And now we all get to see why Midori ruined everyone's travel plans...

[pokemondolly.livejournal.com]

Who:  pokemondolly & knight_hart 
Where: New Bark
When: The afternoon of the 28th
Summary: Midori finally comes to New Bark to pick up her new failure friend. Hugs and awkwardness ensue.
Rating: Um. This depends on Takumi's sanity. I'll call PG-13 for now and update it if anything bad goes down?
Log:
Midori is looking a little less put together than usual when she walks into New Bark. She's wearing her spare outfit rather than her cosplay, and is rather sweaty- she jogged the last stretch here, and she's been pushing herself the whole way. Still, she's smiling, and her Snorunt is blowing cool air at her as they walk.

She pulls out her pokegear to send a text to the reason she's here- one very weak individual by the name of Takumi.

i'm here! ヾ(＾∇＾) meet me at the entrance to town!

Midori shoves the pokegear back into her bag and sits down to wait. She grabs Jack off of her shoulder and sets him on the ground next to her.

[adtdwe my starts are always so shooort. I apologize. D:]

Comments

[knight-hart.livejournal.com]

He had been here so long. He hadn't been eating properly, and he rarely left the laboratory for fear of what was outside there. It had been a long time. His hopes has been coming and leaving, which meant that his mental state was particularly imbalanced. Each swing of his mood left him feeling tired, but when it was all said and done, he couldn't say how much he had slept.

But none of that mattered now. Since he had been frequently checking his Gear for updates, he received the message instantly that she had arrived. He scrambled to gather his things together, gently placing his figure of Seira back into his bag, and headed off as instructed. His pidgey, which had still refused to return to his pokéball, followed his lead. Truthfully, he was surprised that it hadn't actually tried to escape, but he was a little annoyed by it as well. He didn't have any use for something that wasn't going to obey his orders. Well... Maybe he could give it back to Midori.

Even though he received word instantly, Takumi took his time getting there. He certainly wasn't the type to run (unless absolutely necessary, of course), and... To be honest, he was still extremely nervous. Even though he'd conversed with her several times over the phone (and a video chat, no less!), there really was no substitute for the fear of in-person meetings. What should he say when he got there...? Furthermore, they were going to be traveling together, weren't they? That was an awful lot of social interaction to ask from him, but it couldn't really be helped. He'd have to get through it somehow.

Shyly, he approached the town entrance where Midori was waiting with her Pokémon. Somehow, she was giving off a different image today. She looked slightly out of breath; had she been... running? It left her in a generally unflattering state, and yet, there was something about it that wasn't entirely unbecoming. If this was an eroge, she would dive right into saying some suggestive things, and with her breath all choppy, it would almost certainly lead to something. If only such flags existed in real life.

But here he was, going off in his mind at first glance. His cheeks reddened, and he looked aside. For now, it was the face of guilt, but fortunately, it happened to look just like the face that was too embarrassed to look directly at a pretty girl.

"U-Um..." he uttered, trying to start a conversation. And then he hit a roadblock already. He knew what he wanted to say. He just couldn't find the voice to say it.

[pokemondolly.livejournal.com]

Midori was cheerfully watching Jack do the little dance that always accompanied icy wind when Takumi reached her. She glanced up at the sound of footsteps, and her expression easily changed from a calm smile to a ridiculously excited one. She scrambled to get up off the ground, forgetting to pick up a disgruntled Jack in the process.

"Takumi!~" Her voice was somewhere between giggle and squeal. Excitement does that to this girl. She didn't pause to take a good look at him before getting up, and she's not going to change anything now. She can worry about health and sleepy eyes after she's expressed her joy at actually reaching him.

And, as such, you will be receiving your hug now, Takumi. Midori threw her arms around his waist and pulled him tight, resting her head on his chest and giggling happily.

"I'm so glad to see you're alright!"

1/2

[knight-hart.livejournal.com]

Had he been able to find the words, have would have now found them to have escaped. She moved so quickly, he couldn't trace her path. All he knew was that there were now soft arms pulling him tightly towards a soft body. And as she rested her head upon his chest, he thought surely his heart might burst. She would hear it. There was no way she couldn't hear the rapid beating of his heart.

And with the wind that seemed to follow from the force of her approach, a scent drifted in the air and caught his attention. Even though she looked as though she had been running for some time, she still let off a beautiful smell. Was this the power of three dimensional girls...!? He might not have been giving them enough credit up until now.

