outsiderslogs | Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.

Lyall has passed by this room twice now, in wolf form, on some business or another. Both times, he was curious, but it was hard to ask questions as a wolf. So now he's back, fully human formed, dressed in his preferred mode-- Victorian, like he'd arrived in, even if the garb isn't quite right from what he's managed to scrounge, beg, and describe to other people to make-- and peering inside the open door quizically.

"Good afternoon," he begins, polite as usual, when there's a break in the work. He even thinks it actually is afternoon. Somewhere.

Right before he manages to open the door enough for a peek, Dun interrupts him and stands right at the doorway, preventing the other man from having anything other than a quick glimpse inside. Scowling heavily, he glares and snaps at him. "What is it? Don't you know you have to knock before you enter someone's property?"

Peering up at the one-eyed fellow for a beat, Lyall then steps back politely and keeps his expression mild. "The door was ajar," he explains. "But that is no excuse for poor manners. I do beg your pardon. I can continue on my way, if you would prefer."

"If you have no business with me, then yes, leave."

And with that, Dun shuts the door sharply in his face. Really, what is wrong with the people of today, don't they know that you can't simply walk into property just like that? Back home he'd have a door attendant to address anyone who knocked or prevent others from entering just like that. Honestly, he'll never get this new culture, he's fine with what he had back home.

The slam takes Lyall rather by surprise, and he blinks at the door a few times before gathering his wits back together. "Well!" He frowns at the door, bares his teeth a little in rather useless defiance to the utter rudeness-- to anyone passing by, they even go briefly sharp-- before turning away and going on his way.

Not worth it. Any kind of confrontation will turn into a challenge, and that... simply isn't worth it.

Dun looks up and quickly turns around, facing the now-closed door. He could've sworn he felt something...something dangerous that abruptly faded a second later. Eyeing the door for a few more seconds, he eventually returns to his work when he's sure that there's no threat anywhere but he'll be sure to remember that gentleman if they ever meet again.

During the early morning hours, a small, wheeled device had passed by the room a few times, quickly running off whenever it would be spotted. Kengo had set up the device to follow anything that looked suspicious or of interest, so the Burgermeal had taken to trailing after Dun's work one way or another.

It's far later in the afternoon after Kengo left work that he finally had the time to follow his reconnaissance device. Burgermeal had tweeted and beeped at him, leading the way back down to the room and making its way inside the doorway ahead of the student. From what Kengo could gather, it didn't seem to be anything dangerous, so he wasn't as cautious as he could have been about the situation. Poking his head into the room, Kengo was careful to stay out of the way as he glanced around the interior -- or at least what he could see from his current position. Burgermeal seemed to have no issue scouting ahead of him, whirring across the floor.

Ryusei followed along quietly, head down but alert. 'Suspicious,' Kengo had said, but Ryusei had no idea what that might mean. Not anything dangerous, probably, or Burgermeal wouldn't blithely lead them to it like that. Ryusei trusted Kengo to have thought of possible malfunctions and adjust for them, but on the other hand, Kengo had also told Ryusei to come along.

"What is it?"

Right before Burgermeal can cross the threshold of the premises, something shoots out from one of the connecting rooms. The still-quivering arrow neatly pierces the ground near Burgermeal's wheels, the arrowtip dangerously close to the robot.

Dun steps out and faces down the boys, the bow slung around an arm but no other arrows on his person. He scowls heavily at the two, his eyebrows clicking together and his sole eye narrowing at Kengo and Ryusei. "Haven't your parents taught you two to knock? How disgraceful."

Kengo had jumped back as soon as the arrow had been shot, nearly colliding with Ryusei. It wasn't so much that he was scared from the action, but he hadn't expected to get shot at -- especially not with an arrow. Who in this type of place used arrows? It had to be someone from another world, he was sure, and his suspicions were confirmed the moment the man walked out into view. No one else around here looked quite like that.

Burgermeal had made a startled beep as well and shot back across the room at Kengo, who picked it up and held the device up to his chest. As Kengo held the device, he straightened his posture and took a step forward, only then moving into the room. He really was used to people getting on him about his age at this point. "It's reasonable to be concerned when someone's trying to build something around here." Intimidated? Slightly, but he was doing his best not to let on.

He should've shoved Kengo, put him out of the line of sight of whoever was in there, Ryusei thought belatedly to himself as he reached for Kengo's elbow. Kengo shouldn't step forward; Ryusei didn't have anything that he could use against arrows.

