[semi-closed]

[sharplydressed]

WHO: Sword Sufferers Anonymous
WHERE: Public Library/Hollingberry Field
WHEN: Friday
WHAT: A bunch of people are turning into swords and it's a wild time. Info-sharing session for swords and/or a place for other people regaining swords to stop by and wonder If They're Next™.
WARNINGS: None; will update if needed!

[SO HERE IT IS. The dust has settled from the insanity of the last month (somewhat), and life goes on in Recolle. Mostly.

Maybe you've heard about it through word of mouth - that some other people are having some weird troubles with their regained weapons. Swords in particular. Maybe you've caught wind of a few familiar terms like "Retrograding Army" and you're curious to learn more, or maybe you've just caught a bad case of Sakura Fubuki-itis and you want to know what to do next. In any case, there are two meetings going on today. One at the library - a perfect place to pour through those history textbooks and look up a little more about all those ye olde historical names and terms coming to mind lately!

The other is in the park, since it's a better place for open discussion without having to worry about getting hushed by a frazzled librarian. This is also the place to pick up any sword care items you could need, since Kashuu's brought a metric asston along with him! Good work, team.]

(Feel free to use this to mingle as you see fit! If you need a reason for your character to show, we can handwave a direct or misfired text from Kashuu. Anyone meandering by who'd have reason to poke their heads in is free to, since these are both taking place in public locations!)

Comments

park ota!

[sharplydressed]

i;
[Once everyone's gathered, Kashuu will flip his phone outward, showing off a somewhat blurry picture of one of these guys. Two others can be seen somewhat in the background, along with an equally blurry shot of Kashuu himself. It's a still, captured from the video that Maggie had taken when his team ended up having to fight off three yari at once.

It seems as good a place as any to start off, so here he is.]

So... These guys. Anyone else remember anything like 'em? If you do, I'm preeetty sure we might be from the same army.

[OF SWORDS. But he'll get to that part soon enough.]

ii;
[For the beans cursed with People Touch My Sword And I Feel It-itis (or sakura fubuki, or any other weirdass sword connection struggle, Kashuu is here for you. Having already gone through a number of bizarre-ass changes himself, he'll gladly lay his cards on the table for suffering comrades, despite how generally tight-lipped he's been over the last few months. Actually accepting that you might be some kind of weird spirit thing does wonders for evasion.]

O-kay! Gimme a rundown of what you're going through and I might be able to help prep you for what's coming up later down the road.

iii;
[OR catch him afterwards, sorting through his... literal wagon of sword cleaning supplies... He really just stacked them up in a wagon he borrowed from work, normally used to tote around milk jugs.]

You can take whatever you need, okay? Let's see... These things are uchiko balls? The powder's over here, you have to replace it kinda often. That stuff's choji oil, this one's some kinda wax--

[He has all the supplies that might be necessary! Steel wool, different types of waxes for the scabbard, metal polish, soft cleaning cloths, on and on - about six months of total supplies, so he's certainly willing to share. You'll probably need a better teacher if you want to know how to actually go through the cleaning steps properly, though... He's still learning.]

wildcard;
[Anything in particular you want Kashuu to mention? Come at me!]

i

[toobigtohandle]

[Those.... he's definitely remembered those, after that chat with Kashuu during the cleanup last month, actually. He still has no idea what they are, but now he clearly remembers those shapes.]

What are they?

[sharplydressed]

They're swords, I'm pretty sure. And definitely enemies we used to fight. They called themselves the Historical Retrograding Force and these guys- [Tapping the screen!] -were called the yari.

[Which he definitely had to google after remembering the term... He's on the fast track study course for random sword knowledge.]

[toobigtohandle]

Historical Retrograding Force?

[That's a mouthful for you.]

And yari... I suppose they were carrying spears, then.

[Who needs Google when you already are a sword enthusiast of sorts before even remembering you are one.]

I have a clear memory of seeing them and fighting them, but I haven't actually seen any here.

[sharplydressed]

Yeah... They were, uh. Time travelers.

[AS WERE THE REST OF THEM. Wild times in sword land, wherever and whenever it existed.

But he nods at that, since he does at least know what it was that he fought even if he wasn't sure what the name for it was.]

