Skip Navigation
Of Gear Heads and High School Students (Alicia/Kai)
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Feb 17, 2016 16:54:03 GMT
Alicia sighed softly, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she wheeled herself out from under a smart car that had been brought in the day before. The owner had been in an unfortunate accident and the suspension was shot from the impact. She'd just finished installing the replacement and running the checklist to confirm it was functional once more. "That's another one done." She mused to herself, feeling a small measure of pride at the job well done.
"My my, Alicia-chan, I'll never cease to be amazed at how fast you work." the aged shop owner commented as he looked up from his own repair work. "Why don't you call it a day early this time?"
The redhead perked up in surprise at that, looking at her employer. "Ha? Forgive me, sir, but I'm still more then capable of continuing on. I'd hate to impose on you by leaving early..." She knew the older man still had enough vitality in him to work full days like this, but she still didn't like the thought of walking out before her shift was over.
"Nonsense, Alicia-chan, you've done so much good for my little establishment. I insist, take some time to yourself. Perhaps see if you can make an attempt to pursue your dream again." He was no stranger to her dream, it'd come up when e inquired why she wanted a job so badly a couple years ago.
Smiling, she bowed and packed up for the day. "Thank you kindly sir, I'll be on my way then. Good bye!" The two waved as Alicia suited up and kicked up the kick stand. With a dull roar the vehicle came to life and she was off, wondering what to do with the day. Perhaps she could try and take a train?
((OOC: I imagine that they'd meet up just outside the train station))
|
|
|
Post by Kai Haimura on Feb 17, 2016 23:11:53 GMT
"Digital World! Digital World!" Shiro chanted, sounding suspiciously like a little kid being taken to an amusement park. Which he was essentially was. How cute! No wait, this wasn't the time for that! But he hadn't been noticed- And suddenly shouting, "Be quiet!" at his school bag was bound to attract some stares. Which was why it was good that he had two of the creatures known as Digimon with him. "Quiet! People will hear you!" hissed Shiro's sister, Kuro. That shut him up. Kai breathed a sigh of relief. Shiro was impossible to handle... It was fortunate to have Kuro to keep him under control.
Ah! Why was he doing this, anyways! He hadn't healed from his injuries yet! The Digital World was too dangerous for a high school boy still half wrapped in bandages, recovering from various surgeries and broken bones! But... He didn't have much of a choice. Shiro needed to be fed... And Kuro too, though she wasn't as vocal about it. And he didn't have pocket money for that! Bits were not a valid currency in the Human World! Besides, as long as he didn't leave the city... It shouldn't be too dangerous, right? Ah, it was too late for second thoughts now! The boy took another step towards the Shibuya Terminal in which the train to another world could be found.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Feb 18, 2016 0:42:26 GMT
Tucking her motorcycle away safely, the young mechanic took her usual measures to ensure against the vehicle being swiped by some shady thug. Secure in the knowledge that her ride was as safe as she could make it, Alicia went out to comb Tokyo via the train station. Where exactly she was thinking of going, she actually wasn't sure herself. There wasn't much she could do other then look and hope she found something to make another shot at a culinary school. Surely if she looked hard enough she'd find one that would accept her, right?
"Mm-zzt-h?"
Why did she suddenly feel the twinging stab of a headache...? Oh dear, was she starting to come down with something after all those long hours in the shop? That would put a real sour note on her day, no questions asked. Odd though, the pain only lasted for a short while.
"H-zzt-... -zzt-esti-zzt-"
Nope, there it was again. Enough to be irritating, but thankfully not so much as to be distracting. Dismissing it as nothing all that important, Alicia continued onward. She admitted, though, to being rather surprised that she'd come across a younger boy with his arm very obviously set into a cast. The fact that that same boy was decidedly lacking adult supervision or support, the mechanic started to approach him, her worries reflected in her eye. She also got the idea that the boy was some ventriloquist in training, given that she was hearing odd voices from the kid's backpack. He was really good for his age if that was the case.
"Fo-zzt-im. Fi-zzt- -zzt-ital W-zzt-!"
