Fantasy House of Opportunity

[lonecoyote]

Anzu

​

Anzu stood there with a small smile on her face, nodding and watching her dancers. She was aware Jack knew her well when it came to the performances. Often at times the two would be up late at night solely because she wanted to know every step, every beat, everything that had to do with the dance.


"I see your point. Very well, I suppose a little rest won't hurt." she looked at from Jack to Byakko. She moved away from her spot and sat at the end of the stage, her feet dangling from where she was. She turned to watch her dancers finish up.


Just as she was about to signal her dancers off, the ever so pleasant Mina appeared and Anzu looked at her. She knew the half serpentine woman was probably irritated with her as per usual but that didn't bother her. "Alright! That's it! Good job everyone! You are free to go! Please, don't forget to be back an hour before the performance!" she called out, clapping and watching as the dancers let a relieved sound come from them all and go to the dressing room. She watched them go and smiled, crossing her arms behind her chest. Some of the dancers gave her a pat on the shoulder while others messed her hair up playfully.


"Jack, would you mind helping me to the bar? I'll grab a bite to eat and ice it etc etc." she said and looked at Byakko with a fond smile. "Good luck with your performance. I know you'll do extraordinary." she said and looked up at Jack and carefully stood.


@Reinhardt @Anomaly

 

[Edric Yuma]

Emi almost opened his mouth to ask the tengu to stay, but decided against it, realizing he could come off as rude or needy. Another attempt at forming an acquaintance failed... Oh well. The tanuki still seemed interested in the conversation. And Emi found it easier to speak when it was just a one on one conversation.


That is, until the racoon called him a marshmallow. "Marsh...mallow?" Emi said, slightly miffed.


Emi was a tree spirit! Even if he had the right color for a marshmallow, the right body structure for a marshmallow, and felt kind of like a marshmallow (he poked himself just to be sure,) that was certainly no grounds for being called one! It was almost as insulting as calling a tree artificial. "Uh...."


Ah, the pains of being the only Kodama. They didn't understand how insulting it was labeling a nature spirit as something artificial. Of course, it was just a misunderstanding. No need to get agitated, he was there to make friends, not start arguments. The tanuki had probably felt threatened by Emi's gaze anyway.


Oh right, he had a job to get back to. "Yeah, I guess I should probably be getting back to work. What's your name? Do you work at the hotel as well?"

 

[waifu]

Mai

​

Before Sui could get a chance to respond, Mai covered her mouth. She noticed Ryougi heading out of the meeting room and her face immediately turned crimson. Whether her burning up was out of guilt or fear, or both, she didn't know. She knew she could stay here no longer though, and wanted to follow Ryougi back to the reception desk before he got mad. She wanted to make sure he didn't hear her.


"I.. I'm sorry, Sui! I think I have to leave! I'll talk to you later, sorry!" Mai whispered in the turtle's ear as if she was conspiring about something and followed Ryougi out of the meeting hall. The inugami had already disappeared by the time she came out. She sighed, there was no way she could catch up to him. Maybe she should stop by the break room for a snack. She was hungry again.


Mai turned to face the other side only to find Hayato leaning against the wall creepily. Mai screamed.

@PetiteMacaron @Turnip

 

[PetiteMacaron]

Sui


Scary? Oh, so there were some people who thought of this situation as scary. That's right, some people viewed this more as a problem rather than as an event that would liven up their monotonous schedules. Sui leaned in a bit closer to Mai when she lowered her voice to suggest that she suspected Ryougi of being a spy. Ryougi...he was the inugami who worked at the reception desk, right? "Hmm, hmm," she hummed, "I don't know about Ryougi. He's a bit grumpy and acts secretive all the time, but he picked up one of my hairpins for me when I dropped it once. Besides, would a spy really act suspicious? Or maybe! Maybe you're right and the spy just wants to use reverse psychology to make us assume that someone who's suspicious isn't suspicious!"


-but Mai had not heard what she had just said. Sui tried her best to keep herself from rambling incomprehendibly, but her excitement kept growing the more she spoke. In her opinion, investigations were fun and made her feel like a detective. Because of her attitude towards things like these, people often told her that she tried too hard to only see the good in every situation and person, but she didn't care. Life was more enjoyable this way. Wait, if she seemed too spirited about this spy hunt, would people start suspecting her too? Now that was one thing that she wouldn't enjoy very much. She liked keeping a positive opinion of those around her and she'd appreciate it if people thought of her in a positive light as well.


Due to all of the thoughts running through her head, the turtle had not noticed that Mai had left her side before she had even finished what she had said about her opinion on the spy. The black-haired girl's attention was finally brought back to earth when Ryougi, the very person that they had been speaking of, passed by. If he had overheard them, he showed no signs of having done so. Her attention was soon directed towards Mai who was most likely going after Ryougi. However, she stopped almost as soon as she reached the door with a scream.


