[02] [open] nemesis identified

[usarinpa]

Who: Mizuki and YOU [open]
Where: The wilderness, a ways from Aldrip in an out-of-the-way little cave (Not Lorentia)
What: In which Mizuki finds out she's been alone all along.
Warnings: Spoilers for AI, IDK—will add if any become relevant.

[ There are thin tire tracks starting at the inn that head out and away from Aldrip today. Curious, isn't it? Were they there before? Have you even seen a motorbike here in Aldrip since you woke up here?

If you're keen to find out, you will follow a trail that is just long enough to make you wonder whether you should turn back. Keep with it, however, and you will find yourself at a small cave nestled in the mountains, the opening of which is surrounded by trees. ]


👁️ i. He was the Universe

[ Perhaps you'll see the bike first. It sticks out like a sore thumb. But walk a little further and inside the cave, there's Mizuki, asleep on the cave's dirt floor.

Her hair is messy with sleep. There is a hair piece that sticks out against her cyan locks, standing out almost as much as her bike does in the wilderness. In her hand is an empty, decorated box with a note attached that wouldn't look out of place in a trash can, as it is. Meager remnants of the few good things that have happened to her here, now that she can't go back.

A subtle, unpleasant odor lingers in the air, reminiscent of a wet dog or wild animal that's no longer there. Somewhere beside her sits her pipe, and at her waist, there is her holstered Evolver. ]

👁️ ii. Ought to Know

[ Alternatively, the trail is still going. Eventually, footprints start to appear in the dirt next to the tire track, suggesting that Mizuki has started walking. Catch up to her, you'll find that her back is to you and she is dragging her bike alongside her.

Why? ...Well, technology continues to be fickle, apparently.

Watch her for long enough and you'll see her stop and try to start it again. Instead, there's that all too familiar, insufferable buzz that makes her cover her ears. Her mouth opens, like she's groaning, but the noise that escapes, if there had been any, is easily swallowed up by the rustling of leaves and the buzzing of insects.

Once that passes, she can be seen pulling out a piece of parchment from her pocket—a map. ]

▶ ooc/wildcard

[ Due to trauma, Mizuki will be aphonic/unable to speak temporarily! Sorry about that. She will still be writing things in the dirt or on the back of her map, probably, and if I feel it's appropriate, I may give her back her voice midthread.

Enjoy the introduction of her shiny new bike, and please feel free to reach out via PM, on the Discord, or yammdere for plotting/ideas! Thank you! ]

Comments

i.

[overtid]

[ Given that the available technology contradicts (at least earthly) logic in the range of advancement, it's the newness rather than the possibility of a motorbike that stands out. Yeah, the tire tracks are curious, but Nanami doesn't want to be curious. This may or may not be an afterlife, such that he could accept Aldrip and Expiation for what it seems to be and rest, relax, consider it an overdue vacation now that it's completely impossible to toil on in Tokyo — but a single set of tire tracks isn't likely to lead to the glitch in the matrix, the so-called gods or sham wizards behind the curtain (and that those comparisons come at all to mind, he'd blame on another sorcerer, except for the level of subconscious thought that implies).

But, it's the only thing. It would be impractical to follow too long, as he has no intention of walking hours to another town or region on so little, but useful enough to confirm the direction. Potentially. So Nanami tucks into a satchel a borrowed book that he'd intended to read at a removed spot in the meadows, and follows the tracks.

He does nearly turn back. Nearly, doesn't, and the bike's obvious soon enough, parked and not remotely camouflaged. Of course, if the rider had wanted to be difficult to follow, they might have made some effort to confuse their tracks. Keeping his expectations so empty that he hasn't even readied his nata, Nanami steps into the cave and — for all that he'd tried to expect nothing and anything, finds himself surprised.

They've never spoken, but with a hair color that distinctive, he thinks he's seen her among the Chosen in town. Her, a young girl, looking younger in sleep. This side of a mess, and while not unequipped, ill-equipped for any prolonged travel.

It's not his business if she wants to get away. He's clearly intruding on that, or on some other distinct purpose, and so should make his way back without disturbing her.

That's probably what he should do. Instead, mindful of the strange looking gun at her waist, Nanami tugs his nata from beneath his jacket. Then leaning down, he picks up a rock of reasonable size to be held in one hand but have heft to it, and tosses it with some force away from her, so that when it hits hard, the sound of it's farther off.

