The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday [Open/(Job?)]

[Akio Naito]

Somewhere in Karakura's shopping district was an antique store, a simple brick building that was difficult to place as to when it had been built, and impossible to remember as being anything other than what it was now. Though it was a bit difficult to define what it really was in the present, anyway. You could start with the name of the place, even. The sign out in front read "9<=O==>3",which was meant to be read as "Nine to three", but seldom few figured that out on their own. Indeed, even the employees had taken to using the English text underneath the logo, which thankfully had the appropriate kanji attached to make that work as the name, calling it "The Time Castle". It labeled itself as an antique shop, but the vast majority of items were replicas, rather than the originals. They also had a bit of a side business in repairs and restorations for a somewhat reasonable prices, and another side business in the dealing of spiritual... well, Akio guessed the best term was curios, or trinkets. Certainly not tools, and he rather hoped none of the objects around him were weapons.

Similarly hazy in definition was what his job actually was. It had always been somewhat flexible in that regard, mostly a cashier, partly involved in cleaning, often assisting in repairs or restorations when he had the right skillset for the piece in question, or when there weren't any particular skills required. But tonight, he was only engaged in the first task on that list, sitting in a chair positioned behind a glass display case holding many of the smaller, or more exotic items, such as the fist-sized amber crystals that, to non spiritual eyes, held perfect, butterly-shaped hollows within. Though they might actually seem less impressive to the spiritually aware, since they could see what actually filled that space. At the heart of each of those crystals was an almost entirely black insect that closely resembled a swallowtail butterfly. He'd come to find the Jigokucho oddly cute in their frozen state, as far as insects went. Next to one of the persevered butterflies was a pendant made of what appeared to be silver, a pentacle that represented something. Elsewhere in the case, next to an analog pocketwatch, were a pair of white masks, from hollows that had resembled an oni and a snake, both replicas of course. His least favorite items to have to talk about.

Farther out from Akio was an array of old, western-style funiture, eastern-style vases, and enough clocks to ensure that you couldn't avoid passing at least two even you walked straight to the cashier. That rarely occurred, as most customers started by browsing around the shop, leaving him to do little more than greet them, and pay token attention as he continued skimming over a book he'd borrowed from the storage area in back, the ramblings on some onmyoji from the nineteen-twenties. He'd put it down properly once they approached him, if they did at all. But until then, it was just another slow night of listening to the clocks tick.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura Uzaki was on the run.

His usual stealthiness had gotten out of practice, so the paparazzi had caught up with him for the first time in many months, it seemed. He wasn't too happy about this, as he didn't want to be bothered on his morning stroll. They always asked him dumb questions for the tabloid magazines, such as who was his current girlfriend or who was going to be his next fling... None of that mattered in the grand scheme of things. How could he focus on romance when so much was going on in the world of the spiritual? Chained hollows, assassinations, political upheaval... Too much was going on for him to focus on the petty questions of the paparazzi.

Ducking around a corner, he saw a dusty looking building with a curious sign. The clock hands pointed to the nine and the three, but the english/japanese logo said "The Time Castle". Whatever the name of the place, it would do just fine for his purposes. Making his way into the building as quickly as possible, he seemed to have lost the camera crazies. None of them thought to come into this little shop, for some reason, but even if they had, Kazura was hiding behind a large couch. When the commotion had settled down, the fullbringer looked around at his hide out. He was surprised to see a large assortment of knick knacks, some of which were quite unique...

His eyes were mostly drawn to the case next to Akio. The Hell Butterfly in amber, the hollow masks, the Quincy cross... All of them were items that Kazura was most interested in. Upon closer inspection, Kazura felt like the masks weren't true hollow masks, due to their lack of a spiritual signature. The Hell Butterfly in amber was pretty cool, though, and the Quincy cross was a relic that the man would love to get his hands on. That is, if he knew what it was. He hadn't really come across the bangle yet, but if he knew what it was capable of he would be all over that. "Young man, can you tell me more about this metal cross item?" There was an employee right there, so might as well ask!

[Akio Naito]

"Welcome." Akio chimed to the new customer who was already in the process of hiding behind a couch. He rather hoped that they weren't about to try something they shouldn't back there, but waited patiently for them to crawl out from behind it before judging further. The crowd that rushed by the front windows with microphones and cameras seemed to explain enough about that for now. Just who was this customer? He couldn't really blame them for fleeing that crowd, but that didn't help the mystery of why they were being chased. The best he could do was try not to seem confused about it for now.