Surprised, Sui willed forth a bubble of water and dumped it on whatever Mai was staring at. The humans had a saying where whenever there was a problem, you put water on it, right? No wait, that something about a dog fight. Creeping closer to the door to see the effects of what she had done, a basan came into view. Being that he was a spirit related to fire, like most yōkai, he most likely wasn't very pleased about having been drenched.


...whoops?


@waifu @Turnip

 

[Turnip]

Hayato


What Hayato believed would be an amazing plan turned out to be... not as great as he thought. As soon as he had pressed his back against the wall, he had immediately been snuffed out by a canine yokai. The chef cursed his flawless charismatic aura under his breath, of course a pheonix would be noticed within a shabby crowd like this... Now wasn't the time to complain, though, but to instead make a swift recovery. Hayato stood up tall, almost as if preening himself, and addressed Ryougi.


"What, is standin' here such a crime? I'm 'fraid tryin' to find your spy here's just about as good as chasin' your own tail, pal, I'm just on break." He gave the yokai a quick pat on the head and pushed him on his way. "Now, if ya'd make like a good dog and sniff out some leads elsewhere, I'd appreciate it."


Hayato's rather rude gesture would be interrupted by a ear splitting shriek coming from behind him. He turned to see one of the girls he had been eavesdropping on, staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers. Crap...! "A- aha, miss, I can explain everythin', so please don't look so startled...!" Compared to the Ryougi, this young girl was a much easier sight on the eyes. However, these nervous types were a lot more difficult to work with. He'd almost have been startled to death himself from her sudden appearance.


No, instead, that'd be the work of the other girl that happened to barge into the scene. Before he knew it, a torrent of water splashed him. "AaAaAa!!!!!" Water, why did it have to be water?! He always hated the sudden cold from getting drenched, and not to mention it did such a disservice to his hair. Or his... feathers? A faint puff of smoke had surrounded him as he got drenched, and he now opened his eyes to find himself as a chicken pheonix once again. "Oh no, oh no oh no, the boss's gonna kill me!" he clucked.


On the bright side, his uniform was completely dust-free now!


@waifu @PetiteMacaron

 

[KamiKahzy]

Susuwatari - Kitchen Trash Room





The soot spirit was not pleased, and after gathering itself the little sprite immediately bristled up at the fanged lady. It raised a tiny, stick-like fist into the air and shook it at her in anger before faint pips and squeeks erupted from its small frame. The fist receded back into its body and the angry mote floated over to the door where, after some wriggling, it managed to snug itself under the frame and float back into the kitchen.


It was unclear whether the spirit was gone for good or would be back with reinforcements.


@Teh Frixz

 

[waifu]

Mai

​

Everything happened in mere seconds. Mai's scream jolted the long-haired man. He became visibly nervous as he spoke. Before he could explain himself, however, Sui had come to an unexpected rescue and drenched him with water. Mai gasped as small clouds of smoke suddenly appeared around them.


They were too slow. That man was definitely the spy Jinbaba was talking about, and this was his grand exit! Mai held Sui's arm until the smoke cleared. Just as Mai predicted the man was completely out of their sight. He must have been some kind of magician, seeing how he replaced himself with a...


Mai cocked her head to the side. "A chicken.... ? Sui, do you think.... ?"


Mai sighed in defeat. They could have caught the spy if she hadn't startled him. They let such a good opportunity go to waste. Nonetheless, the futakuchi-onna walked up to the wet bird and picked him up with both of her hands. "Aw... it's so cute! Are you lost, little fella?" Mai giggled as she rubbed her face on him. Completely missing the possibility of the man and the chicken being the same entity.

@Turnip @PetiteMacaron

 

[PetiteMacaron]

Sui


“Wow!” Sui clapped her hands in amusement as she stared at the chicken in Mai's arms, “I knew he was a basan, but I didn't think he was a magician too. No wait, isn't this more like a ninja just with a chicken and not a log?”


Being that she had lived for so long–or at least she believed she did–and that she was a turtle/tortoise, it was probably expected that she knew a lot of things. The truth was that there were a lot of things that she still didn't know since she had been isolated for a long time for some reason. This led to her often learning something new every day. In a way, she was kind of glad as it was fun to discover things like these. She had known that basans were fire chickens of some sort, but she had never known that they had chicken replacement arts, too!


...or was it that the chicken was actually the basan himself? There was no way, right? Sure, a basan was a chicken, but the basan that had been standing there before had been rather humanoid. The chicken that Mai was cooing over was much too tiny and cute to be the boy. Or was it? Appearances were rather deceiving–especially when it came to yōkai. Kitsune and tanuki were infamous for being able to transform into a multitude of things and Sui, herself, had a turtle form that didn't quite look the same as her humanoid appearance.


