backyardbbq | Shop Visits! (Open post!)

Shop Visits! (Open post!)

[Maybe you stumbled upon the front gate to a strange house while walking in your neighborhood. Maybe you found it nestled between skyscrapers in a downtown area. Or maybe you didn't stumble across it at all, and instead fell into the backyard or something. The way you got there matters little. What really counts is that you're there for one reason: a wish.

A want. A desire. Something you can't get on your own. Something you want so badly that you would do anything to get it.

Well, you've come to the right place.

There's plenty to see in the house. The foyer is nice, and the kitchen is well-stocked. There's several other rooms as well: a sitting room, a dining room, a couple bedrooms for the people who wander upstairs to look, and a rather luxurious bathroom too. Several rooms open to the outside as well, so it's easy to come inside by many different paths.

But ultimately, you will end up face-to-face with a screen that opens into a room with a table and two chairs which overlooks the backyard.

And in that room, you will find the shopkeeper.]

[What happens now? Well, that's up to you, isn't it?]

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Aren't you sharp~

[He's not wrong. With the girls fussing around him, Shura was in no position to try kidnapping him. Her best chance to take him to Mephisto would have been when he was first hit.]

I ain't an expert, but I ain't too bad at this, either. It'll work for now.

[Yukio was better and more precise, but Shura wasn't going to bring him into this mess. She presses the towel to him again and looks over her shoulder to Maro and Moro. If she was lucky, she wouldn't have to haul his ass up to his bed herself.]

You two, how far can you carry him?

[As if on cue, the two girls go to either side of Watanuki and easily pick him up.]

"Watanuki get carried a lot~"

"Watanuki gets carried a lot~"

[Watanuki, for his part, looks absolutely peeved by being teased like this. Even if it's familiar for him, he doesn't have to take it lying down!

Or maybe he does. Since injured.]

You don't have to say it so cheerfully!

[The girls just laugh as they haul Watanuki up to his room. Shura is free to follow too, since nobody's stopping her from coming in.

Watanuki's room actually has a permanent bed rather than a futon, just another example of the 'east and west' decorative clash that this house seems to have. Along with the bed there are screens and several different kimonos hung up, cluttering the room with elegant clothing. It looks like Watanuki could wear a different outfit every day and not run out for at least a month, if not longer. There's also quite a few trinkets and decorations hanging on walls and such, too.

The girls will dump him in bed, though they put him on top of the blankets instead of pulling them back for him. He needs to be cleaned up first, after all.]

Oh, does he~? He is a playboy, gettin' carried everywhere.

[Shura will just file that away for future reference... She may never need it, but it was always good to be prepared.

But she gather up the towels and the medical kit and follow on after the girls. She at least needs to know where they're taking him. Who know what sort of secrets and traps were hidden in this weird place. And wow, look at this room. Look at those nice kimonos. This guy had a fortune in silk and other fabric, didn't he? Shura will no longer feel bad about ruining the kimono he currently has on considering that he has plenty of backups.]

You two, keep pressure on him. If the bleeding's stopped, go ahead and start cleaning him up. I'm gonna wash my hands.

[Wash her hands and take a quick inventory of what supplies she had on hand. It'd be a bitch to get started only to find out she didn't have enough suture thread to take care of it. When that's done and she's confident to go, she'll take over cleaning out the rest of his cut.]

[By the time Shura returns, she'll find that the girls have been a little overzealous with their efforts. Meaning that, in addition to keeping pressure on his cut, they also keep him held down to the bed.

Watanuki is not happy about this.]

Will you two stop it already? You never do this when Doumeki treats me!

[And there's the name of his helper from another world. Fun times~

But with Shura there, Maru and Moro will back off and let her look at the wound. The bleeding has slowed, but the cut will need stitches and bandages. Luckily he has all of the materials for that in spades, so there's no chance Shura will run out.

Watanuki mellows out slightly when Shura comes back too. But only slightly.]

