Re: Silence in Suspicion [Ryoichi/Jiyan]

Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:55 am

Jiyan raised an eyebrow, “Of course I take debt literally. What the hell is fake debt? If you owe someone, you owe someone.” Jiyan brought his hand to his chin in one of those thinking positions. ‘Fake debt…’ Luckily, his attention was caught by Ryoichi walking away and gesturing for him to follow. He glanced to the records office, giving it a glare, as if it ‘better be here tomorrow’ and then jogged to catch up with his new… friend?

The walk to the hotel was similar to the walk to the records office: quiet. Jiyan watched as Ryoichi apparently switched rooms in order to add a second bed. Jiyan could have slept on the floor, but he chose to stay silent due to the desire for a BED for once. In the room, he was surprised by how nice it was and they had two kings, which were large, but still not perfect for a man his height. He could sleep at a diagonal.

Jiyan laid his sword against a nearby wall, kicked off his boots and slid under the blankets from the bottom of the bed, even completely undoing the sheets to do it. He crawled up to the top, until his head popped out onto the pillows and looked to Ryoichi. "The sheets are soft."

Mon Oct 14, 2024 4:37 am

Silence in Suspicion [Ryoichi/Jiyan] - Page 4 MzSNPlb

RYOICHI HIRAMATSU

"No, not fake debt, it's...never mind."

He'd been right on the money with that one. He took the idea way too seriously, to the point where Ryoichi was almost concerned that the guy had never heard a turn-of-phrase before. Nevertheless, the two made a quiet journey to the hotel, with the sound of their footsteps being the only noise between them. Once at the front desk, he made the proper rearrangements.

They weren't sleeping in the same bed, and he sure as shit wasn't making either of them sleep on the floor. So, upon entering the new room, Ryoichi set his own sword against the wall next to his bed, moved his suitcase underneath the bed, before sitting down and taking his shoes off, watching Jiyan crawl into the bed like a mole digging through the ground.

It was such a childish thing, one that he expected from his daughter in her infancy, not from a fully grown man with such an intense cliff face, you'd think that the idea of humor was surgically removed from him. It was almost like watching a child discover something for the first time.

"Yeah, that's what a bed feels like. Enjoy it, and try to actually sleep. You'll feel a hell of a lot better than you would sleepin' in an alley or against a wall."

END POST | MONSTER HUNTER

Mon Oct 14, 2024 4:46 am

Jiyan stared at the ceiling for a while. He was strangely comfortable right now, even with this feet sticking out of the bottom of the blanket and hanging off the end of the bed. After a while, each blink became heavier and heavier, until he no longer opened his eyes. And as quickly as one of those blinks, he was awake again. Sun was shining through the windows and day had returned again. He was no longer laying on his back, but curled up just enough to fit on the bed one pillow under his head, the other under his arm, like he was hugging someone.

After a few moments, he sat up and looked over to Ryoichi. If the man was awake, he gave him a quick wave as a greeting and then got up to use the bathroom. If Ryoichi was asleep, he made sure to be as quiet as he could and then made his way to the bathroom. He took the time to shower and all that good shit before coming back out, clothing immediately reapplied and slightly soaked through after a half-assed towel dry. "Once you're ready to go, to the record offices?"

Tue Oct 15, 2024 1:29 am

RYOICHI HIRAMATSU

With the day he had, it didn't take Ryoichi long to fall asleep, and it wasn't all that surprising that he slept in a little. A ray of sunlight hit his face at just the right angle, and slowly, they fluttered open. He groaned quietly, but sat up and rubbed his eyes, sliding his legs over the side of the bed and standing so he could stretch. He could hear the water running, so, he went through his stuff to get a new set of clothes out and make sure that all of his things were within arms reach.

Ryoichi gave a nod in response to Jiyan, before gathering his things and heading into the bathroom. His shower was a bit shorter than Jiyan's, but he did take a bit more time in drying himself off before coming out dressed. He took a more proper look at Jiyan, now that he was more awake from the shower, and snickered softly.

"Might wanna have another go-'round with your towel. Wet clothes stickin' to your skin never feels good. It's a small thing, but, still does wonders for your overall mood sometimes."

Gathering the essentials, Ryoichi got everything together and ready, waiting for Jiyan to follow him out. Ryoichi had a feeling that Jiyan was going to have a lot better luck at the records office than he was.

END POST | MONSTER HUNTER

Tue Oct 15, 2024 1:57 am

Jiyan looked down at his wet clothes and raised an eyebrow. He was fine with it, but maybe it would cause a problem with the people around him. Taking a deep breath, Jiyan suddenly tensed his whole body, flexing each muscle, and all the water in his hair and clothing popped off him like they had been thrown away. It soaked the carpet around him, but Jiyan took care of that with a wave of his hand, lifting the water from the carpet to the sink and leaving Jiyan, and the carpet, perfectly dry. “Better?”

Once he got a confirmation, Jiyan followed Ryoichi back to the records office. This time they did not get lost, no phone died, they didn’t grab any snacks, and the place was open! “Ah-ha!” Jiyan said victoriously and eagerly entered the building, marching up to the front desk. “Excuse me, old man,” he said to the middle-aged male clerk. “I am looking for a name, Xiaoyang, and any family that may be attached to that. Could you help me out? I wish to be reunited with my younger brother!”

