Her Mysterious Smile

[Nayt]

"Yeah," Akizets tried to peer through the crowd, "Looks like it."

She kind of wanted to get a better look at what was going on to attract this much attention, but she was kind of hard pressed to. There were a lot of people passing her and Eld by. A lot of people that were way, way taller than she. So she tried to look at them instead, maybe to see if anyone had on their person something that looked neat. Something that was probably being sold up ahead. Akizets would have asked Eld if they could go see what was on sale, but she knew she was just going to get attracted to it and he was just going to buy it for her.

Which was really sweet and she wouldn't have minded it actually, but Akizets didn't want to drain Eld's bank account like this! That would've just been rude!

It wasn't long before she caught the image of something . . . weird. Someone weird.

"Huh. That's a weird outfit." Akizetsumei observed aloud.

Akizetsumei's eyes were on the other side of the road. She and Eld weren't very far from the girl. It was almost impossible to not see her.

The girl couldn't have been much younger than Eld. She couldn't have been younger than fourteen. She was short and thin, but not quite as breakable looking as Akizetsumei. She had dark hair-- black, practically --that was cut down to chin length, and all her bangs seemed to be purposefully shifted in front of the left side of her face. The outfit she wore, the one Akizets ultimately commented on, consisted of a baggy white button-down dress shirt that was tucked into a dark blue pleated skirt that came down below her knees. She also wore what looked like dress shoes and dress socks. It looked like some sort of private school uniform, but there really weren't any private schools around for miles.

She was surrounded by two boys to her left and two boys to her right, all of which seemed to be talking to her, though she didn't appear to be listening at all.

"Cute, though," Akizets thought aloud again, "I wonder where she got it."

Maybe outfits like that were being sold up there? It was super cute. That might actually be worth it! But she'd owe Eld big time. She'd have to seriously give him a hug or a kiss on the cheek or something!

[Zach Kaiser]

While Eld hardly knew everyone in Hillcrest, he could tell the girl wasn't from around here. She was definitely Cizokian, probably fully so, unlike him. She was also wearing what appeared to be a private school uniform, and he knew for certain there weren't any private schools in the surrounding towns; if there was any decent one nearby, he would have been attending it.

The outfit was indeed cute, but that sort of secondary to him at the moment. What concerned him more were the boys hovering around her; they seemed to be trying to get her attention, and while he couldn't blame them for trying she was pretty clearly not interested.

If it was someone from town he wouldn't have been too worried, but if she was a stranger here he didn't want some local boys harassing her for it. He started to move his way across the street, wanting to get close enough to hear the boys and make sure everything was okay.

[Nayt]

Without much realizing it, Akizets follow next to Eld. She didn't seem to recognize that Eld was moving this way for a good reason. She didn't recognize anything wrong with the situation, after all.

"So, what'd you say your name is again . . .?" One boy asked.

"You idiot," said another, "She didn't introduce herself."

"I knew that!"

"Then why'd you even ask?" the third boy said.

"I was tryin' to get her to introduce herself."

"I bet she has a pretty name."

"Pretty girl, pretty name, just makes sense, right?"

The fourth boy, the tallest of them all, finally interjected. He'd been mostly quiet this whole time, watching as the others acted and made fools of themselves.

"Don't mind them," he said as he reached out to her, "They're all a bunch of idiots."

Genius. Pure genius. Let other guys make fools of themselves, then talk sense and act the part of a stalwart guardian from their collective stupidity. Brilliant.

Except the girl didn't want to be touched by any of them, and as soon as she felt a hand on her shoulder, she snapped her left hand back, slapping the back of her hand against the fourth boy's wrist, and turned to level a glare at him. The fourth boy took a step back and held his hands up in a show of peace. The other three boys laughed and chided their fellow for receiving such quiet aggression, and were soon departing the girl's presence. They passed Eld by and gave him a look, as if collectively warning him not to approach that girl.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld gave the boys a rueful smile at they departed. While they would have done better to take the hint sooner, at least they didn't seem to bear her any ill will. He hadn't been too worried, as Hillcrest wasn't exactly a dangerous place, but with teenage hormones raging there was always the possibility of something getting out of hand.

He debated on simply walking away, as the girl pretty clearly wanted to be left alone, but decided against it. He wanted to at least check up on her and make sure she was okay.

"Are you alright?" he asked mildly, making sure not to invade her personal space, having seen how she reacted to the one boy who tried to touch her. If he was given the same cold treatment as the other boys, he'd simply think no more of it and walk away--she'd already been bothered enough, after all.

[Nayt]

The girl did not explicitly reply to Eld. In fact, she didn't reply to him at all. Akizets was standing next to him, waiting for the girl to say something, but nothing happened. She'd watched what happened and actually kind of felt concerned, too. Akizets had been touched by boys before, boys that were acting really weird, and it made her uncomfortable enough to want to run away. She empathized with this girl instantly.