Mm, that's right. They appeared when we first needed to get access, so I'm guessing that was part of the employee test everyone was talking about? The one even regular Retrospec employees have to go through... I dunno how they got those guys, though. I hope they don't come back.

[toobigtohandle]

... What?

[Sorry, what. Could run that by him again.]

Time travel isn't possible.

[But then many things that are not possible are happening, so is time travel really the hill Kenta want to die on? He closes his eyes and ribs his face.]

So we are part of an army that fights those... things who happen to be Time travellers?

[That sounds completely ridiculous when summed up like this.]

[sharplydressed]

Yeah, I just... Yeah.

[HE KNOWS. He knows it's a lot, he just tries not to talk about it or think about it because honestly just "hey I'm a sword" is enough to deal with on its own most days, without tossing in "I also nyoom through space and time, I guess" to the mix.

But here they are.]

I don't really remember much else about 'em, though. Just the name, what kind of blades they might be, and that they're bad news.

[toobigtohandle]

I couldn't even remember their names, just their shapes and general outward appearance.

[Please do not completely break Kenta's brain right away.]

But then, would that mean that we...'knew' each other, somehow?

[sharplydressed]

[SO MUCH BRAINBREAKING IN THEIR TRAGIC FUTURES. But he just nods - first to generally acknowledge what Kenta knows about the army, and then a more thoughtful nod in response to his question.]

I think that's probably the case, yeah. Unless there's more than one "world" or whatever out there fighting off this specific enemy... Which I guess is also likely? I mean, I'd probably believe anything at this point.

[He's a tired, tired bean.]

i

[surprising]

Yeah, I fought one exactly like it. They're from something called the Retrograding Army, right?

[ he goes over the word slowly; it's still unfamiliar on his tongue. ]

I also remembered them coming in lots of different colors... I don't know what that means, though.

[sharplydressed]

Mmhm, that's it. Historical Retrograding Army, if you wanna get super technical.

[The historical part is probably important since OH YEAH THEY'RE ALL ALSO TIME TRAVELERS in addition to being swords, what a struggle.]

I dunno what the colors mean, either... I've seen the purple guys and some red ones, but that's it. Yasusada said he saw a blue one when he was out in the unreality or whatever, too.

[Little do they know it was a kebiishi who wrecked his shit...]

Anyway, these ones are yari, I'm pretty sure. I remembered that there are a bunch of different "types" like that in their army.

[surprising]

That's a weird name. But I saw a red one, too — it even had a best friend that was a cactus monster.

[ which is probably irrelevant but now we know that the time retrograding army members can form friendships, apparently... also rip yams, wrecked as he lived.

he'll get back on discussing the types of army members in a quick moment, but he needs to confirm something first: to be honest, he's only spoken to yasusada once, and the occasion was, oddly enough — ]

Yasusada... Do you mean the guy that wrote that weird book report on the network? The one about Gatsby going out like a shooting star because he was shot?

[sharplydressed]

What the hell? That's weird.

[He didn't get the sense that they could form friendships at all BUT HEY. Just look at how advanced the ones in Katsugeki are.

Also his expression becomes Immediately Exhausted.]

Y'know, I'm just gonna assume so because I haven't met anyone else on the network with his name and also that sounds like the exact kinda stupid stuff he'd talk about. [Why Is Yasusada An Idiot.] Anyway, yeah - he's my... [MAKING VAGUE HAND GESTURES BECAUSE HE'S AN EASILY EMBARRASSED TSUN.] ...We've known each other for a long time. Like, a long time.

[surprising]

[ they have a better grip on human connections than swords do... but as he watches kiyomitsu make tsun flappy motions with his hands, he just gives him this Knowing Smile. if he doesn't want to embarrass himself, then rindou will embarrass him instead, because that's what wholesome friendship is all about. ]

Ah, so he's your childhood friend.

[ YOU'RE WELCOME!! ]

By the way, what does he look like?

[sharplydressed]

[IF ONLY IT WAS THAT LOWKEY but no Kashuu's fine with just accepting this and he nods. It's not untrue!!]

Yeah, and my roommate. [Clearly nailing all the important descriptors.] He's that guy.

[GESTURING TO YASUSADA since of course Kashuu dragged him along. He's probably off petting Jirou's dog or something, who knows what Yasusadas do when left to roam freely.]

