[ wanderlust. ]

live and learn or die and teach by example - ☼ - indie kei shidou written by kit

[kaikxtsu]

@keishidou

Running...it always seemed like the best way for Miki to work on her stamina. She tried to keep a variety when it came to her exercises, but the simplest thing she could do was either run, or train. She was just thankful the hotter weather was letting up. It made her usual outfit of choice a little less unbearable to wear when she was out for longer than usual. 

Slowing to a stop, Miki sighed and plopped down onto the nearby bench to sit for a moment, picking up her bottle of water to take a drink out of it before glancing over at the familiar brunette who was in the spot next to where she’d sat. 

“Has the physical activity been helping much, Kei?”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu​:

@keishidou

Running…it always seemed like the best way for Miki to work on her stamina. She tried to keep a variety when it came to her exercises, but the simplest thing she could do was either run, or train. She was just thankful the hotter weather was letting up. It made her usual outfit of choice a little less unbearable to wear when she was out for longer than usual. 

Slowing to a stop, Miki sighed and plopped down onto the nearby bench to sit for a moment, picking up her bottle of water to take a drink out of it before glancing over at the familiar brunette who was in the spot next to where she’d sat. 

“Has the physical activity been helping much, Kei?”

     Of course Miki would end up over here, why wouldn’t she? Still, Kei can’t say she doesn’t appreciate the company, especially when she’s as tired as she is and undoubtedly not quite ready to get back on her feet.

      “Oh, you know--” She exhales a shaky breath as a hand reaches up to brush the messy bangs from her face. God, she needed a shower. “I’ve been super sore but I guess I kinda expected that much. My body still kind’ve feels like garbage but getting up and around more makes me feel a little less restless and stir crazy at least.”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu·:

“I don’t….I don’t really know exactly how long? Longer than a month, that’s for sure.” She scratches her head. They arrive at a town soon enough. Extremely unfamiliar territory for Kei most likely, looking nothing like Japan and more like one of those busy little village towns you saw in video games. She continued on their way towards a large building nearby that resembled a tree.

“We all ended up here, pulled in by some kind of…magic, available here. It’s a long story that….I’ll have to explain to you sometime, definitely. But a lot of us when pulled here ended up in…classes? Senpai compared it to a video game, I think. We learned how to use tools and weapons to defend ourselves against dangerous creatures around here.”

     The more Miki explained, the less Kei felt she understood. Classes? Weapons? Creatures? A video game? She’s starting to seriously consider the possibility that this is just some sort of fever dream her undead mind has dwindled away to, a delusion she happened to be wandering with stark clarity for whatever reason.

     Man, she wasn’t even super into games. Why in the world is this what her brain spat out?

     “W... w-wait, wait, wait...” Kei waves her hands in front of her, head shaking lightly from side to side. “I... yep, this definitely isn’t real. I thought it was all way too weird to be true, but now I’m definitely sure that I’m.... I’m just.... I have no idea, actually, but--”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu​:

Miki tries to push aside any reluctance, as she sheaths her blade and readjusts her shield so it’s out of the way on her arm. She wraps an arm around Kei, and Kei’s arm around her shoulders, before helping her through the forest. She was certainly more physically capable than Kei might remember she was before. Perhaps it translated from her time in their own world, but physical activity, while still strenuous when pushing her to exhausting limits, wasn’t as much of a burden on the small blonde now. 

“…from back home. We all ended up here. Like you have. It’s…all very complicated, and we hardly understand it ourselves aside from the bare basics that the original residents of this world have told us.”

She hesitates, and clears her throat, looking forward rather intently–worriedly. 

“How long have you been here?”

     Man, that was a lot to digest from even what little Miki was giving her. Others, from back home? And what about ‘original residents’? What even was this place? Her head is buzzing with all the unspoken questions as she considers where to even begin, or more importantly, if she even cared about any of that right now when she was so much more selfishly wrapped up in reuniting with Miki.

     How long had it even been since they had seen one another last? Kei isn’t sure there’s even a way to know anymore, between everything that’s happened, but she doesn’t care at all. The comforting familiarity of a friend almost feels like more of a gift, a miracle, than life itself.