Seriously not the time for another micro headache... shaking her head to clear her mind. She was in ear shot of the boy now, and called out to him, "Excuse me? Are you alright young man...? Or have you gotten yourself lost?" It should be noted that while her Japanese was clear and fluent, it was also pretty strongly accented, the way a foreigner's attempt to speak the language would be. And even now it was hard to keep her Texan roots out of her Japanese, something she suspected would be the case till the day she died. That, with its certainy, she could deal with. These odd micro headaches on the other hand...
|
|
|
Post by Kai Haimura on Feb 18, 2016 22:55:57 GMT
"Eh?" Oh crap oh crap oh crap. Shiro had been heard he was sure of it what to do. Why else would someone randomly be calling out to him... She was calling him, right? Or wait... Was he lost? What an utterly strange thing for someone to ask a complete stranger. Wasn't it her, with her clearly foreign accent, that was unsure of her way around? "Err, no. I'm fine. Why?" Depending on her answer... He could either have a large problem right now, or none at all. It was very stresful.
He was acutely aware of the two Digimon hidden in the bag at his side. All it would take for this all to come crumbling down would be Shiro piping up with something completely unnecessary. Please, Shiro, for the love of all that is holy... Be quiet for once!
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Feb 19, 2016 1:15:42 GMT
Frowning a bit, Alicia tilted her head. "Well, I admit I'm no doctor but even I have to wonder what a young boy with an arm injury so bad that a cast was used is doing near a train station. Shouldn't you be, I don't know, staying home at least?" Then again, she supposed it wasn't entirely impossible that the kid needed the train station to get to his home. Still didn't explain the lack of family or friends supporting him though.
Then she furrowed her eyebrows as another thought came to her. How did he get such a serious injury anyways? He certainly didn't look the type to play sports at first glance. Then again perhaps he was just the really fast type no one could catch up with? Given how diverse sports were, there probably was one that he could excel at. Still she was left with a few things she knew for sure: He was at a train station, he was really badly injured, and by his own answer he knew where he was trying to go.
"Oh well, do you mind if I accompany you to where you're going?" she asked, flashing a smile at him. Yes, it was effectively going out of her way to help someone else, but some kind of gut feeling said that she was going to regret leaving this kid to his own devices. It was almost like some slumbering instinct was pushing her onto this path, but that was ridiculous, right? Humans weren't the kind of people to pay heed to their instincts all that much. "I can't just ignore someone who I presume just got discharged from the hospital with injuries that bad, after all."
She neglected to mention that she was going to follow him anyways if he said no.
|
|
|
Post by Kai Haimura on Feb 19, 2016 3:50:09 GMT
"It's just a broken arm," And ribs, lung, and probably a kidney too, Kai said with a frown. Well, said and thought. What did this lady want with him? It was extremely unusual for a complete stranger to be so concerned with his welfare. Would he really be out and about if he didn't think he was well enough to? What had he gotten himself into?
Oh, and now she wanted to go with him? "Stranger Danger" warnings lit up in Kai's brain. Was she some sort of female pervert!? Well... Best not to jump to hasty conclusions. She could be a fellow Tamer who had noticed and was teasing him before revealing that she knew about Kuro and Shiro... Right? But could he risk being wrong? He was very concerned! And kind of wanted to run away!
To add to that- How the heck would she know how long ago he'd gotten out of the hospital!? He was supposed to wear the cast for another month at least! Didn't I say I was fine? What's it to you, anyways?" He asked coldly. The scar on her face... Did not reassure him one bit as to her intentions. He subconsciously took a step back.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Feb 19, 2016 4:12:36 GMT
'Just a broken arm' he says... That was almost too easy for him, like he'd had worse before. That thought on its own was worrying to Alicia. And it certainly wouldn't be the first time she'd seen a boy try and play it off something really painful as not a big deal. While it wasn't exactly a broken bone, her brother Jeremy had received some pretty bad injuries now and again while pursuing his own dream and attempted to pass them off as nothing.
"What is it to me? Well, I've had an older brother that's done some pretty foolish things when he was hurt and it was always up to me to get him the rest he needed. I guess I just projected a bit from a silly memory..." she began, pausing a bit as she noticed the boy step back. Oh geeze... Well, admittedly she was being somewhat pushy, wasn't she? "Anyways... I guess I jumped to a wrong conclusion in my haste. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."
'Sm-zzt- ... R-zzt- -zzt-h...'
She'd turned away just in time to hide the wince that accompanied her headache, and getting the distinct feeling that someone was embarrassed by her social failure. "Good bye then, hope you get better soon," she called softly over her shoulder as she started to leisurely walk away. Still, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that he was about to get into a dangerous situation again... Hopefully that wasn't the case.
|
|
|
Post by Kai Haimura on Feb 19, 2016 19:27:40 GMT
Kai was still... Not entirely comfortable with the weird lady with the scarred face who randomly asked him if she could accompany him... But she had let it go, so he would too. Shiro was bound to be getting impatient. So close to the place where he could be released from the bag! Shiro hated the bag... But it was the only way to keep him hidden on the way to the station. Kai watched the woman walk away, shrugged, then turned back to the station. What a weird person! And creepy, too.
