing her favorite Sherelock Holmes tee-shirt made her feel better.

She stomped around in the twilight, finally losing steam about four blocks away from the temple. She was disheartened by the lack of ghosts. Usually she couldn't leave the temple without running into (or through) at least two, but tonight there were no spirits to be found. Tomoko gritted her teeth and continued walking.

After ten minutes of searching, Tomoko was feeling discouraged. She would certainly get in trouble if she came home without helping anyone, and lying would make it worse. She sat on a curb, silently willing someone dead to walk by. To hell with final wishes - the first ghost she saw, she was gonna hit them with the chant and run home. She was hungry, and they were having chicken yakitori. Chicken yakitori. You don't fuck around with yakitori on the line.

So Tomoko sat and pouted and waited for someone to walk by. As she waited, she tried to figure out who had killed the man on the train. Ahhhg. One more reason to hurry home.

[Isamu Ito]

For it being a relatively horrible day- he had gotten into a fight at school, and his mom had decided to start a fight over his grades and the call from the office administration. His sister had been an unfortunate witness and gone running off into her room and refused to talk to him. On top of all that he had been late to work and forced to stay -late to make up for the hour and a half he had missed- Isamu was in a rather good mood. There was something about working with cars that he enjoyed and managed to calm him down. It could have been the smell of the oil and gasoline, but right now he wasn't in the mood to question it.

Hunching his shoulders, the fabric of his button up shirt, left unbuttoned of course, stretched tightly across the back of them, he strode down the city streets, the streetlights casting an orange glow. His tail waved along behind him, a light and happy sort of movement. Not wanting to go home right away and face the never-ending shitstorm that was his family, as well as wanting to try to find some place open 24-hours and get an apology gift for his sister, he wasn't heading directly home, taking a more scenic route.

Hands shoved in his pockets, a light smile across his face, Isamu closed his eyes against a light breeze. He would have to admit, there were some parts of this city that were alright. His tail gave a happy flick, and his mind drifted to what he could possibly get Ari. A stuffed unicorn? An ice cream treat? She would love both, but he didn't think it would be enough. It would have to be something grand.

Isamu opened his eyes, the smile settling into a smirk, before he yawned, pausing to stretch his arms upwards. At this time of night, he doubted much of anything besides gas stations and convenience stores would be open. with a little sigh, he ran a hand through his hair, only to pull it away and have his hand covered in a smear of grease and oil. "Aw shit. Not again." Often he would get so engrossed in his work down at the garage he wouldn't notice when he managed to get a mess of different things in his hair. When it was roughly the same color either way, it didn't exactly help matters any.

The boy wiped his hand on his pants, adding to the mess of stains covering it, before looking up, a bit surprised to see someone else in the streets at this time, and a girl no less. Treading on his toes, taking careful steps so as not to make a lot of noise, Isamu moved to slink up next the girl, hoping, as horrible as it was, to catch her by surprise. "You know, it's dangerous for a girl to be out in the streets alone at this time of night." Once more he shoved his hands into his pockets, his tail swaying along behind him as he looked down at her, one brow raised, and a somewhat bored yet curious look on his face.

[Tomoko Hashimoto]

Tomoko had been so absorbed in her thoughts of who killed who in her mystery book that she didn't hear Isamu pad up to her. When he spoke, she visibly jumped, springing to her feet. She was, indeed, startled, and for a moment it showed clearly on her face.

"Oh. Er. Well, you know," she said vaguely in answer, trying to put her thoughts into order. The initial surprise wore off, and Tomoko gave the boy a quick study. Not a ghost, that's for sure - didn't have the tell-tale deadness to him. Dark hair, messy pants...tail? She stepped to the side to get a better look in case her eyes were deceiving her. Nope, definitely a tail.

Her curiosity shot through the roof and continued on towards space. "Is that a tail?" She asked. "That's pretty unusual. Is it real? Can I touch it? How'd you get it?" It didn't matter that they hadn't even exchanged twenty words. Tomoko was nosy by nature, and now her evening was looking up. A real-life mystery! The fact that it was moving was extra strange - Tomoko had seen kids wearing fake tails, but never ones that moved. This was the coolest thing since that once ghost who taught her how to say "fuck" in Norwegian. A kid with a tail? How cool was that? Pretty damn awesome.

And, as if the night couldn't get any better, Tomoko could clearly see a ghost wandering around a good 100 feet from where she and Isamu stood. It was obviously a ghost, because he was missing half his face. Tomoko wasn't the least bit squeamish, and after seeing things like that all your life you got used to it. She felt like she just got an A plus on a difficult test! This was terrific! She met someone new and would get a quick exorcism in to ensure she'd eat. She was fairly sure her mother was being facetious but it didn't hurt to cover the bases. From the looks of it, this night would be cake. Mmm. Cake sounded good. Maybe they could have cake for dessert.