If she stirs, that's when he'll say a simple — ]

Good morning.

[usarinpa]

[ Mizuki doesn't seem to notice his approach, but there is a subtle change in her breathing as she feeling of another presence becomes more obvious. Her eyes struggle to open, and at a glance, it appears like she's having a nightmare; but she's already resigned herself to practically living it.

As soon as the rock is thrown, however, she shoots up immediately. The box in her arms that once contained cookies flips over and away from her. She gasps for breath as her head swivels in the direction of the sound, and then again once she hears his voice. Though he was probably more concerned about Evolver, Mizuki actually reaches for her pipe instead. It feels natural to her as she struggles to her feet, like an extension of her arm, and her mouth moves as she holds it in a defensive position.

No sound comes out. ]

[overtid]

[ The pipe hadn't gone unnoticed, but judged as a weapon (assumed a weapon) he could more easily handle. Watching the box tumble and smack, bouncing, to the ground, and watching as she battled gravity and the disorientation of interrupted sleep to get to her feet, Nanami does reflect that a loud noise might not have been the best way to wake her up. But, simpler options had seemed either inappropriate (hand to shoulder to shake her awake) or inefficient (any gentler sound). ]

My apologies for waking you and in that manner. Here —

[ Whether or not that pipe's only metal or has more to it, stunning capacity or otherwise, he nonetheless holds up his own weapon — a fully wrapped nata — in a mirroring defensive position, before summarily dropping it to the floor of the cave. He then gives it a little kick for good measure, sending it sliding a solid meter away.

Conscious, through that gesture, that her mouth's not just open, but shaping words, unvoiced. That seems so obvious a thing that remarking on it would be at best obnoxious and at worst cruel. Instead, shaking his head: ]

I can't read lips.

[ Lifting his left arm, shifting sleeve, he considers the charm fastened to his watch, frowning slightly. Was it only possible to text through the voice-to-text function? ]

[usarinpa]

[ Mizuki stares at the weapon as he slides it across the cave ground. It does make her feel better, though she should really be following up on that. Picking it up, perhaps, or stepping on it—anything to make it harder to take back and attack her with. Instead, she just stares blankly as he regards the familiar golden charm.

...

......There was an idea, wasn't it? Mizuki turns her wrist to look at her own. After a moment, she absentmindedly taps at it...

But then she frowns, shaking her head. ]

[overtid]

[ god i'm so sorry work killed me ]

[ No good, then. Nanami considers, attention casting about the cave, noting again the box she'd gripped until he startled her. It's close enough that he needn't move much, but still holds up a bracing "don't-hit" sort of hand as he crouches, reaches, grabs — even though it looks like garbage — but before he stands, the thumb of his other hand making a small indent in the dirt, is struck with another idea.

So, instead of straightening, he holds the box out, up, over his head, toward her. Meanwhile, because the most immediate "tool", he uses the index finger of his other hand to trace letters (upside down, to him).

The charms seems to allow for translation, universal communication. Perhaps, though written outside the charm's mechanism —

CAN YOU READ THIS? ]

[usarinpa]

[ hey me too ]

[ No, her box—!

Well, it's not like there was anything valuable in it, but Mizuki still seems hesitant to let it go. She lets him, wondering what he intends to do with it as she watches him hold it above his head like a canvas for both of them. Some of the wet dirt from his finger lingers as he traces the words, creating a trail, making this easier.

Though at the moment, she's mute, not deaf.

Her eyes avert, but she nods. Yeah, she can read it. ]

[overtid]

[ oh my god meanwhile i'm so stupid i meant to write it that he was handing her the box and tracing letters right in the dirt (thus still crouching), not dirtying her box, but rereading my tag now i'm like... nanami what the hell...going with it b/c that was my bad, sorry about your box mizuki ]

[ Nanami didn't, doesn't think she's deaf — but if he wrote something else and asked whether she could read it, there could be an additional step or several to fully confirm it. With no oral clue, the letters would need to "speak" for themselves.

Straightening, he wipes at the granules of damp sticking dirt, at first on his other palm, then his satchel for good measure. Then, offering the box back to her. ]

OK. You don't have to respond in that way or any other, but if you choose to, that should work.