The teenager soon vanished into the depths of the station. Odd, he wasn't walking towards any of the platforms... Not that anyone noticed, or cared. The further he went, the less people there were... Until it was just him, standing in front of an old, defunct terminal. What could he possibly be doing here? Casually, as if he had done this before, the boy took something out of his bag... Some strange handheld device, which he waved in front of the ticket scanner. Stepping through the turnstile... The boy disappeared.
And on the other side, he entered the Trailmon Terminal. A... Rather empty place, which was the easiest way between the human and the Digital world. Empty of humans, at least. Large trainlike Digimon known as Trailmon were prevalent here, carriages to the Digital World. And it was one of those Trailmon which Kai was moving to board.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Feb 19, 2016 22:59:42 GMT
'Well he's sure in a hurry... Maybe I'm stumbling over something a lot bigger then I first thought...' Alicia mused as she saw over her shoulder that the boy turned and was making a fairly fast pace. Almost like he was getting impatient from the delay. Or someone he knew that he was going to meet was getting impatient. Well, it worked to her advantage as she turned back to shadow him. As the crowds started to thin, she was starting to get a little worried. Not for the boy, exactly, but for herself. This was starting to get a little eerie, knowing he was heading right for what should be a shut down section of the train station.
Wait, there was power down here still? That seemed to be the case as the boy waved a device she couldn't make out from there and walked through as the turnstile unlocked. "H-!" she began, only for her eyes to widen as the boy vanished like some freaking magician. Just... poof, he was gone! What in blazes is going on here? And why was her latest headache getting worse?
"I sup-zzt this -zzt- -zzt-se enough."
"KYA!" The shocked scream came unbidden as she heard something talk to her as if through a broken radio. But no, there was nothing around to even hint at what the other person had spoken through. Who was it? And what'd they want with her!? She didn't dare voice that aloud though, that almost always lead to trouble.
Unfortunately the trouble seem to come to her anyways, in the form of a thick white mist appearing around her and obscuring her sight. She screamed again, but her voice was drowned out, leaving the woman to flail helplessly. She never noticed that her hand was suddenly gripping a strange device in her panic, nor could she see that she was near the turnstile.
Her hand guided by an outside force, her hand waved the device over scanner and she fell back through the turnstile. The boy she had met would be in for quite a surprise as she shrieked on appearance within the Trailmon Terminal, falling flat on her back and yelping. Given her eyes were closed tight from fear and pain, she wasn't quite aware of where she was at the moment, but even a cursory glance would make out the gray, black, and gold D-Scanner that had found its way into her hand.
|
|
|
Post by Kai Haimura on Feb 20, 2016 0:14:36 GMT
Kai had been about to board the Trailmon... When a shriek caused him to whirl around. "Are you o-" He began, cut off when he recognized the screamer. That creepy lady who had talked to him outside the station! Based on the shriek and the fall... She hadn't been expecting... Something. And, obvious in her hand, was a D-Scanner. A spirit user... And one who hadn't been to the terminal? Or was it all an act? In any case... Her being a spirit user made him relax a little. Made her slightly more approachable than just being a strange lady outside the train station.
"Are you all right?" Kai asked, stepping forward and offering his good arm to help her up. Shiro, meanwhile, was happy. They were finally in the terminal! He could leave the bag! Which he did with extreme gusto... And landed directly on the chest of the fallen woman. Whoops. "Whatcha lying down for? The floor's not a bed, silly!" Such a statement was... Classic Shiro. Kai chuckled despite himself. Only the white Digimon would be so out of touch as to confuse fallen down with lying down.
If he knew how recently the woman had received her D-scanner, he might have been less cheerful.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Feb 20, 2016 0:56:37 GMT
Alicia groaned softly and cracked one eye open as she heard the boy she was shadowing come up to her. "Ugh... This is not what I was expecting from today... First this fr-" Whatever she was about to say was promptly interrupted by the adorable white fluffy thing landing on her chest "Oof!" Blinking in surprise, she stared at the Digimon that had used her as a makeshift landing pad and then asked her what she presumed was a rhetorical question. "... Okay, I guess the world decided to just stop making sense for the foreseeable future. Talking cat-like critters are actually the least strangest thing to occur today..."