[knight-hart.livejournal.com]

It was a delusion. In truth, he had had ones similar in the past, and as such, there were times when even he could recognize the difference between fantasy and reality. But it was all right to not let it end just yet. Though he still couldn't move to return the gesture, he wore a gentle smile. So this was what it felt like to have someone truly worry about you. It wasn't... a bad feeling.

"You came..." he said so softly that it was almost lost in the wind.

[pokemondolly.livejournal.com]

Midori was wholeheartedly ignoring the rapid heartbeat, because, hell, she didn't care right then. She was too busy being thrilled to have finally found him. No more guilt! She could handle this is person now, which was really how she liked to do things like this.

She didn't let go entirely, but moved her hands to rest on his chest, looking up at him with a bright, if slightly concerned smile. Jack was watching from her feet, eyeing Takumi with suspicion. He still wasn't convinced that this boy was good news- keeping a pokemon in it's ball for days? Not cool, bro. He wasn't about to do anything about it, as Midori obviously cared about this boy, but, hey. Doesn't mean he has to like it. He waves up at the familiar bird pokemon.

"I said I would, didn't I?~" Midori said, perfectly confident and sincere. That was reason enough to do someone a favor. She frowned for a brief moment, still not detaching herself from Takumi's shirt. She's a huggy girl, so she'll likely stay there until forced to move. Not to mention that she's somehow become maternal in this situation, regardless of the age difference.

"How are you feeling? You look kinda tired..." She asked.

[knight-hart.livejournal.com]

The gentle, caring type. To put it bluntly, Takumi couldn't resist it. He needed someone who was sensitive to his feelings and wouldn't judge him for his extreme fears. He needed someone to smile and tell him things would be all right. More importantly, they would have to be sincere, and therefore he could believe them.

And such a person was now holding him closely. A person who traveled far, leaving everything behind to come and get him. Clinging delicately to him like that, Takumi felt like this moment could last forever. He wouldn't mind if it lasted forever.

But in actuality, he didn't know much about her. She didn't know anything about him. In actuality, their acquaintance had been rather short, and this sort of a scene was too much to expect from it. Which was why, as nice as it was, it was time to let the delusion end.

Or so he thought. Though he reached up and pinched his cheek, nothing was changing. Though he tried hard to remember her as he had seen her just a moment ago, sitting beside the entrance and slightly out of breath, she was still here, still embracing him strongly. Which suggested that... this wasn't a delusion after all? Why? Wasn't she creeped out in the slightest? Repulsed by him? Even with the fact that she was a caring person who didn't discriminate to those in need, there was no need to go this far... So why...?

He froze up, finally showcasing that tension that was more characteristic of him. It meant that she had been hugging him for real. Even though it was soothing, he wasn't sure how to handle such a development. It was too fast and too unexpected, but here he was, caught in the middle of it nonetheless. What... should he do? Should he return the gesture? Some time had already passed and he must have missed his opening for it. Not to mention that that required a certain boldness that he most certainly lacked. For now, he supposed he should answer her questions. It wasn't like he was trying to make her worry any further, although it was nice to have her worry for him.

"It's j-just— I hadn't... been sleeping well..." he stuttered as usual. "There's been a lot on m-my mind, so..."

I should have split this for icons but my dad is pestering me to pack :|a

[pokemondolly.livejournal.com]

Midori was paying attention properly by the time Takumi attempted to pull himself out of his not-delusion, and blinked confusedly at him. What was the point in pinching himself? They’re in pokemon world. Anyone who thought that they were dreaming had pretty much already settled into the fact that they were stuck with it. Or maybe he thought he was dreaming because she was finally there?

Oh man, that was a rather intense pang of guilt. It was unsettling, and Midori wasn’t really one to ignore things like that. Time for apologies in person! She’d done plenty of that over the pokegear, but more couldn’t hurt, right?

“I-I’m sorry it took me so long to get here…” She met his eyes while she said it, guilt from a moment ago showing in her voice. Abandoning someone in need for so long. Some hero she was.

Midori felt Takumi go tense, and moved one hand down to take his and give it a quick, comforting squeeze before letting go entirely. She smiled as comfortingly as she could and nodded when he explained what had been going on.

“It’s okay! I understand! Suddenly being teleported to a new place can be hard, even if you’re the adventurous type. I mean… This is all still a little hard to believe, huh?” She laughed after she said it.

