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Yugo Asuma was nervous.
It's been a while since he got thrown into this timeline. While it was amazing to see that human freedom was still a thing, it didn't change the fact that in order to live, you need money. And to get money, you have to work.
And so work he found. He got himself a job at a company called Nijisanji, and surprisingly he was looking forward to being here.
He could actually have fun and be as loud as he wanted to be! People watching and enjoying his music and entertainment without any fear of punishment or death.
Today he was meeting his coworkers.
And as he walks into the main corridor of the building, it seems that he was already about to meet one of his seniors. It was a man with shoulder length dark hair, wearing a white suit and a haori draped over his shoulders. He has a flask of what looked to be tea in his hand.
His eyes were the shade of gold, deep and alluring, gazing into the eyes of a... creature that rapidly changed their appearance every second. No one seemed to mind though so he guessed that this must be a common occurrence around here.
The man seemed to have sensed his presence and glanced over to his direction. He fully turned towards him and gave him a closed mouth smile, eyes squinting in greeting. "Why hello there, you must be part of the new wave! Welcome, welcome my boy! You're just in time. Follow me." He starts walking, gesturing Yugo to trail behind him.
"I'll lead you to the meeting room, the rest of your genmates have already arrived." He says with a smile. "I'll introduce myself later on along with your other seniors."
"Kindred, "The man, apparently his senpai, calls to the creature.
"Yes milord?" The creature replies, its voice sounding oddly like several hundred voices packed into a single body.
"Don't scare the kids? I know a lot of you are quite the pranksters. Behave for me, alright?"
The creature, "kindred", nods enthusiastically. "Anything for you milord!"
"Milord" chuckles. "That's my girl."
He turns to Yugo. "We're almost there my boy! How are we feeling today, hmm?"
"I..." Yugo starts. "Uh."
Just then someone comes up from behind them, the sound of heels clacking reverberates through the hall.
"Oh is the last member here? Oh no, I apologize for getting here quite late, one of the quilldren got blown away by the wind and got stuck in a tree..."
Yugo freezes. That-that voice!
"Ike!" The man beside him chirps. "No, no it's all fine, we just got here ourselves!" Why is the dude grinning like an idiot?
But nevermind him! It can't be.
Yugo turns to face the new arrival.
It-it can't—
It's Sensei! Ike-sensei! HOW?!
Ike sees Yugo's complicated expression and mistakes it for nervousness. "Oh haha hello there, nice to meet you! I'm Ike Eveland, virtual novelist from Nijisanji EN's 4th wave, Luxiem." He smiles.
Yugo falters.
Sensei...? He doesn't remember..?
No.
This isn't sensei.
Well, it is him but..
It's not HIS sensei.
He looks the same, he sounds the same, he even acts the same.
But he doesn't remember the same.
He spies several small balls of white fluff with a feather on top of its heads scattered on his shoulders and arms.
Ike catches him unconsciously looking at the little creatures perched upon his form.
"Aha, yes these little creatures, the reason why I'm late. These are my quilldren!" He smiles brightly.
"They don't usually go outside but today they really wanted to meet Noctyx so..."
"They're quite shy though, so they most likely won't be any trou... huh?" He stops mid sentence in surprise.
Several quilldren have flown from his shoulders to Yugo. Some land on his hair, and some on his jacket. One perches on his headphones. Yugo seemed shocked as well.
The man beside him, he still didn't know his name, stared in disbelief. "WHAT! HOW?! It took me weeks before the quilldren trusted me enough to get close! Ike!" He turned to Ike, betrayed.
Ike shrugged. "I don't control them Vox. Maybe they liked him more than you haha."
Vox, finally a name to a face, fake sobs. "KINDRED ARE YOU HEARING THIS." The Kindred scutters over, patting him on the back.
"You hold the L very nicely, Milord."
"Wh- YOU LITTLE SHIT." Vox chases the kindred who had just bolted after bursting into warped laughter.
Ike: .....
The novelist breathes out through his nose. "So sorry to have you witness all this tomfoolery on your first day, it's not really setting a good example for us as your... senpais. Ahaha."
"But hey! My quilldren like you! Very surprising!" He claps in delight. "They've never taken a liking to anyone this quickly before. I assume that this is a good sign, don't you think so?" Ike smiles.
It really does feel like he's with sensei.
Yugo makes eye contact (?) with one of the fluff balls on his jacket. It tilts its little fluffy body, the feather on top of its head bobbing slightly with the movement.
'Cute.' Yugo thought to himself.
He didn't notice it earlier, but his nervousness seemed to have dissipated into smoke, leaving behind only anticipation.
Hope.
He lightly chuckles. "I guess it is."
Yugo raises a hand for Ike to shake.
"Pleasure to meet you then Ike-senpai, " He grins.
"My name is Yugo Asuma!"