Then she smiled and sat up abruptly, hugging the Digimon as she did. "But you're so adorable! Everything is better now!" With that out of her system she seemed to regain her composure, setting the cat-like mon down on the floor and hopping up to her feet with a nervous chuckle. "Uh... sorry about all this..." she muttered sheepishly to the boy, at least having the decency to seem fairly embarrassed. It was only then that she noticed her fingers were still rather tightly wrapped around a device she'd never seen before. "W-Wait what? The heck is this...?" she asked, staring at the strange device.
Sighing to herself, she grumbled. "Stupid voice from no where... stupid weird fog-mist thing..." Shaking her head she took one last glance at the Tamer. "Okay... First, Explaining why I was apologizing and what I'm grumbling about. I admit I was still worried so I followed you. That lead to me seeing you wave some strange thing over what I thought was a powerless ticket scanner for a broken down turnstile. I saw you just up and disappear. Then after that I hear this weird static-y voice followed by creepy mist surrounding and blocking my sight. I flail around, trying to get out and wind up falling in here. Apparently somewhere in there someone left me this thing-" she paused for a moment to toss the D-Scanner up a few times, catching it easily enough every time. "-and that's pretty much it. Am I the only one who finds this series of events extremely unlikely and extremely convoluted!?"
Another sigh followed the mini rant, as Alicia hung her head. "So, for the sake of something relatively normal occurring in what will be a very strange day, shall we start over on the sorta-right foot? My name's Alicia Westfield. ... Err, Sorry, I still sometimes forget that the Japanese give family name first so that would be Westfield Alicia... I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you have some experience with whatever this is so I suppose I'll be in your care if we go together."
|
|
|
Post by Kai Haimura on Feb 21, 2016 6:11:43 GMT
Kai stared blankly for a moment. And then another moment. And then he clasped his hand over his eyes in what could best be described as a, 'Facepalm.' "Please... Tell me you're joking." From the way she talked- She had no prior experience with Digimon. And was in the Trailmon Terminal. Holding a Digivice. Also she was stalking him, but that wasn't an important detail."Well... The following me aside... I'm Haimura Kai. Nice to meet you. Now... I have a lot to explain. "
"Where to start... Well, Shiro here and his sister, Kuro," as if on cue, Kuro darted from the bag, climbing up to rest on Kai's shoulders. At the very least, she was careful to avoid the various injuries on Kai's torso on her way up. The digimon politely nodded at the woman on the floor, but did not speak. "They are creatures known as Digimon. Short for Digital Monsters. Creatures from another world, known as the Digital World. By the way- Now would be as good a time as any to ask you to hold any questions until the end. There's a lot to explain."
"Some Digimon, like these two, come to our world to form bonds with human partners, like me. Usually in the form of an egg, with some exceptions." Like me, he thought solemnly. "These humans are known as Tamers. But you are not a tamer, so the messy details of that aren't as important. You are what we call a Spirit User. That device in your hand is called a D-scanner. If you so choose... You can use it to turn into a Digimon." Well, this might be interesting. Everyone reacted to this revelation differently- From being unfazed, to wondering how they could live when their entire world flipped upside down.
He waited for a moment, then continued. "Spirit users do this through the use of Spirit Totems, hence the name, which are found throughout the Digital World... More than this, I'm afraid I can't explain. I'm a tamer, so I'm not exactly familiar with how Spirits work, other than that they do. What I do know is that your D-scanner will point you in the direction of a spirit, if there is one to be found. "
"Two more things. First, the place we are is known as the Trailmon Terminal. It exists between the human world and the Digital world. The digimon known as Trailmon which you see behind me take people and Digimon between the two worlds. Why it happens in Shibuya is, unfortunately, not something I know. And finally- Frequently asked questions. How the Digital World and Digimon came about is unknown. How people are chosen to become Tamers or Spirit Users is unknown. Digimon choose human partners because we help them grow into stronger forms. How exactly that works is unclear. I think those three are the main ones. Do you have any questions of your own?" He'd been getting more used to these massive explanations of the situation... But still felt like he had forgotten something.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Feb 21, 2016 7:12:16 GMT
Alicia couldn't help but chuckle nervously at the slow way Kai covered his eyes and the rather dead pan question that followed. "Um... sorry? I'm afraid I'm very serious here..." Well at least he seemed to believe her. She felt kinda bad heaping what seemed to be another instance of a recurring problem onto his metaphorical plate. She was about to speak up again, but the tamer mentioned he was about to get to explaining things so she stayed quiet and just listened in.
