BBS/Video

[reformedsinner]

From: Li Tieguai
Posted: Oct 7, 2:49 PM

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[Hakkai's sitting at what looks like his kitchen table, hands folded and phone carefully propped up facing him and the wooden wall behind him. For once, he's not smiling. His expression is very neutral. He sounds slightly rehearsed.]

Good afternoon. Due to certain events, I've come to believe that there is something I need to share with you all, in the interests of honesty and transparency. I'm going to talk about some things that may be frightening or upsetting, so if you are under the age of fifteen, please ask a grown-up who you trust to watch this video first and explain it to you.

[He pauses, his eyes dropping from the camera to the screen for several seconds of silence before he looks back up.]

Still watching? Goten, Nanako, I especially mean you.

[He pauses again, for a few more seconds, and his fingers twitch slightly together.]

I have a serious criminal history. Some years ago, my lover was kidnapped by a clan of youkai known for their brutality towards captives. I pursued and attacked them in an attempt to rescue her, and, in the process, was responsible for the deaths of a majority of the clan, not limited to combatants. She did not survive.

The blood I shed was sufficient to transform me from human into youkai. [He reaches up, freeing each of three small silver cuffs from the curve of his ear in turn. His face shifts, ears lengthening and developing sharp points, green vine patterns spreading across his skin, teeth sharpening, and left eye shifting from green to a slit-pupiled yellow. His nails are long, sharp claws. He sets the jewelry down gently on the table between himself and the phone.]

After recovering from my own injuries, I turned myself in to the appropriate authorities, and received sentencing. I regret my actions, and I do not pose any public danger. However, I understand that my past crimes may cause others to be uncomfortable in my presence, and should you wish to withdraw yourself or any child for whom you are responsible from my classes, I can recommend either Lavi or Kusanagi Izumo as a substitute instructor. I will transfer any records to the instructor of your choice.

If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

[He reaches for the cuffs again and fixes them back in place on his ear, appearance swiftly returning to a simulacrum of humanity, before he reaches out to shut down the video.]

Comments

[heartshutter]

[ No further explanation required! Though the visuals were... well, if nothing else, then most assuredly something Tatara will recall more than once before his tenure here is through. Granted, if he’s seen plain horses turn into Pegasus, and a man very literally become a dog, (and vise-versa), then surely Hakkai’s transformation is nothing horrifying. Merely, it’s fascinating. Unique! That’s a nice word for it.

And, to someone as art-minded as he, liking algebra sounds equally so. ]

Eh? Enjoy?? [ Perverse, indeed. ]

Have you ever met anyone else who does?

[ Because you might be the only one. ]

[reformedsinner]

Surprisingly, yes. Quite a few.

I take it math isn't your cup of tea?

[heartshutter]

Only as much as it had to be.

[ Couldn't have a Good Boy flunking math, now, could they? ]

I've had a lot of hobbies, but math was never one of them, nope!

[reformedsinner]

[Ah, couldn't flunk out of school because of math, and yet.]

Ah, well. What sort of hobbies do you enjoy, then? If I may ask.

[Since they seem, somehow, to be having a very normal conversation.

It's worrying him a little.]

[heartshutter]

Eheh, to tell you the truth, I've never met one I didn't like!

[ And he's tried a lot.

A. LOT. ]

[reformedsinner]

Except math?

[Math: also a valid hobby!]

[heartshutter]

Ehh... I don't think I've met math in that sense, actually!

[ It's totally not a hobby. ]

[reformedsinner]

Perhaps that's why you've never found it enjoyable?

I could find you some puzzles.

[heartshutter]

[ There's a pause -- and not a short one, either -- before Tatara answers that one. On one hand, puzzles aren't exactly his thing; on the other, he doesn't want to be rude... ]

Sure! If it's no trouble, go right ahead.

[reformedsinner]

[Surely that's just the lengthy pause of something else demanding his attention! After all, who doesn't enjoy math puzzles?

He attaches this link.]

No trouble at all.

[heartshutter]

[ Tatara clicks!!

...oh. Um. ]

Aah, I see! Thanks!

[ Bullshitting is easier via text. And bless that fact. ]

[reformedsinner]

I hope you enjoy them.

[Hakkai is almost entirely sure that the moment they're done talking Tatara is going to lose the link and not worry about it again... but still.]

[heartshutter]

[ Tatara will peruse them first. Lightly. ]

You say these are your hobby...?

[reformedsinner]

I've tried quite a few different hobbies!

But I do enjoy puzzles. Riddles, too.

[heartshutter]

Really?

[ Well, well, well. Another curious mind. ]

You sound like someone else I know!

[reformedsinner]

Do I? Who is it?

[heartshutter]

A close friend of mine, actually!

[ His boyfriend.

Not that he'll admit that. ]

[reformedsinner]

Ah, I'm glad that you don't hold our strange hobbies against us, in that case.

What's his name?

[heartshutter]

Yep! And at least you recognize they're strange!

[ The next text takes a minute or two to arrive. ]

That's not really important to know, is it?

[reformedsinner]

Ah, forgive me. I was just curious to meet someone who shared my hobby.

I don't mean to pry!

[Considering the context of this cheery little conversation, it's no wonder that Tatara's not eager to share his friends' names. It's a sensible precaution... and a precaution that makes Hakkai categorize Tatara as, despite his cheerful attitude, not nearly as carefree as he might appear.]

private;

[heartshutter]

[ Perhaps he was once, but in recent times he's had no choice by to try to rein himself in a bit, (or a lot), more than usual.

Plus, he's... not entirely sure he wants everyone who might stumble upon this conversation to know his affiliation to the man in question, so he'll start a private thread here. ]

Sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel like you were being nosy. I can tell you about him here.

Munakata-san likes puzzles a lot! Not sure about math, though.

private;

[reformedsinner]

[So... he's concerned about random people knowing his friend's name.

But he's not concerned about a confessed mass murderer knowing it? Just what kinds of enemies has Munakata made?]

It's no trouble, really. I would understand.

Munakata Reisi, isn't it? Ah, I have spoken with him a time or two. He seems to be an interesting person.

private;

[heartshutter]

[ He’s concerned about random people knowing how much he knows about this person, more accurately. It’s not that they’re acquainted, it’s that they’re affiliated, for lack of a better word. And at this point, those who know this need to know it. And those who don’t... really shouldn’t. That’s all.

Hakkai isn’t what Tatara would term a heartless, dangerous mass murderer, either -- but someone who has killed, (albeit excessively), in the past, and not without due cause. Additionally, someone with the active intent to kill wouldn’t just out themselves publicly like this; brief interactions with Johan’s killer have told him this much.

So, perhaps this isn’t the viewpoint he rightly should have after hearing and watching what he has, but he’s unafraid. ]

It’s fine, it’s fine!

Ehh? You’ve talked with him before?

private;

[reformedsinner]

Not about much of consequence, I'm afraid, only in passing.

[Seen him on the network, at least... now that he considers it, he's not sure he's actually addressed the man. Well.]

private;

[heartshutter]

Eheh, that's not really surprising, actually! Munakata-san tends to keep to himself most of the time.

[ It'd do him some good to get out a bit more, pending he can do so safely. ]