Not so Ordinary World

[Kwokinator]

"Alright, just wait here for a couple of minutes, I'm going to grab a couple of things and change," he then paused to take the time to wink at Shia. "Unless you want to watch me change?"

Without waiting for a reply, Maki walked into his room to change into a looser t-shirt and comfortable jeans and socks, making sure they're the kind of clothing that are loose and comfortable enough that they will not restrict any physical movements, like running or kicking.  

Grabbing the backpack he usually used, he put in a spare set of clothes and socks.  Walking into the kitchen, he grabbed a few bags of biscuits and some canned foods like canned cooked ham and salmon and tuna until the backpack is of a certain weight, not enough to weigh him down so much he would't be able to run should he need to, but enough that it provides a decent amout of supplies.

He then went to put on the best pair of running shoes he had, and finally retrieved the family katana from its stand, twirling it around once in his hand and slinging it on his shoulder.

"Alright, I'm ready."

[Liddo-kun]

You catch her in the middle of griping to herself about the comment you made upon leaving, but she clears her throat with a cough when she notices you've returned.  "Stay close," Shia tells you, before leading you out the door then past the gates to the street beyond.

"We're going to Korinja Temple to meet up with the others," she says over her shoulder.  "The place up on that hill."  She points out a spot about a block or two away.  You recall going there often enough for New Year's and for the summer festivals.

[Kwokinator]

"Alright," Maki nodded and followed closely behind.  He didn't know what to do yet if he were to meet another one of those creatures, so it was probably a smart idea to stick close to someone who knew what she was doing.

And what a behind to follow, too.

[Liddo-kun]

So busy was Shia on keeping an eye out for danger, as they made their way through the empty streets, that she was unwary to the dangerous eyes that watched her lecherously from behind.  It was just as well that she didn't notice as it would've been dubious as to whether she could carry Maki after beating him senseless with his own family sword.

It's unnerving, you note, to see the town you'd lived in all your life be so quiet and lifeless.  It was that very quality of somber stillness that made you wonder if something might not pop out of the bushes or around the next corner.  It was enough to put a damper on your voyuerism, if only a little bit.

[Kwokinator]

Maki decided he spent enough time observing the... scenery, so to speak, and began looking around the surroundings for possible dangers or monsters that jump out of corners.

"Hey," he spoke up, idly starting up a conversation so the trip wouldn't be so quiet. "How often do new people get dropped in here?  Do you have like a special task force that waits and rescues newcomers like me or something?  How'd you know where and when to go?"

"And since we're on the subject, if you knew those things were tracking me down to kill me," he added as an afterthought. "Why'd you smack me in the head with a frying pan?"

[Liddo-kun]

Shia considers your question with a hum.  "New people seem to show up every two weeks, so about twice a month.  And a task force?  We don't have anything like that.  The only reason I knew where to go was that your house lit up like a Christmas tree.  It was practically glowing in the dark with life energy."

In addressing your frying pan question, she gets an annoyed look.  "I wasn't supposed to be there..." she mumbles out, not deigning to look at you after having said it.

She then turns around and stabs you with an annoyed look.  "Besides," she says with a huff, "how was I supposed to react when I come in to find a ransacked kitchen then see some strange guy with a bat?  It was a normal reaction!"

[Kwokinator]

"What do you mean you weren't supposed to be there?" he asked, puzzled.  "And you came into somebody else's house, knowing they just arrived from another world, and smack someone in the head with a frying pan?"

"But if you only came when you smacked me, that meant someone else was at my house last night..." he muttered Maki muttered to himself. "Who could it be?  It can't be those things, because I would be dead already..."

[Liddo-kun]

"What I mean is that I wasn't supposed to leave the shrine on my own," she replies glumly.  "They said I wasn't ready to go out yet.  That I was--"

Shia shakes her head, waving off that apparent line of thought.  "Forget it.  They just thought I wasn't ready, okay?"

She seems to up her pace a tad in response to the annoyance she felt and seemingly brushes aside your other question.

[Kwokinator]

"Well, whatever the reason," Maki picked up the pace and continued following so he wouldn't be left behind as Shia seems to want to brush him aside along with his questions. "I should thank you because without you, I wouldn't be alive right now.  And since I haven't done that yet... thank you."

[Liddo-kun]

She gives you a barely perceptible nod in reply that leaves you feeling a bit miffed and frustrated.  It continues on like that in silence for another 20 minutes or so.  You hit the base of a steep bank of stone steps, which were interrupted only by the occasional Shinto gate.

"I have something to do first," Shia informs you, "so I'll see you later up at the top."

[Kwokinator]

Maki grit his teeth at the less than stellar reception of his gratitude.  He felt like Shia was being cold on purpose.

Either way, he still obeyed and continued to proceed to the top of the steps, despite his curiousity.  Although he wanted to ask what she had to do, it would't get him anywhere, judging from her response from previous questions.

[Liddo-kun]

You've been here before in your own world, but you don't recall it EVER being this hard to go up the steps.  It felt as if you were hauling a barrel of rice up or something and it was killing you since you were only at the halfway point, if your estimation was on the mark.

[Kwokinator]

Maki continues to push on, since he expected something or someone to be up at the top, especially since Shia said she was going to meet him at the top.

Nevertheless, pushing on doesn't exclude asking for help.

"Hey!" he cried out towards the top of what seemed like endless steps.

[Liddo-kun]

Sadly, nobody answers your call.  Though this area does seem to have nice acoustics as your plea echoes, echoes, echoes, echoes....

[Kwokinator]

Muttering silent curses to whoever that might be waiting up at the top, not helping him but probably laughing at how much trouble he seemed to be having going up simple steps.

He growled slightly with that though, as his stubborness surfaced and continued pushing on, refusing to yield to what must be supernatural forces weighing him down or allowing himself to be laughed upon by whoever watching at the top of those seemingly unending stone steps.