Exalted Moonblessing Conditions | Text | UN: mayorinfan35

[mayoninofukucho]

[When Hijikata woke up on the 1st of the month he had a familiar simple pair of horns on his head. He still clung to the hope that he might just get different dragon traits this time around, but his pissy mood, the red moon that night, and his transformed ears and added tail the next morning made it clear that he got cattle traits again. It feels like a huge downgrade, and he's frustrated. But if there's a hidden logic behind this he wants to find out.]

Does anyone know what conditions need to be met for someone to get permanently exalted?

Has anyone been exalted and then gone back to unexalted? What did you do differently in the month before each change?

[He's keeping his post really curt since he's disgruntled. He could easily think of something he did differently in the past two months, but he needs to compare his experiences to those of others.]

Comments

[tsukky]

Who else would I be sending it to?

[ She's kind of baffled that he's questioning it honestly. Who else would getting a bill with a figure that high? ]

[mayoninofukucho]

[She's baffled?! He's baffled!! She can't seriously expect him to pay that much! He needs to invest in the development of killer drones to fend off the next attack on the city, for crying out loud; he can't afford to be in debt for years to come!]

What exactly is this? Damages compensation?

[tsukky]

[ Damages?? Damages to what? Oh god no don't answer that question. ]

Services rendered. There's an hourly charge rate.

[ Apply that to how long that whole thing went on for and... yeah. ]

[mayoninofukucho]

[Emotional damages!!]

Please reconsider. You know I didn't plan or intend this at all.

[tsukky]

[ UH HUH...... ]

You think stuff like that is usually planned? [ Come on, Hijikata. She's probably seen this about a million times before. ]

It's non-negotiable.

[mayoninofukucho]

Tsukuyo, please! I'll pay you back in some other way, but I need the Chroma! It's not for me, it's for defence measures for the city! I already have arrangements made!

[Well, one arrangement. He's in the process of making more.]

I'll get you rare items, anything!

[tsukky]

[ Well that does sound kind of important and if it's to keep people safe... Urgh, nope Tsukuyo is sticking to her guns. It's probably just some silly hare-brained scheme anyway..... ]

I'm not interested in "rare items".

Keep offering stuff as much as you like but I'm not changing my mind.

[mayoninofukucho]

I hate to say this, but you'll have to fight me for it!

[This isn't fair!! He tried so desperately to prevent things from taking that turn! If she and Rebecca hadn't refused to leave his side, and if her pheromones hadn't gotten to his head..! He knows it's not their fault either, but he can't just take this setback lying down.]

[tsukky]

[ Is he serious? Wait, of course he is. ]

Fine.

You'll pay one way or another.

[ Assuming he's at home right now and that she knows where his apartment is now because of... events. In a very short time indeed a kunai is going to be sent crashing through one of his windows and plant itself in a wall.

Yep.

That bill is attached to it. ]

[mayoninofukucho]

[Wow, that's an ominous message... he's unsure of what to reply AND IN THAT MOMENT HIS WINDOW SHATTERS OH MY GOD A KUNAI?! She isn't messing around!!]

Sh-shit--!

[Okay, he honestly just doesn't stand a chance. She's a long-distance fighter and will turn him into a pincushion before he can so much as draw his sword. Does he even have any options here?!]

OK, I got the message! Meet me outside where we smoked the first time!

[tsukky]

[ Hijikata won't get a reply to that but he'll find her where they smoked the first time soon enough. She was obviously already in the area what with the kunai throwing through his window so she should arrive first.

It's weird. Last time they saw each other they were um... Ahem. ]

I assume yer surrenderin' and ya brought payment.

[ Long distance fighter is right. For that reason she's not going to let him get any closer than a few feet. ]

[mayoninofukucho]

[He came without his sword! Seeing how it's usually glued to him no matter the occasion she can surely tell that he's surrendering.]

Yeah. Come over and I'll transfer it. Or, well, as much as I have right now.

[He's just... defeated. She single-handedly evaporated all his plans to amp up the defence of the city and its civilian inhabitants. He had wanted to really throw himself into that task because after what happened what else could he do but look forward? He has nothing left that he'd have a right to look back at anymore.]

[tsukky]

[ Oh my god, Hijikata, what is this? You're supposed to be Sanguis not... whatever angsty woobie moon that he's currently trapped under apparently.

She scowls at him, apparently disbelieving. Having trained as a ninja, she's wary of some kind of trick attack, even though she knows that's not really his style at all. ]

...You're not gonna fight this at all?

[mayoninofukucho]

[HE'S GOING THROUGH THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF. Tsukuyo saw denial, anger, and bargaining (okay, so maybe those two were reversed), and this is the depression stage. Whether acceptance will follow remains to be seen.]

