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Post by Otohime on Aug 7, 2018 13:39:19 GMT
Otohime still could hardly believe it. She'd made a friend who actually came along to her home with her! Sure, she's made more friends, but Naoko was the first one to come home with her! Oooooh the excitement was too much to handle! She skipped off the train at Sakuradai Station, waving Naoko to come along.
"Come on, pal, we gotta trek on foot a bit to reach home! Then you can meet Jiro, and Masaki, and teach, and you can see my room, it'll be great!"
She was bursting with enthusiasm, clearly super stoked to be bringing Naoko home with her!
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Post by Toriya Naoko on Aug 7, 2018 22:32:26 GMT
Naoko adjusted her hoodie as she continued to follow Otohime along. It was worth noting that this was more or less the farthest out she had ever gone from home. Also worth noting was how she had a smile on what would normally be a perpetual poker face.
Excitement was abound, clearly! "How far's the trek? What exactly are we looking for?" She asked as she hurried along.
Nerima itself looked really cozy, as Otohime said. It was way different than Shibuya, though. Not so much to be considered daunting for Naoko, but it was a lot to take in. Girl was sheltered as heck, yo.
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Post by Otohime on Aug 8, 2018 19:45:47 GMT
"Trek's not that long if we go through the side-windin' alleys! We're lookin' for one of them old-fashioned big houses, with a really well kept front garden!"
Otohime led Naoko through the suburban grid of houses. Every corner looked the same, yet the sukeban knew exactly where to go. And lo and behold, they soon stood before a nice, large japanese-styled house with a white wall around the property. Near the entrance gate was a large plaque. It read "Keiji Madayoshi - Carpenting, Woodcarving. Est. 1973".
"This is the place! Let's go in! Teach is prolly in the back, gardening as usual. Oh, be sure tha take off yer shoes before ya go in, he's really tight-arsed about dirt in the house!"
Otohime then opened the gate, waving at Naoko to follow her!
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Post by Toriya Naoko on Aug 9, 2018 7:24:50 GMT
Oh, geez! Alleys?! Those were usually way out of the question, especially since trouble often lurked there more often than not!
...Or so Naoko thought. There was, in reality, very little trouble to be found if at all! There was only a maze of houses, a maze that looked entirely the same and with no end in sight. Naoko was starting to get a little dizzy before they had actually reached the property.
It looked...quite majestic, Naoko uttering a quiet "Wow..." and staring before she blinked and followed Otohime past the gate, peering all over the place as the duo moved into the property...er...proper.
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Post by Otohime on Aug 10, 2018 9:23:57 GMT
Otohime walked straight down the main hallway.
"Yo, Teach, I'm home!"
"I am in the garden.", called a male voice from outside.
Otohime headed straight for the backyard. Once she arrived, and Naoko appeared behind her, two of the three garden occupants vanished into the foilage.
"No no no, she's cool, she knows about you guys."
The head of an Alraumon reappeared first from the foilage.
"For real? What are the odds?"
Next, Jiro's orange head re-emerged.
"E-e-eh?"
And finally, the old man who had been sitting there, calm and stern, nodded.
"Yes. This would be the friend that Otohime told me she would bring home."
"T-t-t-teach, I'm Ryuko."
"Otohime is a very beautiful name. You should be more proud of it."
The old man then rose. He was about as tall as Naoko was, had a bald head and an impressive white beard. He wore a gardener's apron, and a yukata underneath that. Despite his apparent age he looked spry and well trained, he'd put many people far younger than himself to shame. He then bowed at Naoko.
"My name is Keiji Madayoshi. It is an honour to meet you. Otohime has already told me a lot about you."
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Post by Toriya Naoko on Aug 10, 2018 9:57:06 GMT
Naoko did indeed follow Otohime in, to find two people scrambling for the foliage. She waved at the Digimon showing themselves, taking note of Jiro and the Alraumon. "H-Hi! I was told about you two already so you don't need to worry about anything." She nodnodded. It was notably taking a lot of effort to not squee at Jiro.
A lot. Of effort.
"Ryuko's a cool name, yes, but...Otohime also comes from characters that more or less mean maiden princess, so...yeah, there's beauty in it as well as the other name..." Naoko bowed in return towards Keiji. "I'm Naoko Toriya. Uh...has she actually...?"
Oh gosh, she was blushing!
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Post by Otohime on Aug 10, 2018 10:06:33 GMT
Both Jiro and Masaki emerged from the foilage, rather relieved. While Masaki just returned to gardening, Jiro clung to Otohime's legs, still rather unsure what to make of this new human.
Keiji laughed at Naoko's statement.
"Believe me, young one, you will never find a woman less princesslike than my dear Otohime."
"Y-y-eah, you heard him, I ain't no fukken princess!"
Regardless, Otohime was blushing.
"I am quite happy that my child has found a friend at last. Please, you must tell me all about yourself. Oh, but where are my manners. First, let me get some tea and some treats."
The old man then hurried inside, leaving Otohime still looking away, red-faced.
"I'm not a princess..."
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Post by Toriya Naoko on Aug 10, 2018 10:17:54 GMT
"...She reminds me more of a character in one of the manga I read sometimes than anything..." Naoko mumbled. She still stood by what she said a little! But only a little.
