So, about these time paradoxes...

[forgetbeam]

Characters: Ishimaru [replies from eyebrowsareforever] and You
Setting: Various places in the tower
Format: Your pick!
Summary: It's been ten years for Ishimaru, and he's mellowed out a little. The tower's obviously worn him down, but he keeps on trucking! And with all these new arrivals coming in, he figures he should help them settle in. If only he could find those informational pamphlets he wrote up years ago...
(Feel free to establish some kind of pre-existing TYL relationship!)
Warnings: Depends on who shows up.

[Libraries and Study Room]

[The reference books might be a little less popular than the ones on the third floor, but Ishimaru himself has always preferred them. Even after 'graduating' (or the closest thing he could get to it here), he never really broke the habit of sitting and studying for what could often be hours at a time. That's not what he's after today, though! With all the new arrivals in the Tower, he's going to need to bust out the little booklets he made up long ago just in case people started showing up again. Ha! Good thing he thought ahead.

But the only trouble is... where are they? He could have sworn he'd placed them on a very specific shelf here. Did someone take them out and put them back in the wrong place? Did the Administrators take them away? Did someone decide to use them as kindling on a colder month?

Whatever, he's going to do a thorough search of each and every shelf.

This search continues in the study room a floor down, ending in the other library. The longer he's at it the more visibly frustrated he is, frowning and clenching his teeth and all, but he does not give up until he's looked everywhere. He's very likely to ask anyone in his path if they've seen the books, too.]



[Cafeteria]

[He can't believe he wasted a few hours trying to find something that isn't even there. By this point he's realized that something weird is going on with the Tower again, and doesn't think it's worth it working on new booklets just yet. If there's no change by the end of the month, he'll do it, but for now he'll settle on individual explanations. Of course, most of the other long-term residents have probably taken care of most of it.

Not only is he feeling a little useless after his failed search, he's hungry, so it's off to the cafeteria. It's halfway through the month, and that's always about the time he gets tired of eating the same things all the time, but he knows better than to risk the restaurant. At least it's not those bars again.

But as hungry as he is, it's so hard to force anything down. He doesn't give up, though! Maybe he should try out this hunting business later.]



[Swimming Pool]

[Hunting's going to have to wait until tomorrow, though. It's getting late in the day and he'd love to get some kind of exercise in that doesn't involve hacking monsters to bits. So! It's time for a leisurely swim!

Except "leisurely" means "doing laps as fast and splashily as possible." Some things haven't changed at all in the last decade.]



[Elsewhere]

[So maybe you encounter him on a different day, in another place. He could be anywhere from his dorm/the surrounding hallways, watching movies in the media room (he's become That Guy who tries to memorize and speak along with the entire script), clearing monsters from around the stairways on the more dangerous floors, or... wherever, really.]

Comments

[eyebrowsareforever]

At least he's not making too much of a mess. Although he'd be able to go a lot faster if he was.

"Ah! Hello! Have you seen a number of small, handwritten booklets? They were beginner's guides to the Tower..."

[tohko_amano]

However, if he did, he'd get a scolding. Tohko thought for a moment and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I haven't..do you remember where you last put them? If we go back to the starting point of where you put them, we might be able to find them."

This was really weird..usually she was able to remember where different books in the library were, especially odd things like that. But this time, she couldn't recall seeing them.

[eyebrowsareforever]

"They had been in the reference library for several years, but there was nothing there. I wouldn't have thought anybody had any reason to touch them before new arrivals started showing up again..."

He sighed and straightened his back, pulling a face when he could hear a small popping noise. He must have been stooped over shelves for far too long already.

[tohko_amano]

"For several years..? New arrivals?"

Tohko sighed and scratched her head.

"Sir..how many years have gone by for you?"

[eyebrowsareforever]

"Hm? I've been in here for ten years. Ten years and... a little over three months."

What a question to ask...

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed again. So this guy was part of the experiment. That was why Tohko hadn't remembered seeing his books.

"Sir..not that much time has passed. It's only been a month since the Christmas party where everyone came down with illnesses."

[eyebrowsareforever]

"Illnesses...?"

He'd seen his fair share of colds and flus come and go, but the one epidemic that really stood out was... during his first year here, he was pretty sure.

"I remember that! It spread through the whole Tower, didn't it? ...The heat was off. That was only a month ago for you?"

Shoot, the Admin were messing around with time travel, weren't they?

[tohko_amano]

Tohko smiled and nodded. It was good that this guy remembered what she was talking about.

"Right! I'm glad you remember it. However..that was only one month for the people who aren't affected by this experiment. There are some people like you who say it happened a thousand years ago or twenty years ago..the Administrators are playing with people's senses of time."

[eyebrowsareforever]

He should have known. Well, that explained why he couldn't find what he was looking for - they hadn't even been made yet.

"It can't be just my sense of time... After all, I have physically aged!"

