Mochinoki City.
Not big, not small, quite cozy, neat coast town. Friendly faces, polite people and little to no mamodo energy in the air.
Of course, there was a little bit of news about lightning striking the roof of a local school in the middle of a sunny day, but, eh, beggars can't be choosers I guess.
With how funky time zones on Earth are, we arrived at Mochinoki at 2am, the night was still dark, with only street lanterns as a source of light. Thankfully, the hotel that Sherry booked for us expected us and our room was prepared in advance, so we didn't had to wait at least 6 more hours.
Miraculously, I didn't really felt like going to sleep but Koko gave up right after her body landed on beds with freshly changed sheets.
The travel must've taken a toll on her - she was out like a light in mere moments, didn't even take her jacket off.
Instead of following her example I decided to examine the room. Sure, I have to dim the lights to not disturb her sleep but my not-actually-human eyes quickly adapt themselves to the near darkness.
The room is, just like the city this hotel resides in, is average - not small motel-styled, not big like a full-on rent-a-house. Two white beds with fresh covers, a bookshelf with various magazines and books. A kitchenette with an old-ish looking TV sitting on the sturdy shelf on the wall. A bathroom with a tub and a shower. Overall - nice enough place for a week or two stay.
Hm, it makes me wonder how long we'll be staying here… I guess it depends on how peaceful this town shows itself. At least to Sherry. If it fails - I don't even want to think what dark corner of the world she'll sent me and Koko to to "protect" her from the chaos that slowly consumes this world.
… Wait, that was a bit too poetic and dark of me….
Oh, that reminds me.
"Are you still here, my half-baked split-personality disorder?" I whisper, picking up Koko's suitcase and propping it against the wall, instead of leaving it on the floor where my partner left it.
No, I left this plane of existence and reincarnated as a snail in another dimension. Of course I am still here, you idiot! It's not like I can just waltz out of your mind and live my own life!
I huff, rubbing my temples from the sheer volume of imaginary voice in my head. Sheesh, that's what I get for concerning myself with that prick.
"Just checked in. Had a hope you'd be gone, finally leaving me alone. Guess I was wrong." I mutter. Alright, back to business.
"Do you feel any strong mamodos nearby that we should be aware of?"
Why won't you check it yourself? We share exactly the same powers, dumbass.
"Just because I can do it doesn't mean I know how to. I can feel mamodos who show off their energy in the open, but I cannot sense anyone who might be hiding it."
And what made you think I'll help you with it? If they don't want to be found, so be it. Maybe an ambush would teach you a lesson, who knows.
"Gee, thanks, you're so helpful. Here goes my attempt to get on an even ground with you." I mutter, crossing my hands. I'm trying to be friendly here, you jerk. "You know, if we stuck together maybe we could, I don't know, help out each other?"
I hear only a dark laughter in my head as a response. Silence follows.
Fine, you do you, Mr. I-Am-Better-Than-You.
I give a room a glance, trying to find anything to get myself busy with to spare some time. There's a bookshelf with some books and journals, written mostly in languages I cannot read… But, perhaps…
I fly up to it and search for specific symbols. Hah, would you look at that - English! Yes!
The words seem so unfamiliar to me at first, after such a long time without reading in my, presumably, native language, but I also can't help but feel a strong sense of deja-vu as I read word after word.
It's a car magazine - half of the words here I wouldn't understand even if I didn't have multiple cases of amnesia, but it feels so good to have even a slight sense of familiarity to my past.
I sigh wistfully, getting into a comfortable position right in the air as I continue reading, not noticing how sun starts rising up.
Only when the clock shows 6am and sun is giving a lazy early sunlight from the window, I notice a major flaw in Sherry's plan of sending Koko in Japan.
The language barrier.
Of course, for me and other mamodos language barriers don't exist - but for our bookkeepers it's a totally different story!
I mean, of course I will help Koko, working as a translator for her and locals, but using me like that is just plain uncomfortable. What if something happens and we get separated? Of course, the chances of that, considering that she is my bookkeeper, are low… But they're never close to zero.
Ah, alright, pull yourself together, no need to panic over nothing!
"Zofis?" Koko's tired half-awake voice gets me out of my silent panic-like state. I drop the magazine that I've stopped reading a few hours ago on the bookshelf and look at my partner.
"Oh, good morning! Had a good sleep?" I flew closer to her.
"Mhm…." She grumbles, turning her head into the pillow. For a second I thought she'd go back to sleep but instead she suddenly sits straight up. "Alright! I am up!" She exclaims happily, filled with energy and I hardly can tell what the heck just happened.
"We have so much to do today! And a city to explore!" She says, shooting her fist into the air. Then she halters a bit, with embarrassment noticing that she's still wearing yesterday's clothes.
"Um… I think you should wake up fully first and then go on adventures." I point at her suitcase and she gives me a bashful smile, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Eheh, alright, good idea." Koko scrambles to the bed's side and drags her suitcase closer to her. She takes a few cloth pieces and heads for the shower with a quick "be right back" thrown my way.
I roll my eyes but feel a small smile tugging at my lips. What a disaster.
I reach for her suitcase and get my book from within the piles of clothes and various goods. Sturdy purple colored cover, a paper that feels weird to the touch and a an unmistakable smell of an old book. Ah, thanks gods we didn't forget it at Sherry's mansion - It would take eternity to get it back safely.
