>>141824 Please sage in the future unless voting/speculating!
[X] What’s a little irritation between friends? Go see Keine.
Nah, she won’t mind. You’re not going to waste around here, either. There’s
science to be done! Or something. Any way it goes, you’re going to rock it out.
Up on your feet, double time! A quick stretch, wiggle those arms. That bench wasn’t very comfortable, and it feels good to be back up on two legs. Must’ve been an hour you were sitting there, definitely longer than you wanted.
The kinks in your joints are quickly worked out, and you tuck the newspaper under your left arm before re-adjusting your bag’s strap, quite uncomfortable after being worn for several hours. You’re going to have to find a place to drop it off or something, as you’re not used to carrying it around for long periods.
The school building should be in… that direction… ish. You take off from where you were sitting and wind your way through the streets toward where you think it is. After passing quite a few look-alike brick and wood houses, you start looking around for the schoolhouse. It
was quite distinct… right?
You check another corner. Nope, doesn’t look like it’s that way, either. Shit… Your mind reels through the possibilities. You could always ask a passer-by, but… Wait, the one looks familiar. She looks
real familiar! She… looks like a he. With suspenders and all. That is unfortunate, but irrelevant. You remember her saying something like she’d see Keine tomorrow, and well, it is tomorrow!
You flag her down in the only way you know how, by yelling about her general description.
“Hey! Hey you, suspenders!”
She stops and turns to you, not taking her hands out of her pockets, cigarette in her mouth. Eurgh, a smoker…
She waits for you to get close enough to speak without yelling at each other, then takes the cigarette out of her mouth with one hand.
“I have a name, you know?”
Well, that was pretty rude of you. You try to muster a decent excuse,
“Sorry, didn’t catch your name before. Just had to get your attention!”
“Mokou. What can I do for you?”
Well, at least she took that pretty well. You decide to avoid irritating her with your next question.
“Do you happen to know where the schoolhouse is from here? I was just on my way to see Keine and I kind of got lost, since I don’t know my way around here and I heard you yesterday saying you were going to vi-“
She silences you by pinching your nostrils together.
“Stop. I’m heading there now, so just follow me.”
She releases your nose and brushes past you, leaving you with only a clogged nose and a plan to follow her. You rub your nose, clearing up your nostrils. At least you can’t smell the smoke any more. You grumble to yourself about that.
“Damn smokers…”
She wheels around, accusing you through gritted teeth and an outstretched hand,
“’Scuse me?”
“What?! I uh… didn’t say anything?”
She rips the cigarette out of her mouth, and crushes it in her hand. You can hear the sizzling as it’s extinguished in her palm.
“You got a problem with me? Take it up with me. Don’t be an asshole who talks behind my back.”
“…Doesn’t that hurt?”
“No, not really,” she says as she continues to crush the cigarette and burning embers into a fine dust.
Yikes.
That is not normal. Then again, can you define anything as “normal” around here?
“So, ya looking for Keine?”
“…Yeah.”
She releases her hand, letting the powder blow away in a soft breeze.
“All right, come with me then.”
You don’t object. She leads you through a dizzying maze of streets at a brisk pace, not letting you catch up more than a few feet at every corner. She keeps walking at a quick pace, so you adjust a few straps on your bag and put the paper into it, but those minor things don’t help your comfort level too much when the person you’re following has a habit of changing speed for no particular reason.
Besides trying to follow her, you try to memorize the route. Unfortunately, the street layout doesn’t seem to follow any discernable pattern. Ultimately, you give up your attempts at recognizing the various routes through the village. You’re just going to need more exposure to learn your way around.
A straight-through now; you can see the schoolhouse in the distance. At least, you think it’s the schoolhouse. You haven’t seen any other long, short buildings around. Your guesses are confirmed by Mokou, who motions over her shoulder at you,
“Right up ahead.”
You nod at her in response, although you doubt she can see that. It was more of a subconscious automation than actually acknowledging her.
Keine is standing next to the stairs, lecturing two young kids, both boys. They don’t seem to be paying a lick of attention, but she stands there all the same, looking down and wagging her finger at them.
Mokou calls out as you two get close, and Keine takes a quick look at you before turning her attention back to the two boys. She gives one final warning, then waves her hand, and the two scamper off. She adjusts her dress and runs a quick hand over her hair and nods as you and Mokou step up.
“Good afternoon, you two. I see you found each other just fine?”
You open your mouth to reply, but Mokou cuts you off, fingering her suspenders’ pockets,
“He got lost, plain an’ simple. Had to lead him here, was all.”
Keine turns to you, giving you a slight bow.
“I apologize for that, I didn’t think to assign you a guide. Although I’m glad to see you can
get around without any help.”
You could almost swear she just winked at you. You raise an eyebrow, but she doesn’t elaborate. An awkward silence arises as you cock your head, trying to figure out what she just meant. Keine interrupts it.
“Mokou… could you please leave?”
“What? Why?!”
“I need to speak to him, in private.”
Mokou shoots you an angry glare before focusing back on Keine.
“What for?”
“Mokou, we'll speak, okay?” She puts her hands together and tries to console her friend. “I’ll have time for you – but later.”
“Have time!" Why is this a matter of!-“
Both suddenly turn to look at you, realizing you’re still standing there awkwardly, listening in.
“We’ll continue this later!”
“Dusk, then?”
“Gladly!”
The two banter back and forth, all smiles. All
you can feel is dread. It’s like you’ve been thrown between two cars on a collision course.
Finally, Mokou gives a nod and puts her hands back into her pockets, humming without a tune as she walks off, destination unknown.
Keine turns to you, a smile on her face. Somewhere between mischievous and malicious, you’re not sure whether to get on your knees or run away.
“And what the heck have
you been up to?”
“What?”
You raise your hands and back up, not sure what she’s on about. She steals forward, and snatches the paper that was protruding slightly from your bag, waving it around. It sounds like she’s trying to deride you, but she’s saying it in such a sweet voice.
“Man attacks fairies, was it? Spotted running around with the Moriya shrine maiden by villagers? Work exemption from Nakajima? And you come back looking like… that?!”
She finishes, motioning with her hand at your general appearance. Okay, you got no idea what she’s on about.
“Keine. I have got a
lot of questions, and I have only a faint idea of what you’re talking about.”
She crosses her arms, and taps her foot.
“Well? What questions?”
…That’s a good question all in its own.
[ ] How the hell does she know all this?
[ ] Fairies? I don’t remember any *fairies* per say, maybe some little girls with wings, but how do they count as fairies"...
[ ] Moriya shrine maiden? Sounds familiar, and there’s only one person you’ve really been “running around with”, but you need to be sure.
[ ] Work exemption? What exemption? Wait you were supposed to do work?!
[ ] What’s wrong with my choice of [i]fashion[/]?!
[ ] Write-in?
Pick two or three - I'll see how many I can blend together in the next update.