     “I just woke up.” Kei admits, lips pursed in a frown. “H-How.... long have you been here? It sounds like you’ve settled in at least and... and you definitely look, uh.... well...”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu·:

“That’s…” Miki, despite everything in her wanting to approach or…do anything comforting, really, stayed rooted where she was, uncertain still of what to do at the moment. At least after some deliberation, she walks over, and kneels over by where Kei slumped. 

“…Mostly safe. At least, it is where I’ve been staying with the others.” She offers a hand. “Which…it may be better to explain this to you after I take you there. I was out here to make sure there were no threats around…I haven’t found anything, but I wouldn’t want to take my chances. Can you stand again? I can help you move, if you need it.”

     “Others?” Kei tilts her head. 

     God, how long had it been since she had seen other people? Not since the infection first spread and she had taken residence with a group in the mall alongside Miki... something that inevitably went very bad, and probably wasn’t going as great as she had assumed to begin with.

     She reaches out to take Miki’s hand, more for the comfort of it than out of concern for her own unsteady legs and as much is obvious by the way she leans into any closeness she can get without a bit of hesitation. Had Miki always been so warm anyways? She doesn’t know, but it was...  nice.

     “What.... kind of others did you run into...? From around here or.... o-or, like, back home?”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu·:

This felt so…Miki felt uneasy. She knew there was something here, and she couldn’t tell if that was a friendly thing or a dangerous thing. What would she do once she found whatever it was? She had to engage it–she couldn’t risk anything unsafe getting too close to where they lived. 

She looks around. Looking straight ahead however, she realizes something–no, someone–is standing nearby, and looking directly at her. Brown hair, brown eyes, an outfit not dissimilar to her own…the familiar actually, just for a moment, she could swear, makes her heart stop. If nothing else, she certainly forgot to breathe for a few seconds. 

Miki staggers when the figure makes contact. Her sword clatters to the ground, arms lowered and pure, confused shock written all over her face, as Kei sobs into her half-armored uniform, babbling and only slightly coherent. 

She didn’t understand. How was…why? Well…Megumi was here, was she not? But Kei…hadn’t been here with the rest of them. She hadn’t been brought over. Why…why was she here now? Was she really here now? Or was Miki’s delirium finally catching up for once? 

“I…I-I don’t….understand…”

     Kei certainly didn’t understand either; not how she was alive, not how she got here, and certainly not how she’s being allowed to reunite with Miki. It all seems too good to be true but the clarity in which it wa all happening was impossible to deny, and Kei doesn’t know what else all of this could possibly be. 

     A small and shaky exhale passes from her lips as she finally releases her grip on Miki, instead making her way to a nearby tree and allowing her back to rest against it as she sinks to the forest floor. Literally anything to alleviate the dizziness and give her any remote sense of being grounded.

     “W.... w-where even are we?” That was one place to start, she guessed. Miki seemed to have her wits about her more than Kei at any rate; they may be wearing similar strange uniforms, but Miki’s sword and shield spoke to.... something else. “Are.... i-is this place s-safe or....”

     That was one way to avoid the question that was really nagging at her, but Kei’s not sure she can bring herself to ask about the infection when for the first time in god knows how long, it felt like her lungs, her heart, her mind was free of it.

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu​:

“I…doubt you need to worry about me giving you uninvited attention…I don’t really…talk to people much. Or know anyone really that substantial, outside of family I no longer live with.” She didn’t even speak to them, all that much, either. So really, Kei was dealing with about the safest, most isolated human she could possibly be. For better or worse. 

It certainly made Miki sound a little pathetic, if nothing else.

“I guess you do have a point though…um…if I may ask then…without being impolite, I mean–what are you, exactly?”

     Oh, humans really didn’t know much about anything at all, did they? Kei had to remind herself that this girl probably never interacted with genuine magic before, that she very may well be learning things that change her very understanding of the world today, but.... geez.

     “A dragon.” Kei replies simply, with a small shrug. “I suppose you’ve probably come to know them more as animals than magical entities, but this is more or less what we tend to actually look like. Well... that’s not to say we don’t or can’t have other forms, but that seems besides the point.”

