This world is inhabited by creatures that we call pokemon. People and pokemon live together by supporting each other, but now the scourge threatens the safety of the entire region. Kohaku has become a dangerous place, where children stay at home and only brave souls go adventuring.
Welcome to KOHAKU. Come for the nightmares. Stay for the tea and crumpets.
The season is SUMMER. It is easy for survivors to forage for food from the land, as there are entire abandoned farms ready for harvest. On the downside, you can smell the corpses.
swarms
GRAND OPENING !
Welcome to KOHAKU REGION's grand opening! If you're interested in joining, come check out our grand opening giveaway!
She liked the casino less and less these days. She wasn't sure if that was because J was there, or if it was just because there was little more the casino could offer her now that she had no need of new pokemon or evolution items. Gambling felt like a waste of time. It remained to be seen if she would say the same about J.
Neo looked for J where she'd found him before, beyond the common slots and poker tables. She wasn't too pleased by the stairs along the way. Walking was no trouble for her, but stairs made her feel like waddling duck. (The sentiment was self-delusional. The baby was imperceptible to most, and although she wore maternity dresses now, Neo didn't need to, not for another couple of weeks yet.)
Santiago's old haunt was the first place to check, and it turned out to be then only place she had to check. It was an unspoken VIP area: cleaner, quieter, and a just a notch fancier than anywhere else in the casino.
She stood at his table and didn't sit down.
"Hi," she said. It was almost friendly, but mostly cautious in the end. She hadn't lied when she'd said he scared her now. "You busy?"
This would be really awkward if he were busy. Neo could always leave and come back some other time, she supposed. Maybe she should've just sent a fruit basket and a greeting card. It'd be worth the expense just to find out what J did with the fruit basket. Oh, well.
"I wanted to say thanks." She shifted her weight from foot to foot. "For looking for me, in the Land of Nightmares."
He hadn't found her, and she hadn't needed him, but that wasn't the point. It was the thought that counted.
J sat at his desk, his body bent over so that he could rest his arms on his knees and stare at his pair of bloodstained boots. another pair he had to send to be cleaned just because he was careless with his actions. his phone rang with the notification that one of his marks (friends, because he didn't know how to otherwise have his men watch out for certain people) had appeared in the vicinity. a green-haired female was the description, and was without a doubt neo.
he continued to stare at his boots, shoulders weary after a day's work. between his recent return to fighting scourge and trekking around the region, he hadn't had much time to properly juggle two very different jobs and work out some way to rest. sleep was out of the question, owing to certain elements in his dreams that he wished to avoid. J exchanged breaths as neo stepped into his office.
there wasn't much to note in the small room; it had J's desk, a couch, a coffee table with a stained ashtray (with blood etched into its side, had two or three cigarette butts in it), shelves of documents, a potted plant that was surprisingly well-kept, a calendar that still said december, and a coat stand upon which hung his identifying parka.
J himself wore a suit, and he was currently half-hunched over as he tried to compose himself enough to form a response that wasn't a grunt or growl. "hey," he managed to force out of himself, even if it sounded guttural, "no." single syllables were all that he could say for the time being, and it would have to suffice.
he shifted when she said more, but still didn't look her in the eye. she didn't have to come all the way to thank him. they'd all walked away from the land of nightmares more scarred than triumphant. thalia and him had escaped as a different sort of human; neo had been infected by the virus; karimi was arguably the only one who wasn't half-torn by the land when she made her exit.
J tried to identify if it was concern that made him go along with the haphazard search party. he didn't have an answer.
"okay." he shifted, so that he could look at her. (he was observant enough to notice that she wasn't wearing her usual sort of outfit, but didn't question her. he supposed that if she found it of note, she would let him know about it.) "alright," he added, his voice considerably softer than it was before.
he toyed with words in his mind, trying to string them together to form a sentence that was understandable. hashr told him that she wasn't there. was that a good sentence to say? he had accepted hashr's gift, and batin said that the giratina had an inflated sense of superiority. that couldn't be something important. there had been a chansey, in cura and in the land of nightmares and probably in ceres. was that vital? maybe. ceres was attacked and he knew how it was engineered.
J eventually decided that none of those mattered. keeping things simple and easy to understand was how he worked.
She'd never known that he wore a suit under the parka. It reminded her of Delta, in a way that she'd prefer not to think about. (It was remarkable how little she thought of him, despite the baby serving as a constant reminder.)
Neo sat down on the couch, primly without ever settling into the seat. She wasn't sure how long she'd be staying. That depended mostly on J.