But the monkey kid first. Tomoko wished she had a magnifying glass to whip out and peer through (for appearances sake), but she settled for just staring at Isamu and his tail the regular way. She wondered if her ogling was awkward. Did he get that a lot? "Is it weird that I'm basically staring at your butt? Because...I mean, it's a tail. That's pretty cool - you don't see that everyday." She kept an eye on the ghost as she rambled on. He was slowly making his way over. She finally paused her questions and gave the boy in front of her an expectant look.

[Isamu Ito]

An amused smirk cross his face as she jumped, and Isamu felt a swell of pride. He loved it when something went how he had planned, though her reaction was better than he could have hoped. She had leaped to her feet and stammered, and he stood there, just fixing her with this amused look as he waited for her response. His smirk fell slightly as she stepped to the side, and his tail slowed it's swaying. Oh god, not tonight. Not when things were finally going so well for him. He didn't need it. Not now. Why was karma out to beat his face into the pavement? What had he done wrong in life that deserved this? Sure, he had gotten into a few fights, but all those bastards deserved it.

But yes, she started yammering off questions, and what was once an amused look was now an obvious look of annoyance. Nosy people irritated him, the endless questions, the inability to take a hint. The fact that he was one of those types of people went in one ear and out the other. It didn't help that she was staring at it with the might of a professional stalker. The boy vaguely wondered if he could outrun the girl or if escape was even possible. Weren't stalker girls often faster and more persistent than they left on? Fuck his life.

For the time being he remained quiet, mulling over his possible ways out of this while carefully watching her. Would ignoring her work? Walking off and acting like she didn't exist? Calling the cops? Wait, he didn't have a phone. Wasn't this just wonderful. Here he was practically being sexually harassed and he couldn't even invite the boys in blue out for a party. He would need to talk to his boss about a raise, or a phone for work reasons, though he doubted the old man would go for any of that.

Finally she had shut her trap, and Isamu let out a small sigh of relief before he realized she was staring at him. For another short moment he remained silent, again wondering if running would lose her, before deciding, fuck it, it was a reason to stay away from home longer. Isamu turned so he was fully facing her, his tail hidden by his own body. "...In order, yes, yes, no, none of your business, and I hear it's a fine ass. Plenty of people stare." Here he gave a light shrug, trying to keep his tail from twitching.

"What are you doing out here? I doubt enjoying the scenery, even if it is a pretty damn good view right now." If she didn't catch that not so subtle hint towards himself, he would be shocked. It wasn't as if Isamu made a point of hiding his obvious egotistical tendencies. Maybe that would be one way to get her to leave him alone. Hopefully, anyway.

[Tomoko Hashimoto]

Tomoko was many things, but she wasn't a liar. She shrugged, looking beyond the boy and at the ghost. He had wandered quite close, and was now standing a few feet away from the exorcist. She gestured at what would look like empty space beside the boy and said, "I'm on the job."

To the ghost, she said politely, "Can I help you?"

Up close, the ghost had a sort of rumpled quality to him, and he looked so thin and so pale that you were afraid he'd fall over dead - of course, this already happened, from the look of his wounds. They weren't bad, covered with a straw hat for modesty purposes. The ghost looked uncertain, but certainly gratified that she had taken a notice of him. I am looking for my hat. Have you seen it? He wasn't speaking in the technical sense, but somehow the words ended up in Tomoko's mind - like she was thinking the words, but hadn't thought of them. It was only a little disorienting. You got used to it.

Tomoko pondered this for a moment, ignoring the fact that he obviously had a hat on. You just tried to work with the ghosts. Pointing out obvious things often just made them mopey or mad. "Have you tried the hat shop?"

The ghost perked up. I used to own a hat shop! Have you seen it? If only I could get back...I got lost...

Tomoko grinned. Now she was getting somewhere! "Do you know where second street is?"

The ghost scratched the side of his head that was still connected to, well, his head. I am not sure...

Tomoko bit her lip and screwed her face up in thought. Most ghosts had issues with directions. It was all about guiding them to the right place. Thankfully, this one didn't have far to go. She pointed off to the left. "Go straight down this road until you get to the sign that says, 'Cafe', then take a right. It's the first shop you see - right there, you can sort of see the corner of it."

The ghost lookd fuzzy, like it was fading. I think I remember...I remember...

It walked off, becoming fainter and fainter until it had rounded the corner, almost invisible - it took off it's hat and stared at it in wonder before fading completely. Tomoko could feel the slight spiritual pressure that was a side effect of a ghost moving on - and this time, she didn't even have to chant! He must've only needed to see the shop. A good deed well done. Food was only a few minutes away! But first...

