1st Shadow

[kagetsukai]

[Voice]

[He'll stare at the journal for a long moment after turning it on, not realizing that it's ready for him to speak into. The fleeting thought that Watari would have a field day with this crosses his mind, and then he presses the picture button. The face looking back is inquisitive, but oddly relaxed. He clears his throat carefully.]

Would it be too much for anyone listening in on this to tell me where I am? I'm sure I don't remember and I can't seem to be able to get where I need to be.

[Action - the next day]

[Ambitiously, Tatsumi has decided to explore the woods some more, particularly where he woke up.  Since arriving he'd managed to get himself to the main part of the town, get some food and some more comfortable clothes.  The fact that he hadn't had to pay for it was surprising, but he supposed they'd simply been nice to him, and he'd want to pay them back.  It wasn't right to owe money.

He's sans suit at the moment, favoring a pair of jeans to hike in.  The wings hurt, even under the loose button-down shirt, and it doesn't help that his weakened shadows can't seem to leave them alone, curiously inspecting them.  They'd get used to it eventually.  Even weak as they were, he could still use the shadows to move himself along short distances, so he reaches the barrier around the middle of the day.  After a few hours - time to carefully inspect the barrier and to rest - he'll start heading back.  For anybody in the woods, It might be possible to catch him just leaving, walking for a little while to recover, or just arriving.]

Comments

[Voice]

[mistlegacy]

[She's fairly quick to respond, given a moment.]

You're in a realm called Luceti. Everyone here is from somewhere else, arriving just as you did. I can explain more, but first--where are you? Do you see the town at all?

[kagetsukai]

[He's surprised to get an answer so quickly.]

Thank-you for answering; I can't see anything but the trees, I'm afraid. I seem to be in the middle of a forest somewhere.

[mistlegacy]

[Sigh.]

They really need to stop dumping people in the middle of the forest...but they won't, of course.

[They haven't in the three years she's been there, after all.]

I don't suppose you hear the sound of rushing water?

[kagetsukai]

I'm sorry, I don't.

[He's clutching the journal a bit tightly, like the lifeline that it is. When he notices, he'll sigh and wipe his hands on his jacket a little. His suit. . .]

[mistlegacy]

It's fine. That probably means you're more in the center of the forest, which still gives me an idea of where you are. Just stay put...and please, leave the wings alone. It's important to keep them unharmed at all times.

[kagetsukai]

I-wait, who are you? Are you really coming to find me? I'm sure there's no need if I just knew where I was.

[That was surprising.]

[mistlegacy]

I'm Rydia, one of the volunteers at the Welcome Center. And really, don't worry about it. We get an influx of new people arriving every couple of months, so we're used to it by now.

[kagetsukai]

I see; a welcome center. Do you know, maybe, how long I should stay here?

[mistlegacy]

You shouldn't have to for very long...at least, if you mean where you are right now. It won't take me long to reach the forest. Just me know if you hear the sound of my voice through some other means than through the book.

[voice]

[idealism]

[Clearly all this laboring on the camping spot has gone to his brain. Now he's hearing voices. Tsuzuki rests against a tree trunk, since he's too lazy to go inside. He could have sword this voice was very familiar...]

Where do you need to be?

[kagetsukai]

[How to explain the Shokan Division. . .]

I'm trying to find some friends. I'm not sure where they are right now.

[Sounding so harried, too.]

[idealism]

[Tsuzuki brushes the crushed ants away from his journal, wondering if they've managed to get into the speakers. The sound didn't sound entirely right.]

I can help. There's lots of people looking for their loved ones.

[The next he says simply because he always carries a small, crazy hope that he'll meet his friends again.]

Is that you, Tatsumi?

[kagetsukai]

[It was a bit hard to hear clearly out of the speakers; still, Tatsumi has his suspicions, only really needing to hear a few words before he's sure. And that's before Tsuzuki says his name.

For a moment, his temper flares. Where on earth had the man been? Still, he'll successfully rein it in, sounding calm.]

Tsuzuki-san; if you only--

[Sigh.]

Honestly, where have you been?! Where on earth have you been!

[. . . almost successfully, that is.]

[idealism]

[He hadn't dared to hope that the voice actually belonged to him. It hits him like a ton of bricks, making him dizzy with something quite different from pain.]

Tatsumi!!

[He quickly gets to his feet, white feathers fluttering to the ground in his wake. Belatedly, he turns on the video function in his journal.]

I've been here all along. How did you find us? Can we go home now?

[kagetsukai]

[When he sees Tsuzuki's face in the pages of the journal, he's curious about how it got there. But he's not Watari, so the curiousity fades quickly.]

I didn't get here, persay. I woke up here. How did you get here?

[Back to scolding.]

You're saying you've been stuck here? Couldn't you have called? Sent an email?

[idealism]

I don't know! By accident?

All I remember is waking up in funny clothes and my back aching. [He stops rambling to listen to what Tatsumi has to say, even though it's hard because he's missed him so much. The scolding doesn't even make him feel guilty, he's too relieved to see him again.]

Emails doesn't work! -- Tatsumi, where are you?

[kagetsukai]

[He'll make a more concerted effort to rein in his irritation. He needed to stay calm.]

It seems like I'm in the middle of a forest.

[Voice]

[cynicism]

You've got Mr. Tatsumi's tone wrong.

If this is the experiment we're getting this month, it's terribly done.

[kagetsukai]

. . . Kurosaki?

[There was no mistaking it, either.]

Kurosaki-kun!

[cynicism]

[NOPE. Not buying it. It's too close to his third anniversary here -- he's seen too much.]

Mr. Tatsumi doesn't yell like that.

Besides, there was already a ghost experiment. I didn't appreciate this game then either.

[kagetsukai]

[He'll sigh. It was definitely Hisoka.]

Consider for a moment, Kurosaki-kun, that I may raise my voice when I've been looking for you and your partner for days, with no sign.

[He doesn't really understand, yet, that the Tsuzuki and Hisoka he is looking for may not be these two.]

[cynicism]

[Well then it works out, since Hisoka still doesn't believe that Tatsumi's actually here.]

Then it's good to know that Meifu only waits thirty-two months before sending out a search party for missing shinigami.

[kagetsukai]

[. . . a long moment, and then. . .]

You must not be Kurosaki-kun. This had better not be some kind of joke; I'll find you, whoever you are, if it is.

I only saw Kurosaki-kun and Tsuzuki-san last week.

[cynicism]

If you want me to believe that, then perhaps Mr. Tatsumi would like to confirm that he is indeed himself.

Start by telling me something only you would know.

sorry for slow

[kagetsukai]

Hmm.

[Just a little indignant, but at least he knows that this is actually Hisoka.]

I know exactly how much you earned last fiscal year.

[And he'll tell him.