Why is there blood on the ash tray? she wanted to ask. She didn't. Clearly, they were sticking to idle pleasantries for now--not that her thank you was idle. It was genuine. Perhaps he actually wanted to know how she was doing too.
"I'm well enough. Three meals a day, eight hours of sleep. No alcohol. Doctor's orders." She was doing better now than before. The hospital had kept her overnight for what seemed like the sole purpose of lecturing her on proper nutrition. They claimed it was a miracle that the fetus hadn't starved to death, nor did it seem like it was having any issues with the copious amount of alcohol she'd drank prior to her hospital visit.
"Been having trouble with the sleeping part," Neo said. It wasn't that she feared another sojourn into the Land of Nightmares. She didn't dream as a general rule, and when she did, it was training or battles in the Dream World. Mathematically, the chances of her going back to the Castle Forlorn were slim to none. Physiologically, she had to sleep eventually. There was no avoiding that, and Neo preferred to sleep on her own terms rather than unexpectedly pass out from exhaustion.
She looked at J, not so impassive that a tiny bit of concern didn't leak through, when she added, "You look a little tired yourself. Ran out of bitter powder or something?"
no one knew J wore a suit under his parka, except for those whom he had to work with while on the job. he was rather attached to it, after all. the suits he had multiples of; they were sent for dry cleaning at the end of the day, and he had a few spare ones in the changing room locker just in case. his line of work had little to no regard for keeping clothes neatly-pressed and free from stains of any sort.
J's rehearsed reaction was to nod along as neo spoke. it was easier to let her do the talking, like always. her sentences were still somewhat trapped in a staccato, but J didn't question it. most people didn't seem able to form sentences around him; perhaps he had rubbed off on them in some way. (but that was merely a consoling thought he conjured for himself; he figured that somehow, people might have been intimidated by him.)
"that's healthy," he said, "your lifestyle." he was doing no better at speaking than he had moments ago. he didn't question the doctor's orders nor the no alcohol bit. to him, it seemed more like a repercussion from having drank too much alcohol in the bar. sort of like a cooldown period before resuming normal activities; that kind of thing. J found an explanation for himself, and didn't seem to need anything else.
neo's concern for him and his bitter powder made him crack a hint of a smile. it was rusty, unused, as if he hadn't smiled in a long time. it played on the edges of his eyes. his mouth wasn't quirked upwards nor had his expression changed; his gaze alone indicated that he had indeed found it worth smiling at, even if he seemed to be completely unacquainted with the expression after everything that had happened.
"not really," he replied. "work," J elaborated after pulling himself up into a proper sitting position. his job scope involved killing things, people if needed, and he honestly didn't feel like delving into the subject. it wasn't a job the average person would be proud of, but he supposed that it was only natural that he would fall into such an occupation.
the edges of his shirt collar was stained with blood as well, from when it splattered against him. things had gotten messy too fast, too soon today. he sank back into his seat and exhaled.
"... should probably eat," he noted, more to himself than neo. the clock on his desk said that it was slightly past nine pm. he settled for a smoke instead.
"Must be some real hard work then." That probably went without saying. Neo wasn't entirely sure what J did on a day-to-day basis. As far as she understood it, he'd taken over the money-lending void that Santiago had left with his untimely demise. How far that went into Santiago's old mafia rings, she hadn't bothered asking around to find out. It wasn't her business anyway.
He seemed a little more alive once he was actually sitting upright. She couldn't say he looked particularly well though. Her lips pursed--concerned--but Neo wasn't sure she should mention his health.
...But she would if a cigarette was considered a proper substitute for a meal. There were lines, and that was one that'd been crossed, even for someone who lived on bitter powder and cocoa (hopefully not at the same time, but she wouldn't be surprised).
"That's food now?" she said, almost indignant at the cigarette. She sighed. Neo wondered how many he'd already had today. Then again, with the regeneration, he didn't need to fear for his lungs. "And I thought bitter powder was an incredible diet."
By incredible, she mostly meant downright inedible. Her opinion of the stuff had gone up ever since it'd somehow managed to resuscitate her after she'd gone and bled herself halfway to death--Neo stopped that train of thought. That was a bad walk down memory lane. She didn't want to go there.
"You're in Nerio City, J," Neo chided gently. "There's such thing as delivery, you know. It's very convenient. I saw a Kanto place right around the corner on my here, if you still eat sushi. I'm sure they deliver. I'm also sure one of those very large men in black standing around the casino could get you take-out."