She turned back to the boy with the tail, reviving the conversation as if the strange exchange had been quite commonplace (it was, but the likelyhood of this kid seeing th ghost was pretty slim, which would probably look sort of funny, now that she thought of it). "The view wasn't that good. And how did you get that taill? I bet that's a good story." The fact that he was being so cagey about the tail only fueled her curiosity. She didn't like to leave things hanging. Even though her chore for the night was completed, she was hesitant to skedaddle right away. As soon as he had said "none of your business" she had reached the point of no return. No way was she gonna leave him alone now. There was something really strange about this kid, and as a detective, it was her duty to get to the bottom of it!

[Isamu Ito]

Job? Isamu could only stare. The only sort of job he knew of that involved a girl to be outside on a street was something that he couldn't believe a girl like the one standing before him would be doing. On top of that, she wasn't dressed at all like he would have thought. He was a bit shocked and confused by this, and it showed as a very visible what the hell expression on his face, his mouth pressed into a thin line, and his brows furrowed as he stared at the girl. Corner whore? Her? She was one modest as all hell whore if she was. That was the most clothing on a whore he had ever seen. No wonder she was sitting here alone. No one would go for an actually clothed looking prostitute, not unless they had one twisted fetish.

And now what? Asking him more questions? "Help me? You're the one who-" Hat shops? What. Isamu was now one very, very confused human, and this time he could only stare at the girl as if she had grown a second and third head. Now she was having a one sided conversation with herself. Great. Just great. Was there anyone in this city who wasn't fucking nuts? giving directions to something that didn't exist. What did they call that? Schizophrenia? Something like that. Isamu didn't care. Chances were he wouldn't be seeing this chick again after this anyway, and for more reasons than avoiding ever walking down the street he was currently on again.

While she continued yammering on to herself, Isamu began slowly trying to slink away, and when he thought he had a clear shot to the nearest building with easy roof access, she had to focus her attention back on him, rambling annoying words to him again. His tail began whipping from side to side, and he was sure some of the fur was standing on end at that comment of hers about the view not being that good. Wrinkling his nose in a little half snarl, he gave a harsh, "My view's worse than you could ever imagine." And she was going on about the tail again!

Rolling his eyes, Isamu started walking. "Back alley surgery gone wrong. Never trust people named George. Half the time they take your kidney and run." It was a shitty lie, but he wasn't in the occupation of caring at the moment. "If you're looking for a good story, check the library. I'm fresh out." Maybe home wasn't so bad of a choice if he'd have to deal with never ending annoyances out here. Ugh. If only his boss would let him sleep in the garage. Endless sickness, but it would have been fifteen times better than everything else he had to deal with.

He glanced up at a street sign. Just great. He was still blocks away from home. Walking did help calm him down, but... Isamu glanced over his shoulder, wondering if that annoying girl was following him or not. If she was, he'd have to lose her before being able to make it back home. The last thing he would want would be his parents getting the wrong idea, and having a stalker know where he lived. Why did Karma hate him so much?

[Tomoko Hashimoto]

Tomoko watched the boy walk away, speechless. Anger was bubbling up, and she stamped her foot in irritation. What a dick! It's not her fault he was walking around with a goddamn tail! "Geez. No need for insults. It was just a question," she muttered.

"DOUCHEBAG," she said, loud enough for him to hear.

She turned around and stomped toward her house, shoving her hands deep into her jacket pockets. The shrine rose above the houses, silhouetted against the dark sky. Tomoko made her way towards it, cursing the stupid boy under her breath, using every bad word she knew (both in English and Japanese for double effect. And one word in Norwegian).

She had only gone two steps when she stopped dead. Something was wrong. Something felt wrong. A coldness filled her, welling up suddenly and causing the hairs on the back of her neck to prick. A confused look passed across her face, but was quickly replaced with one of dread.

She froze, hardly daring to breathe.

She suddenly knew why she hadn't seen many ghosts around that day.

It lumbered into view, coming around the corner of the street, headed down the street and away from the young exorcist. It was moving with a dream-like softness, as if it was underwater. Its long, huge hands nearly dragged on the ground, and its feet were round and long and wrong. It had a vaguely square frame, but no neck. Instead, it looked as if it had a shirt pulled over its head - and all that could be seen was the skull of some large bird, blank holes where the eyes would be. Its arms and legs were too thin for the large body, and it moved slowly, so slowly it could have been walking in place. There was a large, gaping hole where its chest and stomach should have been. It would have looked comical, if it hadn't been so utterly terrifying.

Tomoko realized she was holding her breath.