Tue Oct 15, 2024 2:06 pm

RYOICHI HIRAMATSU

Ryoichi found himself at a loss for words as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. His eyes went from Jiyan, to the water he expelled from his body and clothes, then to the sink as the water extracted itself from the carpet and moved to the basin. So, the guy could manipulate water. Neat. Really, he was more wondering why he didn't do that sooner. But, he just nodded, and the two headed off.

Thankfully, no hijinks occurred, unlike the night prior. No dead phone, no losing their way, no snacks, and no closed sign in their faces. Ryoichi stood behind Jiyan, letting him get his business sorted out first. The man at the front desk raised an eyebrow, looked something up on the computer, said a wait time, before turning around and standing up to go search through the massive collection of information for that name.

Before he left, though, Ryoichi stepped forward, tapping on the desk to get the man's attention.

"Do you have any incident reports about a brown-haired girl with twin-tails using telekinetics? If they've got any mention of stars in her eyes, that'll be helpful too."

He sat back down, looked through the database, before nodding and giving him a similar wait time. Ryoichi went to go find a place to sit and wait. Given how big China was, finding something really specific like they wanted was going to take a little bit. So, best to get comfortable while they waited.

END POST | MONSTER HUNTER

Tue Oct 15, 2024 6:27 pm

Jiyan stood like a statue at the front desk, his patience and one-track mind being proven as his eyes bore into the poor guy just trying to do his job. Though Jiyan was not attempting any intimidation, his size and general hard demeanor couldn’t be ignored. The man asked Jiyan to sit down somewhere while he did his thorough research, so Jiyan nodded, found the chair nearest to the desk, and sat down to wait.

It was forty five minutes before the man returned with both of their requests, and Jiyan was still proving patient. Once he was called, he stood and looked at a set of files he was given. With the size of China, he doubted this was all his family, but he could hope at least one was. He then looked to Ryoichi to see what he had received.

Ryoichi received multiple reports of a young woman spotted flying, throwing debris at people, battling Hollows, and hurling criminals across parks. Another file detailed a cell phone video capturing a telekinetic girl fighting a green-haired ninja in Europe. Although her face wasn't shown—she flew off before the police could catch her—the video was widely shared. Despite numerous sightings across Asia and Europe, only one report mentioned her distinct starry eyes. In a more recent file, reporters interviewed a young woman associated with the Vandenreich, who brought joy to children in the City of Lights by flying them around a park. She kept her identity a secret, playfully refusing to share her name, but her eyes were mentioned. “Starry-Eyed Flyer Remains Unknown”

Tue Oct 15, 2024 6:59 pm

RYOICHI HIRAMATSU

The sizeable stack of files that Jiyan had been given, by and large, irrelevant information. There were, however, a few items of particular note that would be found as he went through. Three birth records, one marriage certificate, and one divorce record. One birth record was attributed to a woman named Lihua Xiaoyang, one was to Jiyan himself, noted to be the son of Lihua, and the last was attributed to a brother, Vanyel.

The marriage certificate contained a picture of the young Lihua, as well as another man, Junfeng. However, there was still the divorce record, dating back to when Jiyan would have been six. Simply put, there was a bit to take in.

Ryoichi, however, didn't waste much time in sorting through the incident reports the moment he sat down. Details of a girl flying, throwing debris at people, hunting Hollows and criminals, the cell phone video. Then, he found the report about her eyes. He pulled out his phone, bringing the video up alongside the picture of his daughter. The hair was the same, and she was taller, but...that report about her eyes sealed it for him.

A weightlessness seemed to encompass him. A hand rose to his mouth as a mix of quiet sobs and light chuckling came from him. She was alive. It had to be her, without question. That feeling he had when he woke up from the coma, seeing the missing person's reports...he knew that he was right to follow it. Hope swelled in his chest as he looked the information over and over.

"It's her...my baby girl is alive. She is out there!"

END POST | MONSTER HUNTER

Tue Oct 15, 2024 8:48 pm

With the excess number of files to go through, and Jiyan’s meticulous reading, it did take him quite a bit to get to anything that would catch his interest. Occasionally, he chuckled at a doctor’s license application or an age above his own, moving on to the next bit of information. It was when the name “Junfeng” came up that he began following a few files.

Jiyan recognized his father’s name, which led him to his mother and his younger brother. "Vanyel..." Jiyan's demeanor softened. "I remember that now..." He read everything he could about them, his focus only breaking when he heard Ryoichi. He turned to the man and sighed heavily.

“It seems we both found what we were looking for,” Jiyan said, the smallest of smiles on his face as he looked at their pictures. “I found my mother and brother… No current addresses… but the city on the marriage certificate… I could start there. Where are you going to start looking?”

Tue Oct 15, 2024 9:22 pm

RYOICHI HIRAMATSU

Ryoichi turned his head at hearing Jiyan sigh. But, he found himself smiling and patting the man on the shoulder. They had both found something related to what they were looking for. Hell, for Jiyan, it seemed like he found even more than what he had been looking for. Finding his mother was a good place to start, especially since it didn't seem like he found anything unsavory about his brother in the files.

"City of Lights. It's the most recent, and she might be living there."

Ryoichi stood up, taking the files back to the desk and requested copies of them. Even though he had already written down notes in his notepad, he knew that there could always be something more he could discover upon a second reading. Upon receiving the copies, he tucked them under his arm and went back over to Jiyan, taking a quick peek at the files he was looking at, particularly the birth certificate.

"I'll keep an eye out if I hear anything about your brother. Vanyel...that's definitely a name that stands out. If you don't find anythin' from your mom, at least now you've got a name to work with."

END POST | MONSTER HUNTER