tragihilarious | (no subject)

To say that Emil was out of his element would be an understatement. He'd never expected leaving the Ginnungagap to be a danger, but the fact that he'd ended up in Inaba, Japan demonstrated otherwise. Technology beyond anything he'd ever seen, geography he'd never heard of on his journey around the world, people who had never heard of magic or mana and who stared at his sword and his clothes...everything in Inaba was alien to him, and it was only through luck and quick thinking that he'd managed to land a part-time job that was barely enough to let him keep a room at the local inn.

A second odd job had let him afford some more necessities in the past few days, but as a result Emil found that he had nearly no time left to look for answers as to where he was. It had been a week since he arrived and he was no closer to understanding how to return; even worse, his friends weren't here and he knew trying to tell anybody the truth of his situation would only end badly. Things weren't looking good.

It was evening by the time he returned to the Amagi Inn, exhausted and wary of anybody who might try to ask questions he couldn't answer (again). It seemed as if he wouldn't be, as the town was buzzing with curiosity over somebody who'd been found dead, but all the same it was safer just to check in at the front desk and go back to his room...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The way things were, Emil's situation was looking grim, wasn't it? Exhausted from menial labor that only barely allowed him to scrape by, stranded away from home, isolated from his friends and his monsters, surrounded by people who couldn't understand his situation and who would be useless to confide in.....

At least the Innkeeper's daughter seemed sympathetic to him, and clearly curious, even if she was just as confused by him as the rest of the town. But she was always polite and friendly, if rather shy and apparently constantly busy herself; it wasn't often she was sitting still, when she could be cleaning or serving meals to guests, flitting around making herself useful however she could.

Today, though, she was mostly stationary; she had changed into an elegant pink kimono, rather than the yukatas or school uniform she usually wore around the Inn, and was perched on a stool behind the front desk. She was paging through a log book with a piece of paper and a pen beside it--checking off guests, from the looks of things, and noting down..... numbers of some sort? Phone numbers, if he'd encountered those yet. She looked up at the jingle of the bell on the front door as Emil returned, and put on a bright smile, clearly relieved to see him--and clearly doing her best to be professional in spite of her nerves, even as she marked down another check. His name, presumably.....

"Castagnier-san..... welcome back. Are you alright? You shouldn't be out while it's dark tonight; haven't you heard the news?" Just about everyone had, at this point--news traveled fast in such a small town. She couldn't help but be concerned for him--given that it was Yamano Mayumi who had been found, a fellow guest at their Inn, it was just too dangerous for anyone to roam around at night, Emil included. What if he'd gotten hurt?

If nothing else, the discovery meant he had a brief respite--the only questions tonight would be regarding his safety.

Emil nodded at Yukiko and ducked his head shyly, touched by the concern but not quite sure how much he ought to say. He was concerned less for himself than the other people he'd met here, because after months of fighting monsters and humans alike he was fairly sure he could manage a single attacker on his own even without his sword and his artes. But of course he couldn't say that to anybody in town. Still, Miss Amagi had been kind enough to think of him...

"Yes, I have heard. Don't worry, I'll be all right." He smiled, trying to reassure her. "Whoever did it, it would be a bad idea for them to try something again tonight. Right? Everyone's on the lookout, and I promise I'll be careful." That much he could be honest about. He felt safe enough with his own abilities, but the woman's death did still worry him. And to be honest Emil wanted to find out who'd done it...but that was probably better left up to the town watch - no, they were called the police here - to handle. Getting himself involved would probably too messy, even if he had the time.

Speaking of which, didn't Miss Amagi have to tend to things other than the inn herself? She didn't look too good, come to think of it; not that he could blame her, with all that had been going on. As much as Emil was a stranger to Inaba he could tell that she had a lot on her plate, and Miss Yamano's death could hardly have made things any better. "What about you? Are you doing all right?"

"Good....." Yukiko's smile softened into something more relieved and genuine; she looked like she really had been worried about Emil. Sword or no sword, the simple fact of the matter was that Emil was an outsider here, one who probably had few, if any friends in Inaba, and who seemed to be out of the Inn most of the day--and who had no contact information listed for him. He was probably some sort of tourist, out sightseeing or something.....

But the important thing was that there would be absolutely no way to reach him, short of him coming back to the Inn. If there was trouble, he would have no way to get in touch, and he would have nobody to help him..... How could she not be scared for his sake?

He had a fair point, though. Yukiko nodded in thoughtful agreement. "You're right..... Everyone will be alert. But everyone will probably be inside, too, so if they did decide to do something..... anyone who was still out wouldn't have much help. But I'm alright, thank you--Okaa-san just isn't feeling well right now, so I'm filling in for her until she's better. The police spent a long time here today, and there were a lot of reporters. They can't talk to any guests without permission, though, so there's no need for you to worry about them."

No wonder her mother was feeling ill, and Yukiko was so tense and concerned; even put as such a gentle understatement, collapsing from stress was hardly a pleasant position for anyone to be in, or be party to. And now she would be put in much the same position, with youth, inexperience, and school responsibilities piled on as well.

"But then, are they bothering you?" If it was something that could potentially cause him worry then surely it was causing Miss Amagi worry, and that didn't sit well with Emil either. Worried as he was about his own situation, he hated to see others troubled - and he hated ignoring that trouble, even more so when there was something he could do about it.

He wasn't sure exactly what he could do to best help yet, but surely there could be something? Although many things they did here were out of his league (vehicles that people steered?) there were at least some things that hadn't changed in this strange place - so the least he could do was volunteer. "If there's anything that guests are allowed to do, I'd like to help if I can. Even if it's something small, like cleaning."

Maybe it was a stretch; it probably would be at any other inn he'd been to. But it was worth a try, and he wanted to show support. So as an afterthought he added, "And if somebody makes trouble for you, send them to me! I can take care of them for you." He smiled brightly, to show he was (mostly) joking...he wasn't sure how well it came off, though. Hopefully not too badly.