No, he did have something, he thought as he shoved his hand in his pocket instead instead of touching Kengo. If Kengo was insistent on talking to this guy, then Ryusei was just going to have to block anything with his own body. But stepping in front of Kengo was too hostile; if this arrows-guy was going to take the trouble to admonish them for what he perceived was a wrongdoing, then he must not expect a fight, and anyway Ryusei didn't want to be in the way of whatever Kengo wanted to do here. He settled for standing close by Kengo's side instead.

There is no man who knows intimidation and fear like Dun. He's been both a hostage-taker and a hostage so he's no stranger to that trickle of fear that Kengo's trying to hide from him.

Actually, there was something else that he found familiar about the boy in front of him. The other drew a complete blank but the one holding the strange metallic creature definitely reminded him of someone. Still, he's not going to let him step any closer to the room, choosing to step forward and interrupt the boy from moving any further in.

"As it is reasonable to expect others to follow the rules. Omega might not have a strict code of law but trespassing requires no written word to be ruled as wrong. Either you two are extremely impudent, and I should have the both of you hanged upside down from the rafters, or you are both thieves and I should hang you both upside down and use you for target practice."

And he would've grabbed the two of them at that moment and made good on his threat too, but it's when he's close enough to properly see the younger boy's face that the name clicks. Irritation switches to recognition and Dun temporarily lightens the aggression in his voice.

"Wait a minute...I know you. You're that boy on the video from the other day, Utahoshi. The one who's looking for his dead friend."

When the man recognized him, Kengo's eyes widened a bit. He had completely forgotten about his initial slip-up when he had first posted to the network -- he'd been careful to never show his face after that point in an effort to keep his identity a secret, but those few seconds had completely slipped his mind. Taking another step back, Kengo tilted his head to the side as he looked the man over. There were very few people whose physical appearance he was familiar with, as most of his talking had been done over text messages. Who had he given his name to? He knew most of Omega had to know about him trying to find Gentarou at this point, but...

Aside from that, Kengo was extremely uncomfortable with the threat he'd received -- it was part of why he'd asked Ryusei to come with him, if the situation had turned out so negatively.

Looking more embarrassed than anything, Kengo cleared his throat, keeping himself close to Ryusei. "We're not thieves and we didn't mean any harm. I've made it my responsibility to keep an eye on things, especially with what happened a few weeks ago." I don't trust anyone, was something Kengo had wanted to add, but he didn't -- partially because he didn't want to ruffle any feathers and partially because he didn't want Ryusei to have to hear that again.

He fell silent after that, unsure of how to respond to being recognized. Talking about Gentarou was still a touchy subject.

He didn't know how fast this guy could put an arrow to his bow, Ryusei thought, head down. If he could close the distance, he might have a chance. But that only held true if this guy didn't have a repertoire of close-range tactics. Ryusei had already made a mistake of that sort with Tatsugami, and that hadn't ended well, to say the least. Best not to get into a fight at all.

Fortunately, something had popped up that could potentially defuse the situation at hand. Ryusei glanced over at Kengo under his hair. He didn't know what to do with this information that Kengo had been looking for his 'dead friend'. Kengo only had one dead friend; it couldn't have been anyone but Gentarou. And yet, if Ryusei understood this timeline thing right, Kengo had been carrying Gentarou's body before he'd found himself here. It couldn't have been Gentarou Kengo was looking for but rather Gentarou's body.

That had been before Ryusei had arrived, he assumed. Ryusei had told Kengo that Gentarou was alive, whether Kengo believed him or not. Ryusei hadn't asked what Kengo had been doing during the period he'd been alone here. Maybe he should have, but on some level Ryusei must have known that it would be something like this.

He could sort out all of this later. Deal with the immediate problem first. He pulled his hand out of his pocket to politely clasp them in front of him, looked up, put on the tentative smile that he intended to exude harmlessness and ineptitude. "What are you doing here, then, Mr....?"

"Don't get smug with me boy."

Dun knocked Ryusei on the head, roughly but not with any intent of actually harming him. "What I do in my private business is of no concern to either of you." He pauses for a brief moment, before he continues with a softened but still scolding and gruff tone. "Had you knocked, I would've been willing to show you what I was building here. Instead you try and barge your way in. And what if this place was affiliated with the mercenaries? I doubt they would treat you as kindly as I am right now if they had caught you."

Ryusei pulled at Kengo's arm, dragging him behind him. Turned his head while bringing up his free hand; he'd have to take the blow in order to retaliate instead of blocki—

He jerked the attacking arm back as he felt the knock on his head. Was it too late to pretend he hadn't done that? Ryusei couldn't tell whether this guy had registered what Ryusei had been doing. At the very least, Ryusei needed to act in something like good faith now; this guy clearly hadn't been attacking at all. Ryusei slipped almost unconsciously into his harmless facade; the ingratiating smile stayed as he brought his hand to his chest as if it were a reflexively nervous gesture. "Y-yessir."