The girl took note of the fact she made someone else blush and...was actually more than a little stunned. She peered between the old man and Otohime briefly, before adjusting her hoodie. "S-She's a really nice friend. Bit intimidating but she's been a good friend." Naoko managed an awkward smile as Keiji went to grab tea and treats, before glancing towards Otohime. "...Um...Maybe not a princess in the traditional sense but...a cool one? One with a bat? Er..."
...Could she salvage the situation?
Maybe not. "...Forget I said anything, uh...Sorry..."
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Post by Otohime on Aug 10, 2018 14:40:40 GMT
Otohime avoided Naoko's gaze as Keiji returned with tea and senbei...carried on a small table the man was carrying with little effort. He also had 5 pillows pinned under his arm, to kneel-sit upon. The table and pillows were set down, and the tea was distributed over 5 old ceramic cups. Then Keiji asked everyone to have a seat, including Masaki. The Alraumon seemed happy to take a break for tea.
Keiji sipped from his searing hot tea, and exhaled a little cloud of steam, as if the heat did not bother him.
"So, it would appear you are attuned to yokai, yourself.
Otohime groaned.
"Come on, Teach, I told ya they're Digimon!"
"Yes. Yokai called Digimon."
Otohime just groaned and bit into a senbei.
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Post by Toriya Naoko on Aug 10, 2018 16:18:00 GMT
Naoko was amazed at Keiji just...carrying all of that with little to no effort for a man his age. It did a good job to distract her from the still flustered Otohime, that's for sure. So, she took a seat with the old man and the Alraumon. She was about to echo Otohime's statement, when it hit her.
Some Digimon -could- be made from data involving yokai in some regard...So...what would -those- be? "Mmmm...I mean, they're their own thing instead of spirits...." Naoko stated, blowing on her tea a little to cool it down before she took a sip. "And I did say they were basically just aliens from a computer once...Oh, man, I dunno if I should tell this story or not..."
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Post by Otohime on Aug 10, 2018 16:43:09 GMT
"I wanna hear your story!"
Masaki was quite intrigued by Naoko's implications that something worth telling happened! Keiji was rather more calm.
"Listen, I am now 68 years of age. All this talk about fancy computer stuff flies right above my head. But I know a yokai when I see one. I am not the head of the local folklore club for nothing. And a being that can defy nature as we know it? That sounds like a yokai to me, even if you call it a "Digimon" or a "computer aliens".
..regardless, I agree with Masaki, I would be interested in hearing your story."
Otohime, too, was quite intrigued now, as she petted Jiro's head while the Dracomon nibbled on some Senbei.
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Post by Toriya Naoko on Aug 10, 2018 16:54:42 GMT
"They're similar in nature to yokai, but they aren't." Naoko began, before she turned to Masaki. "...Wait, really? Uh...Okay. I'm no storyteller but...Basically, I was going to school one morning and my partner--A Tinkermon called Titania, she snuck in my back but then my english teacher hid a digiegg under her desk. And it hatched. In the middle of class. And then everyone and their mother's partners started popping out, mine included, and it was a big ol' cluster of weird and...also slightly grating because one of my classmates had a red Digimon that kept trying to extort people out of their food."
Naoko basically said almost all of that in a few breaths, and resumed drinking her tea and munching some senbei. "So yeah, that's how my english class knows I have a fairy queen in my backpack sometimes."
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Post by Otohime on Aug 10, 2018 17:10:21 GMT
Misaki was, regardless, quite impressed.
"Whoa, more Digimon in the Real World! I thought I was one of a low number! I've been around Shibuya for 23 years now!"
Keiji took another sip of hot tea.
"Indeed. Me and him, we've known each other for quite a while."
"Hahahaha, I remember when you first found me in your garden and you tried to exorcise me with ofuda! That was silly."
"Well, that is how you deal with Yokai."
Otohime chuckled.
"Hahahah, you never told me 'bout that, teach!
And man, that sounded rough, Nao! How's your class doin' now?
...not to mention, what's school like, anyway?"
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Post by Toriya Naoko on Aug 11, 2018 5:41:41 GMT
Naoko was thankfully someone that was not prone to spitting their drink out over hearing crazy stuff. But, Masaki did prompt her to tilt her head. "Twenty three years? Wow..." That's how long these guys have been a thing here?
Interesting. Though, Keiji seemed very deadset on thinking that Digimon were in fact just Yokai. The lot of them. Though, she did wonder if paper tags worked on certain Digimon....Naoko then glanced to Otohime. "Well, we're doing alright now. Just that I know some people have Digimon now and some don't and it's a secret among the entire class and the teacher."
Wait, did Otohime not...know what school's like? Naoko tilted her head again in silence for a few seconds, before deciding not to press the topic. "Well...It's...boring when you have an entire other world to explore. Sure, I can see the importance of it but...Yeah. Before then it was the better part of the weekday and Saturday for me. Now it...hm. I'm not sure..."
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Post by Otohime on Aug 11, 2018 17:16:27 GMT
Masaki nodded sagely.
"Yup, been here for reaaaaaally long. I eventually gave up on trying to go back, seeing how 161 years passed over in the Digital World. Most things I care about are prolly gone by now. Besides, Keijo is a great guy, we've been friends for twenty-two of these years!"
Otohime seemed surprised at Naoko's explanation of school.
"Eeeeeh? It's boring? I always thought that was just Teach's way of teaching!"
Keijo took a sip of tea.
"For considering my teachings boring, you sure were eager to learn more every day after I helped you overcome your obstinacy."
"H-h-hey!"
Keijo just smiled.
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