mineo

[dotcom]

Comments

[sengokus]

Stop complaining already, it was faster to move than explain!

[as if mineo wouldn't have asked permission if it was anyone besides takeru, please. but mineo probably hasn't gotten far enough to read the profiles, and instead just looks... bothered. there's slight relief when takeru says that he's not injured, but it doesn't seem to last. he's still looking him over like he wants confirmation for himself, just in case.]

Me neither, weirdly but...

[ . . . ]

Where were you before this?

[dotcom]

[ ... hm.

that's an odd question to ask, but maybe not too odd considering everything about this situation in general is. uh. weird. agreeing to some mystery deal did not inform you of what you would get after the agreement. ]

Am I going to get an answer to the same question?

[sengokus]

You really can't just answer a question, can you, man....

[ - though that at least sounds very much like the takeru he's familiar with. so at least even with all the weirdness, it's probably not a weird body double thing?! maybe.]

I left the office and took a walk - I think I ended up by the station.

[he fidgets a little uncertainly, hand coming up to his hair to pick out a piece of confetti]

[dotcom]

[ it's a shame he did not know where mineo was before he came here. there was something about time stopping?? in the document??? he is not sure what to think about it. ]

I was at the office.

[sengokus]

[ . . . hm.]

.... You forget something?

[dotcom]

[ ... ]

Mineo. If there is something you have to say, just say it. You're wasting both our time by beating around the bush like this.

[sengokus]

[he shakes his head - he's no good at leading questions, even worse at them than he is at everything else]

It was a real question.... You left the office before I did that night - so did you forget something and go back? Did you see Hoshino? Is she okay?

[dotcom]

[ uh. hm.

it takes him a moment to respond. ]

That was a lie. I wasn't at the office at all before I came here. [ he just wanted to know what mineo would say in response. ] Were we brought at different times?

[sengokus]

[gah]

What was even the point in lying?! I wasn't lying!! Where were you?! Were you at home eating a pile of donuts and doing nerd shit?!

[dotcom]

Unlike you, I don't have a lot of free time. Idiot.

[ ... ]

But I was also near the police station.

[sengokus]

[ah.

and it's like a switch flips - the seriousness of mineo's expression, the sharpness. it's one thing if takeru was at the office or at home, but knowing that he could've been that close - ]

What time of day? Were you alone? No one gave you any trouble?

[dotcom]

[ well, there continues to be more that mineo is not actually saying here. ]

It was the morning. Now actually explain.

[sengokus]

Morning?

[ . . . then it's probably fine, isn't it? at least the immediate sharpness seems to fade, giving way to more of a confused melancholy. he shakes his head.]

... yeah. It sounds like we're from different times.

I think it was... the 9th? For me? So we had a few weeks until X-Day....

[dotcom]

[ he still has Questions, but... honestly, there are other things to talk about before prying into why mineo seems so agitated about this specific thing. takeru understands the concern, yes, but something seems... off.

... ]

It wasn't the 9th for me.

[sengokus]

[well that's not a good sign, even if it just confirms what they've already sort of sussed out.

he tilts his head]

Later? Earlier?

[dotcom]

Later. It was the 15th.

[ hm... he goes quiet for a second. ]

Did you read the FAQ they left us?

[sengokus]

Er, kind of... It wasn't actually that helpful? Whoever wrote it really is kinda casual, huh.

[he got lost in the bright colors a few times]

What are you thinking?

[dotcom]

I think we should try to gauge everyone else's reactions to it.

[ are they here with chuunis??? it said power nerfing??? ]

[sengokus]

Oh.... Yeah!

[just agrees along with it]

They all seem so chill for cosplayers...

[no]

[dotcom]

You of all people aren't allowed to say that.

[sengokus]

Huhu, you're underestimating me, Takeru! I'm no cosplayer - my dedication to Date Masamune is a lifestyle choice!!

[don't sound proud]

[dotcom]

Only a moron would say that so earnestly...

[ embarrassing. ]

[sengokus]

Shut up - your head's too full of sweets to appreciate history!

[dotcom]

At least my head is full of something instead of being empty.

[sengokus]

[ghkkh]

There's stuff in my head!! There has to be!