He realized he was still holding Kengo's elbow; he let go. "We'll remember next time...."

It had taken Kengo a few moments to realize what was happening, his mind trailing a few seconds behind what was happening to his body. When he finally processed what was going on, Ryusei had already moved him -- and Kengo could tell exactly what the other had been up to. Ryusei had seen the act as a threat and moved him out of the way. It was a confusing gesture, as Kengo couldn't help but continue to associate Ryusei with the one from his own time -- one who would do anything he could to get what he wanted. Why would Ryusei want to protect him? He'd hoped for something like that while bringing the other along in the first place, but he hadn't thought that he would go along with it.

Taking a step forward, Kengo put himself between the pair to hopefully stop any further issues. At the very least, he was sure that he knew who this person was, though he'd never seen the man's face before. "What are you working on? I'd be willing to help." Despite their awkward arrival, Kengo knew he still owed the man from before, even though he insisted that Kengo owed him nothing.

Oh? Now that is interesting. Dun raises an eyebrow at Ryusei; he doesn't buy the kid's humble apology one bit. And he's fairly certain he had seen the makings of an arm block just now, right before the boy turned it into a useless gesture. The smile just grates on him; Dun dislikes flattery and insincere motives, and back in his world he's had to deal with enough self-serving civil officers who feign deference to gain his favour. If Kengo hadn't stepped in, Dun might've pursued the issue further. As it is, he's already in a less than pleasant mood and Kengo's offer of help isn't helping.

He's not a charity case. He can do it by himself.

"Let me get this straight. First you try and infiltrate my property. You then accuse me of engaging in suspicious and illegal activity. But now you're suddenly offering assistance while your friend here wants to leave."

Dun crosses his arms and shakes his head. "I don't trust the both of you and I don't see why I should accept your help. For all I know, you could have been hired by the mercenaries to spy on me." He wouldn't put it past them; while he's kept his head low for awhile, he'd be a fool to think that he'd been left off the hook.

Grudges don't disappear. They fester.

The timbre of the conversation had changed. To review: this guy had shot at Burgermeal, had come forward, had recognized Kengo, had conked Ryusei on the head and said something gruff, and now he was being accusatory. The thing that had changed was....

Ryusei exhaled, straightened from his faked scared slouch. "I apologize. Defense mechanism.... As you can see, you reached me before I could react."

It'd been this guy himself who had said that Kengo and Ryusei might have been in danger if this guy had been a mercenary. That wasn't not true even if he was not in fact a mercenary; the arrows had indicated as much. Ryusei didn't know what it meant: this guy hadn't been wary of making others wary; maybe he had underestimated the two teenagers or maybe he was just very confident.

"We're not mercenaries. And I don't want to leave." Which was a lie, but he only wanted to leave if he could get Kengo out of here. But this guy knew Kengo and could fight which meant he could protect, and Ryusei hadn't missed the part where this guy had softened upon recognizing Kengo. Ryusei couldn't bring himself to trust this guy; he couldn't bring himself to trust anyone who could demonstrably beat him especially in speed, but even if this guy wouldn't be Kengo's friend, Ryusei didn't want him as Kengo's enemy. To that end, if the conclusion Ryusei had drawn had been correct and this guy had become irritated by Ryusei's behavior, then Ryusei needed to project the image of as much sincerity as he could muster. "This place scares me," he said softly. "I can't let my guard down."

Keeping his body mostly in front of Ryusei, Kengo didn't bother to turn his gaze away from Dun when he heard the other speaking. Burgermeal was still resting in his hands, staring up at the man as if it was trying to judge the current situation and if he was still a threat. Kengo pressed his lips together at the idea of the two of them being mercenaries. It really was much easier to speak to people behind an anonymous wall, texting them instead of having to stand face to face and deal with uncomfortable tension like this.

"You keep refusing my offers to help, but you already helped me before." Kengo didn't want to mention the certain circumstances -- that he had been so close to giving up hope entirely and essentially waiting around for something to happen, rather than taking action. "With everything I've done since being here, none of my intentions have been to cause problems."

Granted, Kengo knew his actions could be viewed as suspicious when examined a certain way, but he really had been trying to help people. He really didn't want to back down, especially now that he'd caused a rift. After all, Kengo considered this many his strongest -- and possibly only -- ally, aside from Ryusei.

