justscribing | The City

[ ... ]

I think a guy who thought I'd be better off helping his roommate instead of him probably already knows them.
But I'll be sure to help with the people who really need it!

[Oh, she didn't fall for it at all and called it out. He'll have to hold her in higher regard.]

Clever observation.

Either way I'm already planning to investigate the fair tomorrow.

Then we should go together!
Saves you the problem of being coy, right?

How about if you manage to find me there you can tag along.

Unless you're busy with people who really need it.

Can do!
Don't worry, I don't think you'll have much luck hiding.

[Ominous? Either it's something to do with that sixth sense of hers or she really thinks Alhaitham sticks out like a sore thumb.

But true to his word he's around the fairgrounds come tomorrow evening. With a hollow metal bar from a dismantled clothing rack, because you really just never know. He tends to linger around the rides to watch them and mentally piece together how they function, but he'll give the full perimeter a walk.]

[ It's probably both. She knows what to look for and it's fairly easy to guess he won't be on the rides themselves (yet), so mid-perimeter jog, she spots him just up ahead and brightens. ]

Al!!!!

[ Enthusiastic waving too. ]

[Alhaitham turns slowly over his shoulder to look at Tsuruno at recognizition of her voice. The name takes a little longer--very few would dare act familiar enough with Alhaitham to shorten his name, and those who would usually use the back half.

So he's Al now. It's not a bother.] So you found me.

[Him, standing here, not even trying to hide at all.]

Yep! I knew I could do it.

[ A good humble teenager. Here she is. ]

Did you find anything weird?

Nothing that I would call an anomaly. Though in this place, that itself is an anomaly.

[Even the university pool had something strange with it. The ice cream shop. Only the bank and mall involved locking people up but not having some external horror or influence on their senses is... unsettling in a different way. Like waiting for the other shoe to drop.]

That is weird... it's just a fair? Nothing's going wonky with memories or feelings?

[ Hm. ]

... I don't know if I trust that.

It would be wise not to. [Hence the metal bar.] But the only thing to be done now is wait and see. I thought I'd stay after hours and see how things change once it closes.

[Just refuse to leave because really, who's going to stop him?]

Oh, I was thinking that too! It's when there aren't a bunch of people here that you should see if anything changes!

[ Alhaitham is so smart. Good man. ]

[It would be in opposite to the bank and mall but maybe this place just wants to keep them in their toes.] Then you must have prepared to be waiting around here for a long time.

Yep!

[ She gestures to the backpack she's got with her. ]

Granola bars, water, bandages, a jacket, a flashlight, a whistle, a--

[ Etc. ]

[Alhaitham sure does just let her list out everything. Once she's finally exhausted her preparation:] And is all of that for you, or other people that need it?

I've got enough to share! I'm used to working with a group back home.

[ Of... do-gooder delinquents? ]

A group related to your do-gooding delinquency, perhaps?

Yep. There are five of us.

And who is the leader among you?

... Mm, I wonder if there is a leader? Yachiyo's been doing it the longest, but Iroha-chan's probably the most earnest about it...

And where do you fit into that? [Not longest, not most earnest. And yet, she she's clearly invested. This isn't something she does that she doesn't want to do, as far as he can tell. But expecting yourself for others is demanding, and bypassing the law is risky. It's not a casual affair.]

I'm the mightiest!

[ Cheerfully. ]

But also I'm the plan-maker if the first set of plans doesn't work out. And the mood-maker to keep things lively! Oh, and I guess I've had to go for diplomacy a few times and I hit the hardest when I have to and...

[His first thought is oh, she's the strategist, but then her list of responsibilities goes and goes...]

If you're doing all of that, shouldn't you be the leader?

I don't mind taking the lead, but I'm better as support. Not everyone can do that.

[ And she says this so calmly and straightforwardly. ]

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