She had never seen a poltergeist, but she had heard stories from her mother and grandmother. Other ghosts and animals stayed far away, and for good reason. Poltergeists looked slow, but they were attracted to movement and the living. They couldn't be reasoned with, and were deceptively fast once they latched onto a target. They were the only ghosts that could influence things around them - they had been left alone too long. They forgot they were dead. They became angry. That's why exorcists were important - a ghost who couldn't move on would eventually forget that they needed to, and they'd begin to haunt a person or a building. Sometimes people got hurt. Poltergeists and other angry spirits were the reasons that exorcism began as a profession in the first place.

Tomoko quickly went over her limited knowledge of them as she watched it move. She knew knew that you needed intense purification to get them to move on, but she hadn't reached the miko level that taught her to exorcise a ghost like this. If her mother was here, it wouldn't be an issue. Her grandmother was even better than both of them. But on her own, Tomoko was SOL. She knew she wouldn't be able to outrun it. Her only hope was to be as still as the grave and hope it didn't see her.

She heard a scuffle behind her. SHIT. The stupid monkey boy - he was right behind her, probably still walking away like a stupid idiot who couldn't see ghosts. She would have been angry, if she wasn't so focused on not breathing. She prayed that the poltergeist would move on, ignoring both of them.

But no. It was too late. The poltergeist turned, slowly. The blank holes met her dark eyes. She could feel it recognize that she saw it. She knew it saw the boy. Fuck me sideways.

"RUN!" She screamed as the poltergeist took a step toward the two teens. She didn't stop to watch. She just ran. In six strides, she had caught up to the monkey boy, and pushed on his back. "You need to get out of here!!" She screamed, not caring that he had just insulted her and probably thought she was crazy anyways. She wasn't enthusiastic about being the town weirdo, but getting someone killed by an invisible spook was even less attractive. "Shitshitshitshit- MOVE!" She didn't wait for him to react. She could feel the ghost getting closer. Her mind raced -

She couldn't exorcise it herself, but if she could reach the shrine, the protective border around the property would at least keep them safe. There were so many wards on the shrine, it was amazing humans could walk in there without feeling anything. If only she could get herself and this dickwad back to her front yard, they'd be okay. No exorcist on South Isle had ever let a "civilian" get hurt, and Tomoko was not interested in the possibility of being the first. Except... she knew he'd probably be a huge jerk about it. He obviously couldn't see ghosts, and he'd probably think she was running away from nothing. It was a risk she'd have to take. There wasn't much time for anything else.

She was already compiling her will in her mind.

"Fuck it - follow me!" She stopped trying to push him and darted away, looking behind her. She instantly regretted it. The poltergeist was too close for her liking. "Fuck-" She tripped, and yanked off her flats, not even caring if she lost them forever. She took off. She didn't even check to see if the monkey boy was following. She was too scared and too focused on not getting caught by an angry and very dangerous ghost. She didn't want to think about what would happen if it caught up.

[Isamu Ito]

He was grumbling under his breath, muttering things that would have gotten the girl even more riled up than his simple not answering his questions. She was weird- no, BEYOND weird. Talking to herself and getting all insulted just because he brushed aside her questions. It was his business, and no one elses. It wasn't something he liked sharing, especially to someone he had just met and didn't even know the name of. Isamu glared at nothing particular at her little name calling, biting back the urge to turn around and let loose a slew of insults back at her. He settled for clenching his teeth, an annoyed growl rumbling in his throat.

Who the hell did this chick think she was? A news reporter? Fuck that. Not even a journalist would get a straight answer from him. She wasn't a judge or jury. He didn't have to tell her shit, and acting like it was a big damn deal that he wasn't was sure making him want to tell her all the more. Isamu huffed, digging his hands deeper into his pants pockets. Screw it. Ari could get her apology gift tomorrow. One night wouldn't kill her. He just wanted to get home and lock himself in his room for the rest of the day.

A shiver ran up his spine, and Isamu paused, tail nearly touching his back as it curled into an 's' shape and twitched. "Hm. Didn't think it was that cold out." With a shrug he started walking again, only for that girl's annoying voice to ring in his ears again. Run? What in the hell was she talking about? He glanced over his shoulder, half expecting a serial murderer or some pervert to be harrassing her.

But there was nothing.

She was running, slamming into his back and sending him stumbling forward a few steps. His tail trashed from side to side, thumping against the girl's side as Isamu dug his heels into the ground. "What is WRONG with you?! There's nothing there! Get OFF of me!" Her crazy and weird score had sky-rocketed. Isamu was now pretty sure this chick lived a little too close to a leaky gas pipe, among other things, and looked at her like she had grown another head again. What in the hell was going through her crazy ass mind?