Well, no matter. Sui brushed those thoughts aside. It wasn't like it was anything too important and she was going to find out the truth sooner or later. What did matter was that the poor bird was soaked from head to toe–er, claw–something that was her fault. She didn't like making people unhappy and now that she had, it was her duty to make things right. Focusing on the chicken, Sui drew the water droplets clinging onto its feathers and dispersed them into the air. The droplets glittered in the light before appearing to disappear, leaving the bird dry once again. Sui then laughed softly. “I've always wanted to try that.”


@waifu @Turnip

 

[Turnip]

Hayato


Hayato was too much in a daze to protest against being held and coddled in the girl's arms. How embarrassing... He could only give a few nervous clucks in reply as she began to rub her face against his feathers. (He could probably get used to this part, though). The other girl, Sui, as he discovered, would soon chime in once again. From what he gathered, they were completely unaware of him being the magnificent, long-haired beauty from before. But a chicken?! Didn't they know a phoenix was standing before them?! He fought the urge to correct her as hard as he could, even sitting still as Sui dried him. As much as he hated it, the facade of being a simple... chicken, would probably be to his advantage.


"B- Bkaw!!!!" With a quick jerk, Hayato squirmed right out of Mai's arms and hurried towards the exit. It would take awhile to transform back into his human form (that's the downside of such magic, unfortunately), and it definitely wouldn't be wise to have that happen in front of the two girls. He just needed to find a place to hide and wait for the transformation to kick in, then make his way back to the kitchen and come up with some excuse to Mago about the hold up. Things were definitely not going his way, and he could feel the adrenaline spike as he fluttered out of the meeting room's doors.


@waifu @PetiteMacaron

 

[waifu]

Mai

​

Mai winced as the chicken flapped his way out of her grip, showering them with feathers as he did so. Mai shook her head in an attempt to dust them off. "Oh no! We have to catch it before the kitchen staff does!" Mai turned to face Sui. "Otherwise they'll...." cook him. Without finishing her sentence, Mai chased after the chicken.


Mai was surprisingly fast, but the escapee chicken was faster. All the other yokai felt a gust of wind as she ran past them, not knowing who or what it was. She didn't have time to worry about them though, a chicken's life was in danger here!


The futakuchi-onna lost track of the basan eventually. She stood still for a while, panting and looking around. He was nowhere to be seen. Where could he have gone? "Sui, I think we should split up," Mai suggested thoughtfully. "We can cover more ground this way!" Not wanting to give up just yet, the receptionist entered the bar she so dreaded.


The bar made her extremely uncomfortable. She didn't drink, for one. Secondly, her experiences with drunk customers weren't exactly pleasant. Mai nervously made her way past the customers, her speed declining greatly. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, her cheeks reddened. The sound of laughter along with the smell of booze was enough to make her feel awkward. Mai spotted Noh standing behind the counter and perked up at once. She walked up to the faceless bartender. "Hi, Noh! Um, sorry for bothering you during your work.... I'm looking for a chicken!" She explained, kind of.

@simj22 @Turnip @PetiteMacaron

 

[Dusky]

HOUSE OF OPPORTUNITY


KITCHENS Shu can hear a faint "What a sweet boy!" as he departs for the kitchens. He arrives as everyone is having a laugh at Kai's expense.


Kai fumbles over words. "Well, that, I, you..." His pale face is blotching with red patches. His brow is furrowed in anger as his mind races to think of something, anything to get under the pig's horrendously thick skin. Coming up blank, he swallows back an outburst of rage and turns to Shu, who he has been working next to.


"Difficult day? I can sympathize. What has you so lacking in composure?"


His many arms have, throughout all of this, not ceased to move.


Yume, a waitress who would really be better placed in some other position what with how shy she is, shuffles awkwardly into the kitchen and stands at Mago's elbow. "Um... I-I know that there was the meeting and I know it looks like we're kind of shortstaffed right now but the customers are getting really impatient and the other waitresses made me comeinhereandtellyoutopleasegofasterpleaseI'msorry-"


As she speaks, she grows progressively more fidgety, words tumbling over each other out of her mouth, until she cuts herself off, rocking back and forth on her heels to let off some energy.

DISPOSAL ROOM The soot sprite returns, with two friends. They seem to inflate themselves slightly, puffing up and waving their arms at her with angry squeaks in a valiant yet laughable attempt to scare Maria off.

BACKSTAGE Jack smirks with the satisfaction of having, in his mind, won. When she asks him to help her to the bar, he nods and bows, holding his arm out for her to grab. It's gentlemanly, but in practice it's better to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her close to him so he can carry most of her weight when she limps. And this is exactly what he does. "The restaurant is closer - we'll go there."


