LOCKED TO blazingspirit

[diamondo]

[He doesn't remember much about his execution.

Oh sure, he remembers the lead-up to it; he remembers how the others looked on as he was led away and sure, he remembers Ishimaru's screams. He doesn't remember the death cage nor does he remember the sudden pain before it was all over.

It made waking up here incredibly confusing.

"Here" must be some sort of afterlife, but Mondo hasn't been able to figure out what it is, exactly. It's obviously not heaven (he's killed two people, he doesn't belong in heaven), but it doesn't seem to be hell either. Things are monotonous, yes, but they're not bad.

That leaves the option of purgatory, which Mondo is more or less fine with. It's better than spending an eternity suffering. It's probably not right for him to stay here instead of moving on to hell, but he doesn't know how or when that will happen. He's content to leave it at that for the time being.

This place is a rather large city - half of it is full of native English speakers, whom Mondo tends to avoid (his English is atrocious, after all), the other half is full of Japanese speakers. The city itself doesn't seem to be anywhere Mondo has ever seen, but it's large and spread out, with plenty to explore and do. Mondo hasn't seen everything there is to see though; he's only been here for a few weeks, and he knew if he wanted to make ends meet, he'd need a job first. Exploring could wait.

It's convenient that there's a carpenter's shop just down the road from the apartment Mondo woke up in. It might not technically be his, but he's been staying there until he can afford to properly rent it out. No one has complained so far, so he figures it's fine for the time being. The carpenter works him to the bone and he's never been so exhausted in his life when he comes home, but it's a good kind of exhaustion that means he's doing something productive. He can't make up for what he's done in the past, but he can help out here.

He's off work for the day, lounging around in what serves as the living room of his apartment, flipping through the newspaper. The dates here are all screwed up - it's almost winter here and he knows he'll have to put some money away toward buying proper winter clothes. That's only a minor concern though, because he has much bigger things to worry about.

In a city this large, it's possible that he's just missed seeing the others. He hasn't been looking very hard, admittedly. He's not sure what to say to them when he does see them. "Sorry" simply won't cut it for Fujisaki. He doesn't really want to see Kuwata, Enoshima, or Maizono either. He's sure it's only a matter of time before one of them finds him, or before someone else shows up here.

All he can do is hope that it won't be Ishimaru.]

Comments

[blazingspirit]

[Oh thank god, he seems to have been giving the older dude there a serious case of the wig; it's probably the eyeflames...

He brightens up immediately when he sees Mondo, however, his grin easy as he allows himself to be led; he kind of shrugs at the question, though hopefully goddamn pancakes are completely out of consideration at this point.]

I was doing some exploring earlier, but I think you'd know this place better than I would! Surprise me or something, I don't fuckin' care!

[diamondo]

[Mondo laughs at that and leads the way to a rather small hole-in-the-wall restaurant.]

I come here all the time; it's cheap, pretty fast, and really fucking good. Hope you like Italian!

[They're seated quickly and Mondo flips through the menu, still very obviously pleased to see Ishida.]

Glad you decided to come down and visit! I'd show you the place, but the boss's pretty strict, I doubt he'd go for it.

[blazingspirit]

Hey, it's no problem! It's kinda boring just staying in the apartment, you're right, though I should...uh...

[...wow, this menu is fascinating all of a sudden.]

I don't know, I should try to find a job or something, if I'm going to be here for a while. I kinda don't have money, and you aren't going pay for fuckin' everything.

[diamondo]

Do you have any idea where you wanna work? I can try to help you find something after I'm done for the day!

[He's still going to help pay for Ishida's clothes, that's a given.]

[blazingspirit]

No fuckin' idea. Like I said, you know the place better than I do.

[...]

I'll...see what's out there this afternoon, maybe. I don't have anything better to do, anyway.

[diamondo]

Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm sure you'll figure something out!

[blazingspirit]

Y-Yeah, of course!

[...may god help anyone who ends up wanting to hire this idiot.]

[diamondo]

You don't need to be nervous, kyoudai! I'm sure things'll work out great!

[...hopefully...]

[blazingspirit]

Who's nervous?! I have no reason to be!!

[...orz]

[diamondo]

Yeah, I know. So don't get so worked up about it, alright?

[blazingspirit]

I'm not!!

[Keep screaming, Ishida, maybe one day it'll make it true.]

[diamondo]

Hey, hey, calm down! People are starting to stare...

[Not that there are many people in the restaurant to begin with, but you know.]

You can always wait until I'm done with work. I can come with you, if you'd like!

[blazingspirit]

So?! Let the sorry bastards stare, if they don't have anything better to do!!

[Despite his words, though, he's quick to close his eyes, clearly trying to focus on calming himself down; it takes him a moment, but he seems to be successful, to some extent - he's still clearly uncomfortable and breathing harder than he should be, but at least the volume has come down.]

...Sorry. About that.

[diamondo]

[Mondo waits until Ishida has calmed himself down before speaking. He reaches out to awkwardly pat Ishida's arm. Look, he's trying.]