[ Beginning with a transparently stupid question, he frowns, slightly, looking around the cavern. ]

I'm the one intruding, but are you all right?

[usarinpa]

[ Mizuki sees movement, and doesn't really know immediately what he's doing, but she eventually cannot resist turning to see the box being offered back to her. It takes her a moment before she reaches for it back. It really is just trash anyway, but for some reason she's still holding onto it.

Funny how being branded a mass murderer and being torn away from the only world you knew makes you a sentimental bitch. ]

. . .

[ She's an emotional mess. Nobody needs that right now.

She shakes her head, at least answering honestly, despite trying to be dismissive about it. Stop worrying about her. ]

[overtid]

[ Pithy sayings, though often cliche and tired, persist for a reason. One man's trash, another's treasure, and so forth. Though Nanami hasn't made any sticking assumption as to whether there was that sort of meaning here. The box had felt empty, he'd found her holding it, but a less sentimental explanation was readily available: if there had been food or something else of use in there, that she'd finished just before sleeping, then that was a natural enough position.

It doesn't really matter.

More pressing is that she admits to not being all right, though composed in it, nothing pleading in her expression. She could ask for help and she could ask him to leave — the latter seems more likely at this juncture, but having not yet happened, he considers the situation. Motorbike tracks that lead a considerable distance from the town, ending poorly (if at all) obscured at a cave. A young girl inside, sleeping and armed, mute and not OK.

Nanami smooths out a frown, features keeping neutral. ]

I won't ask why. It's up to you if you want to say — or write — more. Either you're leaving Aldrip for another place or you've decided to lodge this far out. I won't ask about that, either. Are you properly equipped for it?

[ Unless he's overlooked a packed bag, or misunderstood what he'd seen of the map, she doesn't seem to be. ]

[usarinpa]

[ She sure isn't.

If he takes a better look at her bike eventually, he will notice a little yellow backpack positioned over the spare tire below the center console. it's from home, but certainly isn't big enough to hold clothes, towels, or anything for a long trip. On top of that, there's the bike itself, which has been subject to the same malfunctions all other electronic devices have here. So while her bike was fine to start, it quickly gave out with that same metallic hum. And then there was the issue of getting gas...

None of which she's able to articulate in her current state.

She merely shakes her head again, and without thinking about it, she digs her nails into dirt, writing halfheartedly,

Who are you ]

[overtid]

[ Admittedly, he hadn't made a close study of the motorbike, though the seeming anomaly of it was what had drawn him along its tracks. By the time they ended, the question of who had edged forward, and pushed out the rest once he found her.

Who being, unsurprisingly, a two-way question. ]

Nanami Kento.

[ Bending at the waist, but at an angle so acute it barely registers as a bow. ]

Before we were taken here, I worked for a school.

[ It's technically correct, but more than a little misleading. Something against his preference and choice, but even if the memorandum governing jujutsu sorcerers didn't reasonably apply here, over a decade of secrecy couldn't be easily shucked even if he wasn't reticent by nature. ]

Please tell me your name?

[usarinpa]

[ He worked for a school? ...Was he a teacher? What's a teacher doing with a weapon like that, she wonders. And isn't that name Japanese? These questions slowly start to bubble as she glances at the nata, still discarded on the floor of the cave. These curiosities serve as a nice reminder that her investigator brain hasn't rotted completely in her weeks here, though she still does not offer much, at least not right away.

She stares at the words she has written, rubbing them away with her hand. What is she doing? ]

Mi...

[ It hurts. She doesn't fully understand why. Perhaps she never understood why it happened the first time either. Her voice is a soft one, and barely audible, but it's gotta be less effort than writing stuff in the dirt.

If only she still had her phone. ]

[overtid]

[ Paying close attention (wary of spooking her or overlooking evidence of her trouble that provided some clarity), he notices her brief look to his weapon. Not hard to guess what she might be wondering, a fairly obvious question that must take shape in the disconnect between teacher and a blade of that size, even a wrapped one.

Nanami offers no explanation. Maybe he picked it up here as a matter of practicality in an unknown environment. (He obviously didn't pick it up here.)

But, rather than her name given shape by her finger dragged through the dirt, her palm smears the lettering already traced — frustration, perhaps, in the brusque wipe of her hand — without then utilizing the smoothed canvas to answer. Instead: her voice.

