"Now everyone, we talked about this. Lord Yamamoto was my father. I'm just Takeru." He spoke kindly, warm smile still gracing his features. Slowly each of the four stopped bowing and returned to their food. However the most vocal of the bunch didn't seem as content as the others.

"You've done so much for us Lor- Takeru, and we just want you to have the respect you deserve for what you've done." Ami's voice cracked a bit as she said this, and this got Gerry's mind to wondering just what this man could possibly have done for all of these people. For one thing, this Takeru kidnapped him! Were they all brainwashed as children and raised to worship him or something?

Takeru didn't say anything else towards Ami, merely nodding his head with a small chuckle. Instead he focused his gaze on the only blond in the room, whose features and proportions stuck out amongst everyone else in the room. Gerry returned his look with his own that was very startled, but turned sour very quickly.

"Yeeees," Takeru dragged the word as his fingers nervously intertwined, "I owe you quite a bit of explanation don't I? Come, I'll answer your questions in the tea room." Takeru strided past him standing at a doorway and glanced back at him expectantly with a come hither motion. Resolute to find his answers, and not feeling that worried following such a small man, he stood up after apologizing for not finishing his food and followed after Takeru.

They walked in silence, most likely content to just air out their issues in private since it seemed like there were probably dozens more people here than he had already even saw. Even the ones he'd already met, Gerry wasn't sure he'd want them listening on anything considered private. Takeru stopped at a door and slid it open, standing aside to let Gerry step in first.

The owner of the home closed and latched the door before turning to kneel at the small tea table in the center of the room. He gestured for Gerry to do the same, and he was not at all looking forward to kneeling again after having just gotten to stretch his legs from the last time.

"Don't inconvenience yourself for my sake, sit how you find comfortable." Takeru spoke without even looking at his expression as he lifted the lid off a box that sat in the middle of of the table. It held what looked to be tea cups and tea leaves. "Tea?"

"Oh, yes, thank you." Gerry answered as he kneeled properly anyway, not wanting to relax his composure while he still didn't understand the weight of his circumstances. He would also be careful to watch how he prepared the tea as well.

Takeru took two tea cups and filled each with the same combination of leaves from the box. Next to the table was a small ceramic stove that had been heating a kettle, probably done by one of the house residents, that he picked up and poured the boiling water into each of the cups.

"So what would you like to ask me?" Takeru interlaced his fingers and rested them on the table as he peered into Gerry's eyes patiently. Gerry had waited for someone to finally answer his questions legitimately, but under the other's gaze his frustration and focus melted away a bit.

"I just… I would like to know where I am, and why you brought me here instead of a hospital like I would think most others would do." Instead of sounding angry, he just sounded confused and worried, which after calming down he realized those were his true emotions all this time despite what he told himself.

"To put things the best way I can, I saw you passed out on the bridge and I didn't really know what else to do for you so I brought you to the closest safe place I could which is my home. By the time emergency responders would have gotten there things might have been worse, given I wasn't certain if you had a concussion or not." As he explained his story he wrapped his fingers around his cup, not to drink it, but just for something for his fingers to hold on to at the moment.

Gerry wanted to trust those words, given the mouth that spoke them could have told him he was going to sprout a second head and he would have wanted to believe in him. The air about him was so trustworthy, and to be frank it almost made the blond uncomfortable.

"Right, well, I'm okay now so I guess I can forgive all of that," he almost wanted to say better than okay given that he'd not slept that well in months but he refrained. "So where's the nearest bus stop? Since this is close to the bridge that leads into campus we must still be in Minato." Hell at this point he didn't need a bus, he just wanted to get out of this weird place and try to catch back up on whatever he'd missed in class during all of this debacle.

Takeru's eyes shifted to the side, and that's when Gerry knew in his gut that he wouldn't be going home today. He hoped otherwise, but he could just tell that that was the news coming for him. Gerry sat still, not budging an inch until he knew the truth.

"That's where the complication comes in. There are no buses here, and you could walk yourself ragged but never reach your home." Takeru replied with a solemn expression, averting his gaze in shame hinting that he was guilty for whatever he was trying to explain.

"How off grid do you live? You can't just keep me here, I have school to attend! And for that matter, I don't know you or any of these people." Gerry betrayed his composure by elevating his voice and furrowing his grown, hand slamming down on the table. Takeru's eyes bulged momentarily before returning to his neutral expression.