As horrible as it may have been, he was a little amused at her struggle to push him, and leaned back while digging his heels into the concrete, a small smirk across his face. In no way was Isamu going to make this easy on her unless she gave him a damn good excuse as to why. With her current track record, he wasn't too keen on listening to her anyway. Nothing but the crazy rambles of an even crazier girl. How was she not in a looney bin yet?

The yelling wall of weird and hallucinations moved from behind him, and Isamu fell back, landing on his butt. "Follow..." he echoed, getting to his feet and rubbing a sore spot on his tail. "You're fucking nuts! Give me one reason why I should listen to you!" And she was gone, tearing down the street. With a little huff, Isamu shoved his hands back in his pockets, though he couldn't help but think maybe, just maybe, there had been something that had frightened her enough to cause a large amount of panic. Crazy or not, when someone was that scared you didn't brush it off as nothing.

Giving a short, "Tsk!" he booked it after Crazy Girl, not sure what was rubber her the wrong way, but sure that he would find out. However, he had waited too long to move, and the poltergeist was closer to him than it had been when she had ran off.



OOC: :'D Feel free to say that the poltergeist did/does something to him, Kat. Whatever works. Can has full Rai permission.

[Tomoko Hashimoto]

( OOC: I'll try not to get him too banged up :'D )

Tomoko ignored all of the boy's comments. They weren't important. All that was important was safety. She felt the pressure at her back - the poltergeist was still following. Still running, she risked a look back. The idiot had fallen on his ass - did he not realize the danger he was in?

No. No, he didn't. Shit. Tomoko skidded to a stop, ignoring the burning in her feet. She could see the temple fence - two blocks away. It would be simple to run and jump it. She would be safe.

But the poltergeist was reaching out - reaching, its long, black fingers curling closer -

The reason poltergeists were so dangerous is that they could hurt people. They resented that they were no longer alive, so they got as close as they could to those who were living. It was very, very rare that they actually killed anything, but there was a scary hunger to them that meant that Tomoko had no idea what it would do.

She looked at the fence, longingly, before turning around and, against her better judgement, running towards the poltergeist.

She knew that the chant was probably her best bet. The problem was, she was fairly certain she had to chant the entire Amatsu Norito to do so. And she was really hazy in the middle bits. And the last sections. And there were several versions of the same -

FUCK.

The poltergeist had closed its hand around the boy, grabbing him by the middle and lifting him a good five feet off the ground. He wouldn't be able to move forward, and it probably would knock the breath out of him for a second, but Tomoko needed to move five seconds ago. She frantically tried to recall the first line -

"KICK! KICK RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" The stupid monkey boy would believe her now, she thought bitterly. If she couldn't remember the chant, she could at least keep the boy from being torn apart. The poltergeist was easily nine feet tall, but it was substantial. Tomoko could see it, and if she could see the boy kick the ghost, it would register the pain. "LEFT! MY LEFT! KICK LEFT!" If he could free himself, she wouldn't have to worry about trying to save his ass and concentrate.

Whether it was fear or her brain finally kicking into gear, the purification prayer finally floated into her mind.

Standing firmly, she faced the poltergeist and, like she had been trained, she said in a loud voice:

"Gokubi jisso gengen shikai, taka-amahara ni kamu tamahi moe-ide-masu..."

In the divine spiritual world of infinitesimal but truly existing high energy, in the throne of heaven where the spirit of God is now manifesting itself as fire...

She could feel it working. The poltergeist paused, but did not let go of the boy. It pointed its beak at her in one slow motion, spindly hand tightening around the boy. She took a quick breath and continued.

"Kamurogi Kamuromi no michikara mochite, bansei to hito no mioya kamu amatsu su no mahikari ohomikami harahido no okami-tachi..."

...By the power of the divine fire and water, Father of all living existence and man, Amatsu Su of True Light, Creator God and great gods of purification...

It was working - the ghost flickered, like an old image. But the words were slipping away. She tried to remember, but it was like gasping at straws. She frantically racked her brain, but the words were fading. She was hazy in the middle. She had never put in the extra effort to learn the prayer but now she deeply regretted it.

The poltergeist had solidified by this point. It was weaker, and was not moving with the speed it had shown when it had caught up to the two, but it was very much still there. It turned back to the boy, and picked up an arm between its forefinger and thumb, beginning to slowly pull. Tomoko needed to remember the rest of the prayer, and her breathing increased to hyperventilation. She squeezed her eyes shut and was on the verge of tears when the next line suddenly came to her. Her eyes snapped open and she shouted it in a blur - "Moro-moronosakagototamahinotsu-tsumikigareobaKaminokonochikara yomigaerasetamaetomosukotonoyoshio!!!"

...Our various impurities of the spirit, please purify by True Light. Please revive in us, the original power of a child of God, these our wishes...