Having sat his book down as Kazura approached, "Caught your eye?" He tapped on the glass over the item in question, the silver cross was on a short chain, and lay sandwiched in between a pentacle in a similar style on a slightly longer chain, and an old, rusted key. "It's the real deal, all the way from Germany in Europe. Reasonably priced, too, for silver." The basic sales pitch he'd memorized left off the item's spiritual status for the sake of necessity. Couldn't well sell old jewelry based on it's connection to a group of spirit hunters, at least not to most people. "Can just imagine how knights used to wear stuff like this."

That really was the problem with this place, in a way. Rarely able to tell if something's value to its new owner came from what it really was, or what they saw it as. From if the butterflies were simple voids or actual insects, to if the masks were just fictional creatures, or copies of spirits, to if a given piece of jewelry was a now-defunct spirit particle magnet or not. The reverse applied to his knowledge of which customers were which. Unless they said or did something to out themselves as a spiritually aware person, he couldn't really tell, and it was rare any of the spirits themselves entered.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura tilted his head curiously at the keeper of the shop. He pointed again at the silver pentangle. "This? I think that you must be mistaken. That doesn't seem like the medal of a Knight from Germany. Maybe a Qu... Archer, maybe. But I've met, I mean, I've seen plenty of Knights in museums and still haven't seen anything like those found in suits of armor. Especially made of Silver. Where did you say it was from, again?" Kazura may be fast at processing things in his head, but he still hadn't mastered the art of thinking before he spoke. Especially when he was caught off guard by the information that seemed so wrong. He almost blurted out the name of Quincies and he almost revealed that he was a wack job when he almost said he had met a Knight.

Though, it was true, Kazura had met a Knight of the medieval era. He had awoken one from a stone slumber and had Siegfried work for him for a time before the process took over again and returned him to the form of a statue forever. So, in a ways, Kazura was experienced enough to talk about Knights, and may come across as a snobby know it all. But he had every right to be, in his mind. He had the experiences that allowed him to talk, but he couldn't talk about his experiences without coming across as crazy. Especially to a man who for all intents and purposes was spiritually blind. Kazura had no idea if Akio could see spirits, and didn't intend on asking him. That was a question that he'd never imagine asking someone, for fear of sounding too crazy. So for now, he bit his lip and waited to hear what clarification the shop keep would give on the silver bangle.

[Akio Naito]

Akio was used to his share of odd looks, at least as far as his attempts to explain merchandise went. It was certainly a skill he'd need to work on as he went, even if he had the basic outlines set up for him. "Well, truth be told, I'm not familiar with the full histories of every item. And they're all a bit unique, or they wouldn't have ended up here." The real expert would be the owner, and he'd rather not have to bother them over everything. "Apologies if there are slight mistakes." Hopefully he'd smooth this over without having to drag his boss here. That was a pretty basic goal.

He tapped gently on the glass case, indicating the pentacle and its attached chain, highly polished, if still showing signs of wear, such as the occasional scratch. It was a well crafted piece, for sure. and possibly in better shape than its cross counterpart, whose chain was beginning to tarnish black, despite being the younger of the two artifacts. Was the pentacle better cared for before ending up in the Time Castle's care, or was it just part of their spiritual natures? "But I'm quite certain this particular item was German made." He at least seemed confident in that snippet of truth.

And then the moment it took him a moment to make sure they'd really just said 'met', and not something else, passed. Great, either they were stumbling over their words, or just bad at lying, he was guessing this customer was the latter "Sorry, but did you say 'Quincy'?" If he was wrong, it probably wouldn't go anywhere, and if he was right, it might save him one of those conversations where both sides tried to drop subtle hints back and forth until they realized what was going on. Those were the worst. "That's a pretty rare word." He knew the basic meaning of the word, sure. Books and experience told him it was a knightly order or sorts that hunted evil spirits with bows. Members seemed to favor white clothes and glowing weapons, and occasionally they had wings. They were pretty fun to watch fight, actually.

[Kazura Uzaki]

It appeared that maybe there was something special to these items. They were "a bit unique" to end up here in this little shop, and the silver pentacle was German made... It was almost certainly one of the crosses he'd seen on a Vandenreich Quincy some time ago. And even though he hadn't fully said the word "Quincy", Akio caught on pretty quickly. That was good. Meant that he at least knew of some spiritual matters. Saved Kazura from having to dance around the subject. "Yes, I did, and I suppose it is a rare word. That Cross, in the case, then. Is it still primed with energy or is it completely null and dead? I may be interested in purchasing it depending on the answer." Quincy Crosses were unique in that they could absorb energy from the air and transfer it to their owner. While Kazura would be unable to utilize it like a Quincy could, but it could still be valuable for his research.

