The International Extramundane Association (Part 1)

[starhobbit]

Summary: Ichigo has accepted his fate as a has-been of a shinigami. That's fine— perfect, actually, considering he's taken up an apprenticeship under Unagiya, jack-of-all-trades and part-time monster hunter. Still, even with school and an apprenticeship, he has a lot of time on his hands, time often spent on the biggest supernaturally-aware website in the world.

<LittleRedSpark has joined chat>

 

LittleRedSpark: am i alone right now? story of my life

<HalfBreed15 has joined chat>

HalfBreed15: Not anymore.

LittleRedSpark: so it seems

LittleRedSpark: anyway im in a bit of a rush do you know anything about poltergeists?

HalfBreed15: That depends.

LittleRedSpark: how so?

HalfBreed15: Where is the poltergeist located?

LittleRedSpark: in the basement of a friends burnt out husk of a house

HalfBreed15: Geographically speaking.

LittleRedSpark: oh california

HalfBreed15: Okay. Have you tried the basic remedies? Salt. Sage. Praying?

LittleRedSpark: yep nothing so far

HalfBreed15: What does it look like? Have you seen it?

LittleRedSpark: like a fucking poltergeist idk

LittleRedSpark: its skin was blue and it had horns

HalfBreed15: Look into Setsubun. That doesn’t sound like a Western spirit to me.

HalfBreed15: There’s a ritual with soybeans you can do that might help. You can google it.

LittleRedSpark: great thanks man

HalfBreed15: Good luck.

<LittleRedSpark has left chat>

<HalfBreed15 has left chat>

Ichigo stretches, curling back over his desk chair as he lets out a vicious yawn. It’s three in the morning, and he has school in five hours. He hasn’t slept, but he didn’t sleep the night before, either, and nobody noticed. Nobody would notice, he thinks, if he peeled of his face and stuck it to the ass-end of a dog, either. The thought makes him snort, then cringe.

If there’s one piece of evidence that all is not well, it’s probably the voice in his head. The voice that sounds remarkably like his hollow, except it can’t possibly be his hollow because he got torn out with the old man, leaving Ichigo alone in his own head for the last two years.

If Ichigo were more concerned with what was going on, he’d probably come to the conclusion that yes, he is crazy, and yes, he should seek psychological help. But Ichigo is lonely, and sometimes, that voice making bloody comments about the asshole on the train is the only reason Ichigo hasn’t started screaming. He doesn’t think he could stop if he started screaming.

Hell, it’s the only reason he’s on this chat in the first place. He’s lonely, he has questionable roots in the supernatural, and the internet is a wonderful, huge place, easy to get lost in, easy to hide in.

The IEA is an ideal chatroom, as far as Ichigo is concerned. At the very least, it’s informative, and information it one thing he’s been needing since the beginning of this whole debacle with shinigami and their monumental amount of bullshit.

(If he’s honest, he needed information sometime before even that, but Ichigo doesn’t want to think about what could have been, if he can help it.)

But yeah. Over the last year and a half, Ichigo’s learned more about the worlds beyond than he ever would have imagined before. The IEA’s connected him to every sort of unusual being on earth, from witches to werewolves to shinigami (reapers, in the West) to what Ichigo thinks might be the last surviving Quincy on earth. God, if he were still talking to Ishida…

But, he’s not, so it’s best not to dwell on such things.

Whatever.

LittleRedSpark, he knows, has been lurking on the site for months, relatively new but obviously talented. Nobody’s made direct contact yet, but Ichigo imagines its only a matter of time. The guy’s ambitious, and there’s a lot to be said for an alliance within the IEA. Even Ichigo has a handful, though, granted, they’re less political and more… Ichigo’s not even really sure.

Well, whatever. It’s late, and Ichigo really should get to bed. Even if he can’t sleep, his joints are starting to hurt, and a soft mattress might be just the thing before school in… four and a half hours, now.

Ichigo rolls his eyes and kicks off his jeans, collapsing onto the bed with a sigh. He hopes LittleRedSpark figures out whatever it is he’s fighting, and with a sigh, resigns himself to another night of achey, fitful rest.

Ichigo’s nearly eighteen. As soon as he is, he’s getting the fuck out of Karakura.

*.*

<HalfBreed15 has joined chat>

<LittleRedSpark has joined chat>

HalfBreed15: How’d it go?