It spilled out, tumbling in a mass of words. But it was coming easier. The poltergeist stopped, dropping the arm (whether from the chant working or the boy doing something, Tomoko wasn't sure). It looked thinner, somehow. In a few moments, this thing was as good as gone. Hopefully, Tomoko's memory would last long enough to get to the end. If she couldn't complete the chant...

Well. Tomoko hoped it wouldn't come to that.

[Isamu Ito]

He had tried to run, not getting far before something clamped down around his middle, getting a little gasp from the boy, partially from shock, and partially because whatever had grabbed him had decided to try to squeeze the breath out of him. Or rather, that was the way Isamu took it as he wormed around, trying to pry whatever was around him off before actually looking down, halting when he didn't see a damn thing. Something had lifted off of the ground. Something had very obviously decided to mess with him. What that thing was, however, was a complete damn mystery.

Isamu would have brushed it off as a creature if he could have seen it. Most creatures would naturally make themselves invisible to the human eye, but since taking that dammed cat's contract he had been able to see them. This thing's form, however, wasn't visible to him. Alright, so maybe she wasn't as crazy as he had first thought. Whatever this was was obviously a big deal, and it had decided to pick on him. Fuck his life. What had he done to deserve any of this? First his parents, then his sister, the crazy chick, and now this.... whatever the hell it was!

Speaking of which, what the hell was it?

Isamu sucked in a shaky breath, feelings very much like he had the wind knocked out of him. "What the hell... is going on?!" he barked out. Wait, what did she want him to do? Kick? Kick at what?! He didn't know if the thing was behind him, in front of him, to his side. Flailing around would do little good if he was more concerned with where to hit instead of putting strength behind an attack. Apparently she had taken that into consideration, or something. Isamu wasn't really in the mood to care about what was going through her mind when she told him to kick to her left. What was that, his right?

Gritting his teeth, Isamu lashed out as best he could to his right, his foot connecting with something, which was honestly more creepy than what had already happened. He kept kicking, barely paying attention to whatever the hell the chick was doing. Chanting? Yelling at him some more? He didn't know. He kept on kicking. Or at least, he did until whatever was around him tightened more, getting a strangled gasp from Isamu. What in the hell was that crazy girl doing?!

Goddammit, he really didn't have to want to do this, considering the girl was here and he had no idea if it would even work on whatever had him in its grasp. He tried concentrated on his hands, feeling the temperature around him staring to rise bit by tiny bit. His concentration was cut when his arm moved on it's own, two points of pressure on it. With an annoyed, "Tsk!" he tried ignoring the tension of the pulling, and the lurking thought of his arm becoming dislocated.

Again, he tried concentrating, summoning up the chimera's power. He could feel his ears elongating, his canines growing in his mouth and the growing heat of the small little balls of fire that decided to hover around him whenever he used these firey abilities. Heat gathered around him, raising the temperature past what would be normal for a human, and safe as well. "Let. Go. OF ME!" If his kick had connected, then the heat should work too, right? That was the one thought he was basing this on. If it didn't work, he was more screwed than that time he failed his History test.

[Tomoko Hashimoto]

Tomoko stared at the boy. What was...why was he glowing blue? She wasn't close enough to see the flames clearly, but something strange was obviously going on. The breeze felt warmer. The chant...did she cause this? She had never tried to exorcise a ghost of this magnitude. She had never heard of such a thing happening before, though. A horrible thought passed through Tomoko's mind - was she hurting the monkey boy by accident? She decided that he probably deserved it, with only a teensy pang of guilt. But it was so out of characer with exorcist ability in the first place. It couldn't be her.

Before she could ponder the strange blue glow more, there was a horrible screech. Tomoko clamped her hands over her ears and watched as the poltergeist dropped the boy. It continued screeching, backing away and dashing off on long legs. Tomoko tried to run after, but the terrible noise was making it difficult to concentrate. It made her teeth hurt, and her entire body felt shaky. Thankfully, the noise faded as the ghost got further and further away, drifting off into the night. Breathing heavily, Tomoko's hands dropped to her sides. Shit. She had only half-exorcised the goddamn ghost. She was going to have to chase it down and finish the chant. She sighed heavily, dreading the hunt she had before her.

Anger and frustration bubbling up, she stomped over to where the boy was. Irrationally, Tomoko decided that this was his fault. If he hadn't done whatever he had done, it would have stayed in place for the five seconds she had needed to make it go away forever. Instead, she had more work to do and was that much more away from her chicken yakitori.