Ryusei's switch in demeanor pays off, somewhat. Trust is a commodity that is hard to come by; more precious than gold and more rare than any precious stone. It is not easily earned especially from a distrustful, stubborn and proud war veteran like Dun. He may accept the boys' explanations but he'll keep a closer eye on them and their machinations from now on. Admittedly he's more suspicious of the other boy than Kengo; for all of Kengo's aloofness and cold, distanced efficiency, Dun could see the good intentions behind them. He knows Kengo's heart is in the right place. Kengo's friend though has already proven to be less readable and more sneakier than Kengo.

It's hard to trust someone who isn't honest.

At any rate, he'll give them a chance. He still doesn't want Kengo's help, but he shouldn't be so hostile or unfriendly.

"I didn't help you, boy. I just pointed you to the right direction. But if you are that curious on what I'm doing here, I suppose I could spare you some details if you can promise to keep it a secret until I'm ready."

Crisis averted, it seemed. For now. Ryusei ducked his head as he sighed in relief. He didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't been believed or if he hadn't been given a chance, or... whatever it was that this guy thought. But it wasn't as if Ryusei was a threat to him.

Disgruntled at the thought, Ryusei stayed silent so as not to disturb whatever it was that Kengo wanted; it'd seemed that every action of Ryusei's was (unintentionally) sabotaging Kengo. He just had to hope that Kengo wouldn't latch onto the secrecy aspect and let it color his interactions with Ryusei later. Not that Ryusei couldn't handle it. But he'd thought, maybe optimistically, that bringing Ryusei along was a sign of progress. He didn't know. He couldn't tell.

"If you don't mind sharing." Since it made the situation far less suspicious, though Kengo really did feel he could trust the man. Possibly more than he trusted Ryusei, but that still wasn't saying much considered how little contact he had with anyone. To be honest, he couldn't even fully trust his roommate despite the kind interactions they'd had up to this point. "I wouldn't have any reason to share most of the information I come across."

Kengo realized how suspicious that sounded, as if he was purposely keeping a multitude of secrets from people. There was, of course, the information he'd come across after meeting the Cerberus scientists which no one except for him knew about, but that was a completely different story. On the whole, he enjoyed keeping everyone informed about the important things, but this? He could keep this to himself.

"I have decided to offer my services as a martial arts teacher to the residents of this district. There were a lot of unarmed and unprepared civilians during the previous attack, and we cannot trust Aria, or any of the mercenaries, to provide us with the 'protection' that we are supposed to be paying for."

He gestured inside the room; he's nearly done with preparing the place. The whole apartment has been somewhat restructured to function as a training area of sorts. There's a rack with an array of self-made weapons; he's not a blacksmith, but any fool can attach a sharpened blade to a stick and make a spear. There's also wooden swords, wooden staffs, and at the end is what looks like a half-finished hand-made bow. The centre of the room is left mostly empty to allow sparring.

Two other doorways on opposite sides of the main area lead off to other rooms, both also dedicated to training one's body and mind in the martial arts.

"As long as they knock?" Ryusei said, then quickly appended, "Maybe you should put a sign up."

Or lock the door, but Ryusei didn't say that. No reason to make this guy even more suspicious than he already was. But as long as Kengo wanted to help, it was probably time Ryusei introduced himself. "By the by, I'm Ryusei Sakuta. You are...?"

"I can see where you're coming from." At the mention of teaching martial arts, Kengo couldn't help but glance over at Ryusei to judge the other's reaction. Ryusei was the only person in their group who had ever been properly trained, though Gentarou was -- had been -- also a formidable fighter. Once the man was finished speaking, Kengo took a cautious step past him and continued looking around, though he didn't stray far. The last thing he wanted was to ruffle the other's feathers even more by further trespassing.

This was impressive. And it would certainly be useful. There were plenty of civilians who Kengo had put out alerts for when they needed help during the attack. Having something like this was a step in the right direction.

The amount of lip the young ones of today were giving him. Gone are the days when the youth would hold their tongues around him and treat him with respect; Dun can see that with this lot here, he was going to have to earn it, which is fine by him but he really has to question modern parenting. It's difficult to teach children when they were so adamant on insisting on their way.

"That's because I haven't finished with the place and I would rather not attract unwanted attention from the mercenaries and thieves that roam this city."

He levels a deliberate, nasty stare Ryusei's way and completely ignores his question. Instead, he nods at Kengo and cracks a grim smile. "I'm glad that someone here recognizes a good idea when he sees it. I'll be making an announcement next week when I am finished with the training dummies. If you want to help, then you could help me with the stuffing. Not that I can't do it myself, but I have only two hands and so much patience to bear with such tedious work."

