asgardeventide | first at-bat [video]

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first at-bat [video]

[ as the video turns on, you're treated to the sight of a confused looking young man. something that must surely be a familiar sight to anyone who's been here for a protracted period of time... though this one seems perhaps a bit more dazed than most. ]

Ah... hello, everyone.

[ despite his confusion, he manages a weak smile. his voice sounds rather calm, all things considered. ]

Let's see... I'm supposed to introduce myself, right? My name is Satoshi Houjou. It's nice to meet you at all.

Um... what else was there? Sorry, this has never happened to me before so I'm not really sure what to say. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Or am I one who's supposed to be asking questions right now? Hm... Can anyone give me some advice? Introductions sure are difficult. I'll do my best to pay you back when I can.

Oh! But we're saving the world, aren't we? Ha... that sounds pretty hard. I've never saved a world before, either. Well, I'll do my best.

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[He just sounds so nervous and lost, she can't help but speak up. Even if he seems to have found a friend earlier in the post.]

It's nice to meet you too, Satoshi. [A shallow bow.] My name is Mako Nakarai, but I go by Nakama. I guess my only advice would be... not to expect anything, or maybe to expect everything. There could be a lot here you don't believe in, you might hear a lot of crazy stories... you never know who or what you'll meet. It's cool, though, if you don't let yourself get too scared by it.

Does that help at all?

It's nice to meet you too, Nakarai-san. [ a quick bow in return. ] Or should it be Nakama-san? Either way... that does help. I guess what you're saying is... [ he pauses to think about it for a moment, mulling over her words in his head. ]

"Anything can happen." Is that right?

Yeah, Nakama is fine. That's what pretty much everyone here calls me. [She smiles slightly.]

That's about right. As long as you expect anything but normal, you'll settle in eventually. I mean, there's always going to be something that shocks you, but you get used to the shocks after awhile.

It's a nice nickname.

So I shouldn't expect anything normal... alright. [ he smiles a bit, before that expression dampens a bit. ] Though even if you say that, it's a little difficult, isn't it? Things wouldn't be shocking if you could prepare for them.

Oh - thank you. [A little blush.] I went to a Nature School not long before I came here, and kids from all over the country came, so the teacher made us all give each other nicknames as a bonding exercise. Mine is just a play on my name.

You're right, but I guess each shock just gets a bit less and less intense. By the time you meet the trolls or one of the angels, you'll just think "Of course they're here, too," instead of freaking out.

Nature School? That sounds like it must have been fun. Even if it is pretty close to your name, it's still pretty clever. You must have all had a good time.

Trolls and angels, huh... [ a weak smile. ]Maybe I'll even be able to meet Oyashiro-sama here. Is there anything you haven't seen? [ doesn't sound like it... ]

[There's a complicated look on her face, but most of it is masked by utter blankess.] It was... really interesting.

No, not really, I've even seen mecha, but they were clockwork, not like... [the ones at home] the ones in manga and anime. What's Oyashiro-sama?

[ he'll just assume that means "good," smile and nod. ]

Mecha? Like giant robots? [ his face lights up a bit at that, trying to consider it. ] Do you think... do you think I might get a chance to ride something like that? [ a pause, before he laughs a bit and shakes his head. ] I guess not, but that'd be really cool.

Oh, sorry. Oyashiro-sama is a local god from the village I come from. I'm not sure whether he's real... [ footsteps or not... ] But if you really can see anything here, then maybe.

You don't want to. [Vehemently, before she manages to calm down a little. That clockwork monstrosity was not Zearth.] I mean... it'd probably be really dangerous. I doubt they work like on TV, especially a clockwork one.

A local god, huh? Is he a kind god? [Her impression of gods has gone down since being here.]

That's true... [ he's a bit surprised by how fiercely she'd shot down his suggestion, but he figures she must just be really worried for his safety.

in that light, it's actually kind of touching. ] Don't worry, if anything like that ever happens, I'll make sure it's safe before doing anything. [ hopefully...

though he pauses at that, before shaking his head. ] I don't think so. I never believed in him much, but I don't think anyone would ever call him kind.

Please, promise me you will. You just... never know what can happen.

[She shakes her head, glancing out her window - although he can't see it, she's looking toward the castle.] I wonder if any of them are. The more I hear and see of gods, the less I like them.

Alright. That's a promise.

[ there can't be any harm in that, right? her request seems reasonable enough. ]

Oh, that's right... there are gods in charge here too, huh? ...do these ones "spirit away" people too?

I don't really know what you mean by "spirit away"... but they do kidnap people, don't they? That's what happened to most of us here, taken away from lives and families and serious situations that are left to hang in the balance.

Spiriting away is a little different... it's when someone disappears and you never see them again. But maybe... maybe for the people back home, it's like that for us? Maybe we really have been spirited away then.

Does that happen a lot back home for you? People disappearing and never being found? [She speaks hesitantly. That sounds a little traumatizing, and she only wants to dance over issues like that, not dwell on them. He's new, after all - he's already got so much to worry about.]

Well, I don't know if anyone told you, but our timelines are stopped when we're brought here and restarted when we get back. So no one will even notice that we're gone, and if there's any kind of trouble in your world, it won't go on without you.

Once a year for the past few years. It might just be superstition and coincidence though. [ even if he ended up being one of the people spirited away... still, his own familial ties to the tragedies isn't one that's easily ignored. ]

Oh? Wow... that's really something. Then we don't have to worry about things back home, huh? That's good... I'm sure my little sister would get really worried if I was missing for a long time. Something bad could happen. [ except you've already been missing for a year satoshi... ]

Gosh... that's really scary. I can see why people would be suspicious, even if I didn't really believe in gods until I got here. I'm sorry you had to live with that kind of fear around you.

[Her face softens.] You have a little sister? Do you take care of her?

wouldn't worry too much about it. That's just how people are back home. People from rural towns are always kind of superstitious... [ a shake of the head. ] I think it was probably just coincidence, rather than a real curse.

That's right. She's a few years younger than me. [ he pauses at that, his demeanor growing a bit more serious. ] I have to take care of her. I'm the only one who can.

The only one...? [She looks stricken.] You mean...?

Mmm... our parents passed away a few years ago.

[ he won't bother saying anything about their foster parents... ]

Oh, Satoshi... I'm so sorry. [Her face works as she tries to stay calm for him, since he's being so admirably strong in talking about it.] I - I actually had a friend who had to raise his three siblings, because his mom was dead and his dad ran out on them. You must be really strong, like him.

I wouldn't call myself strong. [ anything but that, in fact. ] I just had to do my best for my little sister. It might have been tough at times, but it wasn't all bad. [ mostly bad, but not all bad. ] It might have been easier the village wasn't... [ oh, wait, no. ] Ah, never mind. Sorry, I'm probably troubling you now.

The strongest people always say that. [A sad smile.]

It's - it's okay. I've heard a lot, and I've been through a lot. If you want to share, you can... it's up to you.

It's not a big deal. Aha... the people in the village just didn't like my family very much. I guess that made things a little harder...

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