LittleRedSpark: good we got the oni out

LittleRedSpark: it was weird not like the oni wev met before

HalfBreed15: You’ve met oni before? That’s strange. They’re indigenous to Japan, there’s no reason for them to be hanging around in California.

LittleRedSpark: yeah it was a weird situation. a friend of mines a kitsune

HalfBreed15: That’s pretty cool. And yourself? Just a spark, or something else?

LittleRedSpark: just a spark

LittleRedSpark: mostly

LittleRedSpark: and yourself?

HalfBreed15: I’m a shinigami.

HalfBreed15: Or I was.

HalfBreed15: It’s complicated.

LittleRedSpark: lol i know how it is

LittleRedSpark: wtf is a quincy?

HalfBreed15: Why ask what I am if you’re just going to read my profile?

LittleRedSpark: just making conversation

LittleRedSpark: its called being polite

LittleRedSpark: so whats a quincy?

HalfBreed15: Nazis, basically.

HalfBreed15: They can shoot bow an arrows made from a certain type of energy that destroy souls.

HalfBreed15: Technically they fight for the continuation of the human race but they’ve got this feud with shinigami that led to this war that led to them going into hiding.

LittleRedSpark: wow thats some serious romeo/juliet bullshit if you’re half and half

HalfBreed15: I know. It’s so dramatic.

HalfBreed15: I’ve learned to live with it.

LittleRedSpark: theres always drama when it comes to the supernatural bro

HalfBreed15: Tell me about it.

Stiles hears the telltale creak of his dad’s midnight stroll to make certain he’s asleep, and quickly he shoves the glowing screen of his phone under his pillow and rolls onto his side, back to the door.

There’s a minute of uncomfortable, deafening silence as his father stands with his ear to his son’s door, then the quiet squeak of his dad turning the knob.

The hallway light pours into his room, making Stiles cringe.

John stands in the doorway for another minute, watching the steady breathing Stiles has so carefully learned to recreate for moments like this before letting out an audible sigh and shutting the door again.

Stiles waits until the creaking abates and his father’s door shuts quietly before pulling out his phone again.

LittleRedSpark: sorry i was getting checked on

LittleRedSpark: im not trusted with my own sleep habits

LittleRedSpark: or anything tbh

HalfBreed15: It’s alright. I don’t mind.

LittleRedSpark: where you at rn?

HalfBreed15: School. It’s okay, nobody bothers with me anymore.

HalfBreed15: How about you? I guess it must be late.

LittleRedSpark: yeah its like four am

LittleRedSpark: but whatever iv got a study hall first thing if im too tired tomorrow

HalfBreed15: I usually sleep through my morning classes. My teacher doesn’t care so long as my grades stay in the nintieth percentile.

LittleRedSpark: do they?

HalfBreed15: I’ve got a few tricks to keep track of anything important.

LittleRedSpark: what you got a crystal ball or something?

HalfBreed15: Have you ever talked to napoleonbonerparty?

LittleRedSpark: yeah

LittleRedSpark: wait youve got a psychic looking after your physics hw?

HalfBreed15: Of course not. He taught me a few tricks in return for a favor.

LittleRedSpark: really? awesome

HalfBreed15: He’s a helpful guy.

LittleRedSpark: il bet

LittleRedSpark: so if youre a shinigami can you possess people?

HalfBreed15: I never tried, but I imagine it’s possible.

LittleRedSpark: you should totally try for science

HalfBreed15: I can’t anymore.

HalfBreed15: There was a thing.

LittleRedSpark: did you lose your powers or something?

HalfBreed15: I sacrificed them to save my town.

HalfBreed15: Technically I could get them back but if I go out of my way to do so there’s a good chance the higher-ups in the land of the dead might come after me.

LittleRedSpark: oh man that sucks

LittleRedSpark: so you cant do anything ghosty anymore? no walking through walls or anything?

HalfBreed15: No.

HalfBreed15: I can’t see ghosts anymore, or interact with them, or have anything to do with the spirit worlds until I die.

HalfBreed15: Which means I can’t talk to my friends anymore, since they’re all ghosts.

HalfBreed15: I’ve gotta go it’s time to socialize.

LittleRedSpark: gross. ttyl

HalfBreed15: Bye.

<HalfBreed15 has left chat>

<LittleRedSpark has left chat>