"I'll leave you to it, then." He glanced at Burgermeal on the way out—would the little droid be able to fetch Ryusei fast enough? Probably not; he'd loiter somewhere near here, just in case. This would be easier if the other Foodroids were here for Burgermeal to network with, but they weren't, for some reason. "Be careful, Kengo."

As soon as Ryusei turned to leave, Burgermeal turned and whirred across the floor after him, making a few noises of protest. Being in the same room as the man who had shot at it earlier wasn't so bad if both of the technicians were in there, but for some reason it was intent on trying to catch up to Ryusei before he left.

Kengo glanced over his shoulder at the other boy, somewhat wanting to ask the other to stay, though safety was no longer a concern. To be honest, he almost trusted Dun more than he trusted Ryusei, regardless of how the man had acted towards them when they'd first entered the room. Still, he frowned slightly. "I'll be fine, Sakuta."

Dun keeps his sole eye on Ryusei's back, but lets the kid go. For all of Dun's concerns, Ryusei actually hasn't done anything else suspicious. It wouldn't be fair for him to douse him in a bucket of paranoiac warnings and rage when Kengo had done the exact same thing as Ryusei did in trying to determine the exact nature of the place. His cousin had accused him once of holding grudges against people, even to those who don't deserve it. Ryusei is no Guan Yu and is yet to be a threat to Dun. There's probably no reason for him to be overly concerned about the teen.

Once the door's shut, Dun brings Kengo to a separate room. There are some completed dummies, but there are others that still need stuffing. Dun picks up one and tosses it at Kengo.

"It's not difficult, but it's tedious. Between the two of us, we should be done by two hours."

Once Kengo realized that Ryusei wasn't coming back, he followed after the man and kept one hand in his pocket. Burgermeal seemed to have given up on chasing after Ryusei, trailing right behind Kengo, though it would whirr from one side of the room to the other, checking spaces between the wall and the floor for anything interesting.

Kengo caught the dummy easily, though he was a bit startled at the sudden action. This sort of work was easy enough. It wasn't something his body was going to hurt him over, at least. Taking a seat on the floor, Kengo held the dummy in his lap and worked with it, occasionally glancing over to Burgermeal to make sure the device wasn't getting into trouble.

After a minute or so of silence, Kengo spoke, continuing to keep his head down. "Sakuta, the person who came in with me... He's from my world." He wasn't sure how Dun would react to Kengo sharing personal information, but he really did trust the man more than anyone else. "The person I've been looking for... Sakuta says he's alive, back home. I'm not sure I can believe him. He seems to think my memories are a few months behind his, like the two of us were taken from different timelines."

His hands had already fallen into a pattern, a steady, quiet rhythm of motion that was almost as relaxing as meditation or drinking a hot cup of tea after a hard day's training. It was work that required no thinking; mindless work that would allow Dun the luxury to listen and consider what Kengo had to say to him.

Dun doesn't look up from his work, his hands filling every inch of the cloth bag with stuffing, but his voice carries with it a drop of surprise, mingled with plenty of scepticism. "Did he now? It's one thing to claim being from a different point in time, another to claim that someone came back from the dead."

"Someone here said they themselves had died and had been brought back to life when arriving here. I'm not sure how reliable they are, though. I imagine if someone died, they wouldn't have the sense to know if they were dead and then suddenly alive again." Kengo kept his legs folded, the dummy in his lap as he worked on it. This was certainly an old-fashioned way of doing things, but it made him wonder if maybe he should have set up something similar for Fourze. All of the testing for the battle system had always been done inside the test room of the Rabbit Hatch -- rarely on the field. Why had he never thought to be so thorough?

Kengo allowed himself to be silent for a few more moments, looking extremely uncomfortable before he allowed himself to speak again. The tense tone of his voice and the look on his face made it obvious that he was saying something he was unsure about revealing. "... I can't trust him." He'd been fighting with himself over it -- that he should accept Ryusei because the other had returned and they needed to work together, but the past couldn't be so easily forgotten.

"We're not talking about here though. We're talking about your world. Did the dead walk again in your home?"

Dun scoffs a little at the thought; stuff and nonsense. True there were stories of men wondering in the spiritual realms and returning, but that's all they were: stories. He fills out the head of the dummy and starts on the arms and legs, packing all the stuffing in tight. For a moment his hand rests inside the doll, as a bloody memory rears its ugly head. Him, pressing the bloody wound on one of his men, trying to staunch the bleeding only to watch the man choke, gasp and splutter his last remaining breaths.