Actually, she wasn't sure if they were still open at 9PM. Knowing Nerio City, they probably kept running well past midnight, serving warm sake and hosting games of dice, but some people here actually slept at night. Neo hadn't met many so far, but you'd never know.
J's diet had been something the two of them had known for a while, and while J was hoping that neo wouldn't bring it up, she always did. she always brought up the topics that J didn't really want to have to talk about, such as his diet. the both of them knew he was perfectly capable of cooking as long as there were ingredients, but a loan shark who was also a scourge-fighter didn't really have time to go grocery shopping. there always seemed to be better things to do, or in J's case, something to kill, be it infected pokémon or vaccinated pokémon owned by trainers who failed to repay their debts.
"i still eat bitter powder," said J, "hot cocoa, too." but it seemed like such a faraway thought. him and neo walking through the streets of proserpina, and then ceres. bacchus at one point. eventually hespera, where they met each other again at the soup kitchen. with the exception of berry stew and the sushi that he had eaten (or rather, attempted to), it had been a diet of hot cocoa all the way. bitter powder didn't enter his life until he visited the medicine shop in the mefitis underground, and decided that he could live on a combination of powder and hot cocoa.
"haven't had sushi in a long time," said J. he still hadn't forgotten what his attempt at eating seafood had been like. he vaguely remembered passing out and getting himself hospitalized. at least it hadn't killed him, he thought. "i could drop by, but." he paused. what honestly was stopping him from eating regular meals? he didn't know, but he felt like he could live without eating proper meals and as such, got into the habit of doing so.
J went back to staring at the clock. it said that it was nine-fifteen, sharp. the shop neo talked about was always open; its customers mainly frequented it in the night, and its menu featured yakitori and various other items; it was an izakaya, after all. near it was an oden cart, that sold a variety of ingredients. J had dropped by both of them once or twice, but only to drink and not to eat. perhaps he ought to do something about it, considering how neo was around -- wait, no. she had specifically said no to alcohol. J's silence continued.
"are you hungry?" he chose to pose his question to neo instead of himself. he was long since past the point where he was aware that he was hungry. "we could go there," he said. "i feel like drinking."
come to think of it, his dinners had not been bitter powder or cocoa. it had been copious amounts of alcohol. thalia had been happy to accompany him to bars where they drank until daylight fell over the region, and then they left. she went off to train, while he went to manage his money-lending business.
J rose from his seat, as if to support his previous statement of going out of the office. he moved over to the couch, hovered over neo for a moment, before he plucked his parka off the stand. coat in hand, he turned to the researcher.
She probably didn't need to bring up his eating habits anymore. He'd never really listened to her before, besides to suffer a meal when she'd insisted, and she doubted he'd listen now. Neo suspected he didn't even need to eat at all anymore.
She wouldn't be surprised if the last time he had sushi was the one time they'd gone together in Hespera City. That would've been half a year ago.
"I wouldn't mind. I can have tea or something, and food." She'd already had dinner, but that had been about three hours ago. She could stand to eat again, and the baby could too. That was another thing the doctors had mentioned: she shouldn't be losing weight during a pregnancy. Supper wouldn't be entirely amiss.
Normally, she'd be alright with a few drinks too--although the last time she and Delilah had gotten drunk in Nerio, they were lucky not to spend the night in jail.
Not quite comprehending, Neo said, "I thought you couldn't get drunk. Not anymore." If alcohol was a means to an end (and all things were, for Neo), what's the point if the ends were impossible to achieve?
"I'll come with you. One second." She stood up, didn't have many things to gather besides a purse of pokeballs, and joined him at the door.
The route out of the casino was the same as she'd taken when she entered, past the crowded poker tables and the ever popular slot machines. Outside, Neo stopped to button up her coat, a cold winter chill still lingering past its welcome.
The Kanto place was where she'd said it was: around the corner, and then down half the block. She hadn't noticed the ozen cart among all the other food trucks and street vendors, but it stood out now as they approached the restaurant.