"So, what else in this shop is worth my time and money? You seem to have a quite unique set of wares that someone like me would actually be interested in acquiring for more than just trinkets. For their... real origins."

[Akio Naito]

"You know already? That makes this a lot easier." The mutual understanding helped quite a bit, if only for his ability to communicate clearly with the customer. No more having to curve his words around the true nature of absolutely every item worth noting. "Now that I know it's safe to tell you, nothing on display up front actually works, that I know of. Even the real ones." He even sounded more honest, now. Like some kind of restraint was loosened besides the self-imposed one he was working under. "Even so, even the replicas are made of the same materials as the real thing, each represents a broken or destroyed original, down to the same dents and scratches. There's no duplicates of anything, either." Akio clearly cared about the work that went into crafting, repairing, and upkeeping the store's stock than their value as history. Why wouldn't he, all those things made by hand, or even more exotic methods? It really was different that just letting a factory handle things.

"Depends on what you want to get out of your time and money." The increasingly energetic young man motioned around. "The butterflies are all real, and perfectly preserved. The masks are all replicas, but the originals all vanished with the beasts they belonged to, so there's no need to worry about a look-alike out there." Both items are well stocked, the hell butterflies all frozen in slightly different positions, though most appear as if resting on a surface within their yellowish gemstone prisons. And sure enough, there are no doubles of any hollow mask that can be seen. Even the Quincy artifacts are all unique. Whoever ran the place clearly cared about keeping authenticity.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura frowned, slightly. Nothing here was going to be worth his time if it was a replica, especially if the originals themselves didn't even work as they were supposed to. The preserved Hell butterflies were something else, but Kazura had live ones growing in cocoons in his basement. Ones that he had genetically modified to be a sturdier combat capable strain of butterfly. Oh, how that had been fun to come up with alongside Katrina. Snapping his head out of the tangent that he had allowed himself to follow, Kazura turned to the cashier again. "My research tends to need more... working materials. So I'm afraid these replicas won't be of much use to me. And if the originals are as inert as you say, those also won't be of much use to me either. Is there nothing in this shop that is reserved for more... unique... customers, such as myself?"

[Akio Naito]

Akio backed off. He didn't really have a response for that, most were impressed with as much as they had, or, in the case of Shinigami, angry to varied degrees. "Occasionally things come along like wood from spiritual trees, or a fragment of some old sword that can store spiritual energy. That's about the limit here." He gestured over a stack of business cards shoved in the corner of the counter, . "If you can actually see the butterflies in there, you'll be able to see an extra number on the back. It's easier talking to the boss about that stuff. Really, I have no idea how he handles things like that." It really was out of his hands, in that respect. The boss was a mystery he didn't care to unravel, how they manged to get all these things, keep rowdy spirits from becoming a problem, and still managed to keep a place afloat when it rarely ever seemed busy. "That's the most I can do for your situation."

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura took the offered business card, but wasn't quite sure that the paparazzi looking for him were quite gone yet. After all, he had only spent maybe five minutes in this little shop. "So... I still need to kill some time while the people chasing after my picture and a story figure out they're not going to find me and give up and leave. I'll take another look around for something that might catch my eye, and since I'm you're only customer right now, why don't you walk with me and chat? Tell me about yourself, your boss, and whatnot? I'm obviously a man with wealth, if you don't already know who I am. I could be very important to this little shop if allowed to."

Kazura was famous around town, so if Akio hadn't recognized him yet then it was possible that he just never was going to. Either way, Kazura took another glance through the shop of oddities. He reached out with his Energy Sensory, trying to locate any items that were of interest to him. His sixth sense wasn't well refined, but he wasn't blind to the spiritual like some where. So while exercising his Energy Sensory, he hoped that Akio would walk with him. He kinda liked the cashier so far, and while Kazura had probably come off as extremely arrogant and self absorbed, in reality he was just trying to gauge the character of Akio. Was he the kind that would blow off an airhead, or was he the kind that would actually take the time to oblige a customer?

Though maybe Kazura was a little self absorbed. He was CEO of the biggest company presently in Karakura, after all.

[Akio Naito]

"If you want me to." While he didn't seem that excited about the prospect, he immediately climbed down from his chair and circled around the counter, keeping a fixed watch on his customer the entire time. It seemed he was more energetic than he'd looked without anyone to move for. "I'm not sure I can help much with the chase, but I can try and answer questions." This was all part of the job to him, nothing that strange. He hadn't put any thought into who the other man was, and being relatively out of touch until only recently, he wasn't about to recognize them anytime soon. All in all, this was about as exciting as it got for him most nights.