Don't worry about leaving a scar, that kind of thing doesn't bother me. Just make sure it is cleaned, an infection here would be terrible.

My, Doumeki-kun must be the kind of guy you'll lie back for without hesitation ♥

[She assumes this is the guy he mentioned earlier in a different world. She does have to wonder why the girls seem so energetic. There's something that feels off, just slightly about them, though she can't say just what.]

But what a macho kind of guy you are~! We should all have your courage, hm?

[Well, Shura was probably going to have to learn that courage soon. Her skin was flawless, completely void of any scars or other damage that she should have gained over her years in the field.]

Go get him something to drink, okay? I didn't see any kind of anesthetic in the kit. [Which made sense, but still. Who knew what this guy might have stashed away.] I'll get to work, so thank you for your help~

[And ook, she's being polite. To the girls. Only to the girls. But at least she isn't going to fool around after that, finishing cleaning up the wound and readying her needle and thread to begin suturing the cut up. Jeez, this was going to take a while. From shoulder to hip? They were lucky it was only this bad.]

I guess you already know that this is gonna hurt.

[The girls are off at that request, and will be gone for a bit while they get what Shura asked for. Watanuki, for his part, makes an absolutely disgusted-looking face at Shura's teasing.]

Oh please. One, I used to date a relative of his, so it would be awkward. Secondly, I'm pretty sure he's straight.

[Just. To clarify that point. Surprise Watanuki isn't bothered by the thought of dating men or women, though he's also embarrassed by being called out about it.

But he doesn't fight it, he lays back and lets Shura do her work. The quicker she starts, the quicker she can be done.]

Yes, I know. This isn't the first time I've experienced magic-backlash.

[He's trying to sound cool and above it all, but a but of his nervousness is peeking through. Even if he puts on airs of being some wise sage, he's still very much a teenage boy/young man on the inside and he's not looking forward to the pain.]

[What a fun guy. But only when she had the better of him. With him in this shape, it was maybe a bit too easy, but that's never stopped Shura.]

Fufu~ That doesn't mean anything, y'know~?

[Dating a relative, she means. With her history, she's not about to judge someone else's personal proclivities.

It takes just a second to get her gloves on and thread the needle. The actual work of sewing him up will take longer, and she can't blame him if he's nervous. Even under the best circumstances, it was going to sting, and she wasn't an expert by any means. He didn't have to be a kid to feel nervous about it.]

Mm, backlash? Whaddya mean by that?

[If she keeps him focused and talking about something, then it might help take his mind off of the needle going through his skin.]

[Watanuki is BLATANTLY IGNORING that first part. He already dated Doumeki's father AND grandfather, he's not going to submit that guy to that.

But hey, exposition time! Watanuki is all too happy to talk while Shura is stitching him up. She's right, it gives him something else to focus on besides the pinpricks of pain in his chest.]

All magic has a cost. That's why most humans can't do it: humans in general have a poor understanding of how magic works, and they can't summon up a way to effectively conjure magic and pay the cost for using it. Magic-users- mages, wizards, witches, seers, and so on- have their own way of negotiating those costs. They-

[His breath catches and he squeezes his eyes shut as Shura starts the first stitch, but otherwise he doesn't react. He certainly does have a steel willpower, at least.]

...it's different for everyone, basically. But the cost of the wish has to be paid regardless. The magic I know- a combination of birthright and education into the spirit world- is particularly potent. But as a trade-off, the cost is high. And exact. If I take too much payment for the magic used in granting a wish, the magic could have unforeseen side-effects. If I take too little, then the universe takes the remainder of the cost from me personally.

[dang, son. Shura just thinks it's a cousin or a sibling or something simple like that. ~~he's going to remind her of hachiro if he says anything about it~~

But at least she can listen and work at the same time. No point in torturing him.]

And so when you hit that goblin, you had to price that price? That seems a little extreme, don't it?

[It had to be a powerful spell considering that that wasn't your average goblin, but still. This isn't the same as the spells or chants she's familiar with, and so she doesn't quite understand.]