Turning to Byakko, Jack salutes with his free hand. "I'll see you later! Your next play starts showing tomorrow night, right? I'll have to sneak into one of them."


With a grin, he helps Anzu hobble off. It's only a couple dozen yards to their destination, but stairs are involved. Jack moves slowly. "What do you think of this routine? I don't think I've ever actually asked you what kind of dancing you preferred. I always assumed it was ballet, since we do it most often, but maybe not?"

MEETING ROOM The tanuki scoffs at Emi, laying the sarcasm on thickly. "Oh, yes, because I certainly would have sat in on this meeting if I were a regular patron." His dark lips twist into a grimace. "My name is Hiro. I'm a janitor," he admits with a grumble. On closer inspection, one can indeed notice cleaning supplies clipped to his belt. He leaps about a foot into the air when Mai's scream pierces the air. The ensuing commotion draws his attention until the girls run off, causing him to sigh. "This whole business is sure to end badly."

JUST OUTSIDE THE MEETING ROOM Ryougi's ears flatten against his hair at the sudden commotion, the loudness, the wetness, all the people in his personal space threatening to overload his potent senses. "He's - oh, for god's sake," he growls as the girls dart off. He follows after them, explaining as he runs (not even slightly out of breath), "That chicken is the spy, you halfwits. He smells the very same." It's entirely possible Mai does not hear him over her own exclamations of excitement. He comes to a stop at the same time as the girls, pinching the bridge of his nose.

BAR The drunk mujina bursts into tears at the interruption and wanders from the bar, moaning that nobody ever pays him any mind - leaving Noh in the company of Mai's accidentally assembled search group.

 

[KamiKahzy]

Mago - Kitchens





Mago's chest was starting to cramp from how much he was laughing at the whole situation. His back leaned against his station for support while he tried to get his giggling under control. And it was right about that time that he just noticed a tiny figure in a waitress uniform waiting next to him. He turned towards her and managed to reign in most of his glee so that he could pay attention to her.


At first he managed to retain his good mood, but as the girl was finishing up her hurried speech his face became more confused than jolly. "Short staffed? What're ya..." Mago looked up around the kitchen and saw what she was talking about. He noticed at least five of his chefs were gone from their posts, and among them was that turkey Hayato. Mago's confusion quickly melted into anger as his eyes began to burn with a fury deep in his pupils. "Ohhh dose no good, dirty..." Mago slammed his knife down into his chopping board once again, causing his dish as well as everyone left in the kitchens to jump a foot in the air. Mago caught his dish on its descent, and the salmon he'd been preparing on it managed to fall perfectly into place. He took in a deep breath, causing his belly to grow exponentially more than its usual girth before he bellowed out, "Awright, ya heard da lady! Double time on dem ordahs, MOVE IT!!" Immediately the staff turned to with a newfound fear in their hearts, Mago was not one to be trifled with when he was angry.


But after a heated snort steamed out of his snout the anger seemed to dissipate immediately, and he turned to the little waitress with a sincere smile as he offered her the completed dish. "Sorry 'bout all dat, we'll get tings movin' again soon. Here ya go gorgeous, table five." Mago handed her the nigiri plate and sent her on her way with a wink, taking a brief moment to watch her go before he started on the next orders. "Hmm, cute liddle ting," he thought to himself as he pulled over some leeks to chop. "I'll have ta get her name latah."





Before he started chopping the leeks he jerked his knife out of the chopping board and pointed it at one of the chefs that was finishing up their own plate. "Oi, you!" The hapless chef, a scrawny looking salamander, looked immediately to Mago and tried his best to keep his knees from shaking. "Go find dem slackahs an' bring em back heyah. We got spirits ta feed!" The chef gulped in relief before bobbing his head and ducking out through the kitchen doors, thankful that he would be away from Mago's anger for the time being.


@Anomaly @Nano @Turnip

 

[Teh Frixz]

Maria


Her eyes shift back and forth to make sure nobody was looking. She had a reputation to preserve after all and the little scheme she was concocting would threaten that.


At the inflated, wavy armed assault, she lets out a very meager 'Eep!' And collapses, rolling away from the trio of soot spirits to come to a spot, her body heaving with fake sobs.


Having lips incapable of covering more than say half of her mouth always seemed to prevent her from making proper expressions, especially when it came to being upset. Doing her best, she makes a slight type, waiting for the soot spirits to react.

 

[Nano]

Shu


Shu put aside apologizing to whatever god of mochi was out there when Kai, the squid that their supervisor was conversing with when he had entered the kitchen, turned his attention towards him to ask what the cause of his foul mood was. Pushing the mutilated daifuku to the side in a futile attempt to hide it from view, Shu immediately erased any trace of the sour expression that had been evident on his face and replaced it with his usual grin. “Nothing, nothing. It's just the usual happenings, although different from what got your tentacles in a bunch~” There was no way that he was going to just tell someone about what had happened, especially not in the kitchen. If Mago got somehow got word of what had happened, he probably wasn't going to hear the end of it. Shu wasn't the type to take jokes too seriously, but the supervisor always found just the right ways to get under someone's skin and he most certainly was not in the mood for some vulgar joke of his.