"Believe me, my biggest concern right now is to see you home, but it's not that simple. Have you ever heard of the Layer in Between?" He inquired of Gerry with a serious expression, but Gerry just squinted at him with a doubtful one in return.

"Ehm, no? Look, sir, I don't know what you're on but I have a life to get back to, and I'm certainly not spending it here twiddling my thumbs for the rest of my days." He announced with a snarl in the back of his throat.

"If you go outside as it is, you'll be killed faster that I could do anything about it," Takeru stated matter-of-factly as he picked up his tea to sip.

If this was some kind of joke, Gerry was not amused in any capacity. "Are you threatening me? I will walk home if I have to, I'm not staying with a person threatening my well being. Thanks for the help, but I'm gone." Gerry moved to stand up, but Takeru's hand shot out and held onto his wrist. Gerry gasped and tried to pull his hand out of reflex but found he was being held by a vice grip. He didn't realize the other man was so strong, and that caused his stomach to drop.

"I'm not threatening your life, I'm trying to save your life. Yes, we're close to where I found you, but this isn't the Minato you know. Sometimes the two worlds overlap, and you were in the perfect spot for that overlap to occur. You walked into our world, but getting back isn't as easy." His expression is serious, and Gerry shuddered after locking eyes with him.

He wanted to shout, demand him to release him and tell him he's nuts before bolting and getting out of this place. Despite the want for that knee jerk reaction, he couldn't deny those eyes that were begging for him to believe him. Gerry's body relaxed, and after that Takeru released his wrist and returned to sitting up right.

"So I'll pretend for a moment that what you just told me isn't crazy. What is this place then? How long will I have to be here before I can go home?" Gerry's eyes pleaded for a concrete answer he could be satisfied with, even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"There are two worlds that exist alongside each other, as two opposing sides of the same coin. Just as sides of a coin, we never see one another. Except in instances that the two sides mix, something that is never intended to happen. You're on the other side of that coin, in our world." Takeru paused for a moment, staring down at the table as he allowed the words to sink into the other. "I can't tell you a when, but know it will the earliest that you can go home safely."

Gerry couldn't believe himself that he was actually accepting his words, but it didn't mean he was totally on board with the whole concept. "So what's with the whole death threat then? What's going to kill me outside as opposed to in here?" He asked after crossing his arms indignantly.

Takeru's hands met each other in his lap as he closed his eyes. "The skepticism in your voice tells me that you're not believing the gravity of my words. Very well, I'll show you the danger." He fell silent, and Gerry was half tempted to get up and bolt out the door if not for the fact he assumed Takeru could easily catch him. Nor did he want to experience this "death" on the outside so eagerly.

"There, I removed the ward around this room. Just for a moment to help it all sink in." Takeru then gestured his hand across the table to Gerry's side.

"I have no idea what sort of magic trick you're trying to play her bu- AAAAHHHHH!" Gerry let out a loud wail as his body fell backwards onto the floor. In front of his face he held up his two hands. They were turning transparent gradually by the second.

"What are you doing to me?!" The helpless blond flailed on the floor, too terrified to use his hands to help him get up.

"I've learned that when someone from your world comes to our world, your body begins to deteriorate as the world is rejecting your presence. I cast a protective ward over my home to keep you safe until you'd ingested enough of our food to prevent the deterioration. So you might want to actually drink the tea I offered you, hm?" Takeru had already stood up with the teacup in hand to walk it over to Gerry.

He had managed to lean up off the floor and eagerly drank from the cup, anything to make his hands return to normal. Takeru continued to sit near to him, replacing the ward as Gerry stared at his hands for ten minutes straight. Eventually they looked tangible enough for him to press his hands together, and never in his life had he felt so overjoyed to feel that sensation.

"Will you trust in me now?" Takeru gazed into his eyes, begging for his affirmation as if his well being depended on it entirely. Slowly, Gerry nodded his head while staring forlornly at the floor.

The master of the house picked up his two hands, to which Gerry was both startled by and happy to continue to feel sensation in his hands. His face drew even closer to the blond's until Gerry's eyes widened in surprise.

"I swear to you, on my name, I will make this right. In the meantime, you will be an honored guest in my home, Gerwald." Thankfully he was already sitting down, because from the intensity of his expression and closeness to his face Gerry's knees began to buckle and his hands were becoming sweaty. He dearly hoped there wasn't a blush on his face either.

Wait, when did he tell him his name?