     With a lofty wave of her hand, she continues, “I guess if I was going to try and explain it in a way you might understand, we’re a lot like your understanding of wizards, just of a more obviously separate species. Because we’re so closely linked to nature, it’s generally because of that we’re able to manipulate that energy to cast magic, and also why we tend to live in the same place for so many generations. Part of my ‘job’ here as groundskeeper and all I mentioned earlier, if I was going to call it something like that.”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu​:

Oh, she got excited so quickly. It really…probably cemented how apparently lonely Kei got. She’s never really been met with that much excitement, with the news she was sticking around somewhere. It was unusual to experience.

“Um…is there anything I can do then? To help you out with that.” She wouldn’t stop thinking she was a burden here, so she might as well try to actually help with something while she was at it. 

     “Isn’t the point for the host to take care of the guest?” Kei giggles and shakes her head. “If you really want to though, there’s clean blankets and sheets and so on in the hallway closet... the spare room is the one directly across from it, even. You can take care of that while I find you something more comfortable to wear.”

     They were... about the same size, really, if you were to ignore the horns and tail that make Kei seem a bit more than the short, skinny girl she is. Miki should be able to fit her pajamas fine enough.

     Kei hums thoughtfully for a moment before turning back to the other girl.

     “Oh, and, before I forget- since we established there’s probably a lot you don’t really... understand about something like me... if you have any questions about anything while you’re here, I’m happy to answer them. I of course have to ask you not bring uninvited attention to myself or my home but I’m more than glad to let you get to know more about me, if you’d like.”

     How transparent.

     With a little hint of something resembling ego, she adds, “It’s a very rare opportunity to get a proper source that’s more accurate than those books of yours, after all--”

[hibanny]

Gakkou Gurashi! volumes 1–8 inside covers. (volume 9)

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu·:

This felt so…Miki felt uneasy. She knew there was something here, and she couldn’t tell if that was a friendly thing or a dangerous thing. What would she do once she found whatever it was? She had to engage it–she couldn’t risk anything unsafe getting too close to where they lived. 

She looks around. Looking straight ahead however, she realizes something–no, someone–is standing nearby, and looking directly at her. Brown hair, brown eyes, an outfit not dissimilar to her own…the familiar actually, just for a moment, she could swear, makes her heart stop. If nothing else, she certainly forgot to breathe for a few seconds. 

Miki staggers when the figure makes contact. Her sword clatters to the ground, arms lowered and pure, confused shock written all over her face, as Kei sobs into her half-armored uniform, babbling and only slightly coherent. 

She didn’t understand. How was…why? Well…Megumi was here, was she not? But Kei…hadn’t been here with the rest of them. She hadn’t been brought over. Why…why was she here now? Was she really here now? Or was Miki’s delirium finally catching up for once? 

“I…I-I don’t….understand…”

    Kei doesn’t understand either, any of it. A person like her shouldn’t be alive right now and it was a fact she understood all too well-- maybe Miki doesn’t understand the depth of the situation, she can’t be sure, but for Kei? Every breath she took was a reminder she had no idea where she was or what was going to happen from here forward.

    But that’s okay. Miki is here.

    And it just has to be her, it has to be with a voice so familiar, a body she had embraced dozens of times over, even that measured uncertainty Kei had come to find comforting. This moment is one she knows so well it’s overwhelming and she feels like she could drown in it if she wasn’t careful.

    A slow and deep breath attempts to calm her uneven hiccups and messy tears, but even then it does little but betray how shaky, how dizzyingly out of sorts, Kei was starting to feel. Her fingers curl in the fabric of Miki’s clothes with the determination of a lost child desperate and afraid.

    “I-I.. a-ahh.... M-M...y-you...” Another deep breath, this one comes out slightly less erratic. “I-Is it.... r-really you? A-Are we r-really.... t-together again...?”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu·:

Her name? Miki blinked, looking around harder, yet more cautiously. That voice…sounded so familiar. And yet…no. No that just…couldn’t be possible. This is just a cruel trick. 