He withdraws his hand and grabs another handful of material, shoving it fiercely into the dummy and shoving the memory out of his mind. The dead don't come back in his world, even if they came back here. It's almost unfair, he bitterly muses to himself. The dying man...no, more of a dying boy, really. Now that he stops to think about it, the lad couldn't have been older than Kengo. Both youths, but one lived while the other died. Some would call it fate, but Dun refused to simply place the blame on something as intangible as fate. He just hadn't been as strong or as wise a general as he should've been.

At that moment, he's aware that Kengo's saying something. He manages to drag himself back in time to catch the confession, and it's a troubling one indeed. He frowns and ponders on this, voicing out his thoughts to Kengo.

"I don't trust him, but I'm an old general, it's part of my job description to look everyone new sideways and wonder if they've got a knife hidden in their sleeves. This...Ryusei came with you here. You seemed to trust him to follow you into what might've been dangerous territory. But you're saying that you can't trust him. Why?"

Kengo was quick to answer once Dun reworded his question. The authoritive air the other man held still tended to intimidate him from time to time. "I'd never heard of it happening, no." But... here, where people shared these rumors. That meant Gentarou could still come back, didn't it?

Continuing with his own work, Kengo wasn't nearly as rough with his work as Dun was. It was clear that Kengo was used to finer, more fragile things when he was working. Cosmic energy and Switches were resilient, but there were many times when Gentarou had worn the energy out of them completely while overexerting the system -- only to avoid Kengo entirely at the fear of the boy yelling at him or getting upset. He gripped at the dummy a bit more as he made sure the limbs were filled out. What good would Fourze be in a world like this? Kengo had hoped to have the system with him, that maybe they could do something, but it wasn't as simple as defeating an enemy and then getting to go home. There was no goal.

"I had him come with me because he's a capable fighter and he's intent on being near me." He tilted his head to the side. It felt as though there was something Ryusei was worried about that he hadn't said, which made Kengo only more suspicious of the other's actions. "The last time I saw him... the person I've been looking for..."

Kengo hesitated, lowering his head and taking in a deep breath. No. He definitely couldn't allow himself to cry in front of anyone else anymore. After being on Omega for a month, he had been sure that he was over Gentarou's death, but the weight that had been brought down on his shoulders by talking about him again was almost too much to handle. "Sakuta killed Kisaragi, the last time I saw him. It was just before I came here. I... was taking his body from the battle when I ended up here. I don't know what I was thinking. I just wanted to see if I could save him, somehow, even though I already knew he was dead. That was why I was looking for him when I came here. I thought his body had come with me and that maybe there would still be a chance to save him."

He raised a hand to his face and wiped at his eyes, another preventive measure to keep tears from showing. "Sakuta killed my best friend to save his own. He made a deal with our enemy, that his friend would be saved if Kisaragi died." Kengo took another breath. "... even when Kisaragi was dying, he smiled and said he understood why Sakuta had done it. That he forgave him for what he'd done. I... I can't hate him, because Kisaragi wouldn't want me to. ... but I don't know what else to do. I don't know if everyone else is dead or if he's lying to me to trick me. I... can't trust him at all, anymore."

Now that everything was out, Kengo was practically shaking, one arm across his stomach while the other was still up to his face. It was taking everything he had not to start crying.

When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. "I'm sorry..."

Dun kept his gaze on his work; if he had seen Kengo in a moment of weakness, then he gave no outward sign of it. He can't speak for Kengo, but he knows that if he were in the boy's shoes then he'd rather the other person look somewhere else and let him save what remained of his dignity. With one last shove, his dummy was done. Grabbing his needle and thread, he proceeded to sew up the seams. The silence stretched between the two after Kengo apologized, but not because Dun was ignoring him for his weakness. Rather, Dun was thinking carefully on what he was going to have to say.

With one final tug, his dummy was finished. Dun placed the stuffed doll to the side before he shifted to face Kengo and told him firmly, "Don't apologize when there is nothing to apologize for. You honoured your friend's wish above your own personal feelings; that takes strength of character and resolve. And countless are the forgotten soldiers who were left to rot on the battlefield, but you refused to leave your friend behind."

He placed one hand on Kengo's shoulder and looked him squarely in the eye.

"I say again; you have nothing to apologize for, Kengo Utahoshi, because you have nothing to be ashamed off."

Kengo's work had all but been abandoned at that point, not because he was no longer interested in helping, but because all of his effort was being focused on keeping himself from crying. By the time Dun had spoken again, Kengo had forced his tears down completely, though his breath was still shaking, fingers tightly grasping at the fabric of the dummy. Being alone was nothing new to him, but to be given something so important only to have it ripped away from him -- it was hard to think about. And being here, he still felt as though he was always by himself.

