WEEK 0 — ARRIVAL

[cartesio]

Week 0: Arrival

When you wake up you immediately feel something’s off. You sit on the bed and find it’s not your bed, and this isn’t your room either. You seem to be in a rather normal-looking motel room. To your side there’s a trunk, if you open it you’ll find a military uniform, the key to your room, a set of rules and a debit card. Don’t lose those items! Or do lose the rules, you'll find a brand new copy the next day under your pillow. There’s also a calendar on the wall, you can see today’s date. The year is unreadable, but the month and day are very clear:

March 28^th
There it says ‘Meet the Sergeant at the Lodge, 9:00 AM’. There’s also a circle around March 31st, with the word ‘END’ scrawled there.

For now leaving your motel room would be a good choice. When you reach the lobby, you see the receptionist’s desk— no one’s manning it. There’s a rack filled with maps, marking several locations in the town.

There are also many strangers here – and you’re one more. For now it may be a good idea to take a map and explore the town.

After all, looks like you’re stuck here in the boonies for a while.

Links

IC Rules
Room Assignments
Locations
Tasks (LOCKED currently)

March 28^th
March 29^th
March 30^th

Comments

[intentus]

a. [ most of natsume's worrying is kept firmly behind closed doors, though at some point he does pry it open to peek outside and take a quick, surreptitious look at the hall. the rules are—something. ever since he read them, all his thoughts have been about touko-san and shigeru-san, how this would affect them, how this would impact tanuma and taki, and...

sensei.

he's pretty unfocused, and that's probably why he leaves the door to his room slightly ajar when he goes back in to look around. if you watch him, he's a little tense and there's something anxious about the way he moves around. he spends the most time at the trunk, where he handles everything inside it as if it were fragile. ]

b. [ when he's done searching his room—which is absolutely what he was doing—he heads out of the motel and begins wandering the streets. he's keeping to himself so while it won't be hard to get his attention, he's unlikely to approach anyone first. ]

a

[theserpentsmiles]

[Noticing things happens to be Nagisa's specialty, and he notices a door that wasn't open before. Maybe it's rude, but the circumstances merit a little nosiness. He peeks in.

...Oh. The other's wavelength is pretty wild. Maybe he should...]

Excuse me...

[intentus]

Eh? [ eh?! he should really be used to finding someone—or something—unexpected peeking into his room but for some reason, he isn't. to his credit, after he's startled he calms down relatively quick!

as soon as he's recovered he asks the first thing he can think of. ] Is this your room?

[theserpentsmiles]

No, it isn't. I just saw the open door, that's all. Are you alright?

[If yes, then this was just an awkward use of time. If not, maybe he can help.]

[intentus]

Ah... Were you scared? [ gently, he shakes his head and shows the other boy a fake smile. in his own way, he's trying to be reassuring. ] I'm sorry for making you go out of your way. I'm fine, you don't have to worry.

[theserpentsmiles]

[He shakes his head. He can see right through that fake smile, but he won't say anything.]

I'm sorry for interrupting you. I guess you don't know where this is, either?

[intentus]

[ good choice, nagisa! not that natsume realizes he got a pass. ]

I don't think so. This place is called "Cartesio," isn't it? [ he recalls seeing that name in the rules. ] I think I'd remember if I'd heard of it before.

[theserpentsmiles]

[No one does.]

It seems like it's in rural America...but I don't know how we'd get here. [He won't. Bring up the time thing just yet. Take it easy.]

b!! creeps over

[paciscere]

[ when natsume passes by the park, there's a dickweed sitting on one of the benches enjoying some soft serve ice cream. paid for, certainly. matoba will leave the rule breaking to the lesser participants, of course. that's what tools are for.

speaking of, there's a potential one now. hello, have a friendly wave - oya. hm. maybe not. he smiles and takes a closer look at natsume. this is the first time he's felt something even remotely close to what he'd been able to at home, faint as it may be. ]

Hello, there. You seem a little tense, don't you?

[ there's something off about him, but nothing malicious. ]

matoba no creeping

[intentus]

[ natsume will almost never learn to leave things alone that call to him so, of course, of course he's going to answer. ]

Do I?

as dora the explorer never learned: swipers will always swipe and creepers will always creep

[paciscere]

I'd say so. [ he hops to his feet, intending to follow behind natsume if the other boy is just going to walk past him. ] Could it be there's something troubling you, youkai?

truer words have never been said

[intentus]

[ getting right to the point? he doesn't get why he's being called a youkai. it doesn't matter either, 'cause in typical bad liar fashion, natsume— ]

Y-youkai? [ does the stutter and repeat. ]

[paciscere]

[ continuing casually as if natsume hadn't stuttered like a child caught stealing cookies: ]

It's too bad I don't have any ink brushes or charms on me, so I can't confirm anything. [ not to mention his powers are either suppressed or he's somehow lost a great deal of it by coming here. ] But you feel out of place here. I wonder if I'm the only one who can see you.

[intentus]

[ so the other boy can see youkai too? somehow, knowing that doesn't put him at ease. maybe it's the mention of brushes and charms (this must be an excorist—but they're much younger than the others he's met), maybe it's because he doesn't know if he should admit he can see them yet, or maybe it's because he's being mistaken for a youkai.

... he can at least correct that, even if he doesn't confirm anything else. ] I'm sorry, I think you have me mistaken for someone else. I'm not Rei— [ —ko. he gets halfway through her name before he stops. is that becoming a habit? ] —a youkai.

[paciscere]

"Rei"? [ that draws a blank. ] No, I'm sure I've never met you before.

[ he makes a thoughtful noise as he enjoys his soft serve. ]

I suppose you aren't acting like a typical youkai, but I can't exactly take your word for it, can I?

[intentus]

[ do most youkai even bother hiding what they are? in his experience, most of them just assume you know without being told.

not that he hasn't been deceived, but... suddenly, he feels like sighing. at least this guy doesn't know him. that puts his mind at ease, even if it isn't by much. ] Would you take anyone's word for it?

[paciscere]

Don't worry, I'm not. [ what kind of clan heir would he be, if he did. ] That leaves us with a problem, however. I can sense you. Why is that?

[intentus]

[ sense him? how is he supposed to know... actually, the thought of another human "sensing" him is a little creepy. wait...

come to think of it, does this person have to be an exorcist? maybe they're looking for other youkai—it wouldn't be the first time he's heard of one using brushes and spells. did he make another mistake? ]

Maybe... [ should he ask? at this point, might as well. this conversation isn't going to end anytime soon. this time, he does sigh. ] Um, is it because you're a youkai? If you are, you should have told me sooner.

[paciscere]

If I were a youkai, I would have eaten you right away probably. You don't look like much.

[intentus]

Then I would have had to beat you up.

[paciscere]

Sounds interesting. Are you saying you're that strong against youkai? I wouldn't be a mere middle rank one, you know.

[intentus]

[ why is this person bragging about a hypothetical rank? no, that's not the only strange thing. this person, they...

natsume turns his eyes upward and gazes at the sky, contemplating something. ]

Maybe you'd find out if you were one. [ but they're not, he feels pretty certain of that again. he looks back down and shows a smile lacking in warmth. ] If we keep talking like this, your ice cream is going to melt.

[paciscere]

Thank you for your concern. [ he smiles back, equally fake. ] I'd like to keep talking actually. If that's rude, my apologies.

[ but he's still going to follow this other boy and talk to him. ]

[intentus]

I don't think it's rude, but... [ he doesn't understand why either. ]

[paciscere]

[ he doesn't need to, and that's not a no - not that matoba would listen anyway. ]

Then that's settled. What's your name, Maybe-Youkai-san?