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

[paciscere]

[ ah, what a compliment. ]

It's hard to tell because we don't look anything alike. [ shrug. ] You're even more interesting than I thought if he deigned to meet with someone like you.

[intentus]

[ what part of you doesn't look alike? in a few years if you add on an eyepatch and grow out your hair, you'll practically be identical. ]

... It's not like he asked me to meet him. We just happened to run into each other. [ and he was choked. hold on. come to think of it, matoba-san mistook him for a youkai too, didn't he?

... seriously, what part of them isn't alike? ]

[paciscere]

[ that doesn't sound like the current head, however. it's rare for the busy man to make an appearance anywhere, old as he is. it's usually nanase-san who goes out to represent him, or another senior from one of their minor clans. on occasion, they send matoba in his stead.

to chance upon a meeting with him - well, stranger and rarer things have already happened. still. ]

Hmm, is that so... I'm curious: what kind of impression did he make?

[intentus]

[ that's a hard question to answer. any response he can give isn't one he wants to—saying how he really feels about matoba-san aloud to a relative of his, even one that doesn't care about him, isn't something he can do.

honestly, matoba-san really has a cruel brother, although it seems like maybe that's how the whole family is. for a second, he doesn't know which one of them to feel worse for. ]

Matoba-san was— Well, if I had to put it into words, I guess I'd say he's a lot like you.

[paciscere]

Should I be happy about that, I wonder? [ ... he's a little insulted, honestly. the edge of his smile, stiff. ] I don't think he's anything like me. He's a coward. He's given up on all the other exorcists - but I never will.

[ one day, he'll contract a proper ayakashi. and when that happens - he stops that thought and sighs. ]

That was too much.

[intentus]

[ he wants to ask if that's really what the other boy thinks—but after hearing that sigh he stops before even taking a breath.

how many times has sensei told him he shouldn't get involved in things like this? too many to count, but he still feels a tug in his chest. one that urges him to say matoba-san is a lot of things, but "coward" isn't one of them. it's an unpleasant feeling to want to defend someone he doesn't even like—but it's more unpleasant to feel like he can't say anything at all. ]

[paciscere]

[ maybe that was something he should have saved to tell shuuichi-san instead.

though having been met with natsume's silence - his disagreement, matoba imagines - he can't see it going any better with the older boy. his road to becoming clan head is a journey of one and if no one else understands, that's fine. he doesn't need them to. he doesn't need friends; he needs tools.

as he told shuuichi-san once before: he's fine. ]

At the risk of making things even more awkward, please keep this a secret between us. While I doubt you'll have a chance to talk to Ryouji-san again, he likely won't be pleased to catch wind of my childish thoughts.

[intentus]

[ it isn't like he'd go out of the way to tell matoba-san anything. not that it matters, 'cause there's something else that catches his attention. enough so to completely distract him from his thoughts. ]

I won't tell, but... I'm sorry, did you just say Ryouji-san?

[paciscere]

What is there to be sorry about? Ah, did you not know his first name? Let me guess: when you first met our clan head, he brusquely introduced himself as "Matoba" and nothing else.

[intentus]

That's not it. [ something's off about this. is it the wrong clan after all? there can't possibly be two exorcist clans with the name of "matoba," can there?

as he thinks, natsume puts his hand to his chin and lets his eyes wander toward the ground without focus. once he realizes he's getting no where on his own, he hesitantly looks back up. giving out matoba-san's name might not be the right move, but what else can he do? ]

And that's not the name he gave me. I don't know if he uses a different name with clan members, but he told me his name was Matoba Seiji.

[paciscere]

[ ... ah. ]

... You're certain? That's a curious little detail. Why would he introduce himself with my name?

[intentus]

Eh? Your name? [ he blinks. for the second time, he takes another look at this matoba. u m... would you normally name siblings the same thing? moreover, would you normally use your siblings name instead of your own?

he knits his eyebrows together and takes an unconscious step closer. ] So you're Matoba-san? ... a Matoba-san. You're... Matoba. [ awkward. ] I don't know why your brother would use your name.

[ a beat. then, with no certainty whatsoever: ] He is your brother, isn't he?