The hand on his shoulder caused Kengo to slowly raise his head, his face red and flushed from the rush of emotions he'd suffered. He swallowed, forcing himself to sit up a little straighter. Dun had mentioned being a general, which Kengo could certainly see in the other's actions now. The authoritative air the man held and how he always knew the right words to say to motivate someone were admirable. To a degree, it reminded him of Gentarou -- how the idiot would always say the right thing at the right time. Kengo would have followed him to hell if he would have asked and he knew anyone else who knew Gentarou would have too.

"I'm apologizing because of acting like this. I do what I can, but it never feels like it's enough..." Kengo had never been strong enough to support the Fourze system. He hadn't been strong enough to pilot the Power Dizer. He hadn't noticed a traitor in their midsts, who killed their leader and tore down the KRC. Everything he was responsible for, he'd failed at in some respect, including the fact that he was now unable to complete the mission his father had left for him.

Aside from all of that, Kengo felt that when Dun was speaking to him that the man's words were the absolute truth and there was no chance of arguing with him. It was the same faith he'd held in Gentarou's words -- no matter what, you could believe him. "... thank you, though. It means a lot to hear something like that."

"Which would you rather be?" Dun asks persistently, refusing to let Kengo beat himself up in this way. "The coward who sits and watches the world dissolve into chaos around him because he doubts his ability? Or the man who charges straight into the thick of the battle, fighting for what's right in this world even if he doesn't know which is the correct end of the spear to hold? I have seen wars and death and the men who strive to repair the damage that has been done and though I wield my blade against all who stand in my cousin's way, I hold respect for those who have the guts to make their dreams a reality."

He softens and turns sombre, a rare moment of philosophical viewpoints that Dun doesn't share very often with anyone.

"Never mind what you're hearing about people returning from the dead, but we only have one life in this world. I would rather die on battlefield as a young soldier who sought to bring peace back to the land, rather than languish away on a bed from illness or old age, never to have even made the first step to fixing what's wrong in the world.

You've made some mistakes and trusted the wrong person. But you're young, you're supposed to be rash and stupid and impatient. Old people are only wise because they were fools who have done their share of idiotic antics and paid the price for it."

A muscle twitched slightly near his missing eye; that's one very expensive learner's fee for Dun, but there are other mistakes that he's made that he's come to terms with and those scars lie deeper inside him, intangible and invisible to the naked eye.

"It's only through our folly that we can grow. So do not hold yourself to your failings but rather look to them as difficult lessons from where you can learn. It's better to glean what you can now then make the same mistakes again."

The analogy didn't work so well when Kengo was still intent on viewing himself negatively. It was rare that he allowed himself to fall into these moods, primarily only when he was stressed or having a hard time with something else. Arriving on Omega had led to a host of negative emotions, which he had promptly buried and told himself that he would deal with at a later time. Unfortunately, more and more negative things happening since his arrival meant more and more time that he went without dealing with anything. The outpouring of emotion had been something he'd needed, though he had hoped it would be something like the anger outburst he'd had just after arriving. Having someone seeing him act like this was ...

Kengo had never wanted to make mistakes in the first place, but he knew that was something he couldn't say easily. It was stupid to think he could go through life without messing up something. Even with the Fourze system, there had been too many times his instincts on a Switch had failed, only for Gentarou to figure out the best use for it. He always thought he knew best, only to have someone else prove him wrong. ... in a way, it was nice. At times.

"I don't think I could have learned that lesson under worse circumstances." Really, it felt as though there was no way to recover from Gentarou's death, the loss of the Fourze system, the potential death of all of his friends, and being ripped away from his home only to survive in a place like this. "It feels like my entire life has been reset. I have nothing here of the person I was before I came." The Kaban was with him, as were the Switches, but even if the Fourze system had come with him, he would have been unable to use it.

Kengo had noticed the other's missing eye, of course, but figured it was likely a touchy subject that he shouldn't bother asking about. If the man wanted to elaborate, he would.

"Do you think we're here for a reason? Maybe we really are meant to start over..."

"I cannot speak for why we are here, but I know that I will not let myself be swept up in the tide. There is much to be done here in Omega, and if you wish to view it as a second chance then that is your prerogative. It is your choice."

He gave Kengo a serious look; apart from the self-esteem issues, Kengo has proven himself a well-intentioned, responsible and skilled young man. It would be too much to require him to enter field work at this moment, not when he is still in need of time to heal from his emotional wounds. But perhaps a job that did not require actual interaction with the harsh reality of Omega; it's always one thing to read about it, another thing to see it with one's own eyes. There's an emotional distance.

