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mtxref_fic) wrote2013-10-10 11:52 pm
mtxref_fic) wrote2013-10-10 11:52 pm
Entry tags:
[Yami no Matsuei] "Scaring out a Spirit" (PG)
Author's Note: Written for < lj user="31halloween">'s "scarecrows". Featuring Hisoka and Tsuzuki in an awkward situation
"Are you sure this is even going to work?" Hisoka asked, buttoning up the front of a man-sized flannel shirt, worn out at the elbows.
"I'm sure it will: it's perfect camouflage," Tsuzuki replied, taking up a wad of straw from the cut apart bale at his feet and starting to stuff it under his partner's shirt. The younger shinigami sensed the elder's excitement at the prospect and his confidence that the disguise would work according to his hare brained plan. A rogue earth spirit had started attacking farmers and their field hands, and they had been given the task of cornering it before more people got hurt.
"Wouldn't it be easier just to linger on the edges of the field with the both of us in spirit form?" Hisoka asked, straightening his sleeves.
"Nah, that would be asking for trouble," Tsuzuki replied, stuffing straw into Hisoka's other sleeve, making sure that some hung out through the cuff. "This thing will sense our presence and come right for us, but if we're in physical form, we'll probably pass as human."
"So why the scarecrow costumes?"
"Oh, that's so the mortals won't get suspicious," Tsuzuki said, looping a rope harness around Hisoka's slim torso and hoisting him up to hang by it from a thick nail driven into a thick post in the middle of the field.
"Ugh," Hisoka grunted at the mild man handling. "It gets me that an earth spirit would bother people like this: most of the farm folk I knew back in my village were better about protecting the earth and respecting the spirits better than most people."
"Funny you should ask: this farm changed hands recently and the new owner doesn't believe that the earth is any more than a means to make money. So, that's ticked off the resident earth shikis and they've gone berserk, doing their best to make him a believer through the worst means possible," Tsuzuki replied digging into the straw bale to start stuffing his own torn and faded blue jeans.
"Sort of like a farm poltergeist," Hisoka noted, shifting around on the pole to get into a more comfortable position, and realizing there was probably none to be had.
"Yeah, that's it in a nutshell," Tsuzuki replied, pulling a burlap sack over Hisoka's head and adjusting it till the eyeholes were just right. Or just right when one was not quite centered over Hisoka's left eye.
"Could have spent more time working on this mask," Hisoka muttered, reaching up to try and adjust it himself.
"Well, I did spend a lot of time interviewing the farm hands," Tsuzuki replied, his footsteps rustling across the ground. Hisoka turned his head carefully so as not to dislodge his mask. Out of the corner of his eyehole, he watched as his partner approached another thick post close by, and sprawling on the ground beneath it, limbs flopped into an awkward pose.
"Tsuzuki, what are you doing down there?" Hisoka demanded.
"Oh, I'm a scarecrow that fell off the post and onto the ground," Tsuzuki replied with a laugh.
"Looks more like an excuse for you to lay down on the ground and take a nap," Hisoka grumbled.
"Well, if I do, and you see anything suspicious, just call down to me. I'll wake up and pull you down off that pole," Tsuzuki replied.
"Yeah, right," Hisoka muttered, knowing he would have to vault off the pole and shake his partner awake.
A thought crossed his mind. "Tsuzuki..."
"Hm?" his partner replied sleepily. He saw that coming...
"What happens if one of the farm hands comes along and picks you up off the ground, then hangs you up on that pole, thinking you fell off?" Hisoka asked. "For one thing, you're a lot heavier than an actual scarecrow, and for another thing, even if somehow the farm hand doesn't get wise to you, how are you going to get down from the pole.
"Oh..." Tsuzuki replied, clearly not thinking of that possibility. "Well... I guess I'll have to go into spirit form and phase off the pole."
"Which will, according to your reason for using these goofy disguises, tip off the earth shiki and alert it to our presence," Hisoka noted.
"Aww, geez, nice work spoiling my plan, Hisoka," Tsuzuki grumped, sitting up. Even through the burlap mask that his partner wore, Hisoka could tell Tsuzuki was glaring at him.