Frankly, she found the whole thing quite intriguing. The appearance of the other Digimon startled her a bit, Kuro getting her close attention for a short moment before she settled and nodded. Thankfully for Kai, Alicia was fairly well aware of when chiming in with random questions was a fairly bad call. Even before he mentioned that she should hold off, she made no move to even imply she was going to ask.
Admittedly, her eyes went wide at what was easily the most fantasy-like of the tamers words. The device in her hand would let her turn into one of these Digimon? She could only scarcely believe it. Honestly, had she not seen Kuro and Shiro, she might have dismissed the idea out of hand completely for that matter. As it was, she had to take his words at face value.
At last, his recounting of what he knew of their situations was done, and Alicia leaned back. "Heh... Hehehehe..." The young woman started chuckling softly to herself as she let everything sink in. "Sheesh... Morgan would completely flip out if he were to ever find out all this was going on here in Shibuya... This kind of thing is like straight out of one of those little short stories he sometimes does for fun on the side." Smiling a bit, she focused back on Kai. "But let me guess, bad things will go down if I let anything slip about what's going on to anyone not already involved, right?" She paused a moment herself, but regardless of his response, she continued on, moving to the metaphorical elephant in the room.
"So... no joke, this... 'D-Scanner' will let me transform into a Digimon." The finality with which she said it made it obvious she was merely repeating what he said, not asking him to confirm it one last time. "And here all I came to Japan for was to learn how to cook really good food... Now I've got myself wrapped up in some crazy alternate world shenanigans like a freaking comic book hero. Oh don't worry though, I'm not under the silly belief that I'll be invincible with this new power."
She smiled grimly, running a thumb over the scar on her face. "I've already experienced how easily life can be ended once..."
|
|
|
Post by Kai Haimura on Feb 21, 2016 21:08:33 GMT
Laughter. Laughter was... A new one, he thought. Usually he was met with either calm acceptance and questions, or panic and crying. He himself had been the former... Though, it may have been because he was half convinced he was dreaming. In any case, this was better than crying. He didn't think he could handle the tears of a grown woman. "It's no joke. And I know as well as anyone how dangerous Digimon can be. There's a lot... Who aren't exactly fond of humans. If you go to the Digital World to find your spirits... I would definitely recommend not going alone."
Normally he would say, don't go to the Digital World. Not until you are stronger. But because of the way spirits worked... To get stronger, one had to go to the Digital World. "Yeah! Like me!" Shiro chirped. After all, Shiro was the strongest! Who could make a better escort than he!? Thankfully, he seemed to be over his depression at failing to save Kai from the attack which caused the boy's injuries... Though, Kuro still acted morose. Kai... Couldn't believe he hadn't noticed how she was feeling until it was pointed out to him. Some Tamer he was!
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Feb 22, 2016 0:26:44 GMT
Alicia smiled a bit, standing tall again and clutching the D-Scanner close to her chest. "Right, so either go right to ground in the Digital World and basically be ninja-like, or only come in with a team." She could could get behind that. At least, if she knew more people who were aware of what was going on. "So, in light of the fact that you're literally the only other person I know who's involved in this mess, my only sane options are tagging along with you or just pretending this never happened until I meet more people partnered with Digimon or capable of using these 'spirit totems' like I am. There is of course the insane option of going solo for the time being, but you've pretty clearly stressed that that's a last resort only on top of still being a bad idea even then."
Sighing to herself, she folded her arms. "Seeing as I've burdened you enough with my antics, its only fair if you have he final say on how this goes down. Don't worry, I'll actually listen this time if you want me to leave. I'll probably come back later and at least try and get an idea of what I'd be dealing with over in the Digital World."
"Ye g-zzt-. Just h-zzt- on a d-zzt- Trailmon already!" Her musings were suddenly interrupted by a garbled shout that only she heard, causing her to double over and clutch her head in pain as she got hit with what might as well be the mother of all headaches. "Ah! F-Freaking OW!" she spat in response, cringing. "Really!? Now of all times!?" Alicia continued, glancing around again, looking for the source of the voice. "Go and take a dang sledgehammer to my head why don't you... And who the heck are you anyways!?"
The poor woman didn't realize that Kai was only hearing her end of the communication. Well... she had mentioned that she heard a freaky voice prior to winding up in the Trailmon Terminal.
|
|
|