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[paperpusher]

Please leave a message after the beep.

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✩ please don't leave curses on the answering machine ✩

Comments

[paperpusher]

[oh look it's his friend Fushiguro-kun--]

Yes. Is he bothering you?

[mahoraga]

No ...

Well, says a lot that you would immediately make that assumption. [ what exactly has matoba done ]

[paperpusher]

He can be very persistent when it comes to powerful spiritually-sensitive teenagers. But if what you're asking is if we're from the same place, the answer is yes.

[mahoraga]

He did ask me a lot of questions.

Is there a reason he is interested in ... spiritually-sensitive teenagers? [ that is kind of weird, what is this. ]

[paperpusher]

It's a recruitment drive. The Matoba clan is powerful, and stays that way because its leader is constantly looking out for "useful" people to join its ranks. They're something of the local powerhouse in our region. Or, well, not unlike the way the Shuten operates either.

[mahoraga]

Oh. So it's like that. I don't really want to join a clan.

Has he tried to recruit you as well? [ With his sharp memory, he remembers Natori mentioning that no one in his family has the sight, so he's unlikely from any existing clan. ]

[paperpusher]

He tried. I disagree with his way of doing things. [And also they were both teenagers, so the fact that it was a first year high school student trying to recruit a second year didn't help. At the time, Shuuichi assumed that Seiji was making fun of him.] If you tell him you're already part of one, he might let up, but it's honestly no guarantee.

[mahoraga]

I already told him I'm the head of a clan. That must be why he's never asked me.

[ just 1 text ago he said he doesn't want to be part of a clan u_u he moves on, without explaining. ]

What do you mean by 'his way of doing things'?

[paperpusher]

[That doesn't strike Natori, himself a clan of one, as an inherent contradiction, just a sign that there's something more complicated going on there. Fushiguro doesn't strike him as the sort to dodge a direct question, but it's easy for a direct question to be answered with something like "long story" or "it doesn't matter" if he doesn't want to talk about it. Natori just files it away for later.]

The Matoba clan absorbs smaller houses in exchange for protection. Matoba-san oversees the 11 old houses as well as countless smaller defunct clans, which includes access to the family techniques under their umbrella. As the head of a clan, you're a more valuable person to recruit, even if he doesn't ask directly.

That's part of what I mean.

[mahoraga]

That sounds like a real pain. [ MORE PEOPLE MORE PROBLEMS. ... He doesn't see the appeal. ]

Is he just out to make his clan the strongest one around? [ curious about matoba's goals... ]

[paperpusher]

More like he wants to keep it the strongest one around. [And not (just) for crazy shounen powerlevel reasons; he has subsidiary houses to keep safe, with the fates of hundreds of people riding solely on his shoulders.] I don't know if it's the same where you come from, but many exorcist houses are on the decline, with their spiritual abilities growing weaker or in some cases losing the ability to see ayakashi at all. Most of them choose to flock to the Matoba clan for protection, so the Matoba are responsible for their safety as well.

[mahoraga]

I see. I can understand why he wants to recruit strong people, in that case.

[ A leader's job is to protect. It's not something he thinks about very often because he's never had ambitions for leadership, but now that he does think about it, that's a good way to protect the most people. Something to think about, at least -- and he will, with his introspective personality. ]

With the exorcists on the decline, doesn't that mean the cursed spirits can attack people more freely?

[paperpusher]

Yes and no. A lot of ayakashi are losing power as well. A combination of a lack of belief and development in the more remote parts of Japan... but then again, that also leads to the spirits that remain encroaching more on human territory. We're getting different sorts of calls than we used to, to a smaller community.

[mahoraga]

So the strength of the ayakashi is dependent on people's belief in them?

[ It's different where he's from. ]

[paperpusher]

For some of them, yes. Particularly kami, but also for any type of ayakashi that feeds off of interaction with people, or the old traditions or nature. Is it not the same where you're from?