It ended up that Shu had no real need to put forth an effort into avoiding Kai pressing him for further details that is, if the squid hadn't been offended by Shu's last comment. A waitress had informed Mago of their missing staff. The kitchen supervisor took one look around the room before hollering orders to speed up their work. Shu promptly returned to his work while silently praying for the poor souls who had decided to use the meeting as an excuse to skip out on work. Shu was a bit of a troublemaker and daredevil himself, but he did value his life. It wasn't very wise to go against Mago and if you did...it was best to wish as hard as you could that you wouldn't be skinned alive.


@Anomaly @KamiKahzy

 

[Reinhardt]

Byakko


As the two left the stage and gave Byakko their farewells, he nodded silently to them. "You should educate yourself more on courtesy and respect, Mina. The way you approach things is rather a bit uncivilized.", he said to the serpentine being who neared him, as he slowly headed to the stage, the cats following his lead.


The black cat Kinneko, however, had a plan before following Byakko and the others. First, whilst facing Mina, he stuck out his tongue, as he did a strange, randomized dance. Then, he tried to insult her. "Guesssssss what?", he mimicked how she talked in an ironic tone. "Nobody lissssstensssss to you, irritating ssssnake woman!" Kinneko then, left laughing loudly as he headed to where Byakko and the rest of the neko atas were.


Up on the stage, Byakko, the cats, Kinneko, and some other yokai part of the cast, were grouped up in large circle. "Well then, everyone. Let us make this one a grand success. May our endeavors bear a fruit for the gods.", Byakko said. "Yeah!", most of them responded. They, then began to rehearse the skit they were going to present - a story regarding various loyal samurai and their valiant master.


Tags: @Anomaly

 

[simj26]

Noh

There were the upsides of being faceless, one being that people can never tell if you were sleeping on the job. There were also the downsides of being faceless, namely that people can never tell if you were sleeping on the job. The day dragged on with a surprising lack of activity, and the monotonous drone in the background only served to leave Noh drowsier and drowsier, until at long last, he fell asleep, leaning over his counter, and his chin rested upon his hand, casting the illusion that he was gazing over pensively into the distance.


The poor mujina failed to rouse him from his stupor, but Mai’s appearance succeeded in that her presence made him snort a little. The small snort upset the precarious balance that his head was set upon, sending his head striking the counter top.


“No, Hanako-chan, I didn't do nothing!” he cried, before he scrambled to his feet. He spun around in bewilderment, before he finally caught sight of Mai. He straightened up, coughed, and brushed down his vest. “A-aha, I was just uh, testing out a new routine, yes.” He rubbed his neck sheepishly, before adding, in hushed tones, “Please don't tell Jinbaba.”


He paused for a moment, before recalling what Mai had asked. “Ah, a chicken? Well, if you can probably find a kicken in the chitchen-- a kitchen in the chick--ow!” he made a show of reeling back in pain, as if he had bitten his tongue, before recovering. “Well, in any case, the bar doesn't serve chickens, in every sense of the word. You’d be best looking for Mago for anything related to kitchens and chickens. Maybe one of our detectives from the local precinct might be of some help, given that they can take the time off looking for agents in espionage.” He drew in a deep breath, and then continued, “The long and the short of it is: I haven't seen a chicken. Dare I ask why you’re looking for one?”


@waifu

 

[waifu]

Mai

​

Hearing Noh mention the name Hanako made Mai's skin crawl. She didn't know why, but it did. She didn't think much about it and instead nodded frantically at his request about keeping his new routine a secret. Why did he want to keep his routine hidden from Jinbaba?.... Did she also do stand up comedy? Mai hadn't realized Noh was sleeping on the job and believed his obvious lie.


"It was a good one, you should definitely do it," Mai said in a hushed tone much similar to Noh's. "I would have laughed but I'm in kind of a predicament...."


Mai winced as Noh pretended to bite his tongue.


"Mago?" Mai repeated after Noh. Oh, of course, the chef! She had seen him a couple of times. Everyone knew who Mago Pal was. She never got around to talk to him but he was loud enough for everyone to notice him during meetings or events. He would surely know about the chi- Mai gasped. "No, he can't know! He's going to cook him!" Mai exclaimed, and quickly explained the events that transcended right after the meeting. Gossiping about Ryougi with Sui, the suspicious guy vanishing, the chicken, the chase - everything.