But still, the girl said nothing. Instead, she looked to her shoulder, the one the boy had touched, as if she expected some sort of dirt to be left behind.

It took ten seconds for her to finally acknowledge Eld and Akizetsumei.

"Do you r-rive here?" she asked without looking at either Eld or Akizets.

The girl's voice was small and meek, almost like she was constantly talking one notch above a whisper. It likewise seemed devoid of tone and emotion entirely, though that was debatable. She had, after all, been able to express disapproval just a moment earlier.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld was just about ready to decide he was bothering her and leave the girl to her own devices when she finally responded. Not with an answer to his question, but rather, another question. That was still more cordial than being ignored entirely, he supposed.

Her voice was quiet, so much so that it was hard to tell if there was any inflection in it at all. "Yeah," he responded with a nod. As the girl was obviously from out of town, and she must have asked the question for a good reason, he figured perhaps he could help her. "Are you looking for some place? We can guide you, if you like."

He glanced at Akizetsumei, hoping it was okay that he was volunteering both of them.

[Nayt]

By the time Eld had glanced at Akizetsumei, she'd already volunteered herself.

"Yeah! We're both from around here," she smiled widely, "We know Hillcrest like the back of our hands."

Eld volunteered them both to help. Akizetsumei double volunteered them both to help. She had taken Eld's volunteer and added to it. Now, if they couldn't help this girl with maddening levels of quality and borderline consumer care, then they were simply not living up to their word.

The girl was either inexpressive or unimpressed. She didn't seem at all phased by Eld or Akizetsumei. In fact, it was as if they weren't at all strange, and were mutually normal in every way. Normal and unimpressive. She looked between Akizets and Eld, before finally elaborating on what she needed.

"Someone. I am r-rooking for someone," she said.

Whilst her voice was meek and inexpressive, her accent was still very noticeable. She spoke Common very well, it seemed, but she was physically incapable of managing l's and r's. They were practically the same consonant to her, but it seemed her l's sounded closer to a rolled r than anything, allowing at least some sort of differentiation.

[Zach Kaiser]

He was glad to see Akizetsumei agreed, though in retrospect he supposed if she hadn't wanted to bother there was nothing stopping her from going home.

The girl's Common was excellent, though she seemed to have some trouble distinguishing r's from l's. That was fairly standard for Cizokians who learned the language as a secondary one, though. His family (including him) didn't have that problem only by virtue of being raised in both languages from birth. (His mother sounded a little funny speaking Cizokian, but that was another matter entirely.)

"Oh? Who is it?" Finding a person would be a bit more difficult than finding a place, but he supposed even if he and Akizetsumei didn't know the person he could ask his parents. They knew just about everyone, because pretty much everyone had to go to the clinic for some reason sooner or later.

[Nayt]

Akizetsumei tilted her head to the side. So this girl was looking for someone, huh? That was weird. Well, this sort of limited Akizetsumei's ability to help just a bit. She didn't know that many people. Or, well, she knew a lot of people, they just didn't care too much about her, and there was no chance she was going to coerce them into helping her help someone else out. Unless the girl was looking for someone Akizetsumei knew.

"I am r-rooking for . . ." the girl paused at length.

By the way it looked, it was as if she were pausing to contemplate the circumstances and remember who she was looking for again.

"The Tsukimono boy," the girl reported once she remembered. Though, it didn't look like she remembered his first name, or at least didn't care to say it.

"E-eh?" Akizets furrowed her brow, then looked up to Eld.

The Tsukimono boy? Well, unless Eld had any male cousins or something (which Akizetsumei would have been unaware of), that sort of left one option.

Eld didn't do something wrong, did he . . . ?

[Zach Kaiser]

"Huh?" He looked at Akizetsumei at the same time, just as confused as she was. He didn't know this girl any more than she did, and couldn't fathom why she might be looking for him specifically.

"Well, actually, that would be me." He contemplated sticking his hand out, but seeing as she didn't like to be touched he went for the more Cizokian approach. "Eldridge Tsukimono, pleased to meet you," he said with a small bow.

[Nayt]

"Er-rdridge Tsukimono?" she pronounced his name slowly.

She did not extend her hand to him. She did not bow to him. She only stared at his face as if trying to recall something. A picture. A painting.

"Sou ka," said the girl as she shut her eyes.

Akizetsumei couldn't help but wonder exactly what this girl wanted. Weird girls dressed like this coming around and looking for someone specific should have probably entailed some degree of trouble. Maybe Eld was secretly a bank robber and this girl was secretly a militia funded investigator? Maybe this was going to be the conclusion to some great and terrifying story of cops and robbers? Or maybe it was the start of a new chapter? Eld would soon realize that he'd come face to face with his greatest adversary, but because he is a merciful bank robber and never takes a life no matter how difficult it makes the job, he'll take Akizetsumei by the hand and run off. Maybe he'll pretend Akizets is his hostage and feign aggression to negotiate his escape-- but then at the last second, when it comes time to release Akizets (and she knew she'd be trembling with both fear and excitement), Eld would hoist her up bridal style and run away with her.

The girl suddenly-- and without warning, it seemed --glared at Eld. She wasted no time in swiping her hand out for his face, but rather than slapping or hitting him, she grabbed him by the ear and pulled him toward her. Akizets nearly jumped out of her skin when it happened. She yelped loudly for Eld.

"Baka hentai," the girl scolded coldly as she took a step back, all the while fully intending to drag Eld along that distance, "Ojisan and Obasan have been r-rooking for you."

She wasn't letting go of his ear anytime soon.

[Zach Kaiser]

Whatever Eld had been expecting from the girl, having her grab his ear, call him a stupid pervert, and start to drag him down the street was not it. "Ow, ow, ow!"

While he always tried to be nice and polite when dealing with members of the opposite sex, the completely lack of consideration shown to him prompted him to temporarily drop this habit. He grabbed the hand holding his ear firmly by the wrist, trying to get her to let go.

"I can walk on my own!" he said, glaring at her. He didn't even bring up the fact that she insulted him, though that was incensing as well. "And where are you taking me, anyway? Who's looking for me?" He knew she meant an older man and woman, but as far as he knew she was likely talking about people he didn't know.

[Nayt]

"Iie," she replied sternly, "Baka hentai Tsukimono-san was very r-roud r-rast night. Does not deserve to war-rk r-rike man."

And so, though Eld made the effort to wrench her hand off of his ear, he did not succeed in the least. In fact, he might have made it a bit more uncomfortable, as she reacted by squeezing her fingers upon his ear even tighter. It seemed she had excellent finger and wrist strength. Excellent enough that Eld was not going to get her to let him go if she was not given any definitive reason to.

"H-hey!" Akizetsumei cried from behind them.

The girl-- with Eld in tow --had since left Akizetsumei, shocked and surprised as she was, behind. Akizets raced to meet the girl by her side.

"Y-you're hurting him!" she pleaded.

The girl said nothing.

"C-come oooon, let him goooo," Akizets exclaimed pleadingly.

Akizetsumei had never been in a fight before and she certainly didn't want to get in one today, but she was totally going to have to grab this girl's wrist if she kept insisting on hurting Eldridge and calling him weird names with connotation that she couldn't even begin to understand!

"When we reach home," the girl replied, "I r-ret him go."

Akizetsumei frowned. She was kind of hoping for the girl to let Eld go immediately. "H-home . . .?"

"Obasan and Ojisan's," the girl replied, paused, and reiterated in Common: "Auntie and Uncle Tsukimono's. Baka hentai's parents."

Oddly, though she insulted Eldridge several times, the girl's tone never ever changed. She still seemed perfectly stoic and inexpressive, regardless of how hurtful she might be-- physically or emotionally . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

It was sort of fortunate at this point that there was so much commotion in the current situation, because at the mention if his activities the previous night he turned very red. Of course, that she knew about that raised further questions, but they were questions he realized he didn't necessarily want answers to in public.

In fact, there was altogether too much in the sentence for him to react to at once, so he just sputtered ineffectually for several moments, his thinking hampered by the not-exactly-gentle tugging on his ear. She wasn't stopping, and though he was actually a bit angry with her by this point he nevertheless didn't want to actually risk hurting her, so he had no choice but to relent.

After he finally collected his thoughts, he addressed Akizetsumei rather than the girl. "It looks like--ow!--my parents have some explaining to do, so I'll see you--ow!--tomorrow or something."

He resumed his glare at the girl. "OW. Will you please cut that out? I was on my way home anyway, jeez."

[Nayt]

"A-ah, ummm," Akizets hesitated.

She still kept a pace with Eld and this girl, feeling remarkably uncomfortable. This was not the cops and robbers situation she expected. In fact, it wasn't a cops and robbers thing at all. This girl was talking about Eld's parents wanting to see him. Or something. And she called them her aunt and uncle.

Wait, this was Eld's cousin?

Akizetsumei slowed down. This was kind of a huge revelation, if it was correct-- but why wouldn't it be? She suddenly wanted to stay by Eld's side even more, but she also knew what it was like to have parents mad at you. It was better not to be around for that. But later. Later, if Eld needed someone to talk to . . .

"I-- I'll come by later!" Akizets called out.

And she would. She felt compelled to. She needed to make sure Eld was going to be okay. If his parents were mad at him for something, then she wanted to see if he was going to be grounded or something. She needed to see if she was just going to have to sneak around to see him!

The girl, once alone with Eldridge, slowed down and turned to look him in the eyes.

"I was tor-rd to apprehend," she reported.

She relented, though, but only under one condition, iterated the very second she released Eld's ear.

"Give me your wrist."