“E-excuse me? W-who’s there?” She pushes out, daring to find the source of the voice, and soon, sword drawn and shield positioned in front of her warily. If this was some cruel threat, she’d take it out quickly. Otherwise just…just trying to find out what was going on.

     Once might be a trick, but twice? That had to mean something. If it was disappointment so be it; Kei couldn’t just sit back with all the mistakes she’d made up until point buzzing in her head, the things she wanted so desperately to get to say to her threatening to boil over at even the thought. Her heart is pounding.

     She takes off in the direction of the voice as fast as her legs can carry her. By the time she breaks out of the thick of the woods into the more open, trodden path her lungs are practically screaming in protest and the way her body shakes with nervous energy is hard to ignore. 

      It’s nothing compared to the emotions that crash into her when she finally spots a far too familiar face, the waves that hit when she finally sees Miki. 

      “A-.... A-Ah.... y-you... y-y-you’re...!” Any thoughts are cut off abruptly when Kei rushes forward to cling to her friend, doe-eyes already spilling over with messy tears and lip wobbling pitifully. “M-Miki, y-you’re here, y-you’re r... r-r-r...” A sniffle. “I-It’s r-really y-you--”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu·:

These forests were quiet…well, kind of. No–mostly. Miki wondered if she should have explored around here with one of the others with her, instead of just trudging in here on her own stubbornly. But she had taken it upon herself, quietly, to keep everyone safer, and she was going to act on that, by God. 

Still, she couldn’t help but worry if there was something actually here, waiting in the silence and watching her. Call it paranoia though. 

That said, she could have sworn she heard something. A voice or something. She wasn’t sure. 

“….H…hello?”

     No. No way. That... it couldn’t be, right. She knew that voice all too well but on top of everything else going on, it was beyond too good to be true. There was no way any of this was going on unless this was the afterlife and she was somehow finally really truly dead.

     But oh god she just cannot leave it at that. Not with how many regrets she had been carrying for god knows how long.

     “M-Miki?!” Kei stammers out, scrambling to her feet before calling out, “I-Is that you?”

[keishidou]

@kaikxtsu​

     Ah.... what was.... going on?

     Kei rubs her head, sitting up on the floor of the forest she had ended up in. Her head was ringing, she felt dizzy, and that was nothing on the fact that she had no idea where she even was. Even if she wracked her brain, her last memories were of her argument with Miki, of leaving the mall, of barricading herself in that room after she..... after she was....

     Bitten. After she got bitten.

     Everything after is fuzzy, but it’s there. Vague images of the school. People who look too familiar for her taste. None of it explains how she’s ended up in this situation though, seemingly fine by all means compared to her past fate.

     “Er....”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu·:

Hm…Miki shouldn’t be pondering it as much as she is. Technically she was already considering the supposed threat of the fog, but…she almost felt a little bad. Now that she was wondering just how solitary it must be out here.

She felt sympathetic. It sucked constantly being by yourself. Kei didn’t seem so bad–it was an unusual circumstance for Miki to experience sure, but if Kei meant her harm, she would already be harmed by now. 

“If you don’t mind company that isn’t…really very good at interaction. I suppose I will. Maybe you’re right…it would be safer for now.”

     “A-Ah? You will?” Kei seems to perk up immediately, taking both of Miki’s hands in her own and offering an enthusiastic squeeze as her tail coils eagerly. "That’s settled, then...! We’ll have everything taken care of in no time.”

    Try as she might, Kei can only temper her nature so much-- in that moment, she couldn’t care less about being so easily read or coming off as overeager or, hell, even the part of her that knows better than to grab at a human so wildly with those frightening claws and rough scales. Company was company, but to pretend time with this endearing and fascinating human wasn’t the biggest cherry on top?

    Oh, she’s thrilled to be getting her way and then some tonight. 

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu·:

Hm. She imagined it would get pretty lonesome out here in the woods. And that was putting aside the fact that Kei wasn’t even human. Miki had a hard enough time shaking the feeling of loneliness herself, and she was in an apartment in a busy city, among other humans. She couldn’t really imagine living alone in the middle of a forest, even if it was serene and calm in comparison to city life.

“I see…that’s unfortunate. It’s never pleasant, to feel like that.”

