video.

[magatsugiru]

Whoa! Okay, I think I've got it.

[ The young man on screen looks rather disheveled, and very flustered. He tries for a smile, but it collapses into a sheepish grimace halfway, and he looks away from the camera. ]

W-well, I can say this wasn't where I expected to end up when I opened the door to my apartment... Man, maybe I've been overdoing it with all that overtime.

Umm, hi there, if anyone's listening. This place isn't dangerous, is it? Should I be worried?

[ He reaches up to rub at the back of his neck. ]

I hope this thing's on. Can anyone hear me?

Comments

video.

[jivitadana]

[Anyone coming into the network or was new usually had several people responding in with varying levels of helpfulness. Minato didn't want to give him the same information he'd already been told since there wasn't any point to that, so he was about to ask what Adachi knew, but then he remembered:]

Don't go too far out in the ocean or forest.

[Like if someone tried to escape that way, perhaps.]

You'll end up dead and wake up back in the mansion.

video.

[magatsugiru]

Ah. Y-yeah, I won't be doing that any time soon. Never liked swimming or hiking all that much anyway.

video.

[jivitadana]

[That was good. Minato nodded.]

Is that better? Still worried?

video.

[magatsugiru]

Not worried. I think I have an idea of where to go from here. Thanks!

You're practical, for a kid. [ He checks the name attached to his messages. ] Minato-kun, is it?

video.

[jivitadana]

I try to be.

[Practical, not be a kid, although Minato could do that too if wanted to. He nodded.]

It's nice to meet you. Adachi-san, right? You're from Japan?

[This place was fond of bringing in the Japanese, wasn't it?]

[magatsugiru]

That's right. I'm from the big city, originally, though I've been living out in Yasoinaba for work, recently.

[jivitadana]

[Minato nodded again, taking that in.]

Where is that? What do you do there?

[Since he juxtapose it with a big city. Why would someone want to move to small city for work?]

[magatsugiru]

Eh, it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I got transferred there as a detective.

[jivitadana]

Mn. Do you like it there?

[Just wondering too.]

[magatsugiru]

Hard to have much of an opinion. It's a small town out in the sticks. There's not much to like or dislike about it.

[jivitadana]

A lot of cases there in a small town? [For a big city detective to have to take care of?]

[magatsugiru]

You don't sound like someone who's lived in a rural town. [ He chuckles, a little, but in reality he's starting to get annoyed. ] Where are you from, Minato-kun?

[jivitadana]

[He hasn't, which then he realized now seemed obvious enough at this point. He had to be more careful.]

Iwatodai. Tatsumi Port Island. I don't know if it's familiar to you though.

[No one else from another Japan had heard of it, at least.]

[magatsugiru]

Huh. No kidding. [ He doesn't elaborate any further-- this kid's nosy enough without him making it any easier for him --but the name calls to mind a very familiar bridge he used to drive over on the way home from crime scenes. ]

How about you, then? Did you enjoy living there?

[jivitadana]

[Minato didn't have to think too long on how to answer. It kind of made him a little nostalgic, if he could call it that.]

It's home. My friends are there.

[That was just one of the reasons he liked it.]

No one will notice we're gone since time stops while we're here.

[He almost said "since time stops at home" which could have implied they're from the same place or "home" albeit different times. But still.]

[magatsugiru]

Ah.

[ Adachi makes his expression soften into one of understanding. ]

Does that make it easier, or harder, to be away from them?

[jivitadana]

[Minato caught that change in expression and did have his own moment of giving Adachi the benefit of the doubt. He was still human, after all (or so Minato had assumed at this point) and he did have faith in people, more often than not.]

I'm glad they're home. But I think about them a lot.

[It was hard. It'd be nice to have his friends here, but he didn't want them to have to go through this either.]

Is it the same for you too?

[magatsugiru]

Hm, not really. It gets hard to keep up with other people once you enter the workforce. Most of the people I know are coworkers.

It's not so bad, though. Coming here must be harder on someone like you, with people you'd miss lett behind.

[jivitadana]

[Something to look forward to. That was the reality of it, Minato supposed.]

Mn, true. But it's okay if I get to make new friends here.

[Because when would have the chance to meet people from different worlds and time periods at home?]

Would you like me to show you around?

[magatsugiru]

[ It'd look strange to refuse, and he doesn't have a good excuse ready, so-- ]

Sure, why not? I could use a tour.

[jivitadana]

[Cool. Minato nodded and thought that there were places that newcomers should know about.]

We can start at the entrance hall, if that works for you?

[magatsugiru]

Yeah, that works fine. I'm already on the ground floor. I can meet you there.

[jivitadana]

[Minato took his comm device with him and headed off to meet Adachi. It didn't take long to find him and Minato had envisioned for some reason that he'd be taller. But anyway. He did bow his head in greeting.]

There's a kitchen on this floor, if you cook. If not, there's the dining room or tearooms. Food will appear when you think of it.

[If that's something that he wanted to see.]

[magatsugiru]

So I've heard! [ Thanks Souji. ] I have to admit, that makes my life a lot easier. Never learned the first thing about cooking.

[jivitadana]

Mn, it's okay. No pressure.

[Minato nodded, taking Adachi to see the kitchen.]

There's a ballroom and a music room too. Do you play anything?

[Just wondering. Even Adachi had to have some hobbies.]