Dyss was still shaky on his feet, but it did help a bit as Izumi leaned into him and he could feel the wall beneath his fingers. He was still disconnected from any sense of where he was, but at least, he had Izumi watching out for where he went. And aside from any other benefits, with Izumi next to him, he didn't have to worry about where his hands might end up...

"Where are we going? And how many rooms are there?"

Dyss was a bit curious about that, as he hadn't yet encountered anyone else. Izumi was young, particularly to have a large house while living alone... He didn't want to pry too much, but he did want to know more about the girl who was keeping him alive...

"I'm going to show you how to get to the bathroom--it isn't too far away from the guest room so you should be fine getting there on your own when you need to, you just need to know where to go first, you know?" Izumi replied, absentmindedly going into a half-rant again. "My house really isn't that big. Actually, it's, um, heh . . . it's k-kind of an apartment sort of place. I live on the second floor, and some people live below me. All I have is a spare room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It's not too expensive, either. I . . . I work all week and all, and after paying rent, I still have enough for food and water, so it's not too bad at all."

Soon enough, Dyss's hand would come across a stark cease in the wall. It just stopped completely, but the floor did not. Dyss could possibly reach his arm down, and he'd just get blank space, until he could touch the wall again, which had sharply turned down, rather than continuing forward.

Izumi continued to lead Dyss, taking that turn, and taking him down the hall after the fact. It wasn't much more than a second later that Dyss's feet would no longer be on carpet, but hard, cold stone. That's when she stopped. There wasn't a lot of space in this particular place.

"This is it. Not that far at all. Ummm . . . the kitchen is just past this point, so be careful whenever you're coming down this route, and hold onto the wall so you know when there's a corner you can turn. The kitchen doesn't have any corner to turn, so that's a good way of remembering it, I think," Izumi then proceeded to guide Dyss's hand again, "Here . . . this is the toilet, and the bath tub is right here."

Izumi's explanation of the situation made more sense, but... She could hardly survive... She was going to spend what little extra money she managed on clothes for him, when she didn't really have anything else... Dyss couldn't help but feel terrible. Not only her time, but her livelihood, too? He was taking away both with his presence...

"No, it's not bad... I... Thank you..."

Dyss wanted to apologize again, but didn't. He made a decision that he would repay Izumi for all her help, in one way or another. If nothing else, she'd never want for someone to talk to, if that's what she wanted. That was one thing he could offer...

Dyss would do his best to memorize the layout of the house, gradually getting an idea of where things were and the distances involved. The bathroom was an important room to remember, certainly, while the kitchen and Izumi's bedroom were... Less important to know how to get to. There was nothing he should really be doing in either one of those places...

"You're welcome . . ." replied Izumi.

He sounded almost kind of sad when he thanked her. It was merit for sadness on her own end, but Izumi was the type to cheer up quickly. Izumi couldn't stand being depressed for too long. It was really only a matter of time before Dyss started to observe her cheerfulness as infectious as it was.

Indeed, she had not directed him through much of the kitchen. The most she did there was guide him to where he could get water, cups, and the way to get out once he was in the kitchen. She had made sure to not lead him too far, and outright suggested that he not wander any farther than a certain point. Izumi had a decent sized kitchen, but she didn't want Dyss going over to the other half of it. Either he'd get lost, or he'd encounter utensils that he could get himself severely hurt on. It was amazing how much care had to be taken with a blind man. Not that she really minded. Truthfully, the company was nice. There wasn't quite a lot more that she could ask for.

Though, she did refrain from helping her through her room, and avoided it entirely. It really wasn't a place that she foresaw him going to anytime, anyways. After the stint in the kitchen, she helped him back into the guest room. Hopefully, that hands on tour would allow him to move around better.

"W-well . . . that's my house. Sort of. It's really kind of small . . ."

"I think it's fine..."

Dyss's own home in Purgatory had been smaller than the one Izumi had here in the real world. And it seemed to be nicer, too, though he couldn't say for sure. In any case, considering the circumstances, a tent would have seemed like a mansion... Having a place to stay at all seemed like nothing short of a miracle...

"Izumi, I... Well, I'm sort of curious..."

Dyss would find his way back to the bed, sitting on it and placing his hands on his knees. He wanted to know a bit more about Izumi, especially since she seemed so young and yet, was responsible for not just herself, but also him...