I open my book and look inside it. Yep, still looks like a fever dream of a scribble enjoyer. I sigh and close it up just as Koko steps from the bathroom, quickly drying her short hair with a towel.
"We need to visit a shop and buy food, that's what Sherry wanted me to do first of all. I hope we don't spend too much of her money - I feel bad for hanging on her like that." She admits and I feel a familiar pang of guilt she felt back when we still flew. Interesting.
"I do not think she'd blame you if you spend some extra, you know? Especially since we're here not to cause trouble but act as mere tourists anyway." I tell her but I can feel her mentally shrugging my words off. Girl, no, you can't just ignore my words of advice like that…
"Still, I don't want her to get in trouble because of me. What if I spent too much on an accident?"
"Koko, look at me," I say and she turns to me with a dumbfounded expression. "That's physically impossible for a girl like you to spend 'too much' of her money. She lives in a mansion, Koko. Whatever she gives you is just pocket money for her. So relax and calm your inner demons, will you?"
Koko looks actually offended at that. I know she wants to oppose me but her politeness and the deep-down thought that I am right doesn't let her find her voice.
Slowly but surely I improve in psychology and heart-reading, becoming more and more skilled as a first ever Mamodo Therapist.
"Fine… Maybe we could buy some extra snacks." She sighs as if in defeat but I feel small sparks of resistance in her soul. We will talk about it in our next session.
"I am so glad there's a French translation on some of those products!" Koko tells me as we slowly walk through somewhat populated isles of the marketplace, earning us some looks from the locals. I guess tourists are rare in Mochinoki… I just hope we don't draw hostility.
"You don't say?" I try to keep conversation going, trying to ease my nerves.
"Yeah. It might be a bit broken but it's still readable and understandable. I am so grateful for that!" She smiles and puts another package into the shopping cart before continuing marching forward, forcing me to practically run after her to keep up.
I cannot stress enough how much I miss flying but if I do it in public we'll get into a mess, and not only with locals but with Sherry too!
My legs are sore. Quit clowning around and walking like some low lifeform. You have flight, for crying out loud. And don't you dare lie to me that you've forgotten how to fly!
"We can't do it here!" I whisper irritably at my mind-neighbor. "People will see."
That's their problem, not mine!
I force a groan down as me and Koko come to the cashier. Great timing for having a tantrum you prick.
"Not now," I whisper.
"Hm, did you say something?" Koko turns to me as the cashier checks out our items.
"N-nothing. Just, uh, here, let me upfront, I'll do the talking." I almost fly in front of her, my head barely reaching the counter. The man behind the counter checks in the last item and gives us the total price. As Koko pays off with Sherry's credit card, the guy behind us in line suddenly decides to flirt with her.
He drops a few broken lines in French, trying to impress her and asks her for a number, that makes Koko very confused and I decide to step in before the situation gets out of control.
"She's got a girlfriend, back off." I chime in quietly so Koko wouldn't hear me and the guy visibly deflates at first, then his eyes round up with second wave realization. I don't have time to see what happens next as Koko packs the last package of carrot sticks into the paper bag.
"What did that guy want? His accent was a bit too harsh for me to understand but I didn't wanted to appear rude." She asks me as we leave the market.
"Eh, just wanted to know what brand of bread we're buying. Don't worry about it - I told him."
"Oh, I see!" She says and I shrug it off, not really wanting to ruin her mood by telling the truth.
We get to our hotel and stock the items into the fridge and on the kitchen shelves. Koko makes a quick breakfast in the form of an omelet roll, He tells me how much of a small portion it is for our mamodo body so I have to ask for more just to shut Him up. Koko takes it lightly, not really minding it since I am, relatively, an injured mamodo who needs a lot of food to sustain myself.
In other words - the day starts fine.
After breakfast me and Koko explore Mochinoki in its full morning-time city glory.
The cars start moving, the kids hurry to school and the whole town falls into a rhythmic activity of living.
Me and Koko decide to follow an already estimated popular tourist route - hotspots with beautiful scenery and some famous places. It's not much but it'll let us see the best this place has to offer.
I walk just a few feet behind my bookkeeper as she reads a small brochure about the park we're in right now. An interesting but still boring place. Not sure what keeps Koko so occupied but, eh, you go girl.
Suddenly, a small speck of a feeling hits me, like a piece of dust. A familiar scent of another mamodo lifts around me just for a mere moment. My eyes widen and I stop abruptly, quickly turning around and scanning my surroundings, trying to pin-point where this weird sensation came from.
It felt almost like another mamodo was nearby… It was so familiar, as if I've already met them before.
But... Just as suddenly as it appeared, the feeling of locating aura of familiar mamodo was gone, almost like a lighting. I still keep my hopes high and try to look out for anything out of the ordinary that might tell me where this mamodo is hiding or where they'd go.
The only weirdness that I get my eyes upon is a boy with short black spiky hair, in a middle-school uniform, draggin a big heavy bag to school. As weird as it is, it is not what I'm looking for.
I sigh and turn back to Koko. Perhaps it was just-
...
Crap.
Crap!
Where the heck is Koko?!
[author notes time
hooray
I might make mistakes sometimes and write 'Sherry' instead of Koko, so sorry.
its hard for me to catch those sorts of mistakes so if any of you finds anythin' - please tell me, ill fix it up]