Dun doesn't like giving people the short way out of things, but he reasons it out that one day Kengo would be ready.

"As a matter of fact, I am currently planning a neighbourhood watch for the Zeta district with some of my allies. I have a list of potential members, but I only know one who is good with technology and machinery.

It would honour me if you would accept."

Honor? Kengo wasn't sure how he could believe something like that. While he knew his own talent for things and could usually be confident in his ability, his current mood wasn't helping. He couldn't be sure if the 'one' Dun had mentioned was him or not, but he managed to crack a small smile at the offer. Something like this really would give him a chance to distract himself -- focus on something other than everything that was bothering him. And there was a lot of that.

"I'll help you with whatever you need, but..." Kengo hesitated for a few moments, trying to choose his words. "I want to learn to fight. I'm not a strong fighter. I probably never will be, but I want to try. I'll work slowly if I have to, if you have the patience to deal with me."

He took another breath, squirming uncomfortably and finally returning to his work after rubbing at his face with his sleeve again. "I still don't know what your name is."

Dun regards Kengo with some surprise; he never pegged the boy as the pugilist type. He thinks over the request carefully. "I can teach you what you need to know," he says slowly. "But I will admit patience is not one of my better traits. However, learning to defend yourself is a crucial skill in Omega, as is controlling one's temper. The lessons would be good for the both of us. So yes, I would be glad to take you on as my student, Kengo Utahoshi. I am not an easy man to get along with but I will do my best to make sure that you will be well trained."

Now that Kengo mentions it, Dun realises that he hasn't introduced himself. Normally he wouldn't have much to do with young teens unless they were in his army unit, and even if they weren't most people knew him by name that he never really had to bring it up. "It doesn't mean anything here, but when I was a man of standing in society people respected the name of Xiahou Dun."

"That sounds fair." After the way the man had acted when they had entered the room and from the few exchanges they'd had before, Kengo had gotten a pretty good idea of how the other's temper and personality really were. He hadn't expected the other to be patient. He could have also argued the other's point that he was difficult to get along with, since Kengo hadn't really noticed any difficulties in that area so far.

The name made him pause, wondering if he'd ever heard it before, but a few seconds of contemplation made him realize that he couldn't recall anything specifically. "You said you were a general. Would you tell me when and where you're from? I'm curious about our cultural differences." And the outfit. ... and the weapons. It seemed as though Dun's style was similar to the Sengoku era, but his name wasn't Japanese and nothing was quite close enough.

"The Han Empire. It's the centre of the world, the greatest land ever seen by man. Times may have been hard when I left the Middle Kingdom but my cousin seeks to restore the empire to its proper glory. That is why I must return; I must assist him in his ambition to unite the land and quell the chaos that robs the people of their freedom and dignity."

He stopped and sighed; a brief and rare moment of pessimism. "I am far from my home, both in miles and in years. It was the year 209 when I last saw a familiar face."

"The Han Empire...?" Well, at least that was something familiar. China wasn't too far off from Japan and while Kengo didn't know as much as he could, it was a start. Most of his interest in schoolwork had stayed with math and science, but he was still the top student in the school and knew as much as he had to about everything else. It just wasn't an area he spent extra time on.

"That's around the Three Kingdoms era, isn't it? Wei, Shu, and Wu..." Of course, Kengo thought to censor himself only after he started talking, realizing that he might be getting things a bit out of order. Spoiling the future for the other with something, no matter how small, might not be the best idea. "I don't know a lot about the time period, but the Han Empire is viewed highly in the time I come from. A significant part of my country's written language is based on yours."

"Wei isn't a Kingdom," Dun corrects Kengo. "No, we're a force who serve the Emperor under our warlord, Lord Cao Cao." His mouth forms a thin line, merely a twitch away from a frown. "Take care with your words Utahoshi. We might not be near the borders but what you're suggesting is treason and slander. I'll forgive you this once because you're young but do not ever speak such ill will of my cousin ever again."

Kengo immediately pressed his lips together and went a bit wide-eyed at the other's words, unsure if he should try to argue his point with the other or not. It was the way the time period was referenced during his own time. "I didn't mean to speak ill of anyone." He wasn't even sure where the other had gotten the idea of an insult.

"My own time is more than a thousand years later than yours, so my knowledge of where you come from isn't thorough. ... aside from that, China's history tends to be romanticized in my culture, so I'm sure there are some details I'd get wrong." At this point, he felt like he was just making excuses to try and recover from the slight.

Rather than keep rambling, Kengo settled for deeply bowing his head in apology. "... I'm sorry."

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.

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can we shuffle tag order for a sec? (i'll delete if not)

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