J held the door for neo, choosing to address her question only when she gathered her things. "thalia can't, either," he said. but they drank anyway, because what else was there left to do when only a queue of scourge waited for them with no end in sight? they couldn't get drunk, but alcohol had already become a habit every time they met each other. they hadn't fought scourge alongside each other in a very long time; most of their fights had involved them punching the shit out of each other for various reasons. none of the aggression had been intended to harm as well, which made it all the stranger. so they drank, and tried not to get themselves killed by elaborate ideas that involved the world and shamees scheming against them.
he shut and locked the door once neo was out of the office, not bothering to turn off the lights in his wake. they moved through the casino with ease, as J's presence parted the crowd. people made way for the moneylender that resided within the casino; the bouncers shifted and created an unobstructed path for J and neo. if they had thought that neo was suspicious for seeking out J without prior debt to the casino, they didn't now. whatever thoughts they had for the female were quickly wiped away when it turned out that J was on good terms with her.
outside, it was cold. J shifted in his parka, glad for the protection against the chill. he stayed a few steps behind neo, just enough to keep her within sight and far enough to let her lead the way to the izakaya. the person manning the oden cart raised a hand in greeting to J; he returned the gesture.
the establishment neo talked about was a familiar one. salarymen ducked in and out of the entrance, some of them too drunk to walk in a straight line. a few of them had women on their arms, presumably headed somewhere that wasn't home to spend the night. such was the nightlife where the casino was. despite the noise and rowdiness in the izakaya, J managed to secure them both a seat by the sushi chef.
by the time he settled into his seat, he realized that he didn't want anything to eat or drink. he watched the chef sharpen his knife and slice the salmon deftly before placing the equally-cut pieces on rice. he was served warm sake, and green tea for neo. as a particularly rowdy crowd near the entrance grew louder and louder between the atmosphere and alcohol they had consumed, J was reminded of why he had chosen to frequent deserted bars. he didn't like the noise, and neither did he like being around too many people.
he glanced at neo, seated to his side. "what did we eat in hespera?" he asked her. he liked rice, but that was really it. he remembered the salmon that had caused him too much grief for a simple slice of fish, and also the hospital stay after.
this was a man who had the diet of an ashtray: cigarettes, dust, occasionally blood and sometimes alcohol.
The green tea had the softy earthy flavor, enriched with roasted rice grains. It was warm and comforting in the way that tea should be. The atmosphere was less comforting.
It was honestly a bit strange to be here and drinking tea, as if it were a teahouse, rather than plum wine or sake. Neo considered ordering a drink. Considering that she'd downed an entire bottle of what had tasted like paint stripper and nearly died, and the baby was apparently still doing just fine,
"I... think you had salmon. And rice. Maybe chirashi, but definitely rice. I don't really remember what we ordered." Mostly, she just remembered the hospital trip afterward. She was hoping they wouldn't have a repeat performance of that. If they did, at least Nerio's hospitals weren't flooded with refugees like Hespera's. Nerio left those too poor to pay for medical attention on the streets.
Neo wondered if she was pushing him too far into this. (She knew she was, but she'd always assumed that J would would refuse if he had to.) But whoever heard of a man that couldn't eat food?
(What if he died this time? What if he was allergic to fish and never found out because he never ate anything besides powdered roots and cocoa?)
She ordered pickles with rice, declined to add a cup of plum wine to that, although it was tempting. Neo was fairly certain that a couple drinks would at least make the noise in here a bit more bearable.
"Are you going to be okay this time?" she asked as the food arrived. It was a fair question. Neo was having real doubts about this. Then again, there was a potential upside.
After a moment's paused, she asked, "If you choke and start dying again, can I try the cure on you?"
and that was precisely what J had ordered. he stared at his twin pieces of sushi and raw salmon, not even looking at neo when she posed a question about him. he didn't know if he was going to be okay. he hadn't had solid food in a very long time; most of his diet had been alcohol, cocoa and bitter powder. he figured that he would still be receptive to rice, but salmon ... salmon seemed like his eternal enemy.
hespera was still very vivid in his mind. actually, many memories were still vivid in J's mind. he didn't forget all that easily -- everything in kohaku had been memorable in a way. mordecai's prediction had somehow came true, too. he'd learnt to just roll with things after a while.
"i'll survive," said J, "and no cure." at this, he looked at neo, and shook his head firmly. he was not going to get injected with whatever had caused thalia to writhe and spit up a crystal from her chest. that same substance had also resulted in neo feeling rather ill after that. J felt like he didn't want to even give a chance to do anything.
he broke up a pair of bamboo chopsticks, and tore off the salmon from the sushi. the sushi chef looked at him with disgust. J didn't care. he ate the rice first, before focusing on the salmon. that seemed like a real challenge. the trainer grit his teeth, took a deep breath, and picked off a tiny piece of fish before popping it into his mouth.
it tasted like raw fish. J wasn't expecting otherwise, of course. he was more or less waiting for the aftermath -- nothing seemed to happen, and so, J broke off another similarly-sized piece of fish before washing it down with too much sake.