"Why do you live alone? I mean, you seem so young..."

Dyss wasn't really much older than her, at least by appearance. By true age, of course, he was much younger, but he had been "born" mature. He had memories of quite a few lives, though, many of them very unpleasant, and loneliness was usually a factor in this unpleasantness...

That question certainly took Izumi by surprise. She was immediately quieted; even her breath stopped for a moment.

"O-oh, well, um . . . y-you see . . ."

That was a pretty personal question--not that Izumi had problems responding to it or anything. She would be heard moving around the room for a moment, before the sound of weight setting into wood would be heard--were Dyss to reach out, he'd find that Izumi was sitting down in a chair, likely pulled from the hall and set in front of his bed.

"I had trouble with my parents a few years ago. Ummmm . . . I was thirteen at the time, and I'll turn seventeen in a few months," Izumi finally replied, trying not to sound disappointed or sad about it. The result was a casual tone, one that didn't suggest any antipathy for the situation, but there was still an underlying sadness. "I actually come from a town south of here. It's a small town called Raigeki, in Cizok."

Truthfully, the situation was wholly disappointing and worth being depressed about, but the whole situation went down years ago. Izumi, almost seventeen years old, had been on her own for nearly four years. Of course, this allowed her time to let emotional wounds heal, so it shouldn't have been as big of a deal now as it was when she was thirteen. That didn't mean she wasn't sad about it, though. Of course, she was just glossing it over, and that much would have been obvious. She left out as many details as she possibly could.

"I think my parents are still there," she thought aloud, actually talking to herself this time, "I don't know, though. I-I haven't actually talked to them since I left."

"Oh..."

Dyss sounded sad, more for the fact that he'd brought up painful memories than an actual ability to understand. Dyss hadn't grown up with parents, or grown up at all, for that matter. However, he did have memories of abusive parents. He could only hope that Izumi hadn't been in that sort of situation, if only from the emotions he could still recall from those experiences. He certainly didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Izumi... I didn't mean to make you feel bad... I know what it's like to live without parents..."

Once again, a half-truth... Until he knew more about Izumi, he wouldn't be able to tell her the real truth about his existence. At least, what truth he knew of his own existence. That was... A little hard to believe. At some point, he imagined he would have to tell her what he really was and where he'd come from, but not yet...

"N-no, it's okay," Izumi laughed a bit--perhaps nervously, or perhaps even laughing for the sure sake of cheering herself up; herself and Dyss, "That was awhile ago, so . . . it doesn't really bother me all that much anymore. Besides! I'm used to being like this--you know . . . me on my own, working forty hours a week, and doing decent in life! I always have a little bit of extra spending money, too, so I can pick up stuff to do in my spare time like a puzzle to tinker with or a machine or something that I can take apart and put back together."

She want on another rant, but things like that just took her mind off of the bad things and let her think about some of the lighter things in life--like her hobbies, which she just unveiled. Upon meeting Izumi, one could easily assume that she was ditsy and completely absentminded. She had this bubbly nervousness about her that called for her to go into fits of rambling that may have even been incoherent to her by the time she was done. She was socially awkward in so many ways, and it just made her seem like a not-so-intelligent individual, but considering her hobbies, one would be sorely mistaken. She really enjoyed keeping her brain occupied.

"W-well . . . I-I guess that means we have more in common than just being around the same age, huh?"

Dyss smiled at her explanation. His own hobbies were... Less intense, perhaps. He couldn't do a puzzle, for one thing. Even when he had his increased senses, actually concentrating on small puzzle pieces to find patterns was outside the scope of his ability. And there were no machines in Purgatory to speak of, at least none that Dyss had access to...

"That's impressive... I guess we do, though I usually play chess with my friends back home for a hobby. There weren't a whole lot of puzzles or things like that..."

Dyss would pull the chess piece from his pocket, the one real object he still had from his friends, making sure it was still there. When they showed up... He wasn't sure what he was going to do. He didn't even know what it would take to have a real life...

"You play chess?" Izumi asked, her interest in this suddenly peeked.

Chess was a good mind-game, something to keep the brain working right. She had a chess board, but she never got it out. Originally, it had been purchased because it was a very tactical game--very dependent upon the mind, and she wound up never using it, because there was never anyone around to play with. No one here played chess, and those that did were way out of her league. Those were people that were wealthy to noble proportions. She'd have just been harshly denied if she requested a game with one of them.