Usually I can prepare spells ahead of time, which allows me to pay for the spell first and not experience backlash.

[Prophet, remember?]

But even I get caught off-guard from time to time.

[Just how many things did this guy see? Having visions sounded like a pain, but it might be necessary for the kind of magic he used. It sounded unpredictable at best.]

From 'time to time'? Looks like this might have been a bit more than just time to time, y'know.

[He didn't look that older, not much older than the twins. He might be her age, but she doesn't think he could be much more than that.]

It's not as bad as it looks, I swear.

[He says that, while smiling and trying not to think too much about the pain as a mostly-stranger stitches up his chest.

And she'll have to ask to get his age out of him, because that number is significantly higher than what Shura is expecting.]

It ain't?

[She says in an entirely credulous tone. Yeah right, it was probably worse. Idiot.]

Well, whatever you say, I guess. But if this is such a problem and you got people tryna' find you here that you don't want findin' ya, then why not move this place?

[He can keep trying to be brave, Shura will keep working, stitch by stitch, inch by inch.]

Because of a wish.

[Yep, it's as simple as that.]

Many years ago- from your perspective, not mine, time passes differently between worlds- a man came to me and made a wish. It's because of that wish that I am here now.

[Well....'here'. As in, his shop is connected to Shura's world. Since Watanuki won't actually leave the shop and go into the world itself.]

What, so someone asked for you to stick around or something for funsies? What kinda wish is that?

[Maybe he wanted someone else to make a request of this guy? But why didn't he just make the wish for them then? Because he couldn't afford the price at that moment? ]

'Don't let my idiot kids do something stupid they'll regret.' I believe that was the exact wording of the wish.

[YEAH HAVE FUN WITH THAT ONE SHURA]

So I'll remain here until they see me at least once. If they come here, I'll give them the chance to be under my protection. They would have to leave their world and come with me for some time, but they would be safe that way.

Tch. What kind of parent is he? Shouldn't he be the one to step in or somethin'?

[ she doesn't get it ]

But what a pain. Do those kids even know you exist?

[It sounds almost like something Shiro would do. Even with that thought, Shura still doesn't understand.]

The oldest one does. The other two? Not yet.

[Shura totally counts as one of Shiro's kids shhh.]

And he can't protect them now because he is dead. The conditions of the wish had me arrive the day he died.

[Even after everything that had happened, Shura still has trouble processing that she wasn't just a problem that was dumped on Shiro, let alone that she might be considered near the level of Rin and Yukio in his world. It just sails on over her head.

But at least she understands why Watanuki's stuck now. ]

What, the oldest keepin' it a secret? That's a pain. Prolly wants to protect them on his own or something. Still, why didn't you just take the kids when dad died?

[ It doesn't help that Shura's imagining younger kids. ]

I suppose I will have to ask her about it sometime.

But as for why I didn't take them, it's because they haven't come here yet. And I cannot go into your world, so I just have to wait here.

[And get cut up while defending himself from goblins and such, apparently.]

[She still doesn't get it.]

You can't just teleport them on over?

[That should be simple enough, right? Well, maybe there was an issue with whatever guardian they were assigned after their dad's death.]

No, I can't. People can only come here of their own free will, I can't force someone to come here.

[Magic rules and all.]

[Rules]

That really is troublesome. Ah, but you accepted that guy's wish in the first place, so I guess it's still on you.

[Says the one who's inadvertently causing him more problems by not bringing the younger kids by...]

It's one of the consequences of granting wishes, unfortunately.

[He says that like he isn't being patched up after a particularly nasty wound caused by a certain someone. Speaking of which is that almost done, he's getting tired of this.]

Tell me about somethin' stupid that somebody wished for.

[A short story should take up the time she needed to finish off the last stretch.
She can't blame him if he's getting impatient, though she will make fun of him if he gets fidgety. Then again, she'll find a way to make fun of him pretty much no matter what, so there's that.]

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