[He takes the sword, relieved that Riou apparently believes him enough to let him go, and sticks it back in his belt. Thank goodness he can easily avoid giving all the information in response to the next question (though he does note once again how damn observant Riou is, having noticed little nuances in Hijikata's mood).]
We were just acquaintances.
[Saying that hurts a little, but isn't it true? He really knows next to nothing about Riou. Sure, they moonlaced every time they met, but again, that was just par for the course.]
I first met you when I attended a friendly rap battle between MTC and Fling Posse. You guys won! I wasn't lying when I said I was a fan, you really impressed me. It's just that I haven't been able to listen to any of your other material. Anyway, there was an afterparty backstage - Samatoki ordered beer and chicken -, and I just wanted to check if anyone needed medical attention. I mean, those rap battles are no walk in the park - well, I don't need to tell you that.
[He's rambling a little, but there's also a smile on his face. It's a happy memory. He's really glad he followed Samatoki's invitation despite how they butted heads every time they met.]
So we got talking there, and a few months later you took me out into the wilderness to collect some plant and animal specimen for the greenhouse you'd built - it was really impressive, like a jungle in the city! I think you'd been transported to that world a little before me, so you were there for maybe a year before they established a way for everyone to go home, I'd estimate. It's called Prismatica. There's at least one more person here who's from the same timeline and also remembers it; he can back up what I'm saying. He's called Noiz, if you know him.
[Distrustful as Riou is he may suspect that Noiz is in cahoots with Hijikata, but as a matter of fact chances are he'd rather troll Hijikata by playing dumb if he knew that he recommended him as a witness. Or maybe not. Hijikata always found it terribly hard to get a read on Noiz.]
no subject
We were just acquaintances.
[Saying that hurts a little, but isn't it true? He really knows next to nothing about Riou. Sure, they moonlaced every time they met, but again, that was just par for the course.]
I first met you when I attended a friendly rap battle between MTC and Fling Posse. You guys won! I wasn't lying when I said I was a fan, you really impressed me. It's just that I haven't been able to listen to any of your other material. Anyway, there was an afterparty backstage - Samatoki ordered beer and chicken -, and I just wanted to check if anyone needed medical attention. I mean, those rap battles are no walk in the park - well, I don't need to tell you that.
[He's rambling a little, but there's also a smile on his face. It's a happy memory. He's really glad he followed Samatoki's invitation despite how they butted heads every time they met.]
So we got talking there, and a few months later you took me out into the wilderness to collect some plant and animal specimen for the greenhouse you'd built - it was really impressive, like a jungle in the city! I think you'd been transported to that world a little before me, so you were there for maybe a year before they established a way for everyone to go home, I'd estimate. It's called Prismatica. There's at least one more person here who's from the same timeline and also remembers it; he can back up what I'm saying. He's called Noiz, if you know him.
[Distrustful as Riou is he may suspect that Noiz is in cahoots with Hijikata, but as a matter of fact chances are he'd rather troll Hijikata by playing dumb if he knew that he recommended him as a witness. Or maybe not. Hijikata always found it terribly hard to get a read on Noiz.]