"YOU OAF!" She nearly shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air. "What the fuck did you do?!? It's going to be running all over the city now!! I have to go fucking chase it down! There's a fucking invisible ghost running around!!!" She was tired, hungry, and extremely ticked off. The boy probably didn't deserve the verbal abuse he was receiving, but Tomoko was in no mood to be polite. She rarely ever was. She stomped closer, but backed up a step or two. He was radiating a ridiculous amount of heat, like a small fire. What was on his head? Was his head on fire? She stepped one more step back and looked him up and down, quickly. Besides the tail, he looked different. More...Tomoko searched for a word. Feral? Stranger, certainly. Not like he hadn't been strange before.

"That must have been one shitty back alley surgury," she heard herself saying.

[Isamu Ito]

Whatever had grabbed him, whatever had decided he was it's play toy, had dropped him, and he could only assume it was behind that terrible noise ringing his his ears. Isamu shakily landed on his feet before dropping forward onto his hands and knees, taking in large gulps of air. The lack of pressure around his chest was a great relief, and he sucked in oxygen to make up for the pressure that had been restricting air flow only moments earlier. However, that noise, that horrible fucking noise was making it hard to concentrate. Isamu didn't move, just closed his eyes, took deep breaths, and waited for that god awful sound to stop.

There was a course chuckle and a pressure on the back of his mind. The screech. The pressure. The laugh. He couldn't think, he couldn't calm down. All the sounds mixed together was only proving to irritate and grate on his nerves even more. The girl was a far off thought lost to him for the moment. Isamu was only aware of himself and the ringing in his ears. Her ranting and raving was a dull buzz, words incoherent to him for the moment. Fuck his life. He could even feel the heat, remaining the same basic temperature.

Finally, the ringing was beginning to go away, bringing back a rush of sounds familiar to him. The wind, his fidgeting on the ground, that girl's annoying ass ranting. Attempting to turn her out, Isamu began mumbling to himself, digging his fingers into the ground. "Calm down. Relax." He continued to chant the same general words to himself, feeling his heart slow from rapidly beating against his rib cage, the temperature around him beginning to cool. Isamu knew his ears and fangs would take more time to disappear, but that wasn't what he was worried about. Able to gather at least a few general thoughts, he knew he had to calm down and keep from injuring the girl. As much of an ass he was, even Isamu knew better than to harm innocents.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, he sat up and back on his heels, running a hand through his hair. "That could have gone a lot smoother." It had to have been a minute or two since whatever it had been had, well, dropped him. Considering the lack of physical abuse, either it had left, been destroyed, or was waiting to strike. That one thought sent him scrambling to his feet, taking wary glances around him before his gaze settled on the girl. Right. She was still here. His ears were less pointed, and his fangs less noticable, but he knew the signs were still there.

He scoffed, but refrained from shoving his hands in his pockets. He had no idea where whatever it was had gone, and he was taking no chances. "If I find out you had anything to-" No, she had warned him, attempted to get him away from whatever it was. Isamu stopped, scratching his head and giving an irritable growl. "What was that? Where did it go? You saw it, right, or at least knew it was there? How? Who are you?" His tone showed his irritation at what had happened, and had a hint of a demanding sound to it. Isamu was the last person to be this demanding over personal information, but dammit, he nearly had the life squeezed out of him.

[Tomoko Hashimoto]

Tomoko kicked the dirt in front of her feet and muttered, "No shit, Sherlock." It could have gone much smoother. Like, oh, she could have finished the chant. The ghost could be gone right now, but no. It was loose across the city. She wasn't pleased with the thought of combing the city for the poltergeist. It had to be taken care of, and soon, but Tomoko didn't know what else to do about it besides walk around until it jumped her. Not really something she wanted to do.

Tomoko scoffed. "Oh, what? Now you wanna believe me?" She crossed her arms and exhaled loudly. It only took him almost getting a limb torn off, but at least he knew how dangerous the situation had been. "In order: That was a poltergeist, fucking annoying and seriously mean. I have no clue where it went - and thanks to you, I gotta track it down. I was trying to tell you - it's my job. I'm an exorcist." She didn't mention that she was still, technically, in training. He didn't need to know that. "What attacked you is a really powerful ghost. Most can't touch people, let alone be heard by anyone." It was still invisible, though. That was the worst part - humans were so woefully short-sighted in the supernatural department, and Exhibit A was right in front of her.

Tomoko didn't blame the kid for being upset - being assaulted by an invisible ghost wasn't exactly fun. She took another deep breath, feeling her initial irritation ebb a little. It wasn't this guy's fault he had been there at the wrong time. She admitted that if he hadn't been around, the ghost might have done something worse - but she was loathe to say that out loud. "I'm Tomoko Hashimoto. I see dead people." She was feeling much calmer now that the poltergeist wasn't in view. As well, it was a pretty big ego boost that she knew what was going on and this guy was freaking out.