Surprising, when minutes ago she'd mouthed without sound. Just one syllable, with discomfort behind it. Then — ]

Are you not ordinarily mute? We can leave it at Mi-san for now.

[ So as not to force it. That question, and his next, at least allowed for the easiness of responding by shaking her head or nodding. ]

First, have you been physically injured?

[ Are you all right had been too broad a question, if useful in that moment for a baseline. She'd indicated that she wasn't [all right], allowing now for better tailored questions.

And, if only as a matter of record-keeping — a little stupidly, he hasn't even thought of his phone, left at the inn to reduce the distraction of it. He'd planned to read a book today, not scroll through old text messages. ]

[usarinpa]

[ Mi-san?

...She doesn't know if she likes that, though it occurs to her that it's something Iris might call her back home if she caught onto it. Mizuki doesn't quite react with offense or anything, as she doesn't quite have the energy to care enough, but there's curious, questioning look.

What else would he call her? She has to do better.

She slowly shakes her head. She hasn't been physically injured, but she almost wishes she had. It might make this easier, somehow, though pity would be even more than she's already getting, and she doesn't know if she can handle that. ]

......Mizuki.

[overtid]

[ Unfortunately, even if she came to like it, Nanami is the absolute last person who would use a nickname, never mind come up with one. He'd intended Mi-san as a stopgap, a placeholder of convenience — which she seems to realize, given her subsequent effort.

It's an unnecessary gestures, but Nanami nods as he affirms: ]

Then, Mizuki-san.

[ Who isn't all right, but wasn't physically injured. Who either isn't fully mute, or briefly lost her capacity for speech for a different reason. Who's leaving Aldrip (or staying out here), while admittedly ill-equipped for it.

He shouldn't be intruding to this extent, but the longer they "speak" without her asking him to go, the less he could easily leave her like this. That sort of sentiment isn't helped by experience with the young(er) in different stages of distress, expressed in different ways. He's been one himself.

Nanami's staring now as he considers, but at least he breaks it within reasonable time to glance down as he reaches for his bag. ]

Are you hungry? I've got a sandwich.

[ His lunch, made for that idyllic reading excursion. But he can easily return to town and get something else or make another. That doesn't seem to be an option for Mizuki. ]

Water, too.

[usarinpa]

[ She should be hungry. Starving. She should be thirsty.

It's only been about a day, but she can't seem to recall what it was that was her last meal, and she certainly hasn't been eating well. Her hand grips her stomach as the subtle aroma of the sandwich hits her nose. She should be hungry, but the truth is, she can't say if she is.

Her stomach starts to rumble (thanks for that, body), which confirms her answer. Feeling the lowest she's ever been, like some beggar despite the fact he so kindly offered, Mizuki hesitantly holds her hand out.

......She'll take it. ]

[overtid]

[ Opening the bag, he retrieves the sandwich, hands it to her. It's hefty — a good chunk of a baguette cut horizontally for the halves, brimming with tomato, lettuce, cheeses, shredded meat (unfortunate if she's a vegetarian), some homemade dressing or sauce. Wrapped snug in paper. Taste is inherently subjective, but as something of a bread aficionado (and overall foodie), he's fairly confident that provided the eater doesn't dislike the ingredients, it should be a good sandwich.

Then again, she might not be tasting much in this state. ]

You can eat over this. I thought I'd eat by the river.

[ By way of explanation. At that he kneels, pulling out two rolled up cloths. One small, a cloth napkin. The other a little larger which he spreads out on the cave floor. Not enough for someone to really sit on (not a picnic blanket or anything like that). Finally, the container of water.

He'll stay low, then, sitting cross-legged on his farther side of the larger cloth. ]

[usarinpa]

[ Mizuki's hand lowers as she lets him unfortunately do all the work in setting up this strange picnic between strangers. If he wanted to eat by the river, she certainly wishes that he wouldn't let her stop him, but once the sandwich comes out, she is staring at it hungrily. Her singular eye that is left in its socket his wild like an animals, but after a moment, that desperation seems to pass.

Uncertain still despite having made her decision to take it, she reaches for the sandwich slowly. She even seems to look at it for a moment longer than she should have, as if with suspicion, before taking her first bite.

Contrary to what she might think, the flavor explodes in her mouth. There is a meaty filling that is satisfying to tear apart, and it leaves her with each bite coming faster than the last. ]