@simj22

 

[Edric Yuma]

At first, Emi jumped at Mai's screams, gazing around to see what had happened within the room. A chicken? Why, at such a fowl time, would they be chasing a chicken? Emi stared, watching a rather silly situation unfold before his two round, black eyes. As the pair ran off, Emi looked back at the Tanuki. "It appears the hunt is already underway. I just hope it doesn't have any negative social effects."


As he was speaking, something began vibrating in Emi's pocket. Reaching into his butt, which contained all of his valuables (even his stuffed bear), Emi pulled out an alarm, which was ringing off the hook. "Oh! Shoot, I've been talking for too long." Clicking off his alarm, Emi turned back to Hiro. Now... If I remember correctly, this is the part where I prolong his memory of my by offering a farewell worth remembering. But what am I supposed to say?





Deciding to use the classic "handshake" strategy, Emi held out his large, translucent hand. "Pleasure to meet you! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Emi. Until next time!" Turning away, Emi started walking back towards the elevator, then stopped. This is my chance to look cool! Time to pull out all my socializing stops! Turning his head back (maybe he had 8-bit sunglasses on or something,) he called out to Hiro. "Oh yeah. And don't call me Marshmallow." (Cue air horn.)


Well, that was about as cool as Emi could manage. Deciding it was the right time to leave, Emi hopped onto the elevator, going up to the third floor. Hopefully no one was mad at his late arrival....


@Anomaly

 

[PetiteMacaron]

Sui


Startled by how quickly Mai dashed off, Sui nearly took a tumble as she tried to break into a run. Mai was surprisingly fast, so the distance between Mai and herself didn't seem to shrink very much. Luckily, the girl had stopped when she had lost sight of the runaway chicken, allowing for Sui to finally catch up to the girl. Geez, the last time she had to run this fast was when she was chasing after a kamaitachi who had stolen her precious hairpin. Mai surely wasn't a wind spirit, so how was she so fast? or maybe it's just that I'm slow?


As soon as Sui caught up with Mai, the other girl suggested that they split up to search for the missing chicken. Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the plan, the turtle nodded and prepared to take off once again. However, she skidded to a stop once again when she just barely caught the words of the exasperated Ryougi. The chicken was the spy? Well, that was entirely possible. After all, things often turned up in the most unexpected people in the most unexpected places. Sui peered curiously at Ryougi who was pinching his nose. "You're a dog so I think smelling things is your job! Turtles don't have very good noses anyway." Not bothering to wait for the reaction to her possibly unreasonable comment, Sui dashed off in a random direction. At this point, she didn't know where to even start looking for the chicken so going in any direction was the same as going in some direction, right?


Sui soon collided with another spirit while running down the hallway. Standing up to apologize to the person, she offered the poor spirit a hand. At this, she finally realized that it was someone she recognized. The person that she had just knocked down was Kaname, a Wani and a fellow dweller of water. From the first time she had met him, she had always been curious about his eyes. The deep blue color often made her feel nostalgic, but she could never really remember why. Perhaps it was because it was a color that she saw often in her past. It wasn't impossible since she was a spirit affiliated with water. Realizing that Kaname might have possibly seen something, Sui ended up asking a question along with her apology. "I'm really sorry about that, but did you happen to see a chicken pass through here?"


"You knock me down and ask me a question right after?" Kaname said with a laugh, "Anyway, I don't think something like that would be here. Perhaps you should try the kitchens?"


At this, Sui laughed sheepishly and apologized one more time before making her way towards the kitchen. It wasn't like she hadn't thought of it before but wouldn't a chicken know better than to walk into a place where chickens were cooked to be eaten? Still, she had no clues so she might as well check just in case. Besides, if the chicken really was there, someone had to stop the chefs from deep frying it for the next meal.


Sui burst into the kitchen, not realizing that the workers in the kitchen might be irritated at the constant intrusions. "Hello, hello! Sorry to disturb you but have you seen a weird looking chicken running around?"


@Anomaly @KamiKahzy @Nano

 

[Turnip]

Hayato


Hayato ran, and ran, and ran as far as his little chicken phoenix legs could take him. Birds weren't exactly known for running, but he'd been in more chases than he could count to learn how to shake a few people off his trail. And it seemed to have worked once more. A quick glance over his shoulder showed no girls chasing frantically behind him (This would probably be the only time he'd be thankful for that.). He slowed down to a stop, and after another careful look around, started to peck at his feathers. Messy feathers meant messy hair, and he wouldn't want that at all for later.


"Now... where the heck am I..." he wondered. Being holed up in the kitchen all day meant that a good lot of the casino was still foreign territory to Hayato. His bird sized body wasn't exactly helping him look over the place either, with hordes of yokai endlessly wandering past him and blocking his view. He could only wander on aimlessly further, deeper into the heart of the casino.