Well, knew what was going on with the ghost, that is. She was narrowly avoiding freaking out herself - she could seethis guy's ears get less pointy. She walked up closer and prodded him in the chest. "What the hell's up with you, anyways? What was that blue shit? Who are you?" He obviously wasn't normal. She was especially curious as to why he could hurt the ghost so badly.

[Isamu Ito]

Alright, maybe he should have been more worried over the fact that she, someone who obviously knew nothing about the contracts between creatures and humans, had seen him use his powers. However, it was too late for that to even matter. She had seen, and there was nothing Isamu could do about it. Except maybe knock her out, call an ambulance, leave, and brush the entire thing off as a hallucination or a dream if they ever happened to cross paths again. That would have been more effort than he was willing to put into this. It was easier to make up a lie, refuse to tell her. He didn't believe in any 'eye for an eye', 'trade equal bits of information' shit. She had answered his questions, but that didn't mean he had to answer hers.

Now he shoved his hands in his pockets. Poltergeist, eh? If it weren't for the fact that he had a goddamn chimera inside of him and was able to see a variety of creatures normal humans couldn't, Isamu would have brushed it off as the crazy ramblings of an even crazier girl. But, keeping that in mind, he couldn't dismiss the idea of there being ghosts, spirits, poltergeists, and the whatever. It wasn't something it wanted to believe in, things he couldn't see and that could do harm to him or his sister, but what evidence did he have to deny it? Something had attacked him, and this girl was the only one who could and did give him any sort of answer.

He didn't like it. Not one bit. Isamu looked down, focusing on one point on the ground as he thought. What was worse was he didn't know what to do about it. The way she, Tomoko, had worded it made it sound as if there were more than one, and he knew nothing about them. The fact that they were wandering around, invisible to all except... Maybe that was it! Isamu was annoyed enough as was that the thing had attacked him and then ran off, and while he didn't normally make a point to chase after fights, that thing could always come back, and he wouldn't take the chance of it harming his sister or him.

"Hey, you can see it, right?" She did say she could see dead people or something, like a bad version of the Sixth Sense. Er, dammit. She had asked his name, hadn't she? In some form. "Isamu Ito," he said quickly. "That's not important. You can see that thing, right? Can fire hurt it?" Isamu turned and grabbed her shoulders, looking pretty intent on either getting the answers he wanted or doing something stupid. Chances were he'd do something stupid anyway, but if there was any chance of him being able to do something... The fact she had said she was an exorcist, and thus able to do a great deal more than him with nearly 100% less casualties of any sort, had blown right over his head.

[Tomoko Hashimoto]

Tomoko regarded the boy in front of her curiously. She had never seen anyone with powers or ability like him, but she was open-minded. Hell, if ghosts existed, who's to say other things didn't as well? Her grandmother and mother had told her many tales about fantastical creatures and strange beings, and her grandma especially talked about the supernatural as if she had encountered them before. Tomoko realized for the first time that there might be much more to the world of spirits than she had thought. She had never seen anything but the ghosts. She couldn't quite wrap her head around it - then, what was this guy? A douchebag Sun Wukong?

...Was he really that stupid? "Where have you been? I'm the only one who can see these things," she said testily. "Runs in the family." She didn't say anything about fire. The truth was, she wasn't sure. She had never heard of fire being used, but it was obviously effective. Not like she was going to let this kid - this Isamu - know that she wasn't the expert. But right now, he seemed her best bet for finding the ghost again. She could probably try to sense it or some spiritual shit, but she didn't even know if she could do that. Again, her pride prevented her from sharing any of this with Isamu.

He grabbed her shoulders suddenly, making her jump in surprise. Her expression turned sour. "HEY! Hands off the merchandise, fuckwad!" She shoved him, roughly, in the chest. Or tried to. She had noodle arms. "What's your issue?" She had only known this guy for five minutes. He could be a cracked-out hobo, for all she knew. Oh, God. He's a cracked-out hobo who wants to rape me. No way was she going to let him touch her - she kicked at his shin angrily. Tomoko hated anyone in her personal bubble, although she had no issues getting in other people's. She was very much a five-year-old in that respect. It was fine when she was doing it. Tomoko gave Isamu her best "official-priestess-exorcist" look (which made her just look like she was squinting at him angrily). "I know some people who may be able to help," she said cryptically. Saying, "my grandma can help" doesn't really have the same ring to it. "The shrine is right over there." She almost nodded at her house, within sight, but resisted. She didn't want him to know where she lived. If nothing else, her grandmother would be able to figure out where the phantom had run off to. "Now let me go, you dick!"

She was a bit worried about what Isamu was going to do. He looked like a big fat idiot, and was probably going to do something as stupid as his face was. Which, in Tomoko's humble opinion, was pretty damn stupid.