Samsaric Rebirth [Solo]
Oct 12, 2020 21:27:02 GMT
Post by Yoshimitsu Himura on Oct 12, 2020 21:27:02 GMT
It was a seemingly peaceful afternoon in Shibuya. The sky was cloudy, but not a single raindrop had fallen yet. A tall, burly man was browsing the shelves of a small convenience store, filling his grocery bags with the freshest, healthiest veggies he could find. He was quite old, with a wrinkled, yet hardened face, and a bushy mustache keeping his upper lip warm. What little hair he had left was long, wild and gravity-defying, spread like a hawk’s wings around his shiny, bald scalp. He was obscenely well-built for his age, his broad shoulders and beefy arms visible through his traditional kimono and haori combo.
“Damn it, Hana… How am I supposed to use this gizmo?” The old man cursed under his breath, while waiting by the cashier.
“Is something wrong, sir?” A young employee asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I apologize…” The man sighed. “My daughter-in-law gave me this pedometer, and I can’t seem to get it to work properly. It keeps showing me the wrong numbers.” He explained, showing the small gadget to the clerk. Said gadget looked even smaller in his huge hand.
“May I have that for a moment, sir?” The woman asked politely. “It seems to have been calibrated to your daughter-in-law’s steps. You see, the distance every person covers with each step can be different, and I presume that your daughter-in-law is much… smaller than you in size.”
“She is.” The old man curtly replied. “Argh! Silly technology! I can count how many steps I take myself. I’ve been doing that for years. I haven’t gone senile yet!” He groaned, grumpily, before tossing the pedometer into the bag with all the groceries. “Thank you all the same.” He added in a calmer tone, paying in cash.
Yoshimitsu Himura. This man had moved to Shibuya about a year ago. His past was largely a mystery. By his own admission, he had a widowed daughter-in-law and a granddaughter who also lived in Shibuya. His neighbours described him as an intimidating, yet quiet man who kept mostly to himself, rarely getting out of his house for anything other than work, physical exercise or offering his prayers to the local Buddhist temple. He would visit the same grocery store everyday and no other shop, and would rarely converse with people there, unless he desperately needed some tech support, like today.
The man some people jokingly referred to as ‘the giant’ was on his way home. One of the advantages of being as bulky as him was the fact that, despite the elderly being easy targets for mugging, no mugger dared come close to Yoshimitsu Himura. Some people speculated that he might have been a former hitman whose memories had been erased, or a freakish government experiment that had escaped containment. Naturally, such ridiculous rumors were easily disregarded as fantasy. Regardless, he did not look like someone people were willing to mess with willy-nilly. He might have been well past his prime, but a single, cold glare from his fierce eyes was still capable of making any cocky, common street thug’s blood freeze over.
As he passed by the entrance to Shibuki Forest, Yoshimitsu suddenly felt an otherworldly chill running down his old, occasionally aching spine. If one squinted hard enough, they might have seen strange shapes dancing behind the trees of these shady woods, as their leaves rustled ever so slightly. Before converting to Buddhism, Yoshimitsu did not believe in such nonsense as ghosts or vengeful spirits, but Shibuya had been home to many… supernatural rumors, especially in later years.
“Damn it, Hana… How am I supposed to use this gizmo?” The old man cursed under his breath, while waiting by the cashier.
“Is something wrong, sir?” A young employee asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I apologize…” The man sighed. “My daughter-in-law gave me this pedometer, and I can’t seem to get it to work properly. It keeps showing me the wrong numbers.” He explained, showing the small gadget to the clerk. Said gadget looked even smaller in his huge hand.
“May I have that for a moment, sir?” The woman asked politely. “It seems to have been calibrated to your daughter-in-law’s steps. You see, the distance every person covers with each step can be different, and I presume that your daughter-in-law is much… smaller than you in size.”
“She is.” The old man curtly replied. “Argh! Silly technology! I can count how many steps I take myself. I’ve been doing that for years. I haven’t gone senile yet!” He groaned, grumpily, before tossing the pedometer into the bag with all the groceries. “Thank you all the same.” He added in a calmer tone, paying in cash.
Yoshimitsu Himura. This man had moved to Shibuya about a year ago. His past was largely a mystery. By his own admission, he had a widowed daughter-in-law and a granddaughter who also lived in Shibuya. His neighbours described him as an intimidating, yet quiet man who kept mostly to himself, rarely getting out of his house for anything other than work, physical exercise or offering his prayers to the local Buddhist temple. He would visit the same grocery store everyday and no other shop, and would rarely converse with people there, unless he desperately needed some tech support, like today.
The man some people jokingly referred to as ‘the giant’ was on his way home. One of the advantages of being as bulky as him was the fact that, despite the elderly being easy targets for mugging, no mugger dared come close to Yoshimitsu Himura. Some people speculated that he might have been a former hitman whose memories had been erased, or a freakish government experiment that had escaped containment. Naturally, such ridiculous rumors were easily disregarded as fantasy. Regardless, he did not look like someone people were willing to mess with willy-nilly. He might have been well past his prime, but a single, cold glare from his fierce eyes was still capable of making any cocky, common street thug’s blood freeze over.
As he passed by the entrance to Shibuki Forest, Yoshimitsu suddenly felt an otherworldly chill running down his old, occasionally aching spine. If one squinted hard enough, they might have seen strange shapes dancing behind the trees of these shady woods, as their leaves rustled ever so slightly. Before converting to Buddhism, Yoshimitsu did not believe in such nonsense as ghosts or vengeful spirits, but Shibuya had been home to many… supernatural rumors, especially in later years.