There's an underlying idea throughout the surroundings, that everything has stopped, settled in place. Not that there was any dust, per say, more that things that weren't useful to whatever stories they used to be part of ended up here. Single chain links with no real use on their own, paintings of landscapes that may no longer exist, if they ever did to start with, and even decorative bottles of white sand. Preserving the form, ideal, or symbol, but not the deeper level on which things function. In simple terms, form had won out over function.

Kazura's energy senses would find that there were plenty of faint spiritual traces in the store, but nothing especially clear, or decently strong. The hell butterflies themselves are some of the most prominent objects in terms of sheer strength, but there was no shortage of dim stars of soul. Notably, Akio himself was even less present to reiatsu senses than the average unenlightened mortal, not by far, but somewhat like comparing a firefly to a matchstick. Well, in this case, an extremely stable firefly to a matchstick, but that quality didn't mean much after losing the important parts, only the amount mattered. There's a distinct pattern to the furniture as being mundane, while smaller trinkets have more spiritual presence, as though larger objects had less spiritual weight to them.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Akio walked around the counter of the shop to come to Kazura's side. He didn't seem to recognize the man at all, which was refreshing to the CEO of the largest company in the town. Akio wasn't someone to fawn over him and beg for his autograph or rat him out to the paparazzi. He treated the inventor like a regular customer, and went out of his way to give him the tour of the shop. Kazura couldn't really sense anything that caught his third eye, and his regular two eyes didn't see much of importance either. Well, importance in the spiritual sense. Someone looking for a knick knack or a trinket or a paperweight that looked cool would be able to find something they were looking for in this shop. Kazura was looking for more significant spiritual items. Not finding anything that really looked out of place to him, he decided to just make idle chit chat.

"So do you enjoy your job here? It doesn't seem like there's too much going on, so that could be good or bad depending on your point of view."

[Akio Naito]

"It's what it is. Slow enough I can get some research done, but not so much that I go broke. I can enjoy it some nights." As Akio starts the tour without even taking a step, he waves broadly in the direction of a few things of note, a dark-colored tsuba, left on display in a small glass case shaped as a pentagonal prism faintly radiates Shinigami reiatsu, sitting on a bookcase turned towards the cashier's desk, which itself doesn't have any trace of spiritual power. a hollow mask, small, rounded, and nearly flat, lays on somewhat scratched table, which appeared to be a large, horizontal clock on legs, and carried a dim aura that's not quite identifiable as belonging to anything in particular.

There's still a faint, constant ticking, coming in oddly tight unison from just about every direction, but much like the buzz from electric lights, it was only there is someone really wanted to pay attention to it. "On others, there's some unusual guests, or nothing more than dusting on my part." There's not too much order to the way of things, besides mostly facing towards the front door and glass case, a second wave as he leads Kazura around, counterclockwise, at a casual pace. Analog clocks seem to be endemic in that direction, a hanging rectangle of cloth bearing shape on some creature in plain black ink, and a wooden die, about the size of an orange and bearing the symbol usually associated with Bount on one side. All simply there, as if they were perfectly normal.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura nodded and his ears perked up at the mention of a particular word. Research? What kind of research was this cashier doing while inside a shop such as this one. Psychology research perhaps? Viewing other people who come into this knick knackery? Or was it something else? Little else that the man said actually was paid attention to by the fullbringer as his thoughts kept coming back to this concept of doing research. Barely able to contain his curiosity, he tested the waters with the next question. "Interesting. What kind of research do you do here?"

[Akio Naito]

Akio was rather poor at giving a tour, beyond slowly walking Kazura by anything remotely abnormal, guards taken from zanpakuto long gone, objects that seemingly floated in their containers, actually laying atop a layer of Hueco Mundo's sand. But he was more focused on the conversation already going on than explaining anything for sale. "Just some topics that come up around work, ghosts, monsters, dragon streams, the various techniques people learn to deal with any of those. Really, not worth calling interesting." Research was probably a strong word in hindsight, given most of it was rather basic knowledge for those spiritually aware, when not focusing on elements far away and experimenting with his own limited interactions with such things. Though so far, his attempts at modernizing the techniques from the one book had fallen flat.

"I've found out that when something is abnormal around Karakura, the answer is generally connected to spirits. The land here is soaked in spiritual power, and the people here have a higher baseline. Those are probably related, but I do not know which of those would have caused the other." He continued, turning towards one of far too many clocks left on a wall, while trying to think ahead in the explanation he's giving before he got any farther off track. "So it's been useful to learn a bit about it, on my own." Maybe if he'd known some of that back then, he'd have had another path, instead of ending up with the other fading lights this place gathered.