A familiar ping! ping! noise was enough for him to finally tell where he was. The game room was just around the corner, and he could see the familiar bright lights and big money with a quick turn. Great! He just needed to take the hall from across the room, get in the elevator, and he'd be back in the kitchen in no time! Hayato crowed in excitement. Looks like this was going to work after all! ... Unfortunately for him, it didn't.


"Oh look, Ginko! A chicken! What do you think it's doing in a place like this?! Then again, I wouldn't put it past the House...!" The nasally remark came from a mujina passing by, talking to the bakeneko beside her. They were both sneering at him, contempt in their eyes.


"I don't know, Keiko! I thought this was a casino, not a barnhouse! Or maybe our dinner reservations got changed to delivery!" The two of them began to laugh.


Hayato couldn't simply let this pass anymore. He had been called a chicken one too many times today, and he was not going to let these people get away with insulting the house. "... Heh, guess it's your ladies' lucky day then!" He smirked as took a step towards them, which was apparently enough to intimidate them and stop their laughter.


"T- the chicken! He's talking?!" "What kind of bird-?"


"Order up! Special delivery: one phoenix, extra spicy!!" With a bkaw, he summoned flames from his gut towards the general direction of the two yokai, sending them running and crying to who knows where. "Yeah that's right, run! And don't come back if ya know what's good for ya!" He crowed once more, before he realized his grave mistake. The casino fell into a dead standstill as all eyes were now lingering on him.

 

[KamiKahzy]

Mago - Kitchens





"If it aint one ting it's anuddah." These interruptions were really starting to wear on Mago's nerves, and it was starting to show in his chopping speed. The leeks he'd been slicing were now getting chopped at a lightning pace, being shoved off the chopping board and into a soup pot mere seconds after they first touched the wood. Mago didn't even look up from his work as he addressed the intruder in his kitchens. "Aint seen dat cockhead around. But I swears, when I DO sees him..." Mago emphasized his point with a swift chop of his knife, sending the unusable stub of the leek flying into the air and landing straight into the waste bin beside him.


The kitchen staff visibly shuddered but kept themselves busy with their work. None of them dared to look at their boss when his anger was stoked like this. After he finished his last leek Mago sheathed his knife by his waist and stared pointedly at the young looking (and admittedly very cute) interloper that had barged into his space unannounced. "You see dat chicken youse send 'im my way, yeah? No good slackah's got some 'splainin' tah do." And with that Mago got right back to work, cleaning off his board of excess leek bits and gathering the garlic cloves he needed to add next. He took a clove and crushed the thing with his bare hand, then let the hardened skin flake off into the bin leaving only a perfectly shaped bulb of garlic behind.


@PetiteMacaron

 

[lonecoyote]

Anzu



​

Anzu smiled softly at Jack when he helped her. He was such a good partner to her even when she was having a diva moment. She waved at Byakko as they left, agreeing with Jack about sneaking in to see his performance. "See you, Byakko!" she says with a grin, waving to the white tiger.


Anzu tensed when she caught sight of the stairs and sucked in a sharp breath. "Curse stairs. Why must they be here?" she asked, lifting her hurt ankle up and getting ready to hop down the stairs and hopefully not fall and undeniable break everything in her body. She carefully balanced herself and hoped along the stairs.


"The dance? I absolutely loathe it. It's purpose is to get all of us attacked by the opposite sex." she groaned out, rolling her eyes and looking at Jack. "That's correct. I prefer ballet. It's more graceful and the moves are so elegant. I think it's a beautiful form of dance." she replied with a small smile and heard her stomach let out a mighty roar. Immediately, Anzu's cheeks flushed a dark red color and she used her free hand to cover her face, except for her eyes, from embarrassment.


"I think that means I really need food." she laughed out, shaking her head at her body's response to the lack of nutrients it received the past few days. "Do you think if I ask for something special that Mago would make it for me? I'm feeling a bit adventurous today. Not my usual rice and pickled vegetables." she asked, her eyes looking back down at the steps as they walked.


@Anomaly

 

[Dusky]

HOUSE OF OPPORTUNITY

STATE OF FINANCES

Maria

Debt: 10,000c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 7p

Mago

Debt: 500c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 12c 3p

Noh

Debt: 1,950c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Shu

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Emi

Debt: 900c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 6c 7p

Mai

Debt: 1200c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Hayato

Debt: 750c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Takeru

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Byakko

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Anzu

Debt: 400c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Sui

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Nobu

Debt: 800c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 6c 7p

KITCHENS Kai clicks his beaklike features once more, his many arms picking up speed, muttering something about short tempers.


The waitress trembles as Mago turns to her, terrified by his show of anger, but seems a little set at ease by his kind demeanor. Not enough, apparently - as she walks out with the dish she stumbles into Shu, knocking him, herself, and his work over.