"Well, it's a clever idea," Hisoka replied, turning to look across the field. "We'll see if it works as well as you hope it does."
"Are you sure this is even going to work?" Hisoka asked, buttoning up the front of a man-sized flannel shirt, worn out at the elbows.
"I'm sure it will: it's perfect camouflage," Tsuzuki replied, taking up a wad of straw from the cut apart bale at his feet and starting to stuff it under his partner's shirt. The younger shinigami sensed the elder's excitement at the prospect and his confidence that the disguise would work according to his hare brained plan. A rogue earth spirit had started attacking farmers and their field hands, and they had been given the task of cornering it before more people got hurt.
"Wouldn't it be easier just to linger on the edges of the field with the both of us in spirit form?" Hisoka asked, straightening his sleeves.
"Nah, that would be asking for trouble," Tsuzuki replied, stuffing straw into Hisoka's other sleeve, making sure that some hung out through the cuff. "This thing will sense our presence and come right for us, but if we're in physical form, we'll probably pass as human."
"So why the scarecrow costumes?"
"Oh, that's so the mortals won't get suspicious," Tsuzuki said, looping a rope harness around Hisoka's slim torso and hoisting him up to hang by it from a thick nail driven into a thick post in the middle of the field.
"Ugh," Hisoka grunted at the mild man handling. "It gets me that an earth spirit would bother people like this: most of the farm folk I knew back in my village were better about protecting the earth and respecting the spirits better than most people."
"Funny you should ask: this farm changed hands recently and the new owner doesn't believe that the earth is any more than a means to make money. So, that's ticked off the resident earth shikis and they've gone berserk, doing their best to make him a believer through the worst means possible," Tsuzuki replied digging into the straw bale to start stuffing his own torn and faded blue jeans.
"Sort of like a farm poltergeist," Hisoka noted, shifting around on the pole to get into a more comfortable position, and realizing there was probably none to be had.
"Yeah, that's it in a nutshell," Tsuzuki replied, pulling a burlap sack over Hisoka's head and adjusting it till the eyeholes were just right. Or just right when one was not quite centered over Hisoka's left eye.
"Could have spent more time working on this mask," Hisoka muttered, reaching up to try and adjust it himself.
"Well, I did spend a lot of time interviewing the farm hands," Tsuzuki replied, his footsteps rustling across the ground. Hisoka turned his head carefully so as not to dislodge his mask. Out of the corner of his eyehole, he watched as his partner approached another thick post close by, and sprawling on the ground beneath it, limbs flopped into an awkward pose.
"Tsuzuki, what are you doing down there?" Hisoka demanded.
"Oh, I'm a scarecrow that fell off the post and onto the ground," Tsuzuki replied with a laugh.
"Looks more like an excuse for you to lay down on the ground and take a nap," Hisoka grumbled.
"Well, if I do, and you see anything suspicious, just call down to me. I'll wake up and pull you down off that pole," Tsuzuki replied.
"Yeah, right," Hisoka muttered, knowing he would have to vault off the pole and shake his partner awake.
A thought crossed his mind. "Tsuzuki..."
"Hm?" his partner replied sleepily. He saw that coming...
"What happens if one of the farm hands comes along and picks you up off the ground, then hangs you up on that pole, thinking you fell off?" Hisoka asked. "For one thing, you're a lot heavier than an actual scarecrow, and for another thing, even if somehow the farm hand doesn't get wise to you, how are you going to get down from the pole.
"Oh..." Tsuzuki replied, clearly not thinking of that possibility. "Well... I guess I'll have to go into spirit form and phase off the pole."
"Which will, according to your reason for using these goofy disguises, tip off the earth shiki and alert it to our presence," Hisoka noted.
"Aww, geez, nice work spoiling my plan, Hisoka," Tsuzuki grumped, sitting up. Even through the burlap mask that his partner wore, Hisoka could tell Tsuzuki was glaring at him.
"Well, it's a clever idea," Hisoka replied, turning to look across the field. "We'll see if it works as well as you hope it does."