Maybe he only thought he looked different? No, that couldn't be right! He had aged! He'd been through an entire decade of hell in the Tower. There was no way he could just be imagining some of the horrors he had been through and committed over the years...

"So, it must be that some of us have been sent back to this time - or even that we're both in a different time than we should be. ...Whatever the case... It's only temporary... right?"

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed and scratched her head as she tried her best to explain the situation to this guy.

"No, I don't think time travel is involved in this mess. In order to make sure you believed your memories, they aged your bodies as well. It wouldn't surprise me if the Administrators had technology that was able to do that, and I've seen it happen with a few other residents too. However, it should be temporary, so I wouldn't worry too much!"

[eyebrowsareforever]

Ishimaru rubbed the side of his face, frowning. She seemed pretty confident in her theory on what was happening. After everything he'd witnessed - thought he'd witnessed - in the Tower, it seemed like just another day, really.

"...Do you think those of us affected will keep the memories we do have after this?"

More important than something like booklets was the true identity of the boy who had convinced him they were brothers. He needed to remember that; it would save a lot of pain and grief for several people.

[tohko_amano]

At that, Tohko looked a little worried..and puzzled.

"I would hope so..forgetting things that you might have learned while aging would be terrible. However, if you want me to make sure you remember something, you can tell me, and I'll let you know if you'll forget."

[eyebrowsareforever]

"Yes. Yes, that would be... fantastic. If-- when this is over, look for a boy named Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Tell him... tell me... The one claiming to be my brother is dangerous."

He paused.

"Make sure you have the right one. One is the dangerous one. His uniform is half black, so that should be a good way to tell us apart. Be careful."

[tohko_amano]

At the name and description, Tohko paused for a moment. So..that had been what was wrong with the other boy and why he spoke of all those murders so cheerfully, as if they were nothing.

"Actually..I've met the other one, the one in the half-black uniform before. He did seem a little..off. But don't worry. I won't get you guys mixed up. I'll be alright. I'll remember."

[eyebrowsareforever]

She'd already met him... Well, at least that saved her from any potential confusion in the future. Her future. His past. Something. He wasn't even going to think about how that worked right now.

"He'll turn out to be more than just a little off."

Yeah. This Ishimaru was one to talk about being a little off. At least his was a harmless kind of weirdness.

"I just hope the me you tell believes you."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed and scratched her head.

"Hopefully you will..but if you don't believe me, I can always tell you how happily he talked about the other students deaths in your universe."

[eyebrowsareforever]

"He told you something like that?!"

[tohko_amano]

"Yes..I'm sorry to hear about your universe. It sounded like a pretty cruel and terrible place. He sounded quite chipper about it though..and he spoke fondly of you."

[eyebrowsareforever]

"The world itself wasn't that bad. But what happened in that school... That was his doing!" In one timeline it was, anyway. He turned his head, exhaling softly. "...He couldn't have spoken fondly of me. Somebody that he thinks I am, but not me."

Hearing it still felt like it drove a spike through his chest.

[tohko_amano]

At that, Tohko sighed. So, that was why that boy sounded so..chipper about it. He had been the one instigating all those killings.

"I see..why did he start something like that? To build a better future?"

He had spoken of something like that when they met, after all.

"I see..so he's got your identity confused with someone else."

Normally, Tohko would have tried to give a headpat, but since this guy was too tall, she settled for one one his shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that..that must have been horrible."

[eyebrowsareforever]

"How... How could doing something like that build a better future?" He stared at her, completely dumbfounded. What did that bastard tell her for that to be her conclusion?

He looked to the hand on his shoulder, and after a moment of hesitation, awkwardly patted it. "It's... in the past. The important thing here is to make sure that past doesn't repeat itself."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed. "I don't know. That's what he told me the goal was, for him anyway. I don't like it or understand it any more than you do."

Even Wilhelm made more sense than that. At the pat and the words, Tohko nodded. "Exactly. Otherwise, we just end up making the same mistakes over and over again. I know that."

[eyebrowsareforever]

He knew that once his younger self found out, he'd no doubt question the other Ishimaru's reasoning behind everything. Even though this older Ishimaru knew there was no point in demanding answers, that it didn't justify anything... he was curious.

For now he just shook his head.

"That's right. In most cases, those mistakes are a good learning experience... But now it's time to put what I have learned to good use and stop him. So... thank you. When you tell me, I might be too stubborn to believe it at first, but I know I'll be grateful in the end."

[tohko_amano]

In response, Tohko sighed, smiled, and nodded.

"You're welcome. I'm always happy to help out..and don't worry. I'm a little stubborn myself, so I'll probably keep at you until you believe me."

[eyebrowsareforever]

He had to laugh a little at that.

"That's the spirit! I'd better appreciate that kind of determination. ...Hey, even if I might not remember it, what is your name?"