How can I fight you? That'd be like an ant fighting a dragonfly.

[LOOK AT HOW HIS CATTLE EARS ARE DROOPING.]

Ants are strong... they can achieve so much when they're allowed the resources, but when the dragonfly carries those off there won't be a thriving anthill.

[What the hell is he even talking about now???]

[tsukky]

[ What the hell is he even talking about now???

She knows all too well that he's been going through some stuff but this a new tone from him. ]

The hell are ya waxin' poetic about bugs for?

[ She sighs, placing a hand over her forehead like she's starting to get a headache or something. Hint: She probably is. Maybe she can slightly piece together whatever the hell he's going on about. ]

...And ya want to protect the anthill, huh?

[mayoninofukucho]

[He nods.]

It's what Kondou-san would do.

[Back home he devoted his life to the Shinsengumi, that's why he had to leave Mitsuba behind. Now that he stacked as many insults on top of that injury as he possible could have he can really only dedicate himself to the principles of the commander he followed all the harder, right? Let's ignore for a moment what a complete disaster Kondou is; at the core he wants to make the world a better place.]

[tsukky]

[ These Shinsengumi maniacs are so devouted to this Kondou; well it's not like she can't identify that given her devotion to Hinowa.

Tsukuyo sighs, arms crossed for a moment as she looks less than amused. She still feels he owes her but at the end of the day it's the principle of the thing rather than the amount itself. Plus... Despite everything, she considers Hijikata a friend at this point. She doesn't screw over her friends - even if they um... "screwed" her.

Eventually, Tsukuyo pulls out a piece of paper and a pen - it's clear from the torn edge that the other half was used to attach to that kunai that went through his window earlier. She's writing something down and once she's done, she hands him the piece of paper. ]

...Ya can pay that monthly. [ The figure is... so low. Like he'll barely notice it leaving each month kind of low. ]

[mayoninofukucho]

[It's even more of a similarity than either of them realises. They both ultimately followed a leader who refused to look at the world, harsh as it was, as a place without hope. Well, be that as it may; he takes the new bill and looks at it.]

...

That's too little.

[Is he stupid??? Is he crazy??? Why is he complaining now after he looked ready to cry over his debt just a moment ago???]

Paying in these small installment forever is going to make me feel really shitty. Can't I just transfer you all I have right now, and I'll owe you a favour or three? I can also pay in blood if you want me to.

[No one should say that the Shinsengumi's demon vice commander isn't willing to take responsibility for his mistakes!]

[tsukky]

[ Stupid AND crazy by the looks of things. He shouldn't be offering her blood with the way this is going. ]

Ya transfer me all ya have right now and then what? Ya shrivel up and crystallise and can't pay the rest of it or help the city?

Ya should have thought about feelin' shitty back when ya were-- [ Yeah we ain't going there for a recap. ] Accept the terms.

[mayoninofukucho]

I'm not going to crystallise. It'll transfer all the Chroma in my account to you, but not the chroma in my body. It's like transferring you all that's in my bank account, but keeping my cash. Well, kind of. I looked this up.

[He's dead serious. He's never been more affluent than now - he nearly doubled over when he first saw the massive amount on his ChromaMater after their encounter -, but he'll rather let her take it all and start his funds back up from scratch than be on a constant drip-feed into her account. So now we know that he's not into financial domination.]

[tsukky]

[ This absolute idiot, seriously. Tsukuyo has to light up her pipe at this point in order to resist the urge to stab him.

She's pretty damn mercenary about this but fundamentally she doesn't feel right about immediately leaving him with almost nothing to live on. ]

I'll take half of it. That's my absolute final offer.

[ It's nowhere near as high as that initial figure she proposed but if his account is as flush as hers already is right now then it's definitely a very decent chunk of change.

Plus she wasn't the only woman involved here. ]

Invest the rest in yer city protection efforts or whatever the hell you're plannin'. [ Some things are just more important after all. Even if she's dubious about what those plans are. His heart's in the right place. ]

[mayoninofukucho]

Look, if your... services are this expensive I don't want to cheat you out of that.

[Never mind that he really didn't want all of that to happen in the first place.]

Just let me give you all I have. That way you won't feel cheated, and I won't feel like a loser who can't pay a high-class courtesan. I'll make new Chroma for the city's defence in no time. I know what to do now.

[Whatever happened to "I'm not fucking for money"?]

[tsukky]

[ Has he always been this stubborn and irritating? Or is just now that she's actually asking him to do something. This is like the world's most annoying stubborn tsundere argument. ]

You've changed yer tune a bit! One threesome and you're joinin' the happy to fuck for money club?? [ All men are the same when you really get down to it apparently, honestly.

Also technically it was more than one threesome and yes she did just mention it out loud. ]