Backdated to after Hajime and Kinji's fight in World Series week 1

[triggerhappytraitor]

I can't find Kinji.

[[There are equal levels of worry and agitated discomfort in that single sentance]]

Comments

[chalicejoker]

...you're using the network.

[triggerhappytraitor]

[[Goddamnit Hajime if you are anywhere near where he saw you last he is stalking back that direction. He hates everything about this and would far rather be yelling talking to you face to face to face]]

Kinji vanished. I can't find him anywhere.

[chalicejoker]

...he was right there.

[He'd headed back to the restaurant after that scuffle; Tachibana might have trouble finding him right off the bat. He's grabbing Ryo for another set of eyes and portaling back over that way now.]

[triggerhappytraitor]

I know that, we were talking when he vanished!

[[and he's stalking back into the area he had come across Hajime and Kinji now.

...and being annoyed and stubborn, is attempting to just power through it this time.]]

[chalicejoker]

Well, he can't have gotten far!

...I'd try to sniff him out, but I don't think he'd react too well to seeing that form today.

[Would Kinji see his normal wolf self? The werewolf again? Hajime doesn't know.]

[triggerhappytraitor]

It's far enough I couldn't find him looking for fifteen minutes!

[[a slight pause that does nothing for how agitated he sounds]]

How fast can you switch back and forth?

[chalicejoker]

...that's really not that long.

[Honestly, Tachibana...]

Pretty fast. Not as fast as a Rider transformation, but quickly enough.

[professorwolf]

[Lyall, on the other hand, is too polite to remark on the unexpected voice on the network. Instead, he offers some reassurance:]

There have been people vanishing briefly from liminal space. Both my packmates who aren't Hajime are missing, too, but I can still tell they aren't far. It's probably the same with your friend.

[triggerhappytraitor]

[[Trying to keep as calm as possible but it's very evident that he's tense and deeply worried. While he does trust Lyall, it's not enough to ease any of the anxiety over either situation right now, and Lyall can likely tell how badly he's fidgeting just from the tone of his voice.]]

How briefly? And how far?

[professorwolf]

I don't know, neither of those two are back yet. But it feels like... well, it feels like they're here but they're not. Like they're in another piece of liminal space, like a dungeon. It may be we'll have to help get them back... or it might be that they make it back on their own, if there's so many of them already.

[triggerhappytraitor]

So we need to find where they are.

[[Because like hell he can just sit around and wait.]]

[professorwolf]

I'm not honestly sure we can, not until they're ready to be found. But we can look.

[summerorange]

Tachibana-san...!

[Well, color her surprised. But she's a little relieved that he is using the Network just as it's meant to be used.]

What happened?

[triggerhappytraitor]

[[Desperate times, desperate measures and all.]]

We were talking and he vanished.

I don't know what happened.

[[and the frustration and worry is all too clear in his voice]]

[summerorange]

Vanished? You mean, right before your eyes?

[OK, that's still unusual and worrisome, in her book.]

[triggerhappytraitor]

We were walking side by side.

[[which is to say not exactly in front of his eyes, but functionally... yes]]

[summerorange]

And he just...disappeared into thin air? No portals or anything?

[triggerhappytraitor]

Nothing that I noticed or could hear.

And he wouldn't have just left like that.

[summerorange]

Because he's a companion, right?

[She's already trying to prod her tiny companion awake from a nap.]

[uzoda]

[That's... is that Tachibana? On the network? That is, isn't it?!]

Wait... wait, what do you mean? When did you last see him?

[triggerhappytraitor]

Fifteen minutes ago.

He vanished while we were talking.

[[now do you get why he's on the network, Kenzaki?]]

[uzoda]

Well... he is sort of a ninja...

[No, no, wait, no, this is not the time for awkward jokes. If Tachibana's doing this, it's a serious matter.]

I mean, would he have had reason to just... go?

[triggerhappytraitor]

Not unless something happened.

[[Kinji didn't seem the type to run away from difficult conversations, and at that point, the heaviness of it all had been dispelled...

There was no way that him saying that Kinji's folks would be proud of him would cause the ninja to run away, he was sure of it.

.... almost completely sure of it.]]

[uzoda]

Huh.

[There's a lack of response as Kenzaki thinks the whole matter over.]

I know people can go missing between jaunts, but... just disappearing? I didn't think that could happen...

I'll start looking for him, okay?

[triggerhappytraitor]

Thank you.

I'll... be keeping an ear out. If you find out anything....

[[much as he hates using this network, for something this important...]]