DwVu5rCL <50 bad reaction
J broke out in cold sweat. he immediately dropped the chopsticks and ignored the rest of the fish; he rose from his seat and staggered to his feet, and out of the izakaya.
outside in the cold air, J felt considerably better, but his hands were cold and clammy, and he didn't feel like himself. at least he didn't feel like he was about to die from toxic shock. he leaned against a lamppost, staring blankly at the passers-by.
Fine. No cure. Neo sighed, not that she expected him to agree to it anyway.
Neo ate gingerly, eating exactly equal portions of rice and pickles, as if her supper were some sort of mathematical exercise. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched J just in case he rolled over and died or something. She doubted he'd die; she wasn't sure he was capable of that anymore. Still, considering how well their last meal had gone, she expected the worst.
(Having never witnessed any of the adventures of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome and Little Miss Pinky, Neo had no idea just how bad the worst really could be.)
"That's a lot of sake--" Neo said, more a statement of fact than voicing disapproval. She disapproved though--more because it seemed like a waste of time and energy for absolutely no possible gain. Anyway, J was already up and leaving before she had a chance to finish
Neo left some money on the bar, not sure which of them had the tab, and followed J out of the izakaya. Before, she would've rushed out. Now, she took her time. He wouldn't need urgent professional care. The worst he'd need is some time for the healing factor to run a few laps through his nervous system.
She shivered in the cold, adjusted her coat collar for lack of a scarf. Otherwise, she didn't seem bothered by J's strategic retreat out of the izakaya.
"Place was too noisy anyway." That was spoken nonchalantly, but she kept an eye on J. He didn't look so good. Granted, he hadn't looked good when she first walked into his office. She just hadn't thought he could look much worse.
She tilted her head at him. "Feeling better? We could go elsewhere, or back to your office and pick up sake along the way. Either way, somewhere warmer than a sidewalk would be nice."
A pause. "If you're feeling well enough to go anywhere, that is. It's not that cold. I'll wait."
J was still learning against the lamppost before he lit a cigarette. his healing factor had taken care of the worst of it; he was still feeling a little weak, but at least he wasn't shivering from a bad stomach. he eyed the nearby oden cart. it would be warm, and they served sake as well. the things it served wasn't too bad either. fish paste would be a step up, and J had a feeling she might tell him to try something cooked instead of raw.
"oden cart," said J, "it's warm there."
he trudged through the crowd, parting them just as easily as the first time around. he went over to where the cart was and got a bottle of sake, and poured himself a small cup of it. he still appeared pale as he looked over the various ingredients sold in the cart; he wasn't sure what to try eating, and wasn't about to eat without something like doctor's advice.
or researcher's advice, in J's case. he turned to neo, expecting some sort of comment.
The oden cart wasn't far away, and the crowd parting like the red sea for J only made it seem closer.
It was downright toasty by the oden cart, the soup broth emitting a cheerful heat and a fragrant smell.
Oh, yes, an entire bottle of sake, part of your balanced diet. Neo sighed, but when J looked to her, she examined the oden cart for something that he might find edible.
The broth smelled mild and digestible enough. Perhaps anything in it would be alright. Then again, Neo hadn't thought that a bit of salmon could give anyone a hard time before she'd met J. Maybe she should stick to tasteless carbohydrates? He could eat rice. That was something to go on.
It took her a moment, but after a while, she presented J a little styrofoam bowl with various types of tofu, a slice of radish, a fishball, and (this was daring) a bit of squid. If she recalled correctly, back in Hespera, he'd seemed open to the idea of fish. She took the bottle of sake from him, not inclined to give it back until she saw him eat.
Incredibly unnecessarily, Neo said, "Don't forget to chew."
he accepted the bowl of food and glanced it over. he recognized most of the ingredients in it, but he wasn't sure if he was about to try the fishball or the squid. he gripped the bowl a little too tightly as he picked out a bit of tofu. it tasted relatively normal to him.
emboldened by the lack of reaction from his body, J finished the piece of white tofu. the one stuffed with fish paste he didn't dare touch for the time being. he eyed the slice of radish, and passed over that one as well. he poked the fishball once or twice, before quietly setting down the bowl.
his gaze was on the bottle of sake.
"i'd like that," he said to neo. he had ate a piece of tofu without much difficulty, and felt that he at least deserved some sake.
She liked the casino less and less these days. She wasn't sure if that was because J was there, or if it was just because there was little more the casino could offer her now that she had no need of new pokemon or evolution items. Gambling felt like a waste of time. It remained to be seen if she would say the same about J.