The whole place is a disaster, and Kai tries hard not to laugh.


"OI!" calls out Hana's voice from a back room. "I'M TRYING TO MEDITATE."

RESTAURANT Jack laughs heartily. His skin feels odd against Anzu's - dry and fragile, like a dying leaf, but in reality it's quite supple. "You know, I think he will." They approach the open plan area of the restaurant, where many are already seated, and Jack nods to the hostess and follows her to their seats. Depositing Anzu in a chair, he sits across from her and smiles. He always has an air of being pleased with himself.


"What was that you said earlier? Make the opposite sex attack you? Why, Anzu, I think there may be some women among your fans as well." Leaning back, he adopts a less joking tone. "Some dances are a little too blatantly sensationalized, but I actually quite like routines that express sexuality. There's nothing wrong with celebrating that."


A commotion can be heard from the kitchens - clatters, thuds, and shouting.

DISPOSAL ROOM The sooties stop dead in their movements and make wide eyes as if surprised at how well their tactic has worked. Evidently they feel bad about it, because they trail their way over to her and attempt to pat her knee soothingly.

STAGE Mina laughs, in her serpentine way.


"What'sss cccivilized about a placcce like thisss?"


As the scenes move forward, Mina smugly enters her own. She is a villain - a samurai who has deserted honor for glory, and wishes her master harm. Hopefully the audience doesn't miss the irony of a snake in their midst.


"But I would never betray you, my massster. I have shown naught but the utmossst loyalty!" She croons her lines. "Sssurely the culprit isss Gorou."

NOBU'S ROOM Someone kicks Nobu's side, and is none too gentle about it either. When he roused to awareness, it's with Mitsuki towering over him - rare, for the small woman, but he is lying on the floor. She glares. "Shouldn't you be doing your job instead of getting in the way of mine? I need to clean in here. I'm sure there's work to be done. I hear there's a phoenix terrorizing our patrons and that the head chef has demanded we cook it for a dinner feast. You should go fix that."

BAR There's a ruckus coming from the casino floor. Should one look, one will see what is unmistakably a chicken, looking like an, er, chicken in the headlights.

BELLHOP DESK The tanuki has been properly chastised. Well done.


Yashiki managed to get back before Emi. He waves as the kodama approaches. "Perfect timing," he says in that tired voice of his. "Hideki here just checked in. Could you take his bags and escort him to his room? It's 11S."


Hideki is a patron Emi would know - it's frequent that he stays here. One might assume he's on some business again, entertaining clients at the tables, but it's normally much later in the day before Emi sees him check in.

 

[KamiKahzy]

Mago - Kitchens


Mago considered himself a reasonable spirit. There wasn't much that could pierce his skin, figuratively or literally. But when it came to his kitchens he enjoyed a pattern to things, a rhythm and a system that kept the flow of food steady and the energy of the room at a healthy pace. But this... this was unacceptable.


With reflexes one might expect from a cat Mago managed to catch the tiny waitress neatly in one massive hand, while catching the dish he'd just finished neatly in the other without spilling even a grain of rice. He gently brought the girl back up to her feet, and while still keeping a hand on her and the dish he drew in a large bellyful of air. And what came out of Mago's mouth was something that had not been heard in a very, very long time.


"STOP!!!"


It was like Mago had commanded time itself to halt, not a soul dare move throughout the entire kitchen. Soups stopped being stirred in mid swirl, knives hung in various phases of cutting, and one chef near the baking station stood precariously over a cake holding a cherry meant to garnish a tiny hill of icing.


With everyone holding their position Mago calmly and gently placed the dish back into the waitress's hands, then nudged her towards the door without a word. Once she was off Mago looked around the room with a steely glint in his eye and spoke in a deep but subdued tone. "Fix yahselves, den get back to it. Now." A cold static hung about the room as chefs carefully recovered their work stations and set themselves right. Ever so slowly noise and movement began to return to the kitchen, and Mago went right back to the stew he'd been preparing. Mago was now focused on his work, his normal jovial mood gone while he worked to pick up the slack of his missing chefs.


Today was not a good day to get on Mago's bad side.


@Anomaly @Nano @PetiteMacaron

 

[Dusky]

HOUSE OF OPPORTUNITY The waitress wobbles on her feet as she walks, glasses askew and hair mussed. Her big eyes well up with tears, and she breaks into a brisker pace, eager to get out of the kitchen, away from the shouting and humiliation. Her coworkers take one look at her as she emerges and burst into laughter.


"Wow, looks like you really had fun in there Yume!" giggles one.


"I'm sure you weren't so useless that you just messed things up even further," snickers another, voice laden with sarcasm.


Yume grabs a nearby napkin and wipes her eyes quickly, bustling away from the girls and placing the dish on the table it is headed to.