     No, it wasn’t. Maybe that was why she was acting out to begin with, maybe her isolation had finally hit a peak and it was making her act crazy and childish in brand new and exciting ways such as... whatever all of this qualified as.

     Kei sighs, pushing that thought from her mind.

     “I suppose.” She shrugs. “Like I said, I’m used to it by now. Worrying about that too much is like complaining that the grass is green-- I’d only be wasting my own time and energy.”

     She blinks a bit, only to offer a quick shake of her head as she straightens out her posture and glances over to Miki. “But... you’ll stay then? Just for tonight.”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu​:

“I mean…n-no I believe you…” If Kei wanted to hurt her, she could have done that at any point by now, really. She looks at the hand over her own, and clears her throat. “It’s just…I hate to be a burden, just because I foolishly tried to pass through the woods at an inopportune time. I failed to consider the danger, and now here I am troubling you.”

Oh, of course her worry would be based on troubling Kei, rather than the risk of Kei being trouble for herself. 

     “That’s what you’re worried about?” Oh, how ironic. “Trust me, it’s no bother at all. I just told you, right? That I don’t get much company all he way out here. Having someone around for a bit is a nice change of pace if anything.”

     With a small sigh, Kei reclines against her seat, a pout curling at the edges of her lips.

     “To tell the truth it gets more than a little lonesome and boring out here, but I suppose there’s not much to be done about that for better or worse.”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu​:

“Oh uhm…I don’t need much, honestly….I didn’t exactly plan on imposing in the first place, to be blunt.” She would have to stay the night here? She didn’t expect that. The prospect made her nervous–now more so because the idea of sleeping in a stranger’s house made her so anxious she just plain didn’t have the ability to fall asleep.

“I didn’t realize the fog would linger that long…overnight?”

    Kei blinks a bit, scarlet irises watching Miki’s reaction with quiet consideration. She seemed so... anxious, almost pitifully so really. Some part of her can’t help but wonder if it’s personal affairs, somewhere to be or someone to get back to, or maybe the less pleasant something to get away from. It’s a thought she tries not to linger on-- Miki seemed fine enough around her so Kei had no choice but to just accept that she was and hope it was genuine.

     “Ah.... well.... “ She clears her throat. “If you need to get back tonight, I suppose it’s possible, it’s just getting late and dark and the path will only get more difficult to navigate from here, particularly for you, so, ah...”

     Don’t go. The words are on the tip of her tongue, too eager and far too transparent.

     Instead, Kei allows the more human of her hands to reach over and rest atop Miki’s, offering a gentle squeeze as her lips curl into a small smile. 

     “It’s up to you, but if you have the option, I really do think a little rest and another shot at it in the morning is the best, safest route. I know this is probably a little, er.... difficult for you...” A sheepish laugh tinged with unease follows. “But I just want to make sure you’re taken care of. That’s my job, like I said, mm? To look after these woods and anything that might be passing through them. I’m sure it’s hard to believe but it really is as simple as that.”

[keishidou]

kaikxtsu:

“Music is nice as well…though the piano is my only real outlet for musical expression.” Miki is at least a little less uncertain about how to carry a conversation now that there was a subject at hand.

“Do you have a particular kind of music or instrument that you like?” She then asks, looking over at Kei with faint curiosity. If the dragon girl could be curious about her, the human could be curious about her too, right?

    “Hm? Me?” Kei blinks.“Er... well-”

     Her thoughts are cut short by the loud squeal of the kettle from the kitchen, Kei offering a quick shake of her head as she hops up to go handle their tea. Really, she was so wrapped up in her company she completely forgot about it...

    “Sorry about that.” She sighs under her breath as she returns with a small tray to set on the coffee table. For good measure, Kei includes a bit of fruit as well; if Miki was hungry, she didn’t seem like the type to go out of her way to say so after all.“Ah... if you want though... perhaps after we finish up here I could show you some of my instruments.”

    After a moment of thought, she adds, “We’ll have to get your room arranged for the night as well. To tell you the truth, I’m not entirely certain what sort of things a human even needs aside from, uh, what I assume to be the obvious, but--”