[surprising]

[ rindou looks in the direction that he indicates, and yup, that's him — the mysterious person next to kiyomitsu from something he remembered recently. ]

If I told you I've seen him before, would that be weird? Not here, but, you know...

[ in sword land, or what they decide to call it. he makes vague hand gestures, because despite their vagueness, they're quite expressive... ]

He was standing next to you, too.

[sharplydressed]

[SWORD LAND... A good, solid name for their home.

That said, this might have been surprising a few months ago, but he just nods in response.]

Mm, makes sense. And that probably shows you really are from the same place as us... Or were. --Or are?

[Look the whole reconstruction versus reincarnation thing is A Lot to take in and he's tired.]

We definitely remember being together in that army... Can I ask what you remembered, though?

[arahoushi]

[He's got all the sword supplies he needs, he's already talked a little bit to Kashuu about some of the stuff he's dealing with and while he doesn't specifically remember the picture Kashuu shows around he remembers something like it. But Toshi's even more tight-lipped than Kashuu is, so he waits until the gathering has mostly died down before he even shows up, much less talks to anybody.

He very pointedly (lol) did not bring the spear. It's still hidden in a closet. Sorry, spear.]

Guess we've got more in common than we knew, huh.

[sharplydressed]

[Toshi be good to your spear self...

Though Kashuu understands, at least, and he won't be getting any shit from this punk.]

Looks like it, huh? [A somewhat lopsided smile follows, like he's trying to decide whether he should find this funny in a Shitty Retrospec Way™ or convey sympathy first and foremost.]

You doing okay?

[arahoushi]

[He refuses you can't make him nobody can make him

It's funny in a Shitty Retrospec Way but the lopsided sympathy smile is good, too. He offers one back, equally lopsided and just as uncertain with just a tinge of desperation there, too.]

Not great. But I'll live.

[Sword memories kind of suck.]

Y'know, at first I hated the memories, but now I think I hate how disjointed they are even more. I mean, I don't remember that thing-- [The yari in Kashuu's picture.] --but I remember a little one and a huge one and I figure they're probably all related. I just don't remember it. And I remember people's names but not any of the faces they're connected to.

[SWORD MEMORIES REALLY SUCK.]

[sharplydressed]

[YOU'LL GET THERE EVENTUALLY, TOSHI... Eventually.

He entirely understands this feeling in any case, even if it's a mix between "yep I feel you, I want the mystery to end" and "nope I don't ever want to remember these people".]

Yeah... The little one's probably a tantou? I dunno, I didn't remember how any of 'em looked except the ones I've seen, but I remembered all of their class names or whatever.

[And promptly spent the night googling, which is exhausting when you're fresh to sword hell because you never had a reason to care before.]

The name and face thing is a real pain, too. ...It kinda gets better, though. Just - all of it, I mean. Dealing with it.

[#attemptedcomfort]

[arahoushi]

[Ah, Kashuu, you're such a good bean. Toshi's so fond of this little weirdo.

...oops, is that a word bubble revealing that Toshi's so fond of this little weirdo above Toshi's head? Also there is a heart emoticon at the end of the statement. That's embarrassing.]

Hey, do you remember a... Shit, what was it.... [All these names are really long, he's used to much shorter names...] Mikazuki something. That's one of the names I remember. Without a face.

[sharplydressed]

[Oh boy, a word bubble! Kashuu knows what's up with these things by now and tries not to look when they appear, but of course sudden motions grab his attention and his eyes flick upward reflexively.]

—Hey! I am not a weirdo. [GOD. The emoticon is adorable though, that can stay, 10/10.

But oh right, the important things--]

Mikazuki, huh...? Nope, that name's not familiar to me at all. D'you remember anything else about 'em, or just a name?

[arahoushi]

Wha-- Dammit.

[He's escaped most of the most embarrassing word bubbles, but not all apparently. At least Kashuu doesn't seem too upset. The heart emote hangs around a little longer before everything disappears.

Toshi shakes his head.]

Just a bunch of names. Names without faces. ...And one face without a name. That's the one that's really bugging me.

[sharplydressed]

[He's seen worse and weirder things... And the heart, lingering as it does, makes up for Toshi being a PUNK to a degree anyway.

Either way, he'll let it go with little more than a huff.]

I'll let you know if I remember anything about it. Was there a surname or was it just Mikazuki? And what about the person's face - can I ask what they looked like?