Hey, it's alright. I know it seems pretty fucking terrifying to begin with, but I can promise you, it won't be that bad. You'll figure out what to do and it'll get easier.

[blazingspirit]

...Yeah. Y-Yeah, it'll be fine.

[That touch on his arm is appreciated, okay, even if it is awkward as hell. We tried, kyoudai...]

Just...there's that bunch of shops near the apartment - meet me there somewhere after you're done work, okay?!

[He flinches a bit, seeming to realize he's getting loud again.]

...Sorry.

[diamondo]

Yeah, no problem! We'll get you a job, don't worry about that!

[Mondo then happens to glance at the time and he winces.]

Shit, I should probably get back. We'll get you some clothes after we're done job hunting, alright?

[blazingspirit]

All right - I'll look a bit while you're at work, because I can't do nothing, but I'll see you then!!

[diamondo]

[He trusts that Ishida will; if he's supposedly part Ishimaru and part Mondo, of course he will! Sitting idly by isn't something either of them do very well.

Anyway, Mondo manages to get off of work a few hours later and wanders around the shops, glancing in them and looking for any sign of Ishida. He just hopes it isn't a bad sign...]

[blazingspirit]

[...Well, he's managed to not get himself banned from any of them; that's a start, right? But as bad an idea as "Ishida in a place that's usually associated with quiet" really seems to be, he's found himself in a bookshop at the far edge of that row of shops; from the look of it, he's been there for some time, as he's currently leaning over the counter and talking to the girl behind it.

Or, well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the girl is talking at him while he nods in agreement once in a while; when he does reply with something that isn't implied assent or monosyllabic, though, the response is highly animated, accompanied with the usual tight, abrupt gestures and enough general passion to nearly level the shop. She doesn't seem too off put by it, though, and despite the fact that she's rather visibly shushing him once in a while, for the most part it...appears to be a reasonably sane and halfway normal conversation.

It doesn't take him long to notice that Mondo's out there looking for him, though, and he startles a little at it, moving to check his watch through habit (though of course he doesn't have it on, as it's still rather broken and more than a bit of a lost cause) before rather clearly telling the girl he's been talking to that he has to go; she stops him before he does, saying something else to him before he just sort of nods and leaves, coming to join Mondo outside.]

Hey! Keep you waiting long?

[diamondo]

[Holy shit, Ishida was talking to a girl halfway normally!! Where did he get that from, because it sure as hell didn't come from Mondo.]

Hey! Nah, you didn't. What were you two talking about?

[He'll just elbow Ishida in the ribs there, smirking like a douche. Holy shit, he's proud of you, man.]

[blazingspirit]

I didn't get her number or anything, if that's what you're asking!

[Dear god, kyoudai, why this.]

We were talking about academics and shit - she's going to some sort of college, I guess. We got started because she wanted help getting something off one of the shelves, and I asked her why she wanted that one because it was a shit read on the topic - she gave me a funny look and told me that it was for a customer who'd asked for it.

[............. orz]

She asked me later if I read up on that kind of shit, and we just kind of...ended up talking. I guess.

...look, she said she'd put in a good word for me with her boss, and I got a few other interview...things lined up this afternoon if that doesn't work out, so I've been busy, okay!

[diamondo]

Oh c'mon, you chatted her up and didn't even get her number?

[Mondo clicks his tongue against his teeth in disappointment. Not that it really would have mattered since they don't have a phone, but whatever.]

I'm glad you've calmed down a bit though! Are you ready for your interviews? Or did you wanna go buy clothes first?

[blazingspirit]

Well, I set them up for tomorrow so that I actually can figure out what I'm going to...say and shit - dealing with all of that right now won't end well, you know?! So let's just get some fuckin' clothes and be done with it!

[At least he's more excited than he is nervous, but dear god honey the yelling...]

[diamondo]

[Yes, well, you're getting hair-ruffles for your effort!!]

You'll be fine, kyoudai! But yeah, it might be good to get a decent idea of what you're gonna say. Alright, let's get you some fucking clothes!

[He'll let go then and start off in the direction of one of the large clothing stores; it's pretty generic, but they have cheap clothes and that's really all Mondo can afford right now.]

[blazingspirit]

[Oi, come on - he just kind of laughs a bit at that hair-ruffling, though, and he follows easily after Mondo once he's let go.

Ishimaru was never really one for clothes, and Ishida isn't either; really, he's just looking for something that can be considered presentable until he actually starts getting some sort of damn paycheck. He takes his time with it, though, checking the price tags on literally everything he picks up and seeming to run some sort of mental calculations before either setting it down again or taking it with him; it's a surprisingly meticulous process that results in him setting down way more than he's taking away, and it's obvious from the certainty with which he does it that he's used to this sort of thing on some level.

Though doing this in silence obviously isn't his idea of a good time either and he talks to Mondo a bit while he does so.]

You know I'm paying you back for all this shit, right?