I am sorry to be so slow ;~;

[knight-hart.livejournal.com]

Takumi had followed her every move, even daring to meet her eyes as she apologized so sincerely. He wasn't angry about how long it took, not anymore. It was a sad thing how much a girl could get away with just by throwing him such a look, but the thought that she was doing so maliciously never crossed his mind. He believed in her. Even though he was scolding himself internally for doing it so easily, he couldn't help it. This time, he really felt that he found an honest and sincere girl. Not that... he was really worthy to be in her company.

And because he could trust her so completely, a large part of him wanted to be upfront and honest with her, too. It wasn't fair to keep pushing his anxieties onto her without explaining it all, anyway. That's right... He had had this kind of relationship with Rimi back home. She was even able to tell him, calmly and rationally, why his fears were nothing to worry about it. She didn't really believe him... but nonetheless, she did her best to help him without chastising him. And that was enough.

"I— It's not t-teleportation," he began, his eyes shifting away from her gaze. He paused to swallow in an attempt to clear the dryness of his mouth, but he was already realizing that he was going to sound crazy. As such, he almost felt like he should stop now, but he couldn't. He'd have to continue the explanation. He sounded so confident in proclaiming his knowledge, so there wasn't any way she would let him forget that he said it...

"S-See, in America, th-there's something called Visual Rebuilding... It's a technology that converts data into images sort of like a camera, s-so the idea is that blind people who were never able to see what the world is like could do so by being broadcast this imagery..." He paused again, realizing he was saying more than he had ever done so before, but he continued quickly regardless. "B-Because our senses can be converted into data to be recorded... S-Someone figured out how to do the same in reverse. But why limit it to blindness...? W-With that kind of technology, they could e-even put advertisements in our minds when we sleep, o-or show us things that don't exist..."

Though he understood what he was saying, he wasn't sure if it was coming across clearly. In fact, most of it was paraphrased from what was told to him to begin with, but he had done the research on his own to confirm it. Visual Rebuilding... A terrifying device which could force delusions upon another. Takumi— and everyone here— might very well have been test subjects for a grand-scale experiment.

It's fiiiine, I'm on slowatus either way <3

[pokemondolly.livejournal.com]

Midori listened to Takumi's explanation with wide eyes and a growing expression of horror. Around the 'don't limit it to blindess' bit, she covered her mouth with her hand. Midori might not be the smartest girl in the world, but she has caught your implication, Takumi.

"Oh my god, that's... that's horrifying! They can just hack into people's heads!? It's like the matrix or something!" Jack took interest in his trainer's distress and moved forward to tug on the bottom of her skirt. Midori looked down at him, then picked him up.

"Can... Can they do that on this kind of scale? I know something technologically messed up was happening at home, but nobody was really explaining it to me... Are you saying this is some kind of big experiment to... see what people will believe?" She examined her Snorunt, frowning worriedly. "But... I've been eating food, I twisted my ankle, I've talked to people from other worlds... Can they really invent something that complex?" Midori was not liking this idea. Especially because... really, it made more sense than pokemon being real. Oh dear.

♥!!

[knight-hart.livejournal.com]

For a moment, he was unable to answer or continue with his theory— or well, his somewhat borrowed theory. Somehow, he hadn't expected her to believe him so readily. But more than that, it wasn't just believing. Her words confirmed that even she was aware that something was wrong back home, which meant that there was a second testimony to his paranoia. However, there were still a couple of necessary holes to be filled. First off, he wasn't aware of the entire process. He, too, had only just begun to learn of things like this, and therefore he couldn't completely describe how to make the transition function on this sort of scale. Without that last bit of information, finding the way to reverse the function would be... impossible. And then there was what Shogun had asked him, his last memories before arriving in this place. Something about showing him his "power".

There were two other girls at his school which requested a similar thing of him. One was the girl who tipped him off to Visual Rebuilding, who opened his eyes to the frightening possibilities of modern technology. But the other...? He doubted that she had anything to do with it. And that would mean that the ability she had displayed (pulling a sword out of nothingness— Takumi witnessed it firsthand and there was no way it was a mere magic trick or anything of the sort) would absolutely have to fall under the category of a sort of "power". But where the line was drawn between these "powers" and these technologies... That, too, might be impossible to discern. It made his head hurt to think about it all too much. So many vague clues. Not enough answers.

"... Don't know," he replied at last, having thought these things over. "None of them would tell me anything in detail. They j-just expected me to find the answers on my own..."

But he didn't want to discredit his entire theory by way of mentioning that it was largely secondhand information, so he added, "B-But the technology definitely exists! I s-saw the patent for it. If I had a computer, I could probably..."