"We'll have to play sometime!" she exclaimed happily. He could even use that queen piece that his friend made for him! That was a great idea.

And then she remembered: Dyss couldn't see. Since the blindness was only a recent development and all, he had the opportunity to play chess before. Now, he couldn't, and there was a chance that he never would again. Fearing that she had said the wrong thing, Izumi felt extremely apologetic.

". . . o-oh, wait . . ." Izumi trailed off, speaking in an ashamed whisper, "I-I'm sorry . . ."

Dyss wrinkled his brow a bit at Izumi's apology. Chess was a game that could be played even without being seen. All the pieces were unique to the touch, and the board squares could be marked as raised... With enough concentration and memory, it wasn't even necessary to have a board at all. It didn't change how the game worked...

"We could still play... I'd really like to... I need something to do..."

He'd never been very good at concentrating, but with the blindness limiting his options, he wanted to try chess. Even if he couldn't actually play, it would be good practice for the future. Besides, it was an activity that was at least theoretically possible for him to do on his own...

"Y-you'd be able to . . .?" Izumi asked--concern and excitement in her voice. She hadn't played someone else in chess before, after all.

It was actually possible--just not probable. Izumi didn't know if she'd have personally been able to manage something like that; if she couldn't see, she would have probably been unable to distinguish the pieces from one another, knock things over, and altogether find it impossible to remember the layout. Needless to say, she'd have lost within four to eight moves, more than likely.

But it was possible for someone to memorize a grid and picture all the pieces within. If Dyss could actually do that, she'd only have to call out the origin location (grid letter and number) for the piece and then the point of the piece after her move. She didn't know if he could memorize anything like that, though. If he could, though . . . well, that would make life extremely easy for him.

"Are you sure . . .?" She didn't want to sound insensitive or something, but the difficulty involved just seemed to be extraordinary to her.

"Izumi, what do I have better to do...?"

Dyss wasn't exactly able to do a lot in his state. Being blind as he was, he didn't have much else to do besides sit and try to memorize a chess board. He could still feel where pieces were if he touched them very lightly, too. If they just had a spot to always keep the board, it would make things easier... In fact, he was sort of eager to start...

"We could even try tonight. I'm looking forward to it..."

Dyss thought over the appearance of the board in his head and tried to imagine how complicated it would be, but he didn't get very far. It was just something he'd have to work through... Being positive, like Izumi. Practically sickeningly so...

Izumi was silent for a moment after Dyss's insistence. Really, she wanted to play chess with someone--she had ever since she purchased the board; Izumi had just been concerned about the possibility of Dyss becoming frustrated or something. He had been able to see before, after all. Some things could probably get extremely frustrating for him. But, if he was really sure, then Izumi had no reason to hold back the possibility.

"A-all right, then!" she replied cheerily.

Without saying much more, she left; Dyss would be able to hear her steps, almost like she was skipping ever so slightly, a hurried pace. Izumi was gone for only a few minutes, returning shortly and plopping something down on Dyss's bed. The mattress altered every so slightly with each of her movements--fiddling with something. When she was done, she slid it towards Dyss. If he reached out to touch, he'd find it to be easily distinguishable: a chess board, set up and everything. The pieces were only set up for one side, though; Izumi didn't want to confuse him or anything.

"Here, ummm, I'll leave this with you, okay?" Izumi stated as she stepped back a bit, "So you can get used to how the pieces feel and everything. Umm, in the meantime, I think I'm going to take a nap. Work was really tough today; I'm beat . . . I shouldn't be much longer than a couple of hours, though . . ."

"Allright... Have a good nap, Izumi. I'll be here when you wake up..."

A couple more hours was fine. At least now, he had something to occupy himself. Feeling the board, he would move extremely slowly, getting a feel for the individual pieces on the set. If he moved so slow, he wouldn't knock them over on first impact, particularly if he was careful to only move his hands vertically. At least, he would get some practice in moving his body through space blind...

He would sit there with the chessboard, attempting to play through entire games in his head. At first, he could only remember one move, or perhaps two, but the urge to be able to do anything was too strong for him to be discouraged. He'd continue until it